Mighty Matt Hern was a colleague of mine as once upon a time (~20 years ago), we both operated alternate schools within the same umbrella organization. I had the privilege of hearing Matt speak a few years ago and although he's not a direct proponent of homeschooling (he sees it as somewhat elitist as usually only one-income, two-parent families can afford to do it), he has some interesting ideas about how to provide alternatives to schools (which he discusses in his book Field Day).
He feels that schools should be open, community resources where it is an individual choice as to when and how to access them (and what to do when one is there). His parallel illustration is a library. He asked us to imagine going to the library, being greeted at the door by the librarian, being shown where we were going to sit for the next two hours (without talking) and being given a pile of books that we were allowed to read that day (and no, we couldn't browse the stacks). Oh, yes. And we'd have to raise our hands to ask to use the bathroom. His point - how many of us would actually go to the library if it was like that?
What if schools were more like libraries? School resources would be available to all individuals (regardless of age) to use and to explore. Classes offered would be based on expressed interest rather than provincial or teacher-mandated curriculum. Activities would be "fun and useful" rather than rote and boring.
It's an interesting idea.
[If you get a chance to read it, Matt's book Deschooling Our Lives is awesome and is certainly worth the time. It's out of print, but you might find it at your local library or from Abe Books. The updated version, which is in print, is Everywhere All the Time: A New Deschooling Reader.]
