Home Education Resources
Online recording by Tamara Strijack
Neufeld Institute, April 2020, 85 min
Surprise!
We’re homeschooling …
So you find yourself homeschooling. While this may be familiar and welcome for some, others may be navigating uncharted territories. All of us (parents and children alike) find ourselves in uncertain times that trigger anxiety and alarm; naturally, both learning and teaching become challenging under these circumstances. We may be feeling the pressure to “school” at home - and trying to figure out what that looks like. We may fear our children will fall behind, or doubt our own ability to “teach” effectively.
In this webinar, veteran homeschooler Tamara Strijack explores the important things to consider as we attempt to maintain some normalcy in the midst of a world crisis. She also looks at practical ideas around what learning at home under these conditions might look like - whether our children are 5, 10, 15 or 20.
Editorial by Gordon Neufeld
Neufeld Institute, September 2020
Could home education be more than just a back-up plan?
As parents are pondering the best path forward for their children and families during this pandemic, a number of pundits have been featured on Canadian news channels urgently stating that children NEED to go to school. One even stated that children need to go to school more than they or their families need to be kept safe from COVID-19.
Now there are many legitimate arguments one may make for school as well as for going to school, even when there are risks involved, but representing school as an essential developmental need is not one of them. Having spent much of my career training teachers and supporting the school system, I have great concerns over elevating school to the level of a basic human need. This not only puts undue pressure on the school system and the dedicated teachers who are expected to do the impossible, this attitude also undermines parents’ right to make a choice over how their children should be educated. …
Article by Tamara Strijack
September 2020
Of frogs and ferns: Creating conditions for natural learning
This fall looks a lot different than anyone could have anticipated. Many parents are finding themselves in the position of deciding to keep their children at home and figuring out what that might look like. Many teachers are finding themselves in the position of trying to “teach” in the midst of restrictive protocols and increased anxiety all around.
Regardless of whether you are navigating “teaching” at school or at home, I’d like to suggest a few developmental reminders to keep things in perspective.
But first, a story about frogs and ferns. Sometimes lessons come from unusual places. This one comes from Aunt Ruth …
And another editorial from Tamara on the subject of home education from 2011:
Editorial by Gordon Neufeld
Neufeld Institute, April 2020
When bringing school home, don’t sacrifice the “home”
There is a plethora of advice these days emerging on HOW to turn one’s home into a school. The underlying assumption is that it is indeed in a child’s best interest for this to happen. In many cases this could be true. For some children the cost could be too much.
The most important reason for thinking twice before turning home into school is that they would lose their sense of feeling at home with their family. Every child needs a home – that is, a relational place of safety, rest and invitation where their acceptance and value is not based on their achievements. It is true that not every child has this kind of home, but if they do, we would not want to spoil that. And if they don’t, providing that kind of home should be our first priority. Even if the parent could somehow manage to multi-task, it doesn’t mean that the child can still find the mother or father they need once the parent has turned into a teacher. Certainly this was true for one of our own children when we attempted to school him at home while we were on a family sabbatical overseas. …
Recording of Webinar Panel on Home Education Neufeld Institute, September 2020
Panel on Home Education
Gordon Neufeld, Deborah MacNamara and Tamara Strijack discuss home education from an attachment-based developmental approach.
Learning at Home, a course developed and offered by Tamara Strijack
Mapping out a plan with developmental science and emotional health in mind.
For those looking for ideas and insights in facilitating a more natural process of learning at home, whether you are trying to do “school” from home, trying to avoid school altogether, or you find yourself somewhere in between.
In this course, Tamara Strijack brings developmental science and twenty years of experience in the field to bring you practical insights and ideas you can try at home.
A self-paced audio version of this course is available, which was first facilitated in the fall of 2020. Over the course of 12 weeks, one 20 minute session is released, so that you can follow along at a pace that (hopefully!) isn't too overwhelming, allowing time to incorporate new ideas into your learning at home rhythm.
A facilitated offering of this course will also be available in the spring of 2024.