Letter to The Times' re “I felt like an alien” article
The Times newspaper of Saturday 15 February ran a typically one-sided and vindictive article alleging that what they labelled as unschooled home education was dangerous. They took the case of one (only one) female who claimed to have been unschooled and learned nothing. She particularly raised the issue that she and others had not been helped to be literate.
I sent the following letter to the Times though they have not printed it as it does not, of course, fit the prevailing lies being pushed by the media about the dangers of children not in school.
"The case study of so-called unschooling (“I felt like an alien”, Feb 15) gives a view of one person’s experience of an approach to home education, and specifically of child illiteracy. However if we consider the fact that at least 50% of the inhabitants of our bulging prisons are functionally illiterate, and that they have almost all been to school, perhaps we need to look at the problem more widely.
In our small learning community we have had children in their teens join us from school who are functionally illiterate. They have fallen behind in the early years of schooling and never been helped to learn to read and write as they progressed in school. With personal support they can learn to read and write.
Research studies on home educated children have shown that they tend to learn to read and write at different ages. With the right support the age of learning does not seem to matter much.
An example of this is Jason Arday, who Cambridge University proudly announced, in 2023, as a professor at 37, even though he only learned to read and write at the age of 18. The University’s press release mentioned that; “Therapists and career advisers predicted he would spend his adult life in assisted living and require lifelong support. Instead, through personal determination and the support of family and close friends, he went to college, trained as a teacher, and then launched his academic career.” It's worth noting the fact that family and friends, not the schooling system, provided the valuable support.
Even the person in the story went on to get a degree, so presumably did not end up illiterate."
Ian Cunningham, SMLC