Home Schooling

I haven't touched on this in a while probably because I don't have that much contact with kids who are being home schooled anymore. One of the constant criticisms against home schooling parents is that they are not "qualified" to teach. This is certainly anecdotal, and everyone knows a single data point does not make a trend, but I ask again, just how hard is it to educate kids? How "qualified" does one need to be to teach basic math, reading, cursive and/or print handwriting? (Personally, I think cursive should go on the dung heap along with quill pens; if you want to write "pretty" buy a calligraphy set.) If that is all you ever teach your kid, combined with a library card and internet access, and restricted access to mindless entertainment like movies and the vast wasteland of cable TV, they will know more at 18 than 80% of the graduates from your local high school. Throw in algebra, geometry, and hard-core writing classes (which can be had cheaply or free through dozens of internet sites or your local community college, if you yourself don't know those subjects) and they will know more at 18 than 80% of the college graduates from your state university system.

Don't turn your kids over to the brain-suckers. Home schooling is hardly ideal, but given what our public schools have become and the outrageous cost of private schools, it's the only answer for most families.