We met Dr Jay Wile

As soon as we entered the doorway, Dr Wile was there and shook our hands. That set the tone for the day. He was approachable, relaxed, and although the hall was filled with approximately 140 bodies, I still felt like we were just gathering in someone's lounge room to share a discussion.

Dr Wile has been in Australia this past week, travelling to our major cities to give a seminar that was worth hearing.

Maestro and I were only there for the first two presentations:

12.30pm Why Homeschool through High school
Homeschooling parents are often faced with a difficult decision when their children reach high school age. Typically, the parents feel they are not able to teach the more demanding courses that are required at the high school level. As a result, many parents feel that they must send their children to school for a proper high school education. In this seminar, Dr. Wile, a former teacher at both the university and high school levels, will explain why such a decision is not in the best interest of the student.
Using data gathered from many different sources, including his own experiences, Dr. Wile demonstrates that homeschooled students are better academically prepared and better socialized than their publicly- or privately-schooled counterparts. These facts allow Dr. Wile to make a compelling case that the best thing for a homeschooled student is to stay in homeschool, regardless of the parent’s academic abilities.

2.30pm Be Open Minded But Don’t Let Your Brain Fall Out
One of the most important steps in critical thinking is to look at all sides of an issue. It is very easy to get trapped by false ideas if you continue to look at an issue from only one side. At the same time, however, it can be uncomfortable (and sometimes dangerous) to read the viewpoints of those with whom we disagree. How does a Christian deal with this tension? Dr. Wile first discusses why it is so important to look at an issue from many different sides, and then he explains how to avoid the pitfalls that could result. Those who are interested in serious investigations of theological, scientific, or political issues should definitely hear this talk.

I was pleased to hear in the first presentation his experiences in raising a teen homeschooler. His 'model' for teaching through the grades from elementary right through were certainly along the lines of how I found our homeschool routine already working, but I hadn't reached the 'end of the line' yet. The affirmation of working from teacher, to tutor, to co-learning along with independent learning meant that my ideas of how we were going about things in our home was a good expectation.

No matter what the subject, or interest of the child, it's the parental involvement that is a most important factor toward the end result. Ultimately we hope that the children will have a good, close relationship with us. They'll see that as parents we don't have all the answers, but we're willing to tough it out with them to find out what we need to learn, how to direct them, and still stay friends at the end of it all.


In the second presentation, a lot of my notes included names I've not heard before, with regard to proving quotes incorrect and looking for proper research data. Most of my scrawlings don't make a lot of sense on their own, even only 12hrs later, so I'll be going back to the podcasts (when they are available) to listen again and pay some more careful attention. (LOL!  I can pause a podcast and scrawl away again before continuing!)

The emphasis on this presentation was about equipping yourself with information, so you do know both sides of an argument. Our children, especially as they get older, are going to form their own opinions. Healthy discussion is paramount, which means listening and then looking for good, solid information. Check your sources carefully, and watch for phrasing which can be based on facts, but also misleading.


Dr Wile's site has HANDOUTS for these seminars available in pdf format. These are the notes he had up on the screen during his talk.  Unfortunately these are just a sketch of what was talked about.  As is often the case, what's said in between to flesh out the points is usually more interesting; this was certainly the case in the second presentation (for me!)  So, again, when podcasts are available, I will be listening to those again.


On a final note, Dr Wile is putting together a series of books for primary science according to history. This sounds very interesting, and will be available from August on a pilot program. You can find the link HERE, but be patient (bookmark it!) as it's not there just yet.

My thanks is also extended to all those who helped organise this event.  You did a fabulous job!