Apr
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Submitted by Lynn on Fri, 03/04/2009 - 9:09pm
An educational philosophy is a report that explains your philosophy or beliefs about education and how you go about putting those beliefs into practice to educate your child/children. It is therefore sensible to have three separate sections, which include:
- philosophy/beliefs
- the resources you have access to (which will include things you have at home, such as books, games and paper, places you visit, such as parks, museums and libraries and also any people that plan to help, such as people who have particular skills or talents)
- the report - how you carried out your education.
Try to stick with things you have already done and don't make hugely ambitious plans, because you can be judged on that plan. If you say that you plan for your child to get 10 GCSEs and 4 A-levels and they decide not to do any exams, but set up their own business instead then you could be seen to have failed. However if you had said that you plan to teach your child the basic skills necessary to be an independent, self sufficient adult then you have succeeded.
If you are not exactly sure of what you want to do and what will work best then you can say that this is your plan for now but that you aim to be flexible and adaptable and change as your child's needs change. That is the beauty of home education after all - you can be completely in tune with what is right for your child.
The report doesn't have to be too long - some have been 1 page of A4. We included photos of the children doing some of the things we had mentioned in the report, but again that is up to you. Some people feel it is an invasion of their children's privacy, but ours were quite happy with it!
More info can be found at the following websites:
HE-UK - Why you should write an Educational Philosophy
HE-UK - Educational Philosophies
