This was the title of an op-ed opinion written by an A/P English language teacher after the homeschooler-Pasco County meeting mentioned last week that few homeschoolers actually attended.
“Trust us” was the message loud and clear from the parents attending the Hernando County School District’s outreach meeting to homeschoolers. We know what is best for our children. Unfortunately, when confronted with some “facts” concerning the success of home schooling for high school age children their response was not academic concern, but complete denial. Silly me, I thought these parents were truly concerned with
excellence in education.
Someone was in denial alright. First, the “facts” that he uses to convince homeschoolers that their high school aged students are not falling behind are based on exams and measurements that homeschoolers don’t use. He is also in denial about the fact that there are correspondence and virtual courses for the many subjects that he claims homeschoolers have no access too. Yes, Mr. Maynard is in denial about how truly misled he is.
There is a reason that homeschoolers do not attend the meetings help by school officials. Homeschoolers are used to officials offering a bone to homeschoolers only to tack on forms of control, or to make them look or feel inadequate in homeschooling their kids. Why waste their time? Life is too exciting to spend an hour or two at a meeting designed by people who want to bring you down.
Homeschooling does have some disadvantages and I have not hesitated to mention them in previous articles. In The Hazards of Homeschooling through High School I mention that there are less and less homeschooled peers as students get older, that curriculum can be costly, and that the last four years can be intense and grueling. Unlike Mr. Maynard however, I do not feel that my child will suffer any academic disadvantages. Two miles from my home, my kids have access to standard high school courses that I either don’t want to or cannot teach. Just one mile from my home is a college that will gladly allow my kids to take non-matriculated classes if they so wish. These sound like academic advantages to me.
The purpose of this article was not to shame Mr. Maynard for his mischaracterizations against homeschooling but to remind homeschoolers and prospective homeschoolers that not everything that comes out of the mouth of opponents such as this is necessarily true. The only way to find out about homeschooling yourself is to network with homeschoolers and try it for yourself.
Pros and cons of homeschooling