In a desperate attempt to find a conversation online regarding homeschooling that did not have to do with the plight of California Homeschoolers, I came across a certain video log. This vlogger’s name is Stephen Downes and he works for the National Research Council, Institute for Information Technology in New Brunswick, Canada. His specialty is online learning. In short, he is no dummy and knows a few things about education. When it came to homeschooling however, he was off base.
He had many objections to homeschooling. I am addressing his concerns on homeschooling not because I was so bored that I needed to address the concerns of one man with his own mind and opinion, but because I repeatedly hear these same objections.
The first objection to homeschooling is Qualifications.
Many people feel that homeschoolers need to be qualified to teach their child. Recent court rulings and proposed homeschool legislation have made that plain. While common sense would tell you that there are qualified people who should not be teaching and unqualified people who could do an excellent job, the subject of who is and who is not qualified to teach their own child is a recurrent theme.
I do realize that many are talking more specifically toward people who are blatantly uneducated and possibly even learning disabled themselves. How can they be given the right to educate their own these people ask? I guess my answer is the same reason they are allowed vote, work, and live outside of mental institutions. Everyone has the same right to homeschool. However, everyone related to those homeschoolers also have the right to intervene when necessary. I should hope that if grandma (or auntie, or mother in law) knows that her daughters IQ is around 70, that she will object to such homeschooling and help her daughter find resources to help her homeschool her kids, or even take extreme measures to get those kids back in school. Perhaps they will even help her homeschool those children themselves.
Read the homeschool glossaries to get started educating yourself on homeschooling.
*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.
* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?