Barbara Boland's 12-year-old daughter Caoimhe has attended school for a total of a year-and-a-half. Her other two children - Cian (nine) and Neasa (three) - have never attended school.

A combination of bad health (asthma and whooping cough), an unsympathetic teacher and a little bullying were the catalyst for Caoimhe's removal from school. "She cried morning, noon and night. We put up with it for a few months and then I thought, `this is mad, it's not right,' " Boland explains.

"When I took her out, I continued with her school books at home but I found it didn't work. She hated anything to do with school . . . . She's dyslexic and she found reading very difficult. She learned to read at nine-and-a-half and now she's a non-stop reader. That wouldn't have been tolerated at school."

When it came to Cian's turn, his mother did not even consider school. "I saw how easy and well home education worked and how effortless it was for all of the family. My own theory is that they would sit down for part of the day, usually the morning, and they would do things they need to work on, like maths and writing. We don't have a subject called English. Their reading includes books like Harry Potter."

They don't do Irish at all. "Occasionally, I ask if they are interested in doing Irish. I present them with an idea and if they like it, we go for it. If not, I don't go down that road." Cian learned to count in Irish during his aikido class. "Ideally, I would like them to speak Irish. The best way is to learn from native speakers - to go to the Gaeltacht and learn it as a living language rather than as a subject."

Barbara Boland has a degree in social science, but no teaching qualification. She is adamant that a teaching qualification - and, indeed, a third-level education - are not necessary for home education.

She sees herself as a facilitator rather than a teacher. "We provide the atmosphere, the time and the materials and the children just devour it." She says teachers pretend to be all-knowing, whereas if she doesn't know something, she won't bluff. "We go and find out about it."

Next year, Caoimhe's former classmates from primary school will begin their second-level education. Barbara says that Caoimhe will not be joining them. "I wouldn't think about it, not until she is at least 14. "There are lots of gateways into college. If she's 17 and wants to sit State exams, she could do it. Some home educators send their children to school for a year to do the Leaving Cert, or she could do A-Levels from home."

The fire is blazing cheerily in the sitting room, dispelling the gloom of the dank autumn day which has settled over Bray, Co Wicklow. A low table and the bookshelves are stuffed with books. Caoimhe and her friend, Stephanie, return from recorder class. She, Cian and Neasa gravitate to the kitchen-cum-dining-room, where they begin to draw.

Barbara says learning is relaxed, easy-going and informal. "You just sort of melt into it." There's no homework. "I wouldn't put as much time into learning as some parents have to put into homework. I wonder what the students are doing at school for five or six hours that they have to do homework. There is no homework in Germany, yet children get on well."

Another advantage of home education is the ability to spend as long as needed for a task, so her children never have to put away an unfinished painting at the end of a half-hour period. They can spend the necessary time resolving a problem in maths before they move on.

AS FOR SOCIAL interaction, Barbara says children do not need to be in a class with 30 of their peers. "They have exactly the same amount of good friends as if they were in school. They don't have as many acquaintances."

Caoimhe says she remembers school - and hating it. "The only thing I liked was Stephanie and I still get to play with her." Cian says he doesn't feel he has missed out on going to school and he wouldn't want to sit in a class with 30 other children.

Boland's advice to parents thinking of educating their children at home (she dislikes the term "home-schooling" and says it is a misnomer) is not to do it lightly. It is a big responsibility. However, she says, there is help available now in the form of the newly-formed Home Education Network (HEN), which has some 100 members.

"We offer support and advice and held our first conference in July. We intend to make this an annual event." It is estimated that more than 200 Irish families have chosen to educate their children at home. People educate their children at home for a variety of reasons. HEN suggests that people may feel that academic education is inappropriate at a young age. They may do it for religious reasons, or they may simply feel equally competent to educate their own children. Their children may be experiencing difficulties at school, such as bullying.

They may prefer their children to be in a more informal and emotionally secure environment. Their child may have special needs. They may disagree with certain parts of the State curriculum - sex education, for instance.

The Home Education Network may be contacted through Barbara Boland (tel: (01) 282 9638). She will put people in touch with the appropriate regional co-ordinator. HEN is also on the Internet (www.ie.embnet.org/hen).