by Robin Tidwell

Created on: August 01, 2011

Back in the old days, almost every child was homeschooled at least to some degree; those lucky few, who pursued education beyond today’s equivalent of sixth or eighth grade, may have attended boarding schools or “lived in” with another family. In the last decade or so, homeschooling is making a comeback but it doesn’t come without a price.

That price is common misconceptions about what homeschooling is and is not. Even today, when so many are supposed to be so enlightened, when so many decry the condition and fate of public school systems, the average individual will dismiss the idea of homeschooled children as being anything other than properly educated. This education, or lack thereof as conceived by many, includes knowledge, religion, and socialization.

Many cannot believe that a parent who exhibits ignorance in his own writing or ideals, especially one who has suffered a lack of education in his own life, could possibly be qualified to instruct children. This argument has its merits, but often a homeschooling parent is able to improve his own limitations and learn alongside his children.

There are, at the same time, teachers in public schools who display ignorance and lack of education – most districts do not hire on the basis of grades received for college classes, but simply completion of said classes which culminate in a degree. Possession of a degree does not necessarily qualify one to teach.

Presumably those who undertake the schooling of their children have a close, vested interest in their education; many public school teachers do so as well, but it may not hit as close to home, so to speak. This personal interest, however, can somewhat make up for a lack of formal education on the part of the parent.

Religious reasons are those most often given for homeschooling. Many of those who subscribe to traditional, fundamental Christianity elect to do so. Unfortunately, many of them do suffer a lack of education, if not downright ignorance, and so give other homeschoolers a bad name. Many of these fundamentalists believe wholeheartedly that God will provide the answers, that God is “calling” them to homeschool, and that the details simply don’t matter.

It does matter. If your child cannot spell “cat”, he is not properly educated; if your child cannot tell the difference between “there, their, and they’re” he is at a disadvantage. If you consistently make the same errors, how can

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