Meaning no harm, an old acquaintance of mine pop-quizzed me about an American history factoid that I could not answer. His response to me was, “You’re a homeschool mom and you didn’t know that?”
I walked away without saying anything, stewing over the trap and the interaction. Shortly afterward, I formulated in my mind the response I should have offered: I do not homeschool because I know everything.
So why do we homeschool?
My husband and I homeschool because we are the most resourceful people on earth with regard to our children. We know them best. We understand their shortcomings and their talents. We know what types of citizens we want them to become. We care most for their precious souls. We love the freedom.
Early in America, children schooled exclusively at home until schools were built in the 19th century. In 1852, the first truancy laws were enacted and were passed in all 50 states by 1917. Homeschooling was made legal nationwide in 1992 thanks to the perseverance of Convention of States co-founder Michael Farris and the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA). My family has been fortunate enough across many years to have successfully utilized homeschooling as well as brick and mortar classrooms when we needed them.
As a home educator and freedom loving American, I believe in the US Constitution and its promotion of federalism: the political structure that features a balance of power among local, state, and federal governments. Thus, I found a recent written piece* in the May 14, 2024 edition of Scientific American truly alarming.
Written anonymously by, “The Editors,” the piece suggests American homeschooled children deserve better stating, “The federal government must develop basic standards for safety and quality of education in homeschooling across the country.”
The disturbing piece goes on to criticize the lack of federal oversight, suggesting that with the ever-growing homeschool community, “A dizzying maze of laws and legal precedents governs parents’ ability to homeschool, and the rules differ in each state and sometimes even differ between school districts.”
Oh the humanity! Sounds like federalism to me.
Scientific American failed to cite that two-thirds of US schoolchildren are not reading proficiently, and more than three-quarters are not proficient in civics. These statistics should prove that the current top-down formula for managing education in this country is not working which is precisely why homeschooling has become more popular.
Logic matters little. Elitists love power; they think they know better. And they must have a crisis. Frankly, it should seem a crisis to “The Editors” that if Americans continue to read poorly, there soon will not be enough proficient readers to subscribe to their lousy pseudo-science publication!
Scientific American might consider focusing on its riveting coverage of nanoparticles, gender affirming care, apocalyptic environmental models, and a little less on civics. There is actually no provision in the US Constitution that allows the federal government to insert itself in public, private, or home education.
So I’ll take the “dizzying maze of local laws and legal precedents” that direct homeschooling. These laws are largely hands-off, require little mandatory reporting, and meet local needs. And that’s exactly what freedom-loving homeschooling families like mine need to thrive, and what big government radicals hate.
Eliminate the Department of Education and promote federalism? Heck yeah! Find out how at: www.conventionofstates.com.
*https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/children-deserve-uniform-standards-in-homeschooling/
