Actually you’re wrong. I know that in the UK and in many (if not all) states in the US some form of regular assessment is made of homeschooling families to ensure that the child is receiving an adequate education and isn’t simply truanting.

Different states have different requirements of homeschoolers. California, for example, has almost none.You can declare yourself a private school and move on with your life. Some states require attendance records and testing.

There’s no government oversight on parenting either–at least not until things go dreadfully wrong. Some parents will do a great job and some will suck. Same goes for homeschooling parents, and public and private schools.

I’m a new “unschooler”: my daughter is 2yrs 4 months old. I occasionally worry that she might be “missing” something that her daycare/schooled friends are “getting.” And, I openly acknowledge some kids are much better off at school than at home because they don’t have parents that can or want to attend to the child’s intense emotional, physical, and intellectual needs.

So, I was thinking. I don’t know any 2yr olds (off the top of my head) who can instantly identify wasps, hornets, bumblebees, damselflies, dragonflies, cicadas, frogs, toads, and 40+ species of plants. Seriously, she knows these species better than her father. I don’t know many who can easily feed themselves in a field or forest with no adult supervision and reliably select edible species. She regularly speaks five and six syllable words and can identify 20 or so body parts with their Latin name. She can also talk to you at length about childbirth, the uterus, vagina, labia, anus, and abdomen. And, her “intestines talk.”

I took her to a “Science Saturday” hosted by the University of Oklahoma Senior “Education Majors” and designed for children ages 3-9. Fantastic displays!! They had a table with plants and soils, but did not know the plant species. My 2yr old did and found the peppermint, basil, and hibiscus flower immediately. I asked the education majors if the mint was spearmint or peppermint. They shrugged their shoulders. I asked my 2yr old, and she chewed the leaf and replied, “Peppermint.” They had several sedums (a.k.a. “fuzzy plants”). The education majors said, “We only know they are not poisonous.” So sad.

Then, at the “sink or float” water station they talked about air being the reason why the objects would float in water. When I started talking about density and buoyancy, they looked perturbed and uncomfortable. They had no idea what I was talking about. Thankfully, my daughter heard the words and my discussion with them.

This experience jolted me to reality: I am INTENSELY curious. I want my child to be with INTENSELY curious people. I don’t want her to learn what a “lesson plan” suggests when she may want to learn about kidneys, ureters, and bladders (three months ago). I certainly don’t want her life left in the hands of well-meaning, but complacent, incurious people. What a fantastic learning partner I can be for my daughter. She asks a question, I find an answer, a book, a diagram, an experience. But, she doesn’t know the “ABC Song” or “Simon Says.” She’s lagging behind ;-)

What, exactly, is the link between Bruno Bettleheim being a child abuser and the possibility that not all homeschool parents are doing a great job? I don’t see it. There are people in every profession who say they are one thing and really are another and it doesn’t invalidate everyone else in any other profession.

Are there homeschooling parents who aren’t doing a super job? Yes, there are a few. Are there public school teachers out there who aren’t doing a super job? Yes, there are a few (probably more than a few), but in either case, it’s not the most important thing that you should keep in mind when considering homeschooling vs. traditional schooling.

What is the purpose of schooling? It’s a great question. Surely, everyone can agree that there’s a set of basic knowledge (reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic) that children must learn. Beyond that, though, what should they learn?

Public schooling has a hidden agenda. As a matter of fact, the real things it wants to teach our kids have nothing to do with academics. I can’t say it as brilliantly as John Taylor Gatto, so I urge you to read his essay “The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher”. http://www.cantrip.org/gatto.html

In the process of homeschooling my own kids (daughter, 7 and son, 10), I’ve seen firsthand that the kind of freedom they have to pursue their own interests, the ability they have to work without fear of grades or tests, is such a boost to their learning that even if I wasn’t doing a great job, they would still be light years ahead of their peers who go to public school.

It sounds to me like you like the idea of homeschooling, but you’re also afraid of it so you’re throwing every possible criticism at it to see what sticks. That’s one way to approach it, I suppose, but I think you need a paradigm shift.

One of the great things about homeschooling is that THE TEACHER (who in public school is the most important person, the center of attention, the seat of learning), takes a backseat to the student. You wouldn’t believe how much kids can learn when you actually get out of their way.

That means that asking “Are all homeschooling parents inspired teachers” is the wrong question. That’s not what homeschooling is about. We’ve been conditioned to think that unless the teacher is practically doing backflips to teach math or science or whatever, kids aren’t interested in learning.

Well, if you stuck my homeschooled kids in a dingy classroom in front of a chalkboard with 30 kids their own age, someone probably *would* have to do backflips to get them to learn. Thankfully, homeschooling is nothing like that outdated, manufactured “school” environment.

It’s not bad that you are searching. Searching is great. But it is important to ask the right questions, and (to use your term), to reframe the issues when you get more information.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes, which pretty much sums up homeschooling: “Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.” You’re wondering whether or not homeschooling parents are great bucket-fillers, when what we’re really doing is lighting fires.