Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

What do you know about Sweden? If all you come up with are the Vikings and IKEA, it might be time for some history! Today on Home School Heartbeat, join host Mike Farris and his guest to learn about the recent history of homeschooling in Sweden.

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Mike Farris:
Mike Donnelly, who is HSLDA Director of International Affairs, is with me this week with an update on homeschooling in Sweden. Mike, welcome to the program.

Mike Donnelly:
Thanks, Mike.

Mike Farris:
Mike, tell us about the general homeschooling climate in Sweden prior to the past few years—have parents there been free to homeschool historically?

Mike Donnelly:
Mike, with a population of about 9 million people, roughly the equivalent of the state of Michigan, Sweden has a highly secular society. It’s often pointed to as a model of European socialism.

You know, over 90% of 18-month-olds in the country are in state-funded, state-run day care. They really see children as mere creatures of the state in Sweden. And as you can imagine, there’s not a whole lot of homeschooling families there. Estimates are, there maybe a hundred homeschooling families in this limited country—far fewer than in Sweden’s neighbors of Finland and Norway, where homeschooling is much more accepted. However, Mike, Swedish law does explicitly permit parents to seek approval from local authorities to homeschool their children. Such permission in the past was usually granted.

Mike Farris:
Thanks, Mike. Next time, we’ll find out how the homeschooling climate in Sweden got really cold, really fast. I’m Mike Farris.