No. 594, September 8, 2008

The review

A Great Book

read by Jonas Himmelstrand

Free Range Education

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The institution of compulsory school is an invention of the early industrial age. Will it survive into the knowledge age? Some books on educational theory doubt it. But still, everyone still goes to school, so isn’t it just intellectual speculation?

Not quite. In Free Range Education – How home education works writer Terri Dowty has collected real-life stories from the first modern large scale educational alternative to school – home education.

Home education is a growing educational movement involving several million pupils in primarily Anglo-Saxon countries. Although a wide range of educational methods are used – from school-at-home to very autonomous "unschooling" approaches – home schooling delivers impressive academic and social results.

Terri Dowty has written the introduction and then parents and home educated youngsters share their individual stories in 22 chapters. Ian Dowty, a solicitor, finishes the book writing about legal matters concerning home schooling in England.

One strong chapter is written by sixteen year old Ann who has been solely home educated. She shares about her rich social environment of home educated friends in different ages and friends who go to school. She says, "Home educated people tend to be very confident, friendly and outgoing people." Her conclusion is confirmed many times throughout the book.

Decision makers pondering the human resource issues of the future are presented with a whole new set of possibilities when reading books about home education, like Free Range Education. To parents with ambivalence about schooling their child, this book is highly valuable reading.

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Free Range Education, edited by Terri Dowty.
Hawthorn Press 2000. ISBN 1-903458-07-2. 247 pages.

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