Posted by Validus (other posts) on February 13, 2014 at 06:26:28 Previous Next
In Reply to: Re: Home schooling posted by Bill on February 13, 2014 at 01:14:15:
Bill,
I agree that the freedom afforded by home schooling is abused by some, which is tragic. The accountability you mentioned is one of the benefits of participating in the charter school system in which our kids are enrolled. It is a Wisconsin State Public School system, with a physical location, a full resource library, a principal, tutors if needed, and teachers (for the optional, once-weekly "enrichment day," offering art, physical education, and music classes). Our kids participate in the same standardized (though in my opinion, largely worthless) testing mandated by the State, the same as all public school students.
I can't cite any statistics at the moment, but anecdotally at least, in my experience, practically all of the home schooled kids I've known have VASTLY outperformed the average traditionally schooled child, academically, socially, and even athletically. In the traditional school sector, "No Child Left Behind" has held back countless children of good and above-average ability, by lowering the standard for expected performance to satisfy the lowest common denominator, and this, too, is tragic.
--Val