This past Sunday's edition of Parade had an article titled “Should Homeschooling Be Illegal?” that I found very interesting.
In this article, that talks about a California court's ruling that parents without recognized teaching credentials must send their children to public schools.
There is a quote that this case “pits those who believe parental rights are paramount against those who place a premium on well-educated citizens.”
This quote sounds as though these are two opposite sides, or that those parents who believe in these “parental rights” (and thereby home schooled) would not be producing “well-educated citizens.”
There is another quote that “parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children.”
I find it interesting that the word “right” is used here. Rights are something we expect to have, something we believe we are entitled to, and something we can give up.
Many homeschooling parents choose to do so because they see the education and training of their children as a responsibility given to them by God.
To these parents, educating and training their children is not an expected privilege given to them by the state, but a responsibility that they have been entrusted with, that they do not take lightly.
I find these quotes interesting because I am a home schooled graduate.
My parents chose to homeschool because they felt responsible to God for what I would learn and what type of a world view I would form.
During my homeschool years I had to take several state achievement tests that demonstrated that the education my parents gave me was more than adequate to allow me to function like anyone else.
I graduated at the age of 16, and since then have worked several years in a store that my father managed, have spent eight months with a missions organization in Central America, and am presently completing a licensed nursing course at a local school.
I find it amusing that someone might consider me to be less-educated or an inferior citizen, simply because my parents chose to play a vital part in my education.
I was glad to read that the California court has decided to re-hear that particular case this month. I hope they change their ruling.
Alyse DeMars
Aurora
There is a quote that this case “pits those who believe parental rights are paramount against those who place a premium on well-educated citizens.”
This quote sounds as though these are two opposite sides, or that those parents who believe in these “parental rights” (and thereby home schooled) would not be producing “well-educated citizens.”
There is another quote that “parents do not have a constitutional right to homeschool their children.”
I find it interesting that the word “right” is used here. Rights are something we expect to have, something we believe we are entitled to, and something we can give up.
Many homeschooling parents choose to do so because they see the education and training of their children as a responsibility given to them by God.
To these parents, educating and training their children is not an expected privilege given to them by the state, but a responsibility that they have been entrusted with, that they do not take lightly.
I find these quotes interesting because I am a home schooled graduate.
My parents chose to homeschool because they felt responsible to God for what I would learn and what type of a world view I would form.
During my homeschool years I had to take several state achievement tests that demonstrated that the education my parents gave me was more than adequate to allow me to function like anyone else.
I graduated at the age of 16, and since then have worked several years in a store that my father managed, have spent eight months with a missions organization in Central America, and am presently completing a licensed nursing course at a local school.
I find it amusing that someone might consider me to be less-educated or an inferior citizen, simply because my parents chose to play a vital part in my education.
I was glad to read that the California court has decided to re-hear that particular case this month. I hope they change their ruling.
Alyse DeMars
Aurora
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karl wrote on Jun 10, 2008 11:05 AM:
What galls me is when homeschooling is specifically used to specifically substitute religious indoctrination in place of ral education about Science, and when it replaces real data with phony discredited "biblical Science" (which is an oxymoron, as the Bible is a piece of Scripture--NOT a textbook!)
I'm also very cynical about when it's used isolate children from their peers, or from "negative influences"--which, if truth be told, can be any number of imagined "sins". Establishing an protective cocoon around your child keeps them ignorant and fearful of the real world, in my opinion, and also does nothing to educate the child in the embrace of diversity. "
a.mom wrote on Jun 10, 2008 10:18 AM:
I appreciate your comments and I agree with you that we need to focus on technology and the sciences, but tell me, do you think that public schools are doing such a great job with teaching science?
Thomas Edison, one of our greatest scientists, was a failure in school. His mother pulled him out to school at home, allowing him free time to tinker in the basement and pursue his scientific interests. We know how that story turned out. I'm pretty sure that our next generation of inventors will be on the forefront of technology despite public education, not because of it.
You cannot assume that all homeschoolers are disregarding the sciences simply because the modern movement started with religious parents wanting to protect their children from the negative influences of public education. Many of us feel that the public schools prohibit an interest in science and technology due to dated curriculum, peer pressure, teachers not up on current fields of study, etc. Frankly, I would prefer to have my children studying with engineers, chemist, biologists and others who work directly in the field and can offer working knowledge of why the field of study is so imperative to our future.
Best to you. "
a.mom wrote on Jun 10, 2008 10:07 AM:
Explain to me why private schools do not require teachers to have a Masters Degree in Education, yet provide a better product for dollars spent on a student?
I still believe, in our capitalist society, that incentive matters most. Who benefits the most from a well-educated child? Is it the 3rd grade teacher? No, it's the parents, then the community, then the overall country and culture.
This argument opposing homeschooling because the standards are not the same as the supposed standards for public schools is just plain silly. The only standard we have now for comparing public schools to some sort of "Greater Standard" is No Child Left Behind, and we know how teachers feel about that policy.
The same curriculum used in schools is available to homeschoolers, with the same teachers' manuals and guidebooks. Thorough explanations on how to present a subject are offered. Homeschoolers have the added advantage of changing curriculum throughout the year if the student struggles with how the information is presented. How can this be an inferior product simply because a parent doesn't have the proper degree?
I did write that "teaching up to the HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL is not rocket science." I do believe that the standards change for high school, as they should, but I also wonder how many high school teachers hold a Masters degree in Education instead of the subject they teach. "
karl wrote on Jun 10, 2008 9:49 AM:
WHo do you think is going to be leading the world in Technology, and important Military, Medical, and Energy breakthroughs? I do respect your considered reply, but there ARE SERIOUS ramifications to that type of wishful, pie-in-the-sky thinking. It is short-sighted.
In case you haven't been paying attention, America has lost it's manufacturing base. That means our kids--YOUR kids!!--are not going to have those reliable work-50-years-for-a-gold-watch jobs. Those new jobs are going to come in Technology. And, sadly, Military and Defense application, because not only is Communist China the new manufacturing king, but it is building up its military!
Teaching kids that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, and that the Grand Canyon was formed by the Great Flood makes our enemies very happy (and laughing!) "
teacher1 wrote on Jun 10, 2008 7:50 AM:
a.mom wrote on Jun 10, 2008 7:07 AM:
Really, I ask that with a high degree of sincerity.
Homeschooling has some great parents teaching, some not so great parents teaching, and a whole lot of in between - just like public school teachers. The difference is that the public school teachers won't have these kids living in their bedroom when they're 30 if they don't do their job.
Parents who homeschool have an enormous incentive to make sure their kids learn, an incentive that combined with the wide array of curriculum available insures that kids are challenged to their potential and parents are as prepared as regular teachers to teach. Plus, there is time to pursue extra-curricular activities that follow a student's interests.
It's not easy to homeschool, believe me, and I have a lot more respect for classroom teachers now than I did before we took this course of action, but teaching up to the high school level is not rocket science and the curriculum available walks you through the information and how to teach. When you're dealing with only a couple of students vs. 25+ with a variety of learning abilities, this is really much easier than supposed. "
dd wrote on Jun 9, 2008 6:10 PM:
karl wrote on Jun 9, 2008 2:32 PM:
Great points, however, a.mom "
a.mom wrote on Jun 9, 2008 1:17 PM:
Educational standards - what standards?? Despite the huge amounts of money thrown towards education, we are falling behind the other developed nations in our educational standards. Inner city and rural schools are failing an entire generation and you're concerned about homeschool families? Please. "
brew1234 wrote on Jun 9, 2008 12:33 PM:
a.mom wrote on Jun 9, 2008 12:21 PM:
The homeschool community undertakes this mission for a variety of reasons. Religious freedom (the principle upon which this country was founded), dissatisfaction with the local school district, a desire to meet unique needs of our children, all or some of these issues play a part in this monumental decision to undertake our children's education.
The debate over homeschooling has entered the mainstream finally, if we can judge by the article in Parade Magazine. Unfortunately, the magazine's premise continues with the same narrative, that children are being deprived socially and culturally by their alternative education.
The homeschooling children I have met are a wonderful group of kids. They are articulate, interested, and engaged on many levels. They are typically not worrying about impressing peers and are very comfortable conversing with adults and other children of all ages. While this is not unique to homeschoolers, this is an overriding trait I find in the majority of the kids that cross my path.
For hundreds of years, we educated wonderful and unique citizens in one room school houses and at the kitchen table. The current education system assumes that the factory model of separating by age and herding them through the levels is the optimum situation. However, John Taylor Gatto (once a NY State TEacher of the Year recipient) pointed out in his book "Dumbing Us Down" that before school districts consolidated, back when teaching was done in one room schoolhouses and at the kitchen table, our literacy rate in the United States was 98%.
Think about that - 98%. That really says all you need to about our current education model. "