Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Homeschooling in China

This article caught my eye.

'Education at home' boy to be sent back to school

A case possibly involving Beijing's first dispute over fostering rights based on an argument over home schooling for a child or public education came to a conclusion yesterday with the court's verdict against the mother.


The Shijingshan District People's Court ruled against the divorced woman who wanted to win back the right to bring up her son. She had claimed her ex-husband was depriving the boy of a school education but the court found no evidence for that.


However, it did say the father must now send the 7-year-old boy to school because that would be better for the youngster's overall development.




Even though the father retained custody and an evaluation showed that homeschooling was working well for the boy, the boy will still be forced to go to school.


A test conducted by the Galaxy Primary School in Shijingshan District this month showed the child, who should be in the second grade, had already reached the level required for grade four students. The boy said in court that he enjoyed his home education.


In spite of China's new compulsory education law, homeschooling is gaining in popularity.


Some parents are still abandoning public schooling for various reasons such as a belief schools focus on high scores, assign too much homework and neglect those lagging behind, said Xu Xin, a professor with the Southwest University of Political Science and Law.

Do these criticisms against homeschooling sound familiar?

Xu said home schooling may also lead to defects in a child's personality, as he/she lacks chances to be involved in group activities.



It will be interesting to see how homeschooling grows in China.

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Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education,

3 comments:

KittyCat said...

Interesting blog - I'm living in China now and have just started thinking about homeschooling.

I really love teaching my toddler at home but wonder how he'll get his social network and stability through homeschooling.

That's my biggest worry as we're debating about his schooling should Hubby get a very mobile job in future. Instead of splitting up the family by being back inour home country with the kids, I thought of homeschooling.

The socializing and having no firm friends have me wondering if it's a good idea though...

Henry Cate said...

Each set of parents must make the decision what they think is best for their children.

I don't think public schools provide an overall great socialization experience. Think about the bullyings, exposure to drugs, focus on trivial things, and so on.

Homeschooling allows parents to teach their children better responses to social situations.

And children end up with stronger family ties.

Good luck in making your decision.

Patricia said...

Your blog is interesting and I was wondering if you'd like to check out Back-to-Homeschool, a free ezine magazine for homeschooled girls!
You can find it at
www.bthmagazine.wordpress.com
Enjoy,
Patricia, one of the founders