What is homeschooling and how to switch to it? Homeschooling: pros and cons How to build a family preparation process

Homeschooling (homeschooling, from the English homeschooling - home education) is popular in the USA and Canada, and has been practiced there for many years. In Russia, homeschooling, although enshrined in law, still causes skepticism on the part of educational institutions. And parents have to be literally pioneers.Teacher-psychologist and mother of a home-schooled child Anna Devyatka talks about the pros, cons and nuances of home schooling.

For what?

We will start with the fact that it is important for every parent who is interested in home schooling to clearly understand their motives - what problems the family wants to solve with the help of home education. Someone wants to give their child a better education than at school, reducing the hours of general education subjects, such as music and drawing, and increasing the hours of specialized subjects, for example, physics, history, biology. For some parents, the issue of preserving the health of the child is acute. And by teaching him at home, they hope to avoid being overwhelmed. Some people, with the help of family education, combine the beginning of their child’s sports career and education.

What types of homeschooling are there?

Not all homeschoolers decide to teach their children at home. Nowadays, you can choose a public or private school that will help you stick to your subject plan.
There are full-time and correspondence types of training, when a child goes to school all day once or twice a week, and studies at home the rest of the time. In one or two days, children learn new material and practice it with their parents at home. At the same time, the learning process is clearly monitored by both parents and teachers.

You can also transfer a child in a regular school to correspondence education. In this case, the procedure for studying, providing homework and checking the completed work, consultations with teachers - all these nuances are discussed with the administration of the chosen educational institution, and may vary from school to school.

Full-time education in family schools suitable for those parents who are interested in their children attending school more often. Children go to school 3-4 times a week. These schools provide education in small classes with a carefully balanced course load.

Legal side


Homeschooling is regulated by laws. The Law “On Education” of July 10, 1992 gave parents the right to choose the form of education - to teach their child at school or in the family. Federal Law of the Russian Federation of December 29, 2012 N 273-FZ “On Education in the Russian Federation” also confirmed this right.

Why homeschooling is attractive

Individual approach. Family education allows you to build a schedule and education system that suits your child. It also allows you to approach the learning process creatively, through play, which is especially important in elementary school.

You can study from anywhere in the world. Since the main participants in the educational process are parents and children, this allows you to study from any country and combine travel, life in other countries with education in Russia.

You can choose your child's environment. Homeschooled children make friends based on their interests. And if we talk about the “homeschool” company, it is prestigious among them to know a lot and compete with each other on the topic “who knows more” and “who can tell more interesting things.” For a child, such an environment is an additional motivation to learn. However, this plus can easily be attributed to the minuses - after all, children can be allowed to choose their environment themselves, and not select only “good boys and girls.”

You will have a circle of like-minded people. When you start homeschooling your child, you will meet parents who are just as interested in learning, who are ready to communicate, make family friends and help each other.

The child learns to build relationships with different people and respect the differences of people. With teachers, friends, parents of friends, homeschoolers better understand that all people are different, everyone has their own point of view, they better navigate new rules and communicate with new people and sincerely do not understand what it is like to be “like everyone else.”

What's Unattractive About Homeschooling?

The child may become bored and lonely. No matter how well the child’s life schedule is organized, there are times when company will not hurt - for example, when the parents are busy with work, and the child is sad in the next room. Homeschool parents will support us - so that the child does not get bored, you can take care of additional meetings with friends, for example, inviting someone to visit.

The danger of gadgets. If your child is left at home alone, it is important to put time limits on computers, tablets and phones. We work to prevent computer addiction.

Alone at home. It is important to consider how long the child can stay at home alone, and whether a relative can help and look after him.

Payment for educational services. Typically, in the process of home education, parents hire tutors, and their work costs money. Also, joining a school can be either paid or free. If you do not want to leave your child alone, you will have to pay for the services of a nanny.

What parents need to be prepared for

In general, when choosing family education, parents should clearly understand their motivation. Based on it, it is important to write down goals for the year, and for the entire time that the child will study in the family. In addition to goals, it is important to identify criteria for monitoring the quality of education - whether it will be assignments completed for school, or a teacher’s assessment, or the Unified State Exam.

Parents should pay attention to nurturing their child’s self-motivation. This is important in any education, but since at school the child is additionally supervised by the teacher, and at home the child can sometimes do his homework himself while his mother works on the computer nearby, it is important that the child wants to do his homework efficiently and independently. Self-motivation and self-control are what parents can teach. There is no need to rush in this matter; you should spend at least six months on cultivating these qualities and continue to maintain these qualities.

Responsibility for the learning outcome is divided into several parts. The first and main part of the responsibility lies with the parents - on how they organize the learning process, whether they invite tutors in specialized subjects, and whether they explain to the child the importance of classes and a good education. In a word, will parents be able to create external motivation in their child?
The child’s responsibility is that he is sincerely interested in learning and tries to complete tasks on time and, if possible, independently.

Be prepared that during home schooling your child will be around you more often, so your schedule of work, sports, and meetings with friends will be constantly dependent on the child’s life schedule. Understand for yourself whether you are ready for this.

And the process of homeschooling itself requires the close attention of parents. For example, a child can work hard on homework all week, and on Saturday it turns out that he only did English, six months in advance. And on Saturday I came to my parents for help with math. That is, parents will have to constantly keep their finger on the pulse and, in a sense, play the role of a head teacher.

It is important to choose a pace of study that is appropriate for the child and his age. This way you will avoid overload and keep your child interested in learning. And if the child himself wants to read something additionally, study it more deeply, he always has the opportunity to do it on his own or ask his parents for help.

Elijah Wood, Julian Assange, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein - what unites these people besides talent? Each of them studied at home.

Probably every parent who sends their child to school has doubts. Will the baby cope? Will he be able to find a common language with his peers? Will he be able to develop his talents and interests? Homeschooling is a solution that parents around the world are increasingly turning to. The staff of the educational service Brainly.com decided to take a closer look at what the situation with home schooling looks like in practice in different countries.

The leader in this area is the United States, where homeschooling is legalized in all 50 states. About 3% of all students study at home, that is, more than one and a half million children. Parents decide to homeschool mainly to provide their children with appropriate spiritual and moral education, a safe learning environment, or because they are dissatisfied with the level of education at school.

Over the past few years, interest in homeschooling in Russia has increased significantly. Here, the number of students studying at home has increased from 10 to 100 thousand. Parents can choose between family education and external study. One of the main reasons for dropping out of school is dissatisfaction with the level of education. External education applies especially to high school students who prefer to prepare for the Unified State Exam at home.

In other countries, homeschooling conditions are more limited. In Ukraine, home schooling and external study also function, but the requirements that the student must fulfill are much higher. Children with health problems, especially gifted children with outstanding achievements in sports, or those whose parents often travel for work or are abroad can study outside of school.

In Turkey, so-called homeschooling is prohibited by law (National Education Basic Law (No. 1739, 06-14-1973, Article 22)). In Spain, homeschooling is not recognized as an official form of education (except in cases of children with serious health problems). In this country, homeschooling is not regulated by law. According to the decision of the Constitutional Court, parents do not have the right to choose a different type of education than school. They can only choose between private and public schools, or create educational institutions, according to paragraph 27.6 of the Spanish Constitution. To circumvent the law, some Spanish parents enroll their children in schools in other countries where home schooling is practiced.

In Germany, by law there is no obligation to study, as in some countries, but compulsory education, obtained only and exclusively at school. There have been cases where parents have been arrested for failing to fulfill school duties. Teaching children at home is considered an offence. Some parents try to circumvent the law and secretly teach their children at home. Research into this trend is carried out by Thomas Spiegler, who, in an article published in 2003, estimated that about 500 children are homeschooled in Germany. At the moment, according to this author’s estimates, we are talking about about 600-1000 children. American researchers claim that in Germany there are about 400 families teaching children at home and all these families operate “underground”.

In the Czech Republic and Poland, homeschooling is not very popular. There are no exact statistics. In addition to the fact that there are a lot of statements about the fact that the education system is far from ideal, only a few hundred people study at home. There are many reasons for this situation. First of all, you should pay attention to the fact that society does not fully understand what homeschooling actually entails.

One of the most often emphasized disadvantages is the poor socialization of children who study outside of school. Proponents of homeschooling around the world argue that school actually has little to do with socialization. At school, a child is in an environment that is imposed on him, among people with whom, apart from age, he sometimes has little in common. By studying at home, the student is able to learn the material much faster, and use his free time for additional classes, in accordance with his interests. Art school, music school, dancing, swimming pool - here you can find friends with whom you will share a hobby, and not just within the walls of the school. According to experts from countries where homeschooling is popular, children who learn this way are more confident, independent and inquisitive.

The next accusation concerns the quality of teaching. Opponents of homeschooling argue that parents are not able to teach their children on their own because they do not have enough knowledge. In different countries, the parents’ answer sounds similar: “We went to a traditional school, learned the school curriculum, and if several years after graduation our knowledge is considered insufficient, then this indicates the imperfection of the traditional education system.”

Supporters of homeschooling believe that outside of school their child is more protected not only from physical abuse, but also from mental abuse. Children are not humiliated or forced to speak out in public if they do not want to. As a result, in adult life they are not afraid to speak out in public, since they do not have unpleasant memories associated with it. Through homeschooling, parents provide their children with a sense of security and develop their self-esteem.

When should you decide to homeschool? Before parents decide to educate their child outside of school, they should weigh all the pros and cons, as well as the difficulties they will face:

• To avoid poor socialization of a child who is outside the school environment, parents should organize their children’s free time accordingly, ensuring that they have contact with children of a similar age.
• To teach their child well, parents must devote a lot of time and effort. Often one parent gives up his career to devote himself to teaching his children. This situation is especially beneficial when there are several children in a family who are homeschooled.
• It is difficult for parents to independently explain topics in some subjects and they are forced to hire a tutor or organize and teach children in groups, using the help of other like-minded parents.

When weighing the pros and cons of homeschooling, you should first take into account the child's abilities, interests and needs. It should be remembered that homeschooling does not negate school. We are talking about the opportunity to choose and about creating for the child the most favorable conditions for his development.

(Discussions about homeschooling in different countries.

Home education for schoolchildren every year it becomes more and more popular. And many parents are no longer afraid of the prospect of taking responsibility for their children’s education.

Who is it suitable for? homeschooling, and what it looks like in practice schoolchildren's home education?

Olga is a psychologist and psychology teacher by education (RIVSH BSU, Minsk), a gestalt therapist (Moscow Gestalt Institute), a diploma from the Higher School of Psychology (Moscow) in the program “Coaching and Leadership,” and a Master of Business Administration. Teaches in the MBA program.

Good afternoon, Olga! Thank you for agreeing to answer our questions!

What pros and cons do you see in home education?

The most important advantage is the health of the children. Different researchers come to the same conclusion: school worsens children’s health. If we take research from the Ministry of Health, we can say that the older schoolchildren get, the less healthy they are. By the end of school, the number of healthy children drops by 3-4 times. 93% of graduates have various diseases: neuropsychiatric disorders, gastritis, scoliosis, etc.

Children spend time immobile, are in a physiologically harmful position at their desks, in constant tension: fear of answering at the blackboard, conflicts with classmates, noise during breaks, inadequate nutrition at school... Children spend several hours a day in serious stress. Plus, the burden of homework is added to this.

By middle school, the difference between children who spend 9 hours on schoolwork and homework and a child who studies at home for 2 hours becomes obvious. The second spends the remaining free time in the fresh air, he gets enough sleep, and can afford to play sports.

If parents are able to pay for the services of a good tutor, it is obvious that the educational material will be learned better than in a school class of 25 children.

Homeschooled children They are more independent from evaluation and from other people’s opinions, they are more result-oriented and more independent. Children get used to not being in a herd or in a crowd. They grow up with bright personalities. From my point of view, this is a plus. Although parents with such children have a more difficult time than with an obedient child ( smiling).

The disadvantages of home education affect mainly parents ( smiling).

For mom, homeschooling becomes a second job - in fact, it is the work of the director of a mini-school. We need to find teachers, organize the educational process and logistics (if travel is necessary), and spend a lot of time with the children.

Every year there are more and more children being homeschooled in Russia. Now their number has reached 100,000 people.

What is the difference between family education and distance learning?

The Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” offers the following forms of education:

– full-time – regular school;

– part-time – part-time – a child can study some subjects at school, and some can take exams;

– correspondence (including distance learning);

– family education and self-education – education not according to the school curriculum, but as parents want.

The difference between correspondence education and family education is that in the first case the child strictly adheres to the school program, and with family education, he learns what the parents consider more correct.

It turns out that with the family form of education the child will be left without a certificate?

No. The child can take the final exams externally. It’s just that with this form of education there is no strict adherence to the school plan.

When do you need to take exams?

You can take current tests during the school year according to the school plan and be assigned a student to a specific class. In this case, you have the right to receive advice from teachers.

Or you can study according to the family form and, when you need a certificate, you will need to take all subjects at school.

How do you know if homeschooling is right for your child?

This training option is suitable for all children if it is compensated by parents.

Parents must be responsible and have the resources to provide their child with a complete environment, both learning and socially. If you think that someone else will have to organize this without your direct participation, then home schooling is not suitable for your family.

Also, the option of teaching at home may not be suitable for children - social activists who simply need power, social and organizational activities. In this case, school may be almost the only place to realize these ambitions. But there are only a few such children...

How will a homeschooled child learn to interact with peers? How does socialization work?

If we count that 24 hours a day for three months during the summer holidays, another month of autumn, winter and spring holidays, plus Saturdays and Sundays, plus holidays and time outside of school - this is how much time a year a child is away from the school community.

Then you need to take into account that this very socialization at school takes place during school breaks, which last 10 minutes. How long can a child freely communicate with peers at school? Can we be sure that this meager time will ensure the child’s socialization?

The best socialization occurs in companies that do not have adult supervision, so to speak, in an unstructured society. The ideal option is a yard company. Or in associations of interests: circles and sections. There are various health camps and sanatoriums. This is more than enough to learn how to interact with people.

When children of the same age are herded into a school building without any common interests, this is the wrong model for socialization. In real adult life, the models are different.

Common goals and interests are found among people of completely different ages. Therefore, I believe that the school model even worsens or reduces socialization. If we take the definition of socialization from Wikipedia, which is the ability to achieve success in adult society, then the likelihood of adult success after the school model decreases.

In many schools, teachers do not monitor the upbringing of children. We can observe bullying from classmates, even crimes by children against each other... And acquiring the habit of pleasing antisocial individuals at school is not at all the correct socialization of a child.

Socialization is making friends with more successful people and doing joint projects with them, the ability to join a team to work together and achieve goals. It turns out that it is activities based on interests that contribute to socialization.

What should parents be prepared for when transferring their child to home schooling?

Firstly, be prepared for criticism, gloomy forecasts and predictions from friends and relatives. There will definitely be public pressure. Our people cannot calmly look at those who do not follow the social order like everyone else ( smiling). And parents need to learn to send all well-wishers to go about their business.

Secondly, parents must be prepared for the financial and time costs. It’s easier for parents of children who go to school - they shift all responsibility to the school, and nothing concerns them.

How much time and money will homeschooling require from parents?

This depends on the ambitions of the parents and the degree of their desire to take direct part in the educational process.

You will need tutors in at least the following subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry and Russian. Also in specialized subjects for the selected university.

The school curriculum with tutors is mastered ten times faster. And it turns out not so expensive if you hire tutors in the 6th-7th grade.

Additional classes in sections and clubs. Here everything depends on the parents’ capabilities: you can enroll your child in free classes at municipal institutions, or you can pay for the most prestigious and expensive club in the city.

How to choose the right tutor?

For me, an important criterion is sincere love and good attitude towards children. In addition, the teacher should have his eyes “on fire” about his subject; he himself should be interested! I usually look for teachers by recommendations.

It is also important to find out what the cost of a lesson is for this tutor, and for how long he can give the school program in his subject. As a rule, 100-200 hours of study are enough to get a normal grade, 200-300 hours - for excellent knowledge of the subject.

Does the school somehow participate in the life of a homeschooled child?

School teachers visit only those children who are home-schooled for medical reasons. Usually these are children with disabilities.

If you are assigned to a school, then you are required to be provided with textbooks.

How to properly organize the day of a child who is studying at home?

If with schooling a child spends about 9 hours a day on school lessons and homework, then with home schooling the same amount of knowledge can be obtained in 2-3 hours. Imagine how much time a child has for extra sleep and walks!

In addition, there is no loss of time listening to other people's answers in class, establishing discipline in the classroom, or moving from class to class. The child is engaged in productive activities, spending very little time. For example, my daughter completes her six-month math workbook in a day and a half.

Therefore, there is no need to organize the day in any way. Of course, tutors come at certain times, there is a schedule for attending additional classes, clubs and sports sections. Specifically, there is no point in organizing classes at home according to the clock.

If a child is eager to go to school, of course, let him go. Don't deprive him of this experience. You can transfer your child to home schooling at any time.

If you decide something, then everything will work out!

(c) Interview with Olga Yurkovskaya for the deti-yar.ru project

interviewed by Lyubov Klimova

Debunking myths about the need for school

Why don't I send my children to school?

A strange question... I am rather perplexed why smart, educated city residents, especially those who have reached career heights and material security, break their children by innocently imprisoning them for eleven years in this System.

Yes, of course, in past centuries in the villages the Teacher was much more developed and financially secure, had a higher social position and level of culture than the children’s parents. And now?

Even then, the nobles did not send their children to schools, they organized education at home...

Why does a child need school and why does parents need it?

It is very convenient for working parents to put their child in a storage room under minimal supervision, consoling themselves with the fact that everyone does this. The position of non-working mothers with a wealthy husband looks more strange, who are so stressed by their own children that they even send them to after-school care... It seems that these children were given birth only as a way to provide for themselves financially, and if it were possible to send them to a boarding school without losing in money and public opinion, then almost all of them would do so...

A child almost never needs school. I have not yet met a single child who would want to continue going to school at the end of October instead of the holidays. Yes, of course, the child wants to socialize or play with friends, but not sit in class. That is, if you provide a child with comfortable communication outside of school, attending school completely loses its meaning for the child...

School doesn't teach kids anything

Now let's look at popular social myths that force parents to mindlessly maim their own children.

Myth one: school teaches (gives the child knowledge, education).

Modern urban children go to school already knowing how to read, write and count. No other knowledge acquired at school is used in adult life. The school curriculum consists of a haphazard collection of facts to be learned. Why remember them? Yandex will answer any questions much better. Those children who choose the appropriate specialization will study physics or chemistry again. The rest, after graduating from school, cannot remember what they were taught all these dreary years.

Considering that the school curriculum has not changed for many decades, and in it the child’s handwriting is much more important than touch typing on a computer keyboard, the school does not give the child any truly useful knowledge and skills for further success in adult life. Even if we assume that it is precisely this set of facts that a child really needs for memorizing a school subject, it can be given ten times faster.

What do tutors do successfully, teaching a child in a hundred hours what the teacher did not teach in 10 years and a thousand hours...

In general, this is a very strange system, when a thousand hours are stretched over several years... Already at the institute, each subject is taught in larger blocks over six months or a year. And a very strange method of teaching, when children are forced to sit still and listen to something...

The experience of numerous parents of applicants shows that several years of studying a subject - over a thousand hours at school plus homework - do not help the student know the subject sufficiently to enter a good university. In the last two school years, a tutor is hired and re-teaches the child this subject - as a rule, one hundred hours is enough to be among the best in the class.

I believe that a tutor (or computer programs, interesting textbooks with lively text, educational films, specialized clubs and courses) can be taken from the very beginning, in grades 5-6-7, without torturing the child, with this thousand hours of time A in the free time the child can find something he likes, INSTEAD OF SCHOOL.

School interferes with children's socialization.

Myth two: school is needed for the socialization of a child.

Socialization is the process of an individual’s assimilation of patterns of behavior, psychological attitudes, social norms and values, knowledge, skills that allow him function successfully in society. (Wikipedia)

What can be considered success in society? Who do we consider successful people? As a rule, they are accomplished professionals who make good money from their craft. Respected people who do their work very well and receive decent money for it.

In any field. Perhaps entrepreneurs – business owners.

Top managers. Major government officials. Prominent public figures. Popular athletes, artists, writers.

These people are distinguished primarily by ability to achieve your goals. Speed ​​of thinking. Ability to act. Activity. Strength of will. Perseverance. And, as a rule, they put in a lot of effort before achieving results. They know how not to leave things halfway. Excellent communication skills - negotiations, sales, public speaking, effective social relations. The ability to make decisions instantly and act immediately. Stress resistance. Fast, high-quality work with information. The ability to concentrate on one thing, discarding everything else. Observation. Intuition. Sensitivity. Leadership skills. The ability to make choices and take responsibility for them. Sincere passion for your business. And not only with their own work - their interest in life and cognitive activity is often no worse than that of preschoolers. They know how to give up unnecessary things.

They know how to find good teachers (mentors) and quickly learn things that are important for their development and career.

They think systematically and easily take a meta-position.

Does school teach these qualities?

Rather, on the contrary...

All the years of school, it is obvious that there is no question of any sincere passion - even if a student manages to become interested in a couple of subjects, they cannot be chosen by abandoning the uninteresting. They cannot be studied in depth at school. Most often they are carried away outside of school.

Achieving a result is of no interest to anyone - the bell has rung, and you must quit what you haven’t finished and go to the next lesson. For all 11 years, a child is taught that the result is not necessary and not important. Any business should be abandoned halfway through the call.

Speed ​​of thinking? When targeting average or weak students? When teaching with outdated, ineffective methods? With complete intellectual dependence on the teacher, when only mindless repetition of previously stated facts is allowed? A student with a high speed of thinking is simply not interested in lessons. At best, the teacher simply does not interfere with his reading under his desk.

Strength of will? Activity? The system will make every effort to make the child obedient. “Be like everyone else. Keep your head down,” is this the life wisdom that is needed for adult success in society?

They don’t teach high-quality work with information at school - most average students simply do not understand the text they read, and cannot analyze and formulate the main idea.

Responsibility for choice? So students are not given a choice...

Negotiations and public speaking? Development of intuition and sensitivity?

Leadership skills? Ability to act? Not included in the program at all...

The ability to give up the unnecessary needs to be replaced with the opposite ability to endure the unnecessary and useless for years.

Instead of internal reference, children develop emotional dependence on the often biased opinions of others, such as the teacher. This occurs against the backdrop of complete control of the student. A child does not have the right to express his own opinion with impunity.

Unfortunately, one can only dream about all the good teachers in school. More often than not, few urban parents are less educated and socially successful than teachers to prefer a teacher as a role model. With modern teachers, the so-called “double negative selection” occurs: first, those who were unable to score points at a more prestigious university enter pedagogical universities, and then only the least initiative graduates remain to work at the school, the rest find higher-paid and more prestigious jobs.

In general, the only society that is similar to school in adult life is prison. But it’s easier for prisoners there than for children: they are of different ages, with different interests, and they are not forced to do uninteresting things. There they understand why they are being punished. They will be released sooner than after 11 years, if they have not received a sentence for murder.

Is the school classroom a model of adult society? This is not true - I personally do not live in a world where all people are the same age... Where they have no common interests... Where I am forced to obey an underpaid loser... Where no matter how passionate I am about a task, after 45 minutes of a call I would have to quit it without achieve the result and run to another room...

Adults have a choice: what to do (and you can always change jobs and bosses), with whom to communicate, what to consider as a result, what interests to have.

In the modern world, the upbringing, education and socialization of a child is the responsibility of parents. When we send our child to school, we simply arrange things so that he does not disturb us. We are improving our lives now at the expense of his future career and happiness.

An alternative to educational traditions

How to harm a child with an assessment

Very often, parents consider the grades their child brings home from school as an important indicator of their parental success. And instead of giving responsibility for their children’s studies, such mothers and fathers make a serious mistake. They try to convince the child that his entire value is determined by the assessments of other people's aunts. What strangers think about him turns out to be more important than what kind of child he is, what inclinations and interests the child has.

When parents convey to their children that the external assessment of strangers is the most important thing in a child’s life, then this is a way to raise a child insecure, without his own opinion and his own choice.

If we scold children for bad grades, and even more often we scold not for bad grades, but for not the highest grades, then in fact we are trying to convince the child that his entire value is determined by other people’s grades, and what strangers think about him , is more important than what kind of child he is. As soon as we begin to make complaints to a child about the fact that he does not have the maximum grade, we immediately begin to do our best to form this dependence on other people’s opinions, contrary to our own.

What is good about the school system for the state and why is it bad for those parents who want something more for their children than working on an assembly line or working as a public sector employee? Precisely because at ten or eleven years old a child is taught that his opinion about himself is not significant. Only the opinion of strangers, expressed in the form of an assessment, matters.

It doesn't matter what the score is. “Excellent”, “good”, “satisfactory” - any of the assessments shifts the focus of our child’s attention from his, what is called in psychology, “internal reference”, that is, from his reliance on his own knowledge about himself, to his own opinion about himself, on his own opinion about some necessary important and necessary matters, on the contrary, on the fact that the child believes that he does not mean anything, the only thing that matters is what others think about him.

It turns out that by being too attentive to someone else’s assessment of our child, we are essentially betraying him and making him a loser. As a result, an adult does not have his own opinion; someone else’s assessment is more important to him than his own. Adult fear of negative evaluation is usually formed during the school years - by parents who attach inappropriately great importance to school grades.

Although in reality almost all adults understand perfectly well that at the age of 30 it does not matter whether you got a C in chemistry in the eighth grade does not in any way affect your adult success. Or an excellent grade in physics does not guarantee you love and success in business when you are 40.

So why harm your children?

How do “children without school” and their mother live?

I decided to collect in one note my answers to the numerous questions that I am asked after articles about the disadvantages of school and the alternative option of studying at home.

1. I don't have an answer to the question of whether personalized learning is right for you and your children. I DON'T KNOW. I don't know you.

Homeschooling is not for everyone. A small percentage of the population of any country is capable of taking responsibility for the development of their children. Most parents find it easier to send their child somewhere rather than do it themselves. Particularly because even a parent-manager or teacher finds it much more difficult to motivate his own child than the adults subordinate to him.

And not all parents have enough resources to provide their children with a good educational environment.

2. The experience of countries where homeschooling is the norm statistically confirms the benefits of homeschooling. As a result, home-schooled American children enter the best universities. And in the future they receive many times larger salaries. This is not least because parents invest much more effort into their children at home. Therefore, grown children build more successful careers.

3. It won't be easy right away. In the beginning you will have to go through a lot:

1) Step over your fears: “how I won’t be like everyone else,” “what if I’m depriving my child of something,” “I can’t handle it,” “they will judge me,” “it’s very expensive and takes a lot of time,” and etc.

2) “Fight the battle” with relatives and school administration in order to enroll the child in an individual plan.

3) Constantly listen to moral teachings from relatives and people around you about how wrong you are living. And their dire predictions for your children.

4) Organize the educational process yourself.

5) Pay for tutors and spend much more time with the child.

My experience and the experience of my friends (excellent tutors, teachers “from God”) shows that the child does not perceive his own mother and “does not listen.” You can teach strangers anything. But their own children learn only through joint activities (games, conversations, discussions, activities, etc.). The format of “lessons” with your own children, as a rule, does not work. Teaching your children (not through joint activities, but through lessons) is much more difficult than being a teacher to strangers. The child is used to a different relationship with his mother.

You can, of course, teach your child yourself. But personally, a tutor costs me less (I earn more during this time than if I tutored the children myself). And it’s more efficient in terms of time - she explains faster and gets results than I can. For a day of my work, I pay for a year of work for a tutor with my children. And freed from the need to engage in uninteresting and unnecessary school routine. There are a million more useful and interesting things to do together than teaching school lessons to your child. I prefer to be an authority for a child in the field of my professional knowledge, rather than stand over his soul with dictations or demand that he tell me the rules from the textbook. So it’s better to save your nerves and earn more during this time. Hire a tutor - “someone else’s aunt” will teach you school subjects faster.

And involve your child in your adult affairs. Give him a feasible job within your profession, for example. Send them to different clubs. Download educational games.

A tutor comes to my daughters once a week for 1.5 hours - that’s enough. Children read a lot on their own and it is easy for them to learn.

5. The ability for self-development is killed at school. In kindergarten, children are endlessly interested in everything and develop very quickly. By leaving your child to study at home, you maintain his cognitive activity.

6. It is also very convenient to motivate a child to complete independent tasks with the “most terrible threat”: “If you don’t complete the test on time, they will be removed from the individual plan. And you will be required to go to school every day.” It works very well... Especially if the rest of the motivation is “managed” by the tutor. For example, my daughters really don’t want to upset her, so they quickly do all the tasks before she arrives.

7. On an individual basis (in Belarus) in elementary school, children are required to pass tests or tests in the main subjects: Russian and Belarusian (language and literature), mathematics, the world around them, English. Then other items will be added. You can do this at least once every quarter. It’s more convenient for me and easier for the children to do this once a week as the class progresses through the program - the teacher gives assignments home, checks the completed ones, calls them to the board in those lessons that my children agreed to attend (and persuades them to go more often - they don’t want to at all, despite continuous praise and 10's). They write some of the tests in class so that the teacher makes sure that they themselves know, and not someone at home decided for them. Basically, they do a weekly program in 1.5 hours with a tutor. This doesn’t concern me in any case, my favorite phrase is: “4 (out of 10) is an excellent rating so as not to be removed from the individual plan. Enough!!!"

To apply for an individual plan, you only need an application from the documents. But in order for the school director and teacher council to allow it (nowadays in Belarus it is at their discretion), you need to communicate with them normally, tell them why your child cannot attend school every day. The easiest way is to register at the school where children are already studying on an individual basis (call and find out at your RONO). They need clear arguments: about the child playing professional sports during lessons, about parents’ endless business trips or generally living outside the country part of the time... Some simple explanation that it’s not school that’s bad, but simply not the opportunity to go every day (but we’ll try to go to the maximum) ;)

Teachers are comfortable with such children - they are in the class, and there is no need to teach it; it is easier to teach when there are fewer children

For a really good relationship, you can invite your own teacher to be a paid tutor once a week (ours refused, saying that she couldn’t take money and tutor when the child was already keeping up :))

8. With the current focus on lagging and average children, even the most excellent teacher does not have the opportunity to work normally with “strong” children. My daughters are very, very bored in class: I decided that I and all my neighbors had nothing to do. But half the class can't cope. I don’t even understand what children are doing in elementary school, if instead of 25 hours mine study for 1.5 hours a week with a tutor - and they have 9 and 10.

The daughters are in the class. Each morning they have the choice to attend all classes. Do not want. At all. They prefer to stop by for a while to take tests and take new ones.

9. Grades are not important to me at all. No way. And most of all, I want to protect children from this school assessment - as I wrote, it harms real achievements in adult life.

It harms both excellent students and poor students. Wrong criteria from the wrong results and by the wrong people...

When a child wins (or loses) in sports, this is the correct assessment - based on the result. But not a school grade.

There is no way to make a real assessment in schooling. It all lacks practical application and measurable results.

If my daughter manages to read half a book while her neighbor at her desk reads one page, then this is not a reason to give her a 10 - there is no result for her. This is an indicator that she has been reading for 6 years, has taken speed reading courses and has read several hundred books. But my neighbor hasn’t even read ten books; she learned to read at school and has been reading for two years using a poor method.

Therefore, assessment in such a situation harms both girls (especially self-esteem) - this is not their results (but the results of their mothers’ different approaches to teaching).

My rating is that a child is busy doing something with interest and passion - 10. ;)

And all attempts at assessment are a failure! ;)

For example, a beadwork circle - each girl makes her own products (she chooses what she wants from the samples) - the result is clear, the process is a pleasure. And no grades are needed... I like this kind of activity for children - each at their own pace, some will make one product, some 10, some simple, some super complex... And why else are there grades?

Or an animation club (at the computer).

It’s all free with us - and much more useful and fun than school lessons...

I am categorically against assessments - life will appreciate the result, why traumatize and spoil childhood...

10. School subjects don’t bother me at all - I sincerely don’t understand why it is necessary to teach exactly such a volume of just such disciplines (I would formulate the program completely differently, now we are not in an agricultural or industrial age, but very much in the information age).

Parents still hire tutors before entering a university - I prefer to do this right away (grades 6-7 or whenever), without first torturing the children with a thousand hours of incorrect study of the subject. In just 100-200 hours of interesting individual lessons, the child will know the subject better than the school teacher;) saving 1000 hours for more exciting activities than sitting in class;)

Studying with tutors can be replaced with free clubs in the relevant field. Or preparatory courses at BSU - it’s inexpensive.

My and my friends’ children go to almost all of my and my friends’ clubs either for FREE or for a nominal fee.

11. My children cannot have any problems with mathematics thanks to chess, handling Belarusian money.

With humanities subjects after speed reading courses (later we will go through advanced levels), the issue is closed up to and including institute

My children read a lot, so they write correctly - there is a direct relationship.

That is, there is simply nothing for daughters to do at school - out-of-school teaching methods allow them to absorb a larger amount of information several tens (or hundreds) times faster.

School is nothing more than a storage room for children. My children can spend a good time at home too

12. A child’s ability to be in society is best developed in “yard companies.” When interaction occurs without boundaries and without adult control. This could be a group of children with a grandmother in the village or at the dacha, in a sanatorium or pioneer camp, after a club or school, at competitions, and so on. The point is that during 10 minutes of recess under the supervision of teachers, the child’s ability to interact with other people does not develop as well as in a freer environment. And we spend at least 5 hours every day doing this... For what?! There is always an alternative: as a child, I made more friends in the company of chess and in the yard. In addition, in sports sections there is almost no risk of being in a situation of “bullying”, as often happens at school.

13. About the teachers.

I have never seen a single argument proving that highly paid, successful people work in modern Belarusian schools. The fact that 30-40 years ago some of you had a “star” staff of teachers in individual schools - has no relation to the current situation. We grew up in a different time, when everyone's salaries were approximately equal. With other teachers - respected people in society. Now everything is different.

With modern teachers, the so-called “double negative selection” occurs: first, those who were unable to score points at a more prestigious university enter pedagogical universities, and then only the least initiative graduates remain to work at the school, the rest find higher-paid and more prestigious jobs.

For me, isolated examples of wonderful people among teachers of past centuries are never an argument for me to send my children to be “scrapped” into the modern system of Belarusian school education. I absolutely don’t see the connection between Janusz Korczak and the students of the pedagogical university who did not get the passing grade for admission to a more prestigious institute... And then, according to assignment, they teach poor children what they themselves don’t really know... They creep before the administration, they step on their own beliefs every day, they are guided by their fears, they complain on the sidelines and still obediently fulfill everything that is required of them outside the scope of the contract...

I can't stop seeing that most of the teachers have stopped growing professionally. Many of these women have not had the best personal life - and this is transmitted to the children... And school teachers remain in their jobs not because this is their calling and they enjoy every hour of work, but rather out of despair: all these “I’ll finish it before pensions” or “what else can I do”...

I can respect people for their actions and actions. For strength of character, for will. I don’t see any point in treating other than indifference to whiners who do nothing to improve their lives, who pompously rant, blaming more successful people, but even their envy does not help them start doing something with themselves and their lives.

And I don’t want my children to spend their childhood listening to ideology and other delightful activities...

14. Of course, there are exceptions. Isolated cases. But out of dozens of teachers, how many “exceptions” will teach your child, especially in grades 5-11? And what should the students of the other teachers do? And what should parents answer when their child asks: “Mom, why does the teacher yell at us all the time?” Do you have any other answer other than: “Because I’m unsuitable!”???

15. I proceed from the concept that society pays for the work of each person in accordance with the BENEFIT brought by the person: if we take away from the “good” forcibly inflicted on schoolchildren the harm that teachers cause by imposing discipline, ideology, equalization and other delights of school, then labor Most teachers are assessed quite adequately. Or even half of the teachers may have a negative value, that is, they are overpaid...

16. Each person chooses for himself: where and with whom he works, how much and how he earns, what his life is filled with. Teachers themselves CHOSE to shove unclaimed, unnecessary knowledge into unmotivated people for a shameful salary. The same goes for saleswomen and assembly line workers: these people CHOOSE not to learn and not to grow.

My friends and I earn decent money: but we are all constantly learning, at any age.

I spend more annually on my education than the average annual salary in the country. And your time. Despite three children and work. I read hundreds of professional books every year, listen to audio courses while driving, and watch hundreds of hours of video courses - all of this is available on the Internet for free. They prefer to watch TV. That's why I shouldn't sympathize their small salary and low status!!! What did they THEMSELVES do to improve their lives???

We are colleagues with teachers: TEACHERS. But I don’t have to bear all their burdens and not be a “respected person in society.” Because I don’t hold on to the “rate”, but have registered as an Individual Entrepreneur and I'm responsible myself for their income level.

I do not have such pride as to try to become a TEACHER for children who are forced to be in the same room with me. I prefer to teach people who care and need what I show. For whom what they receive from me will IMPROVE their lives. It will be useful and will be used.

I respect tutors: these people don’t sit and whine about how little they are paid and how badly they are treated... They EARN EARNINGS!!!

17. I was taught and taught now by people who earn more per day than the annual salary of school teachers. Everything that I can and know (that I use in life), I received outside of school. I can't remember a single teacher from all my schools from whom I would receive at least something that I use in my life now.

18. In teaching my children, I prefer to use the findings and methodological materials of business trainers and management consultants - this is closer to me professionally than the methodological developments of Belarusian teachers... ;)

19. Personally, I have nothing to do with the school education system. Just a mom who chose to homeschool her children. I don't care about government policy. I am not fighting for “world peace.” Everything suits me. As long as they don't interfere. I am sure that if every person takes care of his family and his business/work with maximum dedication, then the life of the entire society will be much better than from endless “talking shops” and demagoguery. I have neither the time nor the desire to participate in political discussions.

20. I don’t consider myself a role model, God forbid - I’m not at all drawn to this narcissism;) I do not and will not have a goal to please EVERYONE. I live my life, raise my children. I wish the same for everyone. I write my thoughts and my experiences with my children. Other parents will have different experiences.

21. I willingly answer questions like “how to do this?” or “how are you doing?” But I am not tolerant of evaluative statements about my inconsistency with other people’s ideals. As a rule, I remove aggressive evaluative judgments addressed to me. And I immediately click “block” those inadequate people who allow themselves such ridiculous behavior.

Why won't modern school change anytime soon?

When I hear how education officials begin to scold, I am always surprised. If we consider the Ministry of Education as a business structure, then they work great - the customer pays money for the desired result, and for years they clearly deliver the paid product in accordance with the “technical specifications”.

Try to forget the demagoguery and rhetorical speeches of officials. Think about what two functions are performed by a school commissioned and paid for by the state? Yes, right. First of all, children should not interfere parents work for the state (if not work as a public sector employee, then at least pay taxes). To do this, children must be safely supervised during the working day. In principle, the school does not care whether the child can use the knowledge acquired at his desk in real life. Our schools are responsible only for the physical safety of children.

Secondly, graduates should fill empty jobs. Who is the state missing? What positions are often vacant? Artists? Writers? Actresses? Directors? Singers? Of course not. The school is implementing a national goal: to produce standard socialized robots to work as officials and factory workers. And the Ministry of Education is doing an excellent job with this task.

Basically, the state has a problem with filling the most “non-prestigious” places - it needs workers and state employees. That is, the school is faced with the task of creating “dumb” personnel during the training process for unfilled vacancies with low-paid routine work. And the school copes with this task perfectly.

The way of teaching that we have as a given does not burden children intellectually, but, on the contrary, discourages them from learning and kills cognitive activity. High-quality learning is only possible through living and doing it yourself. All this information noise, called lessons at school, is not learning, but a waste of time and the deliberate “dumbing down” of the child.

Children need real-life activities that are fun and understandable. An experience that can be reproduced with one’s own hands is important for a child. Take, for example, chemistry or physics - the most boring subjects in school. However, in Moscow there is the “Professor Nicolas Show”, which demonstrates physical and chemical experiments at children's parties and birthdays. The children are delighted - they are interested in this clear and visual form of learning.

The essence of our educational culture is simple: the school curriculum, to put it mildly, is outdated, and the skills and knowledge acquired do not at all correspond to what a child actually needs in life, and even more so does not correspond to the necessary skills of an adult - in a well-paid job or in business. At the same time, the school curriculum is so easy and primitive that, with the help of modern teaching methods, it can be mastered by an intelligent child in a much shorter period of time than is allotted for it. Therefore, it is easier for more developed children to go through it without entering into confrontation with the existing system, and to obtain the necessary knowledge on their own or with the help of interested adults.

Let's look at exactly how education is organized at school from the point of view of obtaining the result the state needs - training a worker for an assembly line at a factory or training a minor official.

What is assembly line work? These are the same type of routine operations that have no final goal. The worker does them mechanically, without thinking. Creative thinking and free will are prohibited. Similarly, in school it is forbidden to solve problems not according to the scheme, but in a new way. You must do everything as it is written in the textbook. The child must give answers to questions, clearly repeating them after the teacher, without expressing his opinion under pain of a bad grade.

The start of work, breaks, and end of work are strictly regulated - both at the factory and at school. All children should be equally “working” - they study the same disciplines at the same speed. The manifestation of a child’s personal characteristics is prohibited or condemned.

The teaching methodology is designed to “dumb down” children through obedience, to accustom the child to the routine repetition of primitive operations.

School lessons consist of a complete waste of time. They are making noise, they are seated - it is necessary to quiet the whole class, several minutes pass until the teacher calms everyone down. We opened the textbooks - it will take a few minutes until everyone finds the right page. The teacher repeats the same thing from lesson to lesson and asks the children the same thing.

The main forces of teachers are spent on teaching children to automatically obey, to work exactly on cue, to mechanically repeat what they have learned.

Thus, in 11 years, the state manages to create socialized “robots” out of approximately 90% of children, willing to do physical work or routine “mechanical” pseudo-intellectual labor every day for a small salary of a public sector employee. Which is the second function of the school besides the “storage room”.

Our statesmen are not able to foresee the near future. So why does the state need to change anything in the education system if the existing system, in their opinion, copes with the assigned tasks perfectly?

What does the future hold for our children?

In recent years, the world has been changing at tremendous speed. We are bombarded with information, new technologies are constantly being invented, and our lives are almost incomparable to the lives of our ancestors. Society has changed so much that the time-tested recipes “how to live correctly” from our grandmothers and great-grandmothers no longer work.

Their parenting recipes did not work for our mothers, even in raising our generation. Moreover, they cannot work on our children. And if we want our children not to get lost in this world, so that they can act normally, build a career or their own business, create happy families, then we need to do something differently.

Let's go back to nineteen fourteen - a hundred years ago. How did any peasant family live? “The horse slowly climbs up the mountain,” and a six-year-old child is a full-fledged labor unit. Mom doesn’t have to think about his education, his self-realization, or unlocking his personal potential. Everything is fine with them: he is a man at six years old, the second man in the family, he carries brushwood. And he will live like this all his life. And everything is fine with my mother, she doesn’t need to take her to classes or pay for a tutor - life is good.

As soon as we talk about people who in those years wanted to give their children more than a hard peasant fate, for example, about nobles, then household appliances were replaced by a cook and a maid, the child was not even given tutors, but foreign tutors were hired with accommodation. And after home education, the children went to an elite lyceum with highly paid teaching staff.

If we take Soviet times, our grandmothers were lucky to have our mothers - everything was clear and understandable. There was a school next to the house. Or the child could strain himself and enter the best gymnasium, then the university. If a child “didn’t have the desire” to go to college, he, oddly enough, after vocational school, earned more at the factory than an engineer with a higher education earned.

And it was clear what and how to teach children. The parents’ task was quite simple: to get them into a better school and help them get into a more prestigious institute, after which the child’s life would automatically settle normally. What to do with children was completely clear in the Soviet Union - the child would finish school, graduate from a university and be a respected member of society.

Unfortunately, now graduating from any Russian university no longer gives anyone any guarantees. But the Russian school will be of little help to those dreaming of entering Harvard.

And parents who want success and happiness for their children have a problem: the world is changing very quickly. In a maximum of ten years, technology and robots will replace many routine operations associated with physical labor. There are already factories that employ two operators instead of a thousand workers. Two people control the robots, the rest is automated. Robots have been invented to replace the labor of cleaners, drivers, and workers. A number of professions will soon disappear, just as pagers recently disappeared.

All that remains is to reduce the cost of production, and routine low-paid physical labor will be transferred to technology. In 20 years, none of our children will be able to go to work as a janitor, worker or taxi driver, even if they want to. As soon as robots become cheaper as part of mass production, any entrepreneur will choose not to hire a worker, but to buy a robot that works three shifts, does not get sick and does not drink. The cost of purchasing a robot due to savings on salaries, sick leave and vacation pay will be recouped in a couple of years.

People who fail to become intellectually developed and creative will live on welfare, because there will be practically no simple physical work left for them. Technology now is significantly different from what it was 20 years ago. And in another 20 years, our children will have to live in a world where physical labor will be almost completely transferred to technology and robots.

The second type of work that will almost disappear in the expected future is routine intellectual work, gradually being replaced by computer programs. Thanks to IT technologies, where previously a thousand accountants were required, five, but highly qualified ones, will be enough, the rest will be calculated by a computer. Thanks to automation and the introduction of e-government systems, the need for officials will significantly decrease. The number of jobs with routine, non-creative work, previously considered intellectual, will be reduced tenfold due to IT technologies.

It is obvious that our statesmen cannot calculate the change in the structure of the labor market. They are unable to prepare in advance for that new world where there will be robots, where everything will be in computer programs, where there will be no demand for low-skilled labor and for the modern level of education of schoolchildren and students in the post-Soviet space. And this trend is visible in Western countries - a huge number of workers have become unemployed, they cannot find another job, they sit on social benefits and die by drinking themselves, because there is no meaning in life, there are no goals. Similarly, university graduates in these countries cannot find a job based on their diploma.

And either our children will receive a different education thanks to us, or we, with the help of school, will spend their childhood on knowledge and skills that were useful in the 19th century, but in 20 years will not even help the child simply find any job and feed himself. Yes, there will be individual brilliant children who will “make their way on their own.” But are you sure that your child will be one of them? Personally, I prefer to give my children the knowledge, skills and abilities that are in demand in the modern world.

It's no secret that quality education plays a very important role these days. People with a high level of qualifications are in demand always and everywhere; they are needed in professions both in the humanitarian and purely scientific spheres.

School and home education

One of the initial stages of obtaining a systematized knowledge base is school. By completing it, a person receives the minimum of those skills and qualities that he needs in life. For many years, the question did not even arise about whether it was necessary to attend school at all and whether it was compulsory, because this fact was considered immutable and was the responsibility of every child and adolescent. Today, people are increasingly hearing the phrase “homeschooling school.” What is it - myth or reality?

As it turns out, this type of education is becoming increasingly popular in our country. More and more children, together with their parents, are deciding to choose homeschooling.

Reasons for switching to homeschooling

This happens largely due to the divergence of interests between the school and the students: many believe that the school does not provide the really necessary knowledge and useful skills, and prefer to organize their schedule independently. Others are talented child athletes or artists, etc., who cannot attend school every day and spend time on extensive homework because they work hard to achieve their goal. Others are forced to resort to individual training at home due to serious illness or disability. Sometimes situations arise when a child categorically refuses to attend an educational institution due to constant conflicts with classmates and teachers, and then family education can serve as a solution. But how to switch to homeschooling at school, what could be the consequences? Homeschooling at school - what it is and how it differs from others, it is better to study these and other questions in advance.

Types and characteristics of homeschooling

There are six types of homeschooling accepted around the world:

• Family learning. It involves organizing the educational process by parents acting as teachers themselves, or inviting teachers. In this case, the student is assigned to the school and has the right to attend it. However, according to the family's decision, it would be better for him to undergo studies on the basis of an officially established program with annual certification. Also, in order to receive a real diploma confirming graduation from school, the child will need to pass an exam.
• Homeschooling with partial school attendance. This option is suitable for children who have certain medical conditions that limit attendance at an educational institution. Children with a number of illnesses are allowed to partially attend classes so as not to lag too far behind their team.
• Homeschooling at school. What is it: for health reasons, some children are indicated for home schooling. In this case, the child studies the general education program of the school in which he is registered with teachers, but options for independent learning of the child are also acceptable. Tests and exams are also taken at home. This option is designed specifically for children with disabilities. But it seems possible to obtain permission for this form of education only if there is an appropriate resolution of the medical commission.
• Externship. Ideal for children with a high level of knowledge, for whom the average school curriculum is much easier. The child takes exams immediately (often two or three years in advance) without any intermediate tests or other tests. It can be designed for children of any age.
• Remote method. In the era of high technology, this teaching method is perfect for students who live far from school or who want to gain knowledge from more qualified teachers. This can be either an addition to attending school or a complete replacement for it. Training and communication with teachers takes place remotely. All necessary materials can be obtained from a unique online system. But the child can also communicate directly with teachers (for example, through applications such as Skype), and all tests will be taken online. All details of this method are agreed with the school administration.
• Unschooling. It is the most radical learning option. It is based on the complete exclusion of school from life. Parents teach their children independently, without being guided by any program. Because of this, it is unknown whether the child will be able to fully develop and live in society further. For the above reasons, this type of individual homeschooling is prohibited in many countries around the world.

Legal reasons for switching to homeschooling

The possibility of switching to home schooling has been confirmed at the legislative level. This issue is regulated in the Russian Federation" No. 273-FZ dated December 21, 2012, as amended in 2016-2017.

State aid

The federal law states that the state provides assistance to families in which children have switched to home schooling.

You can learn more about state support for home-schooled children by studying the explanatory letter of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation “On the organization of education in a family form.”

Transition to homeschooling

How to switch to homeschooling correctly, without harm to the child? This is one of the first questions parents ask when deciding to homeschool their children. There is a biased attitude towards the topic of homeschooling in Russia. Based on established traditions and methods of education, culture in general and the foundations of society, this is considered not only unacceptable and wrong, but rather unusual. Although now there is an orientation toward the West and forms of teaching “over the hill,” the Russian people are not yet quite ready for this method of obtaining basic knowledge. However, if the decision has been made, and even more so, home schooling is necessary for health reasons, then action must be taken immediately.

Algorithm of actions

Usually everything is the same, with the exception of the option when homeschooling is required for children with disabilities:

• You need to know exactly what type of homeschooling is right for your child.
• If the reason is a disability, it is necessary to collect the entire package of documents confirming this (a complete list of certificates and medical indications can be obtained from the Department of Education).
• Having received a satisfactory response from the commission, write an application addressed to the director of the selected school or to the department of education, referring to the Federal Law “On Education in the Russian Federation” No. 273-FZ of December 21, 2012 and attaching all medical documents.
• You need to find a school that has adopted a provision for home education.
• Next, it is necessary to draw up a working home education program that is convenient and necessary for a particular child. Teachers will be selected to teach him at home, and his parents will keep track of his progress.
• If the children do not have any health restrictions that prevent them from attending school, then a parental decision and an application addressed to the school director is sufficient. A commission will also be assembled, where, most likely, the child himself will be invited in order to find out his attitude to the above idea. After the meeting, a final answer will be made, and then the student will be assigned to the school, where he will come for mandatory certification

Important points

It is advisable for parents to know some subtleties before arranging their child for home schooling:

• Children enrolled in family education, on the basis of an agreement concluded with the administration of the chosen school, have the right to return to full-time schooling at any time.
• The family education agreement signed by the school administration may be terminated by it in the event of unsatisfactory results of the passed certification.
• If a child, switching to home schooling, is forced to leave the educational institution he previously attended, his administration may force him to write a statement of expulsion. But this is not legally supported, which means it gives the right not to fulfill the request. After all, sometimes the transition to homeschooling does not give the expected results, and there is a need to return the child to full-time education, and the previous school is the most convenient.

Advantages and disadvantages

• Convenient, flexible study schedule.
• Lack of coercion on the part of teachers and humiliation and violence on the part of students.
• More in-depth study of your favorite subjects.
• A chance to prevent bad influence from peers.
• Reducing the overall risk of deterioration in health (problems with vision, spine, nervous system);
• Possibility of accelerated development of the school curriculum.
• “Not belonging” to the gray, common mass with standardization of knowledge.

• Lack of strict discipline.
• Full parental control, great responsibility.
• Possibility of developing inferiority complexes due to studying alone.
• There is no constant socialization with peers, which makes the child less experienced in life (although this can be argued, given that the child will attend various hobby groups, events, if an entertainment program is organized for him, as well as friendly and family meetings).
• Parents' knowledge is not always enough for a child's full education.

Bells, desks, stern but fair teachers, best friends and classmates - is it possible to do without these attributes of childhood? Just ten to fifteen years ago, it seemed that there was no alternative, school education was compulsory and few were able to avoid attending classes. Little circus performers and athletes, actors and musicians, and children of diplomats studied according to their own schedule. Everyone else was doing their homework well. In 1992, a decree was issued according to which any child had the opportunity to study at home and take exams externally. And family education (or homeschooling) quickly became fashionable. It is chosen by a variety of people - advanced vegans and yogis, opponents of mixed or secular education, freelancers and free travelers, parents of children with disabilities, and even the most ordinary fathers and mothers who have had an aversion to traditional school since childhood. Is it good or bad?

Pros of Homeschooling

Children learn when they want and in the way that suits them.

Pressure from teachers and peers is excluded.

There is no need to follow unnecessary rules and rituals.

The ability to control moral and ethical standards.

The ability to live according to the natural biological clock.

Opportunity to study special subjects - rare languages, art, architecture, etc. since childhood.

Training takes place in a gentle home environment, reducing the risk of school injuries, problems with posture and vision.

An individual program helps to develop a personality.

Close contact between parents and children is maintained, and outside influence is excluded.

The opportunity to master the school curriculum in less than 10 years.

Cons of Homeschooling

The child does not receive socialization, experience of interaction with the “typical” team.

Constant parental monitoring of the learning process is necessary.

There is no strict discipline, no need for constant work “from call to call.”

The experience of conflicts with peers and “seniors in rank” is not gained.

Difficulties arise in obtaining diplomas and entering higher educational institutions.

Parents are not always able to teach precise subjects or arts, or systematic thinking.

Parental overprotection can lead to infantilism or egocentrism in the child.

Everyday inexperience will become a hindrance when starting an independent life.

The imposition of unconventional views and life values ​​limits the child.

The child gets used to the image of a “black sheep”, “not like everyone else.”

Cool room

The need for home schooling is determined by several factors - the lifestyle of the parents and the characteristics of the child. For a family from a metropolis, in which both father and mother work in offices “from nine to five,” it is almost impossible, and it is also pointless, to transfer a child to external studies - hiring him a teacher in all subjects is quite difficult. This form of study requires an adult who can devote at least several hours a day to work with the child, contact the educational institution, and supervise independent lessons.

Homeschooling is the best option for families who are forced to travel a lot, move from city to city, live abroad, in small remote villages far from decent schools. Individual classes or partial school attendance are necessary for seriously ill children, with certain developmental disabilities (autism, ADHD) or disabilities, adopted children with severe pedagogical neglect. Temporary home schooling (for one academic year) is part of rehabilitation after severe stress and psychological trauma, dangerous diseases, etc. In some situations, it makes sense to transfer a gifted child with autistic personality traits to an external program. Individual training is hardly suitable for sociable, active extroverts, as well as for children who are uninitiative, lazy and incapable of self-discipline.

Homeschooling forms

Unschooling– refusal of school and the school curriculum in general. Adherents of unschooling believe that they know better what and how to teach their children, they doubt the need for secondary education, the Unified State Exam, etc. The fatal consequence of unschooling is that by the age of 16-17, a child will no longer be able to master the knowledge necessary to enter a university and acquire any complex profession. In Russia, unschooling is formally prohibited.

Actually homeschooling– individual lessons with school teachers at home, taking tests, exams, etc. It is issued on the basis of a medical certificate if it is impossible to attend school.

Partial Homeschooling– attending several lessons per day or per week. Part of inclusive education for children with special needs. Issued based on a medical certificate.

Externship– self-study at home with passing exams and tests, without going to school. Issued by agreement with the school management.

Distance education– learning via the Internet, contacting teachers via Skype or on forums, completing homework and tests online. It is issued by the school administration.

It’s not for nothing that a mass school is called “mass”; it is designed for the average majority of children; homeschooling requires an individual approach. What is best for your child is up to you to decide!