Home schooling Lots of children
around the world are taught at
home by their parents or tutors.
Around 1 million children in the
United States are home-schooled,
but in some countries, such as
Brazil, Germany, and Hong Kong,
it’s illegal not to go to a formal
school. Hundreds of children in
remote, rural parts of Australia live
so far away from the nearest school,
it is impossible for them to go to
school. Instead, they learn through
The School of the Air, making online
or radio contact with a teacher. SCHOOL OF THE AIR A pupil is
guided through an online class at home.Always learning Education isn’t just
about math and spelling: you learn
many other things in school, possibly
without even realizing it. When you
play sports, you are learning how to
stay healthy, how to be part of a team,
and how to compete. When you study
history, geography, and religion, you
learn about people and the different
ways of life around the world. And
when you interact with your
classmates and teachers, you learn
how to develop relationships.What’s on the schedule? Right now,
somewhere across the other side of the
world, a child is being taught English,
math, and sports, just like you. But
children from different countries may
learn things specific to their culture in
their school. For example, some boys
in Mongolia attend monastery schools
to learn to be Buddhist monks. They
also study nature, medicine, and art.
HAKA Students in New Zealand learn an
important traditional Maori dance, the Haka.
PLAYING SPORTS These children aren’t
just learning the rules of soccer, but also how
to stay fit and healthy.What happens next? Have you
ever thought about what you
would like to do once you
leave school?
Some careers
require a
college degree
and professional
licensess, such as
architects and
lawyers. Practical
careers, such as mechanics and
hairdressing, might offer
apprenticeships—“on the job”
training where you work with
(and so learn from) someone
who is already doing that job.TAKE A LOOK: TEACHING TRADITIONS
WEAVING A Marsh Arab mother
teaches her girls a skill they will use to
make clothes and rugs, and earn money. HERDING A Nenet boy spends nine
months a year at boarding school, and three
months at home learning caribou herding.Community education is especially
important when it comes to passingdown cultural traditions, and most of
this is done outside of school.It doesn’t stop here! Education
shouldn’t finish just because you’ve
graduated high school. Going on to
college improves your chances of
getting a job, and as you get older it’s
important to keep your brain active
to stay healthy. Lots of people attend
evening classes to brush up on old
skills or learn entirely new ones.One out of every seven people in
the world cannot read. If people can’t
read, write, or do math, it will affect their
whole lives. But education can help people
escape poverty: children who go to school
get better jobs when they are older, live
longer, and are healthier.7
/^7
EDUCATIONCULTURE