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Is Homeschooling Illegal?
By Julie | April 25, 2008
A few weeks ago I attended a homeschooling curriculum fair, my first ever. Our oldest will be a kindergartener next year. We’ve done preschool at home, now we need a kindergarten curriculum.
I never wanted to homeschool, ever. I used to think homeschooling was for parents who wanted to keep their kids isolated and secluded, and who didn’t have their children’s best interests at heart. After our son was born, homeschooling would creep into a variety of things I’ve read. I read many parents saying they homeschooled to give their kids a safer, better education, and stronger family life. I thought they sounded like idiots, but that’s exactly what I want for my kids. With the school shooting around the country, it’s obvious; our schools are not as safe as they once were. The more I read, I began to wonder, could homeschooling really offer a better education? Many studies I read said yes. I stumbled across Homeschooling Grows up, a study conducted by the HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) on grownup homeschoolers. Here are a few of their findings:
Seventy-one percent participate in an ongoing community service activity (e.g., coaching a sports team, volunteering at a school, or working with a church or neighborhood association), compared to 37% of U.S. adults of similar ages. Eighty-eight percent of the homeschool graduates surveyed were members of an organization (e.g., such as a community group, church or synagogue, union, homeschool group, or professional organization), compared to 50% of U.S. adults.
Most studies show homeschoolers score higher than public schooled kids on test scores, but this study shows they become the kind of adults I want to raise. A few more years, a lot of research and prayers later, and we have decided to homeshool our kids. Now, could homeschooling become illegal? This year in California the courts declared it illegal for anyone to teach their children if they do not hold a teaching license. People were outraged, and now, the California Court of Appeals has decided to rehear the case.
Since we made our decision, homeschooling is fighting, even in our home state, Nebraska. Yesterday I came across another threat to homeschooling, the biggest one I’ve seen so far: The UN, from the blog:
An In-depth Look at Article 13 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:
States “the child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice.”
I don’t want to limit my kids, but there are things I want to protect them from until they are old enough, and wise enough, to make certain decisions for themselves. If the UN has their way, my kids could tell me they want a prostitute, and if I argue, am I breaking their laws? After all, isn’t that stopping their freedom of expression? The UN didn’t give birth to my kids, I did. They don’t care about them, I do. I see no reason their wishes should supercede mine.
Studies done on homeschoolers show they are beating their public schooled peers. Studies of public schools show we are getting our butts kicked by other countries at educating our kids. If public schools would take time to improve themselves, parents wouldn’t want to pull their kids out. So, why are we threatening the systems that seem to be working by trying to corral the kids, who are doing well, into a failing one
Topics: In the News, Life and Living |
