Homeschooling, with minimal government interference, has produced literate students at a fraction of the cost

There are homeschoolers like poor Stephanie who are just overwhelmed by homeschooling.

“This year had its challenges,” Stephanie said, citing some difficulties in choosing the right math book for Dustin’s level.

They want someone (Big Brother) to tell them what book to use, what to teach, and how to do it. They also want someone to validate that they are doing 'it right' and assume that the government (with their failing public schools and standardized testing) is the only one capable of deciding if you did it right. Kinda makes you wonder why they are homeschooling? Especially since they have the option of Virtual Public Schools, Virtual Private Schools, Charter Schools, Traditional Private Schools, Traditional Public Schools, or a School in a Box Curriculum like Calvert offers. If Independent Homeschooling isn't for Stephanie she should choose another option instead of advocating that the rights of Independent Homeschoolers be taken away.

Then there are those who want regulations in order to force other parents to do things their way. There are the Fundi parents who want to make being a member of a Fundamentalist Homeschool Group (that requires you to sign a statement of faith) a requirement for homeschooling. After all the only legitimate reason for homeschooling in their eyes is for (Christian) religious reasons so "what's the problem?". There are non-homeschoolers that shudder in horror that homeschooled children are being taught creationism and want to require that homeschoolers be taught evolution (never mind what their parents religious beliefs are). There are the do-gooders that are convinced that you can't survive much less thrive without the government intruding into your life in some form or fashion. There are the public school employees that want to destroy the homeschooling choice so they will have job security (there isn't another area where any one would dream of suggesting that the competition be allowed to make regulations but the general public doesn't seem to see the flaw in allowing public school employees to regulate homeschoolers). They all have their differing views on what regulations should be enacted and what penalties should be leveled against homeschoolers that fail to meet 'their standards'. It's enough to make an independent homeschooler queasy.

Independent homeschoolers do not need 'regulations'. Studies have been done that show homeschoolers do well academically and socially even in States (like Mississippi) with favorable homeschooling laws.

Homeschooling: Back to the Future? by the CATO Institute.

The lesson for educational reformers is that homeschooling, with minimal government interference, has produced literate students at a fraction of the cost of any government program. Homeschooling has been largely deregulated, but further deregulation would make parents' task easier.

I am all for making parents' task easier.

In an effort to help those parents who are new to independent homeschooling I have compiled these tips.

• Establishing your child's grade level - Many places like Calvert offer Placement Testing & Assessment. You can download the test here. Publishers also offer placement testing for their textbooks. You'll find Saxon's placement test here. They have also added lesson plans, online activities and a teacher resource center to their list of resources. When we first started homeschooling I used Core Curriculum of America. The advisor helped me determine what grade level my children were in for each subject. Now that I am more 'experienced' I buy my books directly from the HomeSchool SuperCenter.

If you pull your child out of the public school system it's very important to determine what grade level they are actually at for each subject. For example when we decided to homeschool Shining Celebi at the beginning of his 6th grade year he was behind in Math but way ahead in everything else (Even though he had made straight A's on his public school report card). So we did 5/6 Grade Saxon Math and High School Honors & AP classes for everything else. Try explaining that to a bureaucrat!

• Finding textbooks -Go to homeschool book fairs, talk to other homeschool Moms, research books online (some publishers will send you a sample if you ask), if you can borrow any book you are considering using so you can review it. Design your own course if you are feeling brave. Instead of buying an American Literature Textbook we are going to read books by American Authors. Some of the books have lesson plans and study guides online and for some of the books I will design my own lesson plans. If you want to try your hand at creating lesson plans you can find some tips here. But can you imagine trying to explain not using a textbook to a bureaucrat.





• Move at your own pace - I am not advocating allowing your child to fall behind, but if your child needs an extra week to master a concept take it. I firmly believe that a solid foundation in Math & Science is important. It benefits no one to rush to the next lesson if the previous lesson hasn't been mastered. On the other hand if your child masters the concept right away it's perfectly OK to move on to the next step. That is the beauty of unregulated homeschooling you can move at your child's pace, instead of being forced to rush through lessons to meet some bureaucrats idea of what your child should know by such and such date.

Some people are arguing that homeschoolers should be required to take standardized testing because public school students are required to. First homeschoolers are not public school students, therefore the same rules do not apply. Secondly many educational experts deplore being forced to 'teach to the test'.

Testing expert deplores 'teaching to the test'

Volante’s most recent article outlines his ideas on the use and abuse of standardized tests. “Teaching to the test: What every educator and policy maker should know” was published in the Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy. He describes the corrupting effect of what he calls “high-stakes” standardized testing. There are jurisdictions in the United States where schools receive merit-based financing. If their students do well, as measured by standardized tests, the schools benefit monetarily. The result sometimes is “teaching to the test,” where the teachers spend too much time preparing students for the test rather than simply covering curriculum. Volante also reports instances where teachers or administrators have given students the answers to boost scores because so much depends on them.

What's Wrong with Teaching to the Test?

We now see this happening in education in the form of "scripted programs." In these programs, teaching behavior is regimented down to the exact material, timing, and wording of the instruction. Could our obsession with standardized tests reduce teaching itself to a simplistic and ultimately ineffective activity that would be amenable to automation?I see the obsession with standardized tests in Darwinian terms. We are in effect putting our kids (and their teachers!) on an isolated atoll under the evolutionary force of a strange selection process based on standardized tests. The inevitable product of this process is a species that is as custom-engineered as any carbon-based life form can be to solve trivial problems. Like most exotic species, this one is unlikely to be able to adapt to and compete in the larger world. The irony is that it is unlikely to prevail even in its chosen niche, where the fittest survivors will most likely be made of silicon.

Teaching "To" Tests -- a Conceptual Article

Teaching To the Test: What Every Educator and Policy-maker Should Know

Teaching to the test also has a "dumbing" effect on teaching and learning as worksheets, drills, practice tests and similar rote practices consume greater amounts of classroom time (Sacks, 2000). Insofar as standardized tests assess only part of the curriculum, time spent on test taking often overemphasizes basic-skill subjects and neglects high-order thinking skills (Herman, 1992). Research suggests that while students’ scores will rise when teachers teach closely to a test, learning often does not change (Shepard, 2000; Smith & Fey, 2000). In fact, the opposite may be true. That is, there are examples of schools from New York and Boston that have demonstrated improvements in student learning while their standardized test scores did not show substantial gains (Neil, 2003b). In both jurisdictions, these schools did not focus on teaching to the test or participating in test-preparation programs. Teachers that address the entire curriculum, particularly when preparing their students for standardized tests, provide their students with a solid foundation for future success.
Teaching to the test not only reduces the depth of instruction in specific subjects but it also narrows the curriculum so that non-tested disciplines receive less attention during the school day. Time is often devoted away from subjects like physical education, music, and drama so that teachers can provide more instructional time on commonly tested areas like reading, writing and arithmetic.

Standardized testing of homeschoolers would force homeschool parents to provide their children with the same cookie-cutter education the public school students are getting in order for them to pass a standardized test. I want to spend my time teaching my children high-order thinking skills not rote memorization. I want the freedom to 'teach' those skills they will need to obtain a college degree of their choice and have a wonderful productive life.

Past post on this topic: We don't need regulations

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