Children learn, always and everywhere - Terry Kraettli from New Zealand talks about homeschooling (English)
"Terry Kraettli from New Zealand is the first guest in the podcast series "Children learn, always and everywhere", in which Djamila le Pair (The Netherlands) interviews former homeschooling mothers from around the world, with whom she and her children used to share educational events. There are a variety of reasons why parents decide to homeschool. Terry shares hers, as well as her perspectives on children, home education, and the importance of morals and time for one’s inner ‘self’. "
Djamila and Terry met in Switzerland twenty years ago, when Terry was already homeschooling her two children and Djamila was having second thoughts about sending her son to kindergarten. Terry’s educational view, life-embracing approach and the open, happy and exploring nature of her children gave Djamila the courage to homeschool her own children.
Terry and her husband home educated their children for five years. The children went to school, after the family moved from Switzerland to New Zealand. In this interview, Terry looks back on her reasons for initially opting for home education, her approach and experiences.
As the child of an Italian father and British mother, Terry was raised bilingually. She herself followed formal (private) education, of which boarding schools were a part, and went on to train as a teacher. Her daughter has followed in her footsteps and has become a teacher, as well. Her son now works as a photographer.
The aim of this series published on https://potkaars.nl/onderwijs is to provide an array of educational approaches, materials and perspectives to parents who, for whatever reason, are contemplating alternatives to sending their child(ren) to a state or other traditional type of school. Whether starting an independent school with other like-minded parents, or contemplating homeschooling, the routes taken and lessons learnt by the parents in these podcasts might help answer, or further sharpen, questions these parents may have, and provide faith and courage to trust one’s own instincts and capabilities.
Most homeschool parents share the perspective that a conscious decision about a child’s education should be based on the nature, temperament, talents and limitations of that individual child. Djamila: “There simply is no ‘best for all’. There is, however, an optimal way for each child, and for different phases, and ideally we would create a world in which we enable each individual, young and old, to continuously learn and flourish.”