What on Earth is Earthschooling? An Interview with Kristie Burns
by Tracy Stevens of “A Better Education” BLOG
Kristie Burns is an earthschooling mother of three children, ages 10, 12 and 14. Kristie works from home as a healer, artist and teacher. She ran a Waldorf Enrichment school from 2000-2004 and now provides curriculum, lesson plans and tips for other parents wanting to start their own co-ops, enrich their child’s education, or embark on the earthschooling journey.
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics reported that approximately 1.5 million children (2.9 percent of school-age children) were being homeschooled in the spring of 2007, representing a 36 percent relative increase since 2003 and a 74 percent relative increase since 1999. In your experience, what factors have contributed to the rise in homeschooling?
One is the amount of resources that are now available to do homeschooling. When I was homeschooling my kids 10 years ago, the resources were not the same. The Internet makes these resources so available and easily accessed and it offers encouragement. You can ask questions, gets answers, get support, get ideas, see other people doing it successfully to inspire you to do it. Another factor is that public schools have started to cooperate with homeschools and offer them programs and assistance. It has given it a sense of acceptance and a stamp of approval that way.