For the past few days I’ve been talking about whether or not homeschoolers need more regulations. I have to be honest and say that this question always cracks me up a little. The thought that all common sense goes out the window when we decide to homeschool floors me. I don’t need the state to help know how to dress my children appropriately for the weather, I don’t need the state to tell me how to feed my kids, I don’t need the state to help me figure out how to teach colors, or numbers or anything like that but suddenly, around the time that my child turns six, I lose all common sense. I have images of myself fluttering around outside, blindly wandering around until the state swoops in to help me.
Well, no such savior is needed for homeschooling parents. Here are a few reasons why:
Highly Invested in the Product
Homeschooling parents are highly invested in their product much more so than your average teacher. I’m not saying that their aren’t phenomenal teachers out there. But it is different when it’s your own child. Consequently, most parents I know seek out the best materials and the best resources to provide the best education for their child–which may very well look different than a state provided curriculum.
Resources Abound
Something that I think non-homeschoolers miss sometimes is that resources abound in the homeshooling world. I’m often asked about what we will do with our gifted son once he’s reached a level beyond our teaching capabilities and I always explain that if I wanted to, I could have video courses galore for him in high school. I can order curriculums that do all the teaching for me. I can send him to audit a course at community college. Really, there is not a lack of opportunity.
So truly, if there were a parent who was lost on what to teach, they could simply choose a curriculum provider and order the whole kit and caboodle prepackaged curriculum. By the way, many of these same curriculums are used in traditional schools and ‘re-packaged’ for the homeschooler–in other words, it’s the same stuff as if you’d send them to a private school.
So no, home schooling parents don’t need more regulations to help them know what to teach. Between being highly invested in their product and having abundant resources at their fingertips–more regulations are simply not needed.
Related Articles:
Discipline in the Homeschool Classroom
Creating Kids Who Want to Know
Can You Really Fail at Homeschooling