Four children are lined up on the stairs in front of a small grocery shop in emmenbrücke, LU. You tracks-like, you expect diligently with you to help each other. 10 Swiss francs you have four available, so you are allowed to buy a Dessert. Chocolate? Cookies? Cake? The children need to compare prices and some. The woman provides you with this task, is your mother. It is the only Moment in the course of the whole Morning, in which she acts as a teacher.

at home in the living room of the family is different. There, Janet Stücklin is, above all, mother. Daniel (5) plays reads piano, Joseph (8), Vivienne (7) exercise, Gymnastics, and Eleonora (3) – of-attorney. There is no Sofa and no TV in the Stücklins, but Reading, music, craft and office corners. None of the children has ever attended a school . Mother, Janet, graduated mathematician, and musician, she teaches for four years at home.

As the children of the Stücklins be taught over 2000 students in Switzerland. This surprisingly high number is the result of a survey by this newspaper in all the cantons. In terms of the total number of students, the values are still in the parts per thousand range. However, the absolute Numbers have exploded in the last few years.

Motion calls for national rules

many so-called Homeschooler, there are in the Canton of Vaud (650 students), in Bern (576), in Aargau (246) and in Zurich (240). In these cantons, the Numbers have doubled in the last five years tripled. Are not taught these children usually by their parents, who are sometimes trained teachers, but most of the time. But there are also ten cantons, to be taught in which not a single child home is not – mostly because the authorities want this.

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This development now calls the policy on the Plan: SP- national Council Adrian Wüthrich is a this week in Parliament a Motion, in which he calls for national rules. The Berne education policy-makers is concerned, because in some cantons, the Home school high castles formed: “Because of the rather weak requirements, a rule takes place, for example, of right-wing Homeschooling-tourism in the Canton of Bern. The Federal government must now intervene.”

partly Responsible for the Boom of the Aargauer Willi Villiger, President of the Association of education home. When it was founded 20 years ago, was Homeschooling a marginal phenomenon. “The few families that have taught their children at home, came primarily from Evangelical free churches,” says Villiger, itself an upper-school teacher in the elementary school. Meanwhile, the Homeschooler had become so numerous, that pious Christians were only a minority.

self-determination

Villiger today distinguishes three motives: A first group of parents is the level of performance of the local school is not satisfied. A second group is involuntarily to home teachers, because your child developed in the school of psychological or even health problems. The third group were young parents, their family life “not from outside, but actively shape and your Ideal you want to realize,” says Viliger. Basically, Homeschooling is also a Symptom of the post-modern, a consequence of the individualization.

In the Stücklins several factors played a role: mother, Janet grew up in the United States, and was herself home-schooled. In addition, the family is very keen that the children grow up bilingual. And you want to maintain a family culture in which Learning is fluent and stress-free integrated in everyday life. To this culture also has a relationship with the Christian Faith.

For such arguments, many cantons have no understanding of. Eleven Educational directorates in the survey worried about the social Integration. “The private lessons are at a clear disadvantage, since the public school is to impart professional and social skills in a group better than in individual lessons”, in Lucerne, Stücklins the Canton of Residence. For the Swiss authorities, the Integration into the class is “top priority is to be the social skills.”

With the “education for the community’s ability to” also argues the Canton of St. Gallen, if he is going against Homeschooler. A family was the first to be fined by your municipality with 1000 Swiss francs, because she sent a child to Kindergarten. Both parents were sentenced to parts in July 2017 at the court, each of 2,500 Swiss francs buses. After the announcement of the municipality, to repeat, these sanctions semi-annually, moved the wife with the two children to Austria.

Basel

Other families in the cantons, where the rules are slacker. A teaching couple requested in Basel-city, his four children for a year myself. Because it was not approved, the family moved to the Canton of Bern, where she is now Homeschooling for the third year. “We have discovered a new style of Life,” the mother said enthusiastically. The family could be your life, self-certain design and more. The Basel education Department confirmed that it approved of such experiences “restrictive”, meaning: almost never. Students would need to have “sharing with peers”, the Department.

Janet Stücklin is familiar with these arguments. “We make sure that our children play with the neighbor children, and Hobbies to maintain,” she says. That life was not composed of cotton candy, the children learned, for example, in disputes on the Playground.

According to Carsten Quesel, Professor of sociology of Education at the University of applied Sciences North-Western Switzerland, there is no evidence for a “social impoverishment” of children, but the topic was researched in Switzerland. The danger of the radical foreclosure was “rather small”, also the club’s education home support says networking with the environment, Quesel. It could not but give parents, were to join this, and the dialogue is refused.

Because of the level of education of the cantons Express, however, hardly concerns. The Zurich education Directorate, the vast majority of the privately taught children, providing a “good school performance”. Also Willi Villiger’s own children seems to be the connection to the education world to prepare outside of the family home with no effort: Seven have embarked on an academic career, to inform a power, a doctrine, two are still at home.

Tougher rules

Nevertheless, The rapid increase in the number of home schoolings alarmed now, individual cantons. Recently, the Canton Aargau has tightened its requirements easily: the end of the Lesson parents must have Minimum of an apprenticeship or a Diploma. The Canton of Vaud aims to increase the control over the Homeschooler, also of new castle is considering stricter rules. Conversely, in restrictive cantons check your rules – for example, Schaffhausen. The national Council Wüthrich wants to curtail the educational sovereignty of the cantons. He considers justified because of the very different requirements “create confusion”. In addition, the requirements could be circumvented by a change of Canton easy. National minimum requirements, says Wüthrich, be necessary – for example, a teachers diploma, or regular checks by the education Inspectorate.

In the Stücklins the inspector joined to a learning atmosphere, the classical school had little in common. Mother Janet is not in lessons yet tests. Rather, it integrates the Learning into daily life. The two Older solve in addition, twice per day, short exercises and worksheets. “There is a little forced. We give the children plenty of time for your interests, but by Using in the household,” she says. The children of the Stücklins don’t know how it feels to sit four lessons on the console. But you know how to auswallt a dough or herself to the piano to be motivated to play.

(editing Tamedia)

Created: 17.03.2019, 21:26 PM