One of the limiting factors is the cost of real estate.  Small private schools like Sesat would thrive if they had access to reasonably-priced space in community hubs (such as under-used public schools), 

The taxpayers would collect rent instead of paying public boards per-student rates.  Even if the space was given FREE to community groups, the savings would be enormous.  That would go a long way to eliminating our provincial deficit.

But the boards are too canny for that.  They close under-used schools and sell them off - even though the schools were paid for with public funds.  Doesn’t matter what the collateral damage is to communities or kids, the needs of the school board comes first.

I don’t know, this school sounds a little too froo froo for me.  Here’s my favourite statement on their website:  “We like sports, but we really like non-competitive sports, where you learn mastery without domination”.  Since when was sports about domination??  Once upon a time, kids were allowed to go out to the playground, without the intervention of grown ups, and create their own games! Kids would also be in charge of organizing basketball teams, hockey teams, kickball and the like.  Seems to me the trouble started specifically when the adults got involved. The more controlled the activity became, kids became bored and started acting out; I don’t blame them.  Being on a sports team teaches kids about leadership, sportsmanship, discipline, commitment, and school spirit.  Not sure where the “domination” comes into effect but…

I guess these lofty ideas might work for a very select few in our society, but overall the majority of us want our kids to attend public school to foster relationships with others that they might not ever have been in contact with before, and they also have to learn survival and social skills in a very comfortable/uncomfortable setting.  I understand the argument FOR homeschooling.  My biggest complaint about homeschooling though, is that it usually involves likeminded adults and children.  It’s also conducted in a very controlled environment.  I am the last person to say the public system is perfect, however I think the suggestion that parents are looking at the public system merely as a babysitting service, is a little harsh.  There are many examples of wonderful teachers doing a terrific job with our kids.  We all know parental involvement, and to some extent, parental choice, should coexist in this environment, and we are all fighting for that.  But to reinvent the wheel here, might not be the best solution.

One need only stroll back to Ivan Ilich’s
( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Illich )

Deschooling Society to clearly understand the foundational issues which we continue to struggle with today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deschooling_Society

I have similar opinions to Tara’s.
The type of homeschooling or unschooling described in the article has the same underlying progressivist assumption. So I think if there was any way to measure the results of such homeschooling we would find that some kids do extremely well and others extremely poorly.

To each its own. If that’s what people believe in go ahear and do it. The parent should also receive back from the government at least part of what the state would have spent on that child’s education provided their children meet the same standards as public school students.

Homeschooling for a few years to teach your children the fundamentals to automaticity, yes I can understand that, if one can afford it economically and has the inclination especially with children younger than 8. But using direct instruction curriculum, not unschooling.

From that age onwards I think most children learn significantly better in groups rather than individually and they listen more to somebody who is not their parent if the curriculum is good and the teacher competent. Good groups with a common goal are extremely powerful in encouraging learning.
That that’s not the reality in most public schools has more to do with the belief system, curriculum materials and teaching approaches.

Khan Academy is good, very good and I love it. But it does not replace good teachers. For better and for worse we are people and we connect to people, we are social animals and its easier for us to do what the group does.

The problem is really bad curriculum, students with extremely uneven knowledge and skills in the same classroom due to social promotion and teachers that are not competent in the subject. 

Individual instruction is a nice to have but not really needed if all the students in a class have the pre-requisite knowledge and the teacher is competent.