Home-schooling surges

在家上学人数激增

Editor's Picks from The Economist

2026-05-27

11 分钟
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A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. Since the pandemic, the types of parents choosing to home-school their children are changing, and so are their reasons for doing so. Topics covered: EducationParentingCovid-19 pandemic Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.
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  • The Economist.

  • Welcome to Editor's Picks.

  • I'm Charlotte Howard, the co-host of our American politics podcast, Checks and Balance.

  • You are about to hear an article we have chosen from the most recent edition of The Economist.

  • We hope you enjoy it.

  • A couple of months after two children attacked Enna Pink's son with sticks at kindergarten,

  • he began pleading with her to stay at home.

  • "I didn't want to force him to go," says Ms Pink.

  • She and her husband, who both worked at a startup,

  • thought home-schooling would be a better fit for their son, who is "hyper-sensitive".

  • But it is illegal in Germany, where they lived.

  • So they moved to Costa Rica, where home-schooling is illegal for locals

  • but there is little oversight for digital nomads.

  • Now her children, seven and four, do not follow lesson plans;

  • instead they learn by playing outside, joining other children in local activities

  • and travelling around the world.

  • She thinks all this fosters curiosity and confidence.

  • "We feel that what our society needs in the future

  • is not what the school system can offer," she says.

  • Home-schooling has long been associated with oddball parents, awkward children and shaky pedagogy.