Let me start off by saying that I am fortunate enough to know some really and truly wonderful homeschool parents. Secondly, let me say that I am not prescribing one method or another, I just want to write out my thoughts and, if the offend you, 1) I’m sorry and 2) You can go to another website (which A&E doesn’t seem to recognize…but anyway)
Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot more through blogs, friends, and friends-of-friends about the injustices wreaked on the homeschooling community. I’ve also read several articles disparaging the public schools and their failures while lauding the statistics in support of students who are homeschooled.
Do you know why this kind of conversation always makes me uncomfortable and even sometimes offended? It’s not because I think that parents shouldn’t have the right to educate their own children but rather the implied extension of that argument which is that I, a professional by definition in this field, am no more qualified than the parent with a high school diploma who chooses to educate their children. This argument suggests that I am grossly overpaid for what I do – especially considering that homeschool parents, who do the same job, are not paid at all. This bothers me.
I suppose it also doesn’t help that, though I have connections to the homeschooling community in my personal life, what I see in my professional life regarding homeschooling is astounding. When a student comes to public school from homeschooling there’s a collective professional sigh. Why? Because there are gaps. Sometimes LARGE ones. And not necessarily in the social relational areas. Actually, now that I think about it, that particular area is usually not noticeable unless the student is naturally introverted as well. There’s also not usually gaps in following classroom and school procedures – these things often have to be taught but no more than you would normally have to instruct a child starting a new school.
No, what I see far too often is a homeschooling student who is behind in one or more subject areas because homeschool parents are NOT required to follow state curriculum. I have taught a 5th grade student who couldn’t write his own name. I’ve taught a fourth grade student who could only do basic addition and subtraction. And these were not students who were diagnosed with a particular learning disability. For all the crap I give the “higher ups” in education there is actually research that goes into why we teach and when we teach it.
I guess this comes down to wanting homeschooling parents to give as much credit and respect to public teachers, who are the experts in education (to varying degrees) as they would like for making their choice.
Adventures with the Morgans 