Re: Home School Controversy?

Hi Ev,

Homeschooling can be controversial. I work in the public school setting, and have thought about this a lot. We attend church where many, if not all, of the families homeschool. The families are quite large and, of course, the moms do not work outside the home. We have other friends in other denominations that home school as well.

IMHO, if you can do it, homeschooling is probably ideal. The teacher, or group leader, or whatever his title is, where we worship (just started not too long ago), said something about the government should not be responsible for educating our children. That is ideal. If I had children, I would want to homeschool them for many different reasons.

Then, on the other hand, there are so many different social situations right here in America. There are so many single parent homes, which is not ideal, but in reality - these parents more often than not have to work outside the home to support the family. I know of one mom who does work full time and homeschools her child at night after work, but the child is left home by herself all day - not ideal. Then there are so many parents who are struggling with things like drug abuse, mental health issues and their own relative lack of education. Could these parents provide a quality education for their children? I don't know.

I know that my husband comes from such ad abusive background that we were able to get a conviction that landed his dad in jail, many years after the abuse occurred. There is no statute of limitations on felonies in this particular state. Mom chose to look the other way while her children were being abused for many years, even though the signs were very blatant. One of the daughters went to a school social worker when the abuse became unbearable and there was some intervention, although not enough. The parents moved and evaded social services and mom let dad back in the house, etc., etc. These parents would not have been capable of properly educating their children. Today, this daughter has two bachelor's degrees, is working on her master's, is purchasing her own house and has a decent life. The public school system did not serve her siblings quite as well as her, but probably much better than her parents would have.

If you can homeschool your children and protect them from all the negative things in the public school setting, then you are truly blessed. Maybe the folks that are opposing you are just envious, or maybe, deep down in their hearts and minds, they know they should be homeschooling as well, but do not want to sacrifice this or that to do it.

Keep up the good work.

Tweet