What Makes People Think They Are Qualified To Teach Their Own Kids?

[mzteris]

208. here's the problem -

well a couple really - okay - quite a few!

1) just because there are "bad homeschoolers" (and trust me there are some very bad ones), and
2) just because SOME of them are doing it for all the WRONG reasons - like religion, racism, etc, and
3) just because some people homeschool does NOT mean they all "hate public schools", (two of my three were/are public schooled - even the hs'er attended "some" public school - but that's another long story),

does NOT mean we should BAN homeschooling. That would deny the rest of those who are hs'ing for the RIGHT reasons and who ARE good at it the opportunity to hs. And that would be interfering with their rights to raise their child as they see fit.

I struggle with the oversight and controls issue because I know it would really hamstring some quite brilliant approaches to hs'ing (for some kids) that wouldn't pass the "committee". However, I sometimes wish there were a LITTLE more control because I know there are people who are claiming to hs, when in fact they are not.

The hs bashing that goes on BECAUSE of these bad examples is quite infuriating and insulting to the rest of the hs'ing familes who ARE doing it "right".

Do you realize that for some children a traditional school setting is truly NOT an option? What would happen to all those children who were forced into that situation?

One other point - and I make it reluctantly - a lot of those religious hs'ing families are giving their children a superb "education" - in every other way - math, etc . . . Granted their history is a little skewed (but so is most public school textbooks!), and their science a little screwy in some areas, and they use the freaking Bible as a resource (though a whole lot of public school children are raised with the Bible as the center of their existence and also taught screwy ideas at home) but otherwise - they're actually doing an excellent job.

Another point I'd like to make is just because a family is religious, does not mean they're intolerant, teaching evolution, or hs'ing for religious reasons. We had a number of people in our inclusive group who were churchgoing, but their impetus to hs had NOTHING to do with that fact. It was what was best for their kids. We also had a couple of pagans and some atheists in our group. We all got along fine. The only ones who didn't fit were the Republicans! lol...

Do you know there are an inordinate number of aspie/autistic kids in the hs community? A large number whose "gender identity" is not acceptable by society at large? That there is a huge population of gifted/learning disabled children whose needs can't be met by most public schools? That there are vast numbers of hs children suffering from other disorders and/or mental health issues that prohibit them from working effectively in a typical public school setting?

People need to get off this hs bashing kick. It's like calling all girls sluts who take birth control, if you know what I mean. We used to have a lot of hs'ers here on DU but most have left. The majority of those still here don't bother with these hs bashing threads anymore. To try and have honest discourse with people who insult and ridicule you based on a few anecdotal experiences is tiresome and discouraging - especially coming from so-called liberals who supposedly support the rights of individuals.