This seems to be a pretty hot topic as more and more parents are choosing to homeschool their children. Dissatisfaction with the Public School system at large, overcrowded classrooms, restricted religious viewpoints, and many more are just a few of the reasons why parents are "opting out" when it comes to the standard education system. Whatever the reason, it has some in the education community rattled. More and more often, we are seeing the right to homeschool challenged in the news. Legislation is being pushed through to give homeschoolers tax credit relief but in the fine print is the catch...in order to qualify, they want to know how you are teaching. This smacks of the devil getting his foot in the door. Give a little and you lose a lot!

The problem arises when you try to let another dictate what is and is not an acceptable teaching style. Eclectic, unschooling, classic approach, unit study, Charlotte Mason method and many more that could be named are just a few of the methods that many parents choose. Which is the correct way to teach and which is not? A parent that chooses the classic approach may disapprove of the unschooler, but does that mean that the unschooling child is not learning and thriving under the method chosen?

Accountability must come from the parent(s) involved and go no further. When we allow government, society, or an outside influence govern how and what we teach our children, we fall back into the same deadly trap we shunned when we pulled our children from public school. It is the parents' responsibility to ensure that our children get the proper nutrition and have clothing suitable for the child's needs, and education should not be any different.

If we really want to boil it down to the basics, lets compare a child who is not being homeschooled to their full potential and a typical public school student. The PS student goes to school, fidgets through class, brings home a load of homework they never finish and watch MTV all afternoon. On the weekends they spend their time at the park or at a friends house playing video games. The homeschool child that is not being schooled to his or her potential simply skips one step in the scenario. Both will have to make up for what they lost in not being educated properly on their own and either choose or lose in society.

Sounds harsh, but I was one of those children. I dropped out of school and left home at the age of 14. A product of a drug abusing parent, I had to choose to make it for myself or become what my mother had become. I educated myself, sought gainful employment and became a productive member of society. Education does start at home, but it ends with the individual.

For the christian homeschooling family our accountability comes from the Word of God. He tells us, You raise up your child in the way he should go. We have to get out of the thought process that someone else is more responsible, more knowledgeable, more understanding, more educated than we are. A tutor can be employed to help with subjects that we are not proficient in, such as higher math, but that does not mean that this person is better at making the decisions that are right for your child in his or her education. No one knows your child better than you, and in spite of the "village" concept so many have adopted lately, you CAN raise your child without getting the latest professional advice on wool vs cotton, wheaties or cheerios, nylon vs spandex!

Signing off,

homeschoolmom