Feature: Educating children by un-schooling them

“Kids need to be guided into learning what they don’t already know. It brings them to learn new things that they never knew existed.”

As the start of the academic year approaches, both parents and children must prepare themselves on numerous levels. For some, a child starting school for the first time can create enormous anxiety about everything from cost and logistics to the possibility of catching head lice, being bullied, falling behind or dropping out altogether.

Some parents opt instead to “un-school” their children by choosing the less trodden path of educating their children at home.

The practice goes by many names: in addition to un-schooling, some call it life learning, natural learning or free-range learning. Perhaps the most familiar term is home schooling.

Québec’s Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport (MELS) outlines the obligations of parents who home school their children in its Home Schooling Policy Framework. The policy states that parents “must be able to ensure that their children receive instruction and benefit from an educational experience equivalent to what is provided at school and that will enable them to enter or re-enter a Québec school.” Parents must also “present an educational plan equivalent to what is provided in Québec schools … and any textbooks and teaching materials that will be used to ensure that their children are available for the school board evaluation.”

According to MELS, it is the duty of the school board to determine whether the instruction given at home would enable a child to enter or re-enter the public or private school system.

Abitibi resident Normande Vaillancourt chose home schooling well before her daughter, now 14, was even born. “Learning is something that can take place anywhere with any type of material. It could be explaining a concept by drawing it in the sand or on a piece of paper or what is going on in a park. This we do a lot of as we tend to travel a lot,” she said, adding, “With home schooling, a child has lots of time to play.

Their childhood is based around playing. As parents, we can follow their individual progress and link their learning with everyday experiences like what they saw and did that week.”

Catherine Arrouart decided to take her children’s education into her own hands after her 12-year-old daughter’s unpleasant experiences came to the fore in Grade 1.

“I believe my daughter became frustrated with not being able to decide what she wanted to learn or to follow her instinct. It seems like more time is spent on testing kids rather than teaching them. Plus, at school there are time restrictions on activities.

So, if your child feels like drawing for ten minutes or an hour, they can’t do that. There is no point in forcing a child to do something they hate. What I have learned from my own children is that when they are ready to learn something, they will snap it up very quickly.”

With regards to a daily learning schedule, this is determined by each family. As Arrouart explained, “Every family has a different schedule and way of doing things. It’s therefore up to them to create their own philosophy, adapting it to the needs of each child.”

The notion of labelling oneself as a “teacher” is not used in home-schooling families.  Instead, as in the case of both Arrouart and Vaillancourt, the preferred term parents use is “guide” or “instructors” in their children’s education.

Neither of them has opted for their children to complete the end-of-year examinations administered by MELS. Nonetheless, they regularly refer to the ministry’s website detailing the Progression of Learning for each subject. In this regard, the differences between traditional learning and home schooling are apparent. Rather than focusing on one particular theme and then evaluating what a child recalls about it, the philosophy behind home schooling is to create new skills, experiences and knowledge by following the rhythm and interests of each child.

“We do school every day. I know by looking at my daughter that she has had enough of something. So, we will work for one hour and then take a break before continuing on to something else,” explained Vaillancourt.

Arrouart added, “Kids need to be guided into learning what they don’t already know. It brings them to learn new things that they never knew existed. They may be reticent at first, but they end up finding something fun in the end. We guide them by taking their hand and often they surprise us by running ahead.”

Even if home schooling is demanding on many levels, for the families who do it, the experience itself is invaluable.

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