新视野Unit1 further reading.doc

Teaching Children at Home Record numbers of children are being taken out of school and taught by their parents at home. Up to 100 children a month are leaving the classroom because parents are not satisfied with schools. Around 15,000 families now teach their children at home, a rise of 50 per cent from last year, according to the latest figures. This present rise in home schooling is blamed on the nature of examinations, not getting children into the school of choice and dissatisfaction with teaching methods. Some parents prefer keeping children home because of attacks by other students and a lack of discipline in schools. Researchers say, however, many families prefer teaching at home because they feel the idea of public schooling is not modern. They believe schools will be things of the past in 20 years as media technology, like the Internet (因特网), teaches children. Under the law, parents must teach their children, whether at school or at home. Community officials are charged (被指控) with protecting their schooling. Professor Meighan of Nottingham University says parents were fed up with the requirements of existing schools. For him, schools are an out-of-date concept from the days of the town crier (市政传令员), when it was difficult to get information and a central person was needed to communicate that knowledge. He also thinks parents are recognizing that education is moving on and dont want their children to be held back by out-of-date methods. Meighan suggests children will be taught at home using the Internet, computers, and video (录像片). He thinks future schools will be small groups of children sharing equipment in their homes. The teachers may become advisers who sort through the information. Sir Christopher Ball of the Royal (皇家的) Society of Arts questioned the future of schooling. He thinks learning in the future will include an international curriculum and international standards. He sees some present models of schooling -- community schools and home schoo