Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Digest Number 4069
J. Stauffer
<<the younger ones obviously have years longer to learn than she does>>
I think this is the problem right here. Your dd has her entire life to
learn. She doesn't have to "be finished", whatever that means, at 18. She
will never learn everything there is to learn, even if she studied as hard
as she could all day and night, even if she graduated Harvard by the time
she was 11. So given that she will never learn everything, isn't it better
that she learn what is useful to her? Right now, she is learning the
wonderful art of loving her siblings, the art of play and joy, the art of
arranging her life as she wants it to be.
Relax, breathe easy. She is doing great.
Julie S.
I think this is the problem right here. Your dd has her entire life to
learn. She doesn't have to "be finished", whatever that means, at 18. She
will never learn everything there is to learn, even if she studied as hard
as she could all day and night, even if she graduated Harvard by the time
she was 11. So given that she will never learn everything, isn't it better
that she learn what is useful to her? Right now, she is learning the
wonderful art of loving her siblings, the art of play and joy, the art of
arranging her life as she wants it to be.
Relax, breathe easy. She is doing great.
Julie S.
Tia Leschke
Got this on another list. Don't we have some families here from NZ? Is
homeschooling legal there?
Tia
Education chiefs stumped as family dig in toes
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3526834&thesection=news&thesubsection=general&thesecondsubsection=
03.10.2003 - By BRIDGET CARTER
Hidden in one of the most remote parts of New Zealand are a family
causing the Ministry of Education much concern because the children have
not attended school since 1996.
The mother, father and four children live in a small log house in
Northland decorated with brightly coloured buoys collected from the sea.
There is no phone, a generator for power, and a long, bumpy road for a
driveway that stretches through a forest and across a beach.
The house can be reached only by four-wheel-drive.
The children seem friendly and happy at the house, which is surrounded
by patches of bush and grass, sand dunes, the odd bach and a wild coastline.
The family are the only ones living on the vast block of Maori-owned
coastal land.
Locals say the parents rarely venture out and are no problem.
But the ministry is concerned about the children's education.
The Northland manager for the ministry, Chris Eve, says that after years
of unsuccessful attempts to get the mother to enrol her children, the
ministry had no choice but to take the matter to court.
This week, Judge Thomas Everitt found the mother guilty on four counts
of failing to enrol her children in a registered school.
Judge Everitt dealt with the case behind closed doors in the Kaitaia
District Court.
He ordered the woman to be convicted and discharged without a fine, and
that her identity and her family's identity remain confidential.
But Mr Eve said the conviction did not necessarily provide power to
force the mother to send her children to school. All it meant was that
the case was proven.
Now the ministry would have to review options as to how to ensure the
children were educated.
Associate Professor Paul Rishworth of the Auckland University law school
said a judge could not make an order that required children to go to
school and there was nothing in the Education Act that said children
could be physically uplifted and made to go to a school.
One would assume parents would start taking steps to school their
children after being convicted of failing to do so. An option for the
case, he said, could be mediation.
The family, understood to have strong religious beliefs, are refusing to
talk about the matter.
But a family friend said the couple were hard-working and they did not
want to send their children to school because they did not like the system.
He said many people living locally thought that was their right.
Other families had not been sending their children to school for
generations.
Children were instead taught by aunts, uncles and other friends of the
family, he said.
"They just want to be left alone."
Mr Eve said the ministry did not know what sort of education the
children were getting because the family had not allowed its officials
to assess what the children were being taught.
The last record of any children in the family attending school was 1995,
when two children were enrolled.
This was an unusual case because usually a board of trustees had to
ensure a child was attending school. But there had been some records of
home schooling in 1996, so the matter fell into the ministry's hands.
In 1999, a certificate allowing the mother to educate the children was
revoked after a routine assessment by the Education Review Office.
"These kids aren't getting their legal right to an education," Mr Eve said.
Professor Michael Townsend of the Auckland University School of
Education said it was important for children to attend school to learn
about the history of New Zealand, its place in the world and their place
in New Zealand.
"It is impossible for a family to isolate themselves from the world
around them."
©Copyright 2003, NZ Herald
 <
homeschooling legal there?
Tia
Education chiefs stumped as family dig in toes
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3526834&thesection=news&thesubsection=general&thesecondsubsection=
03.10.2003 - By BRIDGET CARTER
Hidden in one of the most remote parts of New Zealand are a family
causing the Ministry of Education much concern because the children have
not attended school since 1996.
The mother, father and four children live in a small log house in
Northland decorated with brightly coloured buoys collected from the sea.
There is no phone, a generator for power, and a long, bumpy road for a
driveway that stretches through a forest and across a beach.
The house can be reached only by four-wheel-drive.
The children seem friendly and happy at the house, which is surrounded
by patches of bush and grass, sand dunes, the odd bach and a wild coastline.
The family are the only ones living on the vast block of Maori-owned
coastal land.
Locals say the parents rarely venture out and are no problem.
But the ministry is concerned about the children's education.
The Northland manager for the ministry, Chris Eve, says that after years
of unsuccessful attempts to get the mother to enrol her children, the
ministry had no choice but to take the matter to court.
This week, Judge Thomas Everitt found the mother guilty on four counts
of failing to enrol her children in a registered school.
Judge Everitt dealt with the case behind closed doors in the Kaitaia
District Court.
He ordered the woman to be convicted and discharged without a fine, and
that her identity and her family's identity remain confidential.
But Mr Eve said the conviction did not necessarily provide power to
force the mother to send her children to school. All it meant was that
the case was proven.
Now the ministry would have to review options as to how to ensure the
children were educated.
Associate Professor Paul Rishworth of the Auckland University law school
said a judge could not make an order that required children to go to
school and there was nothing in the Education Act that said children
could be physically uplifted and made to go to a school.
One would assume parents would start taking steps to school their
children after being convicted of failing to do so. An option for the
case, he said, could be mediation.
The family, understood to have strong religious beliefs, are refusing to
talk about the matter.
But a family friend said the couple were hard-working and they did not
want to send their children to school because they did not like the system.
He said many people living locally thought that was their right.
Other families had not been sending their children to school for
generations.
Children were instead taught by aunts, uncles and other friends of the
family, he said.
"They just want to be left alone."
Mr Eve said the ministry did not know what sort of education the
children were getting because the family had not allowed its officials
to assess what the children were being taught.
The last record of any children in the family attending school was 1995,
when two children were enrolled.
This was an unusual case because usually a board of trustees had to
ensure a child was attending school. But there had been some records of
home schooling in 1996, so the matter fell into the ministry's hands.
In 1999, a certificate allowing the mother to educate the children was
revoked after a routine assessment by the Education Review Office.
"These kids aren't getting their legal right to an education," Mr Eve said.
Professor Michael Townsend of the Auckland University School of
Education said it was important for children to attend school to learn
about the history of New Zealand, its place in the world and their place
in New Zealand.
"It is impossible for a family to isolate themselves from the world
around them."
©Copyright 2003, NZ Herald
 <
Brian and Kathy Stamp
Thank you all. I'm breathing...lol. in and out in and out.lol
Kathy
Kathy
----- Original Message -----
From: J. Stauffer
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 2:05 PM
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Digest Number 4069
<<the younger ones obviously have years longer to learn than she does>>
I think this is the problem right here. Your dd has her entire life to
learn. She doesn't have to "be finished", whatever that means, at 18. She
will never learn everything there is to learn, even if she studied as hard
as she could all day and night, even if she graduated Harvard by the time
she was 11. So given that she will never learn everything, isn't it better
that she learn what is useful to her? Right now, she is learning the
wonderful art of loving her siblings, the art of play and joy, the art of
arranging her life as she wants it to be.
Relax, breathe easy. She is doing great.
Julie S.
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In a message dated 10/2/03 12:43:59 PM, bstamp@... writes:
<< Thank you all. I'm breathing...lol. in and out in and out.lol >>
Not so fast!
Slowly. Hold it.
<bwg>
Put on some happy music.
Stress not!
Sandra
<< Thank you all. I'm breathing...lol. in and out in and out.lol >>
Not so fast!
Slowly. Hold it.
<bwg>
Put on some happy music.
Stress not!
Sandra