Passions

Homeschooling: When we fell into homeschooling I really had no idea how many parents were truly passionate about schooling at home. I really didn't know why they would need to be. I slowly came to understand the why and the importance as well. It's often difficult to be passionate about something that has such close ties to government. You must often choose to someone in government who supports your choice to homeschool but goes against many of your other beliefs.

Today there was an article in the Detroit News that fanned my passion.

http://www.detnews.com/article/20091217/METRO/912170337

In a nutshell, the author of the article points a whole lot of blame on the "lax" homeschooling laws in Michigan for the child abuse and subsequent deaths of two children. I find this interesting:

Based on data reported by CPS agencies in 1999, it is estimated that nationwide, 2,000 children died as a result of child abuse or neglect. Children age 3 and under accounted for more than 3/4 of these child fatalities. The actual number of deaths may be higher, as not all child maltreatment fatalities are known to CPS.

These are national statistics but if 3/4 of the children being abused are under age 3, where exactly does school come into this? And of the other 25%, how many go to public schools? I bet it's more than 2.

If you go on to read the comments to this article you get even more annoyed. So many of the commenters just have no clue about homeschooling. They are still pulling out the socialization card! Have you ever met a super shy kid and just assumed he or she was homeschooled? Of course not! Just like you wouldn't assume they go to public school. They are also all over Michigan having more regulations for homeschoolers suggesting we need to use the same curriculum and state standards...and those are just how successful for how public school students? Hardly. And that's not to say that I don't worry about how my kids stack up against what they'd be learning in public school (well, at least the core curriculum stuff, not the peer pressure and bullying stuff). I have often chosen their curriculum based on the fact it tracked against the state standards...just don't force me to do that please!