Tuesday, 18 March 2008

  • Should homeschooling be illegal? Why or why not?

    THE FOLLOWING IS AN ANSWER FROM KIM TO A XANGA POSTED QUESTION.

    I'm a mother of two, a 21 year old and a 9 year old.  I began homeschooling my oldest when he was in 6th grade.  He graduated from an ACCREDITED, STATE APPROVED homeschool program and has been in college for 2 1/2 years now at Texas A & M with one semester at Liberty University.  His major is nursing.  He just found out he is eligable for the honors program and is ranked in his first semester of actual nursing school in the top 2 of the nursing SCHOOL, not just his class!  Not bad for a homeschooled student!  Before people judge homeschool or think they know what it's about and make snap judgments, I would hope they would do some research on the subject.  Contrary to some posts, most homeschool students rank at least 2 grade levels above public school students.  Don't forget the last few National Spelling Bees have had homeschool kids at the winner or in the top tier. There are a few million homeschooled students in the U.S. at this point.  Could what you see of the public school system, all ready strapped for cash and out of control, deal with that kind of influx at this point? 

    All but 13 states have regulations on homeschoolers already, some fairly strict.  In Virginia, I had to turn in an Intent to Homeschool form and my son had to be tested with a standard ACT or CAT test yearly and the results turned into the school board as well as a Scope and Sequence of what was to be taught that year.  I am not a certified teacher, but I am an LPN and attended college to get it.  I would hope you wouldn't want a 'stupid' nurse taking care of you the next time you're in the hospital and I have a fairly working knowledge of how to read, write and do math, pretty much what you would need to teach most subjects into the fairly higher grades.  How well do people remember what they were taught in school if it doesn't apply to their daily lives?  Let's watch Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader!  Lets also remember that until the last 150 - 200 years, children were taught <gasp!> at home!  By their 'inept' parents! 

    There are also many resources available to homeschool students, so if you do run into something you aren't good at teaching, you can take advantage of someone who does.  Many homeschooled students have formed co-ops, groups of homeschool parents who share the responsibility of teaching the children and many are professionals in different fields.  For example, I could run a class for the co-op students teaching basic first aid, another who is a business professional could do a business math course, a homemaker could do home ec. classes.  We have just as much access to public assistance as well, such as the internet, libraries, tutors and sometimes even the public school system, although, just as California is proving, there aren't many 'friendly' school systems out there.  They'd rather have our children under their rule!  There are huge homeschool conventions, such as the one in Houston we attended last September and one coming up in San Antonio this year, that have homeschool vendors with everything you'd need for homeschoolers from completely coordinated curriculum to full blown science kits to classes taught on DVD or video and on sight classes for the parents given by top educators in their fields. 

    Finally, I would hope, as Americans, and supposedly a 'tolerant' nation, that we would fear to tread on the rights of any parents to make such an important decision as to who was going to educate their children.  Would those of you who have posted against this be for the court system if they were going to force your children to go to a parochial school of some type? Regardless of it being a religious decision or not, I choose not to have my children exposed to things that go on in public schools.  All you have to do is watch the new 'reality' show "High School Confidential" to see that even good kids can be caught up in things they aren't ready for. I also wouldn't want to have my child expelled from the "zero tolerence" of the school board for taking a vitamin or asprin in class.  I don't want to have to worry if he'll come home beaten or with a bullet because he ticked off some hot head.  Things aren't settled with a good old fist fight anymore. The school boards in our city (we have two districts) spend more time arguing and slinging mud at each other and the parents than they do discussing school business and then having it spread all over the 6 o'clock news!  That's not to say there aren't some excellent school districts and great teachers out there, but I think the system as a whole is broken and has problems.  I also think I have the right as a parent to help decide what my child is taught and see that it's in line with my own thinking, not someone elses, just like you wouldn't want things forced on yours. I think we really need to be careful before we go treading over someone else's rights in regards to our own bias.  I agree, there are some parents who should absolutely not homeschool, and after being in it for 9 years and having 9 more to go thru with my youngest son, I've seen a few of those, but I've seen FAR more success stories than not.  Regardless, before you make a final decision to allow the national school system into our business, remember that some day, they may be in yours!



       

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