A comment made in response a recent homeschooling post really spurred my curiosity this morning. LEC23 said
Many of the kids are taught by radio in Australia or go to boarding schools, but my friend decided to homeschool.
I had to know more. Apparently, school at home is not an original American Idea. In places like Australia and even Alaska, when geography makes traditional classes impossible, creative and inventive ways to educate the masses has been found.
In Australia, School of the Air is the solution to the distance problem. The first on air lesson was in 1950 and by 1956; there were 12 schools on the air. Today over 1000 students are served. Adult on air education is quite popular as well.
While early students used pedal radios to connect with their teachers, School of the Air is currently evolving into “School on the net”. In May of 2000, 12 students have to see their teachers for the first time via a trial satellite teaching system. Currently, the Education Network Australia, affectionately known as Edna, makes it possible for students to learn online.
While Australia’s model of distance education is hardly homeschooling, but a closely related cousin to School At Home, I could not help but think how lucky these kids were to have such a relaxed system of education. The shame is they probably have no idea about just how lucky they are.
FYI: School at home is becoming quite popular in the United States as public schools try to retain control over homeschoolers and homeschooling. This effort has resulted in programs like K12. Many homeschoolers argue that using public school at home will slowly take away the rights of those who want to homeschool on their own terms. They feel that by accepting public services, and then the government will have the right to dictate that religion cannot be taught during “school” time, and that objectionable materials will be introduced. Others feel that the program is set up for failure to prove that homeschooling does not work.