State standards — States get to set standards for the curriculum being paid for by taxpayer dollars. Private schools are not only exempt from the official curriculum, they usually purposefully choose a distinctive niche in the marketplace (Montessori, Catholic, Waldorf, Core Knowledge, Great Books, etc.). Most homeschoolers want the same freedom to choose, and there is more than one way to get a “good” education.

Another big issue with homeschoolers is the multi-age “classroom”. Families often teach to the child’s age in reading and math, then do other subjects with siblings together, especially when kids are close in age. So, all the kids in a family may be studying Native Americans for social studies, with the older children getting harder homework, such as a research report, the younger ones getting a worksheet or writing a paragraph, and the kindergartner getting a coloring sheet. Only one of these kids may have plains tribes in the state standards, but everybody is learning something. (We’ll assume the kindergartner needs to revisit Native Americans before graduation, though.)

Admission systems — Colleges have freedom to admit who they please. If I want my kids to go to a particular college, I absolutely do have to make sure my kids meet the admission requirements, take the SATs and APs, etc. Most homeschoolers do “get with the program” to one degree or another as the high school years approach, precisely for this reason.

Accreditation systems – Accrediting an individual home would be prohibitively expensive. Accrediting agencies are just not set up for rating tiny homeschools. Accredited curricula is available, however.

Buying a curriculum from an accredited vendor certainly helps when the family expects to be in and out of the regular school system. For example, if your child is training for the Olympics and can’t go to school during the sports season, or if you are a military family homeschooling while stationed overseas, it makes sense to go this route. It makes transferring back into “the system” easier. However, that accreditation is contingent on following the program “to the letter” so the vendor keeps their accredited status. So, learning material in a creative, flexible, and more individual way is less possible. You can add individual experiences or go at an individual pace, but you still have to do all the vendor-required assignments. It is often expensive, as well (depending on the vendor).

Homeschoolers refer to this approach as “school at home” or “school in a box,” and while we’re glad it’s an option, we don’t expect it to be best fit for everybody. There are a lot of kids at either end of the spectrum — dyslexic, ADHD, gifted, etc. — that really benefit from more flexibility.

I’m not a “CHS,” but I used to be one. Many teach the same “Christian Nation” revisionism that they’re pushing in Texas right now. In fact, David Barton is popular keynote speaker at hs conventions and his books continue to be considered must-haves for many.

I would also like to note that as a supporter of homeschooling who wishes his eldest were homeschooled, I am also a supporter of treating homeschools and private schools with the same accountability that public schools have. Children who are homeschooled or in private schools should be required to pass certain standard (or appropriate) tests to ensure they are getting an education. Though in all honesty, I would love to see those same assessments to be of considerably higher quality in public schools first…

I also think it would be appropriate for children to be assessed in more than just an academic context. I have a hell of a lot of mixed feelings about it, but it becomes far to easy for kids to be abused in a great many different ways, when no one is paying attention – as is the case in most states, in regards to homeschooled children. I am not sure what the balance is, but there needs to be better balance between privacy rights and child safety.

Finally, while I definitely do not believe it should be a state requirement, I think that it is totally in the best interest of homeschooled children to see a therapist every so often. There are a lot of (non-abuse related) mental health issues that first get noticed in schools. There are also a lot of potential problems that a child might develop specifically because they are being homeschooled – issues that might be compensated for, but without someone objective taking notice of them, might not be noticed by anyone in the family or homeschool community. For most kids that would probably be something that can be dealt with in 2-4 meetings annually, while for some kids, it may be very helpful for them to regularly see a therapist.

I am all about homeschooling – but only when it is done sensibly and with the understanding that it is going to be a *huge* fucking investment of time and energy on the part of the parents…

What I’d really like to highlight is that not all creationists are homeschoolers. Here in Texas they unfortunately make up almost half of the State Board of Education and write the state’s science standards to include evaluations of the “strengths and weaknesses” of evolution. I homeschool so that my heathen children will actually have the opportunity to engage in life science that actually contains the rigorous study of evolution they would never get in the fundamentalist controlled public education system. Given that 90% of children in Texas are in the public system, I’d be a lot more concerned about creationism infiltrating public education standards here and in other states’ classrooms than 26 homeschooled kids in a mall.

That is an important point, and yes, let’s discuss it! (It is not being ignored… it simply hasn’t been mentioned explicitly, only implied, in this post… it has been part of the conversation. This objective is explictly stated on the fair’s web site, by the way, so there is no question about this.)

I also wonder about their parents and what they teach in political science.

Interesting question. Perhaps some of our CHS readers will lend some insight.

What is being ignored here is that the reason that the Fair is being held in a mall for the stated purpose of giving the kids a chance to witness for Jesus. If it were truly a science fair, it would be held in a different venue, where the kids’ projects would be treated with more respect for the kids. I see the group that is putting it on as being exploitative for their own religious, evangelical reasons and I think that this is a topic that should be discussed in this thread.

What the creationist homeschoolers fail to realize is that the filter they are placing in front of their childrens’ knowledge acquisition process is not always going to be there. Unless they think that they will always be there to prevent their kids, even as adults, from learning about how science works they are risking the loss of their kids’ religious faith when they become independent adults.

That’s fine with me, but what is not fine is that many will end up being angry at their parents for shielding them in a way that enforced the belief that science is only so good as far as it is misused to confirm a pre-existing faith. When that is shaken, the realization that lying or misprepresenting science is a necessary pre-condition for their faith they will mistrust their parents on everything.

I was thinking the same thing at the Jerry Bergman/PZ Myers event at the University of Minnesota last November. I was sitting next to creationist parents (which I could tell by glancing at the literature they brought with them to “disprove evolution.”) The kids who, as young adults still don’t even understand the concept of “theory” in science as being quite different than the colloquial meaning will likely eventually become atheists. While the plural of anecdote is not “data” I know people who are atheists as adults who still carry a great deal of anger towards their creationist parents for this.

I also wonder about their parents and what they teach in political science. Do they teach the differences between socialism and liberalism, or is anything short of religious libertarianism considered communism?

This has implications for their own future, for the society that they live in. Do parents have the “right” to indoctrinate their kids, considering that the kids will grow up to be adults and to be expected to understand what is going on outside of their religious circle?

We know that not all homeschooling parents are motivated by their desires to indoctrinate their children. We know that many homeschooling parents sincerely think it is the best way to ensure that their kids who are gifted get the best preparation for post-secondary schooling. What Greg is saying here, is that those who are doing so to keep the kids from a scientific education is that unless we find a way to at least check up that the kids are not being not being miseducated their are long-term effects beyond the time that the kids turn eighteen.

I’m a homeschooler. I believe in science and I believe in ID and creation. I’m sure that doesn’t make sense to some people.

As long as you don’t teach your children creationism instead of good science, then it should not matter what you “believe.”

We enjoy seeking and reading a variety of different sources to learn about the “scientists” on both sides and how they each have studied their theories.

I’d be interested to know what you read!

In a public school setting, “teaching the controversy” is equivalent to “teaching creationism” and for good reason.

Regarding your concerns about “hate” and so on, until this year, High Shcool, my daughter, an atheist has been pretty regularly hated by many of her fellow students (mainly Christians) and one teacher. The bottom line: As long as everyone is a Christian, there is very little prejudice.

I’m absolutely believe that all of you here are great, worthwhile people.

After spending several paragraphs explaining how we are not, I find that sentence to be a little funny. Not ha ha funny.