Foundations of Alberta’s Home Education Movement: On the Alberta Home Education Association (AHEA) (Part 3)
Last time, I discussed the environment and time in which the Alberta Home Education Association (AHEA) was created. I also briefly mentioned the history of another agency that had a completely different approach to helping the home education community in this province. This agency was the Home Education Corporation of Alberta (HECA).
HECA drifted off into the annals of history but while in existence, it was very different from AHEA. HECA wanted to completely separate the home educated from the authority and control of the government while AHEA negotiated with the government to obtain greater freedom and protection which ultimately proved to be the more successful approach. The debate continues as to whether or not it was the best approach and alas, we have what we have.
AHEA was successful in advancing protection for the home educated and I would be remiss if I did not applaud AHEA’s influence in the formation of the 1988 School Act. This was the first piece of legislation in the province’s history to even mention home education. AHEA’s insistence on protecting home educators from undue persecution or unreasonable demands resulted in the creation and entrenchment of a unique educational phenomenon, that of the willing non-resident board which continues to this day.
Alberta Home Education’s Early History: On the Alberta Home Education Association (AHEA) (Part 2)
A simple fact about history is that it becomes increasingly more interesting with age. That is, as we get older, we have more of it on which to reflect. I must admit that I have been accumulating a fair bit of history, which I believe is saying I am aging! However, aging also grants me credibility when describing something that may have occurred long before the majority of my “listeners” were even born. I was actually there and really did experience those events at that time.
I want to share some history with you, hoping to help you understand how we have come to our current situation in home education and to encourage you to actively defend your rightful authority in the education of your children. I also desire to prevent returning to the past practices we wanted escape those many years ago, when home education first began.
Home education has always been part of Alberta’s story. Indeed, what do you think happened before the creation of public schools? Even after the advent of compulsory schools, some folks didn’t want their children leaving home or were just too isolated to send them. These students were either “home schooled” or “schooled” at home using a distance learning approach called Correspondence School which later morphed into the soon-to-be-defunct Alberta Distance Learning, which is being replaced with modern online programming.
The Importance of Knowing History: On the Alberta Home Education Association (AHEA) (Part 1)
A friend of mine, a well known (and aging) wordsmith of notable repute by the name of Ted Byfield, has repeatedly encouraged me with his understanding of history. He often repeats that we cannot possibly understand where we are without at least being somewhat aware of where we have been. He has written a great deal on this topic, which I recommend that you read.
The Jewish culture and writings clearly understood the importance of history by repeatedly making reference to the past, particularly through genealogy, which was used to establish the authenticity of the narrative being presented. Indeed, every one of our lives is based on past events. That’s why we also reflect on parents, grandparents, relationships, genealogy and family trees.
It is important to understand that history cannot be changed and should never be revised to suit or accommodate recent understandings. Agree or not, history is history. Those who revise history are likely to infuse the past with modern mistakes and render it useless, while those who ignore it are likely to repeat its mistakes.
Wisdom is Simple: Why Complicate Things? (Part 3)
In the last two blogs, I discussed how a nearly twenty-year-old presentation on home “schooling” affected me, both nostalgically and philosophically. It was good to be reminded of what home “schooling” was like and to be able to compare those times with what is going on today.
Indeed, what I observed reminded me of some of the wisdom Solomon shared with us in the Bible, particularly his statement “that there is nothing new under the sun.” It brought me sadness to see that in spite of having gained many victories in home education, much has really not changed.
This is largely due to the fact that school has been so internalized as the way to educate. In spite of the great strides made to bring home education to the forefront of educational approaches, many, if not most, people continue to practice some variation of schooling at home. Even when claiming to be unschooling, parents make references to curriculum, grades and standards.
Continue reading “Wisdom is Simple: Why Complicate Things? (Part 3)”
Complications Based on Misunderstandings: Why Complicate Things? (Part 2)
Last week, I discussed how nostalgia made my listening to a nearly twenty-year-old broadcast session about home “schooling” interesting. Today, I would like to share the other reason this experience grabbed my attention.
I must admit that when I initially listened to these sessions in 2002, I was, well, nearly twenty years younger and also twenty years less experienced in the field of education.
Now, approaching thirty-five years’ experience in the home education venture, I have come to know things I did not know or believe in 2002, which would have been about half way through the approximately forty-year history of the modern day North American home education movement.
Continue reading “Complications Based on Misunderstandings: Why Complicate Things? (Part 2)”
A Blast from the Past: Why Complicate Things? (Part 1)
While solo on a lengthy drive, I had an opportunity to listen to a couple of rather dated broadcast sessions by the Focus on the Family organization. These sessions were really interesting for two reasons.
The first reason was that they were largely in celebration of what was then, twenty years of home education in the USA. What was even more interesting was that it was put on by a collection of “big guns,” including James Dobson and Michael Farris, both of whom cited Raymond Moore, who has often been credited with starting, if not having had at least a major influence in the modern-day home “school” movement.
What started as a dated broadcast, soon became a blast from the past. My wife and I had started home education about 10 years into the first half of home education history. Since Alberta was about ten years behind the Americans, we essentially were involved near the beginning of this province’s home education movement. It was interesting to be reminded of what things were like back then.
Continue reading “A Blast from the Past: Why Complicate Things? (Part 1)”
COVID-19 Lessons and Summary: Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 13)
The COVID-19 pandemic was a game changer of immeasurable proportion! I have tried to show how it should have caused us all to rethink our understanding of what schools, learning and education are and how they are delivered.
We discussed how schools are largely viewed as daycares rather than the educational institutions they claim to be. We then addressed how the age-old concern respecting the socialization of children was shown to be more of a school handicap than that of the home educated.
We showed that in-school academic achievements and grades were essentially meaningless if all students simply advanced to the next grade without clearly demonstrating that objectives were learned or programs completed. Likewise, we addressed how fears of accumulating learning gaps while being stuck at home were ill-founded, if indeed being home was a negative.
Continue reading “COVID-19 Lessons and Summary: Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 13)”
Parents and Children. Tiring of School: Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 12)
I must admit that there are certain news agencies that I have learned to completely distrust.
Actually, there is one particular agency that is so bad at telling the truth that I often use it to get a truthful perception respecting an issue that I am unsure about by noting what is being reported and then assuming the opposite to be true. It may be a sad testimony respecting that news agency, but this approach has kept me from believing nonsense.
Take the “normalization” of the response to the COVID-19 school system closures, as an example. Media outlets simply assumed that everything would be exactly the same as it always was except that the students would now be “home schooled.”
Continue reading “Parents and Children. Tiring of School: Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 12)”
Parenting and Teaching Are Not the Same? Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 11)
Every once in a while, perhaps more often than it should, an article comes up which elicits strange feelings of anger mixed with sympathy for the poor fellow (or lady) who could be so deluded!
Take, for instance, that article written by a Harvard professor who really believed that home education should be outlawed because… well, let’s just say because it is not at all like public education.
Then there was the article entitled “Parenting is not Teaching / Teaching is not Parenting.” This one caused me to seriously pity the poor individual who could come up with such a ridiculous statement.
Continue reading “Parenting and Teaching Are Not the Same? Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 11)”
COVID-19 Boosting Homeschooling? Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 10)
Let’s start with a summary. The COVID-19 pandemic caused governments around the world to shutter schools in an attempt to restrict or reduce viral contamination. This provided much insight into how people viewed learning, education and programming as well as the methods, purpose and place of schools and school teachers.
Much of this information has been covered so far in this year’s blogs.
I must admit that while much ado was paid to the forcing of every child of the province into a home “school” program, I personally did not respond with glee, as one would have expected of a veteran home education supporter and provider poised to see his “business” expand and prosper. Perhaps this may seem a bit perplexing to you, so let me explain.
Continue reading “COVID-19 Boosting Homeschooling? Schools Are “Outed”! (Part 10)”