A request was made by a local public school administrator at a recent board of education meeting that the newspaper "do" an exposé on home schooling.
Such a request, and one made in a public forum by a school board president, at the very least implies some knowledge of something amiss.
If this administrator is aware of anything which ought to be "exposed," maybe he should simply contact the proper authorities. If he suspects cases of abuse, there's Children Services, the police, the Highland County Sheriff's Office, the Juvenile Court judge, all of whom would, no doubt, respond to the legitimate complaints of a school administrator.
Why challenge the newspaper? We are not the home school police. Frankly, we have enough to do to keep up with those public bodies that spend more and more of taxpayers' money each year. But I digress.
Families who choose to home school their children have every right to do so. At least for the time being. A number of states are working hard to change that. Some state lawmakers - encouraged, no doubt, by the contributions from the teachers' unions - would like to force parents of home schooled children to earn degrees in each subject they teach (to their own children).
This suggests the government can usurp parental guidance and parental responsibility.
That's too bad. And, sadly, it has less to do with educating each individual student and much more to do with capitalizing on the government funds attached to each student.
From a myopic viewpoint, it is understandable that a public school administrator would oppose home schooling. For lack of a better term, it's called "follow the money." Public schools profit from higher student body counts, all the while lamenting an increase in the teacher-to-student ratio.
Rather than seek investigations of the parents of home schooled children, perhaps public schools should be thanking them. After all, the public schools continue to receive the tax levies from those parents who home school and, at the same time, they have an improved teacher-to-student relationship.
Rather than, in a public meeting, cast aspersions on those who choose to home school, perhaps the administrator would be a better public servant by demanding better results from that which he has a degree of authority and control.
To quote a recent college graduate who was home schooled, "Home schooling is, simply, educating children at home. The most important points of home education are the freedom to create the best possible curriculum and its unique atmosphere advantageous to students. Parents and students have control over the curriculum; so if they don't like some of the books by one company, they can substitute by using books from another company. For example, when I was home schooled, my parents used the A Beka curriculum. Because my parents knew exactly what my strengths and weaknesses were, they were able to design an education plan that would help me get the most out of my schooling."
OK. It's confession time. I just quoted my oldest daughter. After we completed her home schooling years, she graduated at the top of her class (public school), scored a 34 on her ACT English (her college major), and received a substantial trustees scholarship at a private college. Lord willing (and the creeks don't rise) she will earn a second degree next spring. She's 19.
Her sister, who is 17, also was home schooled. She earned a college degree at 16. She, too, is on an academic scholarship. Her mother and I hope she'll earn another degree in two years, and maybe a master's by 21 or 22. If not, it will be her decision, not ours.
Now, for those who may think today's column is a little too self-serving, I had absolutely nothing to do with my children's education, aside from the fact that I insisted they have one. Their mother was their first teacher and their best teacher. Bar none.
We stumbled into the home school arena mostly by accident. When our first child came of elementary school age, our local district had a small campus for grades K-12. That was not acceptable. Nor was the typical kindergarten curriculum. Our daughter was reading at age 3; by 5, she was growing tired of the usual children's book fare. (Note to parents: Never teach your 3-year-olds to read. They'll drive you crazy and you won't be able to spell out private thoughts (let's order a P-I-Z-Z-A) without getting busted.
Opponents of home schooling often toss out the tired old song and dance about a perceived lack of social interaction. Don't worry about it. Contrary to some myths, home schooled students are not caged and isolated from society. Really. They have friends. They play sports. They volunteer. They work. They date (much to their father's dismay).
National Home Education Research Institute's (www.nheri.org) founder and president Dr. Brian D. Ray writes that many studies show home schooled children "are developing at least as well, and often better than, those who attend institutional schools." That's been our experience, too.
And then there was the religion aspect of our children's cultural literacy.
In their popular 1988 reference book, "The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy," widely regarded professors E.D. Hirsch, Joseph Kett and James Trefil make the point in Chapter One: "No one in the English-speaking world can be considered literate without a basic knowledge of the Bible. All educated speakers of English need to understand what is meant when someone describes a contest as being between David and Goliath, or whether a person who has the wisdom of Solomon is wise or foolish, or whether saying My cup runneth over means the person feels fortunate or unfortunate. Those who cannot use or understand such allusions cannot fully participate in literate English."
As the authors say, regardless of one's religious preference, or one's preference for no religion, a basic knowledge of the Bible is essential for understanding our nation's culture. "No person in the modern world can be considered educated without a basic knowledge of all the great religions - Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity," the authors said.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court's 1962 Engel v. Vitale decision, public schools have shied away from all matters of religion. While that case prohibited public schools from establishing a school prayer and forcing its recitation, the broader interpretation has been to simply pretend religion (particularly Christianity) does not exist.
And, yes, there are always those who will say "If you want your child to learn about religion, send him to church."
Again that misses the point of cultural literacy. Agnostics and atheists may disbelieve in a higher authority, but still be culturally literate when it comes to religion. Many are, in fact.
In essence, our decision to educate our children through the early grades at home was based on many factors, the primary one being what was best for each child and how to best use what limited resources we had.
We attended seminars on curricula, used the Internet (www.homeschool.com) and networked with a few others who were home schooling. Later, we provided a brief tutorial for one local public school district to distribute to families who were considering home schooling.
Moreover, I have hired at least three individuals who were home schooled. Each was an outstanding employee. (Fortunately, one of them still is!)
Still, I am not an advocate, per se, for home schooling. This is a major undertaking and it's not for everyone. But it can work to the benefit of the student. In fact, I've known area public school administrators who have opted to home school their children, and public school administrators who have placed their children in private schools or in a public school district other than the one in which they are employed. And that's fine. Each family situation is unique and parents should have the freedom to pursue the best education plan for their children.
Unfortunately, a number of state legislatures and courts, including in California, Michigan and the District of Columbia, are trying to make home schooling more and more difficult. In some instances, elected officials are making knee-jerk reactions to isolated cases of substandard academic achievement in the home school environment.
A more reasonable approach, however, would be to investigate the allegations of abuse instead of outlawing the process which works so well for so many families. Fortunately, the Home School Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org) does defend the constitutional right of parents to direct the education of their children.
"You cannot deny parents the right to do good for their children," said Michael P. Farris, who represents the Home School Legal Defense Association. "Anything that causes children to suitably learn should be encouraged."
That would seem to be the bottom line. And it would seem to be the ultimate responsibility of parents to decide whether to enroll their children in public school, private school or home school. In any case, the simple truth is this: You get out of it what you put into it.
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Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Times-Gazette.
Reader Comments
Posted: Monday, July 28, 2008
Article comment by:
Dan Overmitten
I agree with this Mr. Ryan, if anyone suspects abuse or someone not following the law, then contact authorities in those jurisdictions. Homeschooling is legal. Some people need to get used to another viable alternative to public or private schools.
Posted: Sunday, July 27, 2008
Article comment by:
Catherine Bombac
I agree 100 percent! My grandson made straight A's when he was home schooled. ... He scored 100 percent on his Ohio Achievement test.
Posted: Saturday, July 26, 2008
Article comment by:
William McNicoll
Excellent column, very good comments on home schooling and included some valuable links. Here's a site I like: www.schoolandstate.org.
Posted: Saturday, July 26, 2008
Article comment by:
Mindy Henson
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for such a positive article on home schooling!
