Regulating Homeschooling

This paper ignores one critically important reason why more questions have not been raised about constitutional issues surrounding homeschooling - because the Supreme Court has already spoken to this issue, many years ago, and declared that the right to direct the education of children belongs exclusively to their parents. I hate to disappoint Ms. Yuracko or the author of this blog, but parents do have the right to determine how their children will be educated.

I've been involved in the homeschooling movement for about 37 years, ever since my mother taught me to read at home when I was four years old. I attended virtually every schooling option you can imagine, from public to private to homeschooling to a small classroom with a tutor. During my high school years, I completed the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's independent study program (in 3 years instead of the usual 4, giving me the opportunity to pursue my college education my senior year - something that is routinely done in schools today but was unheard of in 1982). Since then I have helped many parents begin or improve their homeschools, have educated both my own children at home, and have taught in a homeschool enrichment program through a local public school system.

Based on my rather significant experience with homeschooling and homeschoolers, I believe Ms. Yuracko is wrong to divide homeschooling parents into "two distinct movements." Of course, that kind of artificial distinction is possible - some homeschoolers are Christians, some are not - but the truth is that reasons for homeschooling are almost as many as the people who do it. It is undoubtedly true that SOME homeschoolers do it to shelter their children. Possibly a few even do it "to shield their children from liberal values of sex equality, gender role fluidity and critical rationality," though I personally have never met one who did. MOST homeschoolers, however, do NOT homeschool in order to shield their children from any of these things. In fact, many believe their children will learn "critical rationality" much more thoroughly at home than in the public school system.

Certainly many Christian homeschoolers would include, among the multiple reasons they homeschool, their desire to teach their children what they believe and why. But most homeschoolers do homeschool for MANY reasons, teaching their beliefs being only ONE of those. And most secular homeschoolers also want to teach their children what they believe, though what they teach would undoubtedly be different from what a Christian homeschooler would teach.

So why DO people homeschool? As I've said above, for MANY reasons. I personally began homeschooling my daughter because when I started looking at preschools, when she was 3 1/2, I realized she already knew everything they were teaching even at the kindergarten level. I saw no sense in subjecting my daughter to two years of stagnation when I could teach her at home, and help her continue to be excited about learning. We started then, and each year as I looked at the school system, I realized she was moving farther beyond her peers. She'll be starting sixth grade in the fall. She took the sixth-grade Iowa tests this spring, and her test scores show her in the 98th percentile among sixth-graders (she was in fifth grade). I would do my daughter a grave disservice putting her in any middle school in the country at this point.

Am I what Ms. Yuracko would call a "Christian fundamentalist"? I'm quite sure I am. Do I homeschool in order to shield my children from liberal values? Most definitely NOT! I homeschool in order to give my children the best education I possibly can. I homeschool in order to allow both my gifted daughters to soar. I homeschool because I hate textbooks, written by committees and dispensing controlled amounts of information in tiny bits and in the driest way imaginable, and love real books, full of adventure and interest as well as truth. I homeschool in order to protect them from the dangers of apathy, drug and alcohol abuse, promiscuity, and murderous lunatics with automatic rifles who invade even tiny Amish communities and remote mountain villages. And yes, I homeschool in order to teach my children what I believe and value and why I do.

And most homeschoolers I know, both Christian and secular - and I know hundreds, including those from both groups - homeschool for these reasons and literally dozens of others. The Supreme Court has stated clearly that the United States Constitution gives me the right to educate my children as I see fit; Ms. Yuracko's paper does not change that, and I hope it never will.

Homeschooling MUST be given regular oversight to insure that curricula is being taught & standards met. In most states, that is not the case. In PA, it is the school district's perview to follow each homeschooled child twice a year, not the state's. The parent must present the child's case & assure that compliance is present. Documentation must be provided vividly, including ticket stubs for a cultural event or other enrichment. Nevertheless, there are many cracks to fall into, not the least the 'what' [i.e., content] of the matter. Today, with Dominionism & Revisionism an impetus for the parent, the subject of history may be taught but with open hostility of the teacher that, in turn, corrupts the child's view or worse, robs him/her of a legitimate presentation in the first place. If the parent trumps all questioning or the child is not afforded an objective presentation, this damage may be present forever. Every child should be given an introduction to standard history, albeit with arrid textbooks: that's where a good teacher can still make the subject zing, but with the parent substituting for school district, the propensity is for it not happening. Follow that up with a 'class trip' with negative narration for what is offered, and what you have is a loss-for-life. Although I am not a proponent of children taking the parent to court years later [the time lapse explicable in such a case], I am happy to see this enacted by a latently-aware adult who was brainwashed by homeschooling as a child. Teachers, like teaching, is an uneven road, but homeschooling provides no process for weeding out until it is far too late. The example in the singular just on text materials alone is far worse than a parochial school selection of text(s) that immediately advertise prejudicial action. I have seen at the Nation's Capitol the captive groups of children being led by a "Revisionist" leader invecting the prejudice of anti-government bias at first one stop, then another. Who/how do we protect these lambs and especially when their parents have adopted the selfsame corruption of all viewpoints themselves?

Just a couple of years ago the State of PA enacted a law that made participation in after-school sports by homeschoolers possible as a response of different policies from district to district. As a kind of social or cultural experience, it's a kind of widening that one schooled alone would probably not get otherwise, but the question of 'difference' except in just one case is also making 'bullying' or 'hazing' a more likely happening. Allowing after-school sports to satisfy in-school PhysEd is another inequity here, but the lack of a parent continuing homeschooling raises other issues & especially when the parent cannot teach math or laboratory science at grade-level or at all. Is it permissible to take the child to a local community college for Remedial Algebra as a substitute for Grade 9 Algebra? Obviously, teaching something not learned earlier to a group is different than teaching it for the first time, but the homeschooler is robed of that advantage, all because of a parent's inadequacy. But Math, History or Biology or Physics are but examples of where homeschooling must be breached if these subjects happen at all. Better here than at home if DNA or Darwin is a taboo not addressable? Yes, but such only documents the inadequacy of going down a homeschooling route to begin with. And the lack of social interaction is always a loss of magnificent proportions. We live in the U.S. in a plural society. Shielding a child from pluralism by a self-imposed segregation he will pay for dearly in his adult life, but when the source of such damage is assessed by the individual, he can only be bitter if it is not his choice also as an adult; if it is not taken for loss, he may only be a denizen, not a citizen: the antithesis of what our democracy demands if its illusions are to be enacted as personal success [and I do not mean this materially either].

Precious few, in my experience, go down this road as a liberal helping his children enact the goals of a liberal society. But with the advent of the christian Right, two dominant distortions are the impetus: creation science [sic] vs. Darwinism, and cementing biblical literalism by avoidance of all literary exposure. In the last quarter-century, seeking these negative-values has been enhanced by cable TV & more recently the Internet to enable a false-legitimacy that blinds the fundamentalist, especially unlettered parents who become the teacher in homeschooling. Just keeping the kids "out" of popular culture is a norm enacted without his knowledge or approval: a captive is he, but will he be for life? When/if
not, that is where the resentment occurs, and rather than be religious in a better sense, he chooses no religion at all, for without the religious motivation that his parents laid out for him, he'd not be in this place now. Life is always between a rock & a hard place, per the idiom, but this now hits him in the face, & parent-hating is now another problem he has that he may not have had otherwise.

Just as so-called christian schools arose & attached themselves to churches, including church property, as a response to Integration and its corollary, going to school with Blacks, et al., so has Homeschooling advanced in the last quarter-century, again by so-called christians for silimarly negative assessments of curricula, with the child unable to vote for an outcome. These fundmentalists did not have to wait for George Bush to pursue a pseudo-science with endorsements from 'above.' They had already endorsed it years before, with TV evangelists screaming for them to keep to this path or face perdition [a word they would not know since it's my choice here, by the way!], but also from the store-front or quanset hut church pastor doing his brainwashing too, easier since all art or that was artistic was devoid of this setting. Too harsh? I think not! Just look at the documentation that comes to us daily but also for me, sadly.

A tenet of Protestanism has always been support of & for public education. It's vital for democracy, a real democracy, to succeed. Although there are significant potholes & worse in its way today, public education is the only hope of the masses to rise from their plight & prosper. I do not applaud the violence that has beset us or been enacted with guns in too many schools or workplaces. It will be public education that has been revitalized that saves us from the sorry lot that NeoCons & Revisionists are willing to exploit. Give them not even a crack to fall into, and we will be on the mend again. I am happy to say that my children received an excellent public education, even if they were in upper percentiles. That can be the experience of the many, not just the few. As a college professor for four decades, I remember every homeschooled student in my classroom but none that was prepared or that succeeded. Offering a quality public education is what the public should expect for its students, for they go to school to be educated, not indoctrinated.

Once again the fears of the liberal, anti-Christ, mindset surface. It's been a long time since I've visited this site, but I see Mr. Hander still can't make it through a post without decrying 'storefront' churches along with the homeschool movement. I cannot help but think its because of the overwhelming number of success stories regarding both.
Do you really think your few experiences with homeschooled students in your 'four decades' of college instruction in any way disprove the countless and ever-increasing testimonies of those (like my own children) who are sought out by leading Universities?
Anyone, true to the educator's calling, would not only admit to the severe 'dumbing down' of average public school graduates [victims] but recognize the vast superiority (in general knowledge) of the average home schooled, and applaud the many who have sacrificed careers and the expense of teaching their children--while continuing to pay taxes to pay for public 'education'.
I am acquainted with many more public school students (High School age) than the three I still have at home. And I have taken opportunities as they have arisen, to ask them just a few general knowledge questions... These are not slow kids, but they can't correctly answer simple math, history, current event, questions... They can't spell, they can't diagram a sentence, they can't tell the difference between a noun and a verb, etc.
Their parents can do most of that, however, even though they (like myself) were also educated in the public system.... But that was back when we were taught English, History, Math, and Science. And if we didn't learn it, we didn't get promoted or graduate. Such is not the case today.
Though you gloat over your imagined idea that modern 'storefront' preachers would not know the meaning of such big words as "perdition" (give me a break); you should know full well that most of this year's public high-school graduates, and even many college graduates would not be familiar with half the words you proudly display in most of your posts. I would venture to claim however, that my homeschooled kids (even the one who is finishing her MBA at Miami University next year) would have no problem understanding what you write--and marvel at the ignorance therein.

Well stated Mr. Hughes.

I think my state, California, has the right idea in terms of regulating homeschooling: it doesn't exist legally. A family who wishes to homeschool either (A) establishes their own private school with the very minimal government oversight of all other private schools or (B) enrolls the child in an independent study program of an existing public or private school.

Interestingly, studies have shown *NO* difference in test scores between homeschooled students in high-regulation states and those in low-regulation states.

If Prof. Yuracko had done her homework, she would've discovered that only 21% of homeschooling families are fundamentalists and only 14% are non-religious. The vast majority fall into neither of her "two distinct movements" being neither secular nor fundamentalists but Catholic, mainline Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, or another faith.

I've noticed that a lot of the literature and information on home schooling is by adults. They're usually either strongly opposed to it or advocate it vehemently. Well, sometimes I wonder, what about the children? Sure, there's a little written by home schooler's themselves, but mostly I've just found parent's and educator's comments on it. How do the children feel? I mean parents say their children love home schooling but can all of them honestly say that their child never asked to go to school? That their child never wanted to be around more children and have a teacher?
I was home schooled my entire life, most of my friends went to public school, I felt isolated around other home schooler, for I personally found that most of them were fundamentalist Christians, statistics or not. Their parents talked of nothing but religion, the kids themselves didn't really talk, mostly too shy.
Now, this is just my personal experience with multiple home school organizations, I'm by no way saying that this is how ALL home schoolers are.
There was just a great cultural gap between me and basically every home schooler I've met. I grew up in a liberal, free thinking home. I believe in evolution, and I have no problem with gay marriage. I love philosophy and ideas, my mom never censored my reading. I loved reading about magic and used to run around the house with a witch hat and a wand chanting out spells. We celebrated halloween, it was always my favorite holiday. My dad is an atheist, my mom is a strong christian, but that never entered my schooling, a mere family matter.
I'm fifteen, I'm attending college, I'm happy. But I honestly don't know if home schooling was the best thing for me.
I think that home schooling is a very complicated thing. There are many draw backs in home schooling, but so are there in public school.
It is a grey matter, most definitely not black and white.
Ultimately, I don't think home schooling should be done for religious reasons. I think children should be given the opportunity to think for themselves. I've seen so many children who are lost and depressed because they're parent's chose to home school them to instill their religious view upon them. One of my close friends suffers severe depression because of this. She feels stifled and isolated and rebels in dangerous ways. She's experimented in drugs, unprotected sex, abusive relationships, everything that home schooler's parent's want to shield their children from. I just don't think home schooling is the answer to serious issues such as these, counseling and good parenting can be accomplished with or without home schooling.
I think home schooling should be for educational purposes. If religion is important to the parent then they should express that to their children but not in their schooling. There should always be room for the child's own discovery and freedom of choice. I think this is vital to a child's development. No one should be forced to believe something, and while a child going to public school could have just as religious parents as a home schooler, they are not forced it in their schooling.
I see nothing wrong with religion itself, I think it is a sometimes healthy way of expression and comfort, and for many it is their life, but like the separation of church and state, I believe there should be a separation of religion and education. Religious studies are enlightening and good, but I don't think should be intertwined in every subject. Bible literacy is important yes, but I think literacy in other religious works is important as well.
Of course, this is just one girl's opinion, and there's no way of controlling other people's opinions, and I know that "right" and "should" are entirely subjective and vary from person to person. I'm just saying that home schooling is much more complicated than people say, and the children are often forgotten in their parent's frenzy quest for the “right” answer.

I'm afraid Ms. Yuracko and people who think as she does are simply intolerant of differences of opinion. She believes in "liberal values of sex equality, gender role fluidity and critical rationality."

Not everybody believes in those things. People have a right to *disagree* with Yuracko.

As for "critical rationality:" I'm afraid people who believe in "sex equality and gender role fluidity" simply don't believe in "critical rationality."

Just ask Larry Summers, who tried to bring "critical rationality" to bear on the fact that women are underrepresented in the sciences.

Quite simply, people hostile to home schooling want to use the public schools for their own project in indoctrination, and resent the fact that people who disagree with them can opt out.