Concerns about homeschooled kids from the US

The former U.S secretary of Education John B. King had previously raised concerns about homeschooled kids. His concerns were well noted and gathered a lot of press back then.

Mr. King was quoted to have said that he had major concerns that homeschooled students were not “getting the range of options that are good for all kids.” He also emphasized on the fact that  some homeschooled families were doing a great job of schooling their kids properly; he was aware that some homeschooled kids were doing tremendously well with regards to their academics when they got into college.

The fact fact remains though that the decision to homeschool a child is totally up to the parents. The trend is increasing in popularity as time goes by, according to a research carried out recently on homeschooling.

However, the concern still remains that students who are homeschooled are being deprived of the kind of quick instructional experience that is available in the classroom and in schools, except that the parents of the kids are not really particular about it.

The school experience also involves building relationships amongst peers, teachers and to a larger extent mentors. These factors are really quite difficult to achieve in homeschooling. That is of course why parents make them a priority.

Regardless of the fact that a lot of homeschooling experts were willing to acknowledge many facts related to the success and popularity of homeschooling, there were also some concerns in-line with those of Mr. King. A top expert in the field of education, the President of the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) Brian D. Rav. Ph.D was against quite a lot of the narratives being put forward by Mr. King. He argued that homeschooled students as a matter of fact do have far more options than traditionally schooled kids.

Ray made reference to all the options available to homeschooling families, some which include home-education cooperatives created by parents to combine forces in providing tutoring services which are sometimes free, mentorship programs, as well as classes that hold in local libraries.

The director of federal relations at the Home School Legal Defense Association, Will Estrada posted the following remark on Facebook, “Government bureaucracies always seek more power at the expense of individual liberty. Education policy should be left to the states and localities.”

Estrada further went on to state that “The success of homeschooling shows that freedom works.” This implies that Secretary King was seeking to replace the God given freedom of parents to control the education and the upbringing of their kids with more government regulation.

In summary, Secretary King has highlighted some important concerns about homeschooling, although the general consensus is of the belief that the benefit of homeschooling if executed properly eliminates these concerns. The most important factor to consider in the upbringing and education of a child is the role parents have to play. Trying to enforce conventional educational systems on kids is simply trying to take the power of choice away from the parents.