Kiwi home-schoolers take on the world and win

Proof of how well an alternative education suits some children can be found in a team of eight home-schooled Auckland teenagers who recently competed successfully in the Vex Robotics Championships in Dallas, Texas.

Competing against two thousand other robot-mad students from 13 different countries, the teenagers were placed first and third in two different parts of the competition.

Their mentor, Johan Potgeiter, a senior lecturer at Massey University's School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, said, "They are all very talented, and the best adjusted kids I've ever worked with".

Since the team returned victorious from the three-day event, the New Zealand media have taken a shine to them too, giving the team, aptly named Free Range Robots, national and international exposure. Appearing on TV One's Breakfast show this month, the teens admitted winning was no huge surprise to them after they witnessed the competition. But before they had the chance to size up their opponents, the group thought they may be in for 'a bit of a thrashing'. This despite having fulfilled the prerequisite of winning battles against 16 local teams in New Zealand.

Kane Ross, Ethan Harrold, Max Waller with the team's robot, 2921

Terry Allen, mother of two boys from the team, said her children enjoyed home-schooling and it suited them well.

She began home-schooling when she and her husband belonged to a theatre company travelling in America and Canada.

Homeschooling on the road

Allen found that staying no longer than a week in each town or city, made it impossible for her four growing boys to attend a conventional school.

"When we eventually stopped travelling, we gave the boys still needing an education the option of going to a local school -- but by then the kids had built up their own networks of friends (other home-schoolers) and chose to stay with it."

Allen thinks being home-schooled may have given the teenagers an advantage in the competition.

"Their learning is very different and they have different opportunities," she said.

"For example, because they were learning at home, if we needed more time to spend on the robots we could easily do that."

Allen also thinks the home environment may have something to do with it.

"When a child is home-schooled, the amount of support for their projects is greater than for those receiving support only from teachers, or from parents who both work from nine to five. For example, our entire family got behind the project so it never lost momentum. I'm sure for teachers and working parents this would be a hard thing to sustain."

Flexibility

The flexibility of their lessons, lack of time restrictions and enthusiasm for the content all seem to be key factors as well.

The member of their team who wrote the programming for the robots has been writing code since he was eight-years-old, and because he was home schooled his parents could adapt his lessons to fit with that.

The eight teenagers are part of a 19-strong group whose members share the process of keeping the team running and competing.

All tasks, from the build and design of the robots to fundraising and public relations, are shared equally among them. Unfortunately, Free Range Robotics did not take out the International World Championship title, but the award did go to another group of home-schoolers: America-based Green Eggs.

Allen was told that home-schooled teams historically dominate winning titles at the competition.

Meeting ministry requirements

Statistics from the Ministry of Education show that 1 percent of all New Zealand school-aged children (from five to 20 years old) are home-schooled -- approximately 6,000 children.

Choosing to home-school children, like choosing any alternative method of education, is not necessarily an easy decision to make.

Applying to home school can be a long and difficult process. A parent must apply to the Ministry of Education for an exemption and provide information to comply with section 21 of the Education Act 1989.

Applicants must be able to satisfy the ministry that the children will receive an education similar to, if not better than, that provided at a local registered learning institution.

Examples of this, for home-schooling, consist of being able to show what parts of the curriculum will be covered and how; the methods to be used; and that applicants know what they are talking about. A plan for the child's socialisation must also be presented.

Completing the required details can be an intimidating task for families, especially if the person wanting to be the home educator in a home-schooling environment has had no formal teaching experience.

The New Zealand state education system generally prefers a one-size-fits-all approach. Looking at the great success of the kids in the Free Range Robots team, it might seem a shame that alternative methods of education are not a more accessible and more viable option, freely available to New Zealand families.