It seems to me that the Patels, and families like them, do not understand that homeschooling is much more than being able to study for the National Spelling Bee. I have homeschooled two boys right through high school, with rigorous curriculum, and both of them got accepted into fine colleges. I am currently homeschooling my teen daughter as well. As a homeschool parent with no “teaching credential”, I experienced no such limitations as you described. In fact as homeschoolers we found lots of opportunities for our kids, both social and academic, that government schooled kids do not enjoy. We had absolutely no problem with their socialization. To suggest that kids can only be properly brought up and socialized in the public government school system is a very narrow minded and ill informed notion which only serves to perpetuate the notion that government schools are the end all be all, when in fact they are failing our children miserably nationwide. I don’t think that these families that you used in your piece really looked beyond their competition goals regarding their child’s total education. They certainly have fallen for the mistaken thinking that the “experts in the public schools can educate better”, which is a load of rubbish fostered by those who have a financial stake in government schooling. Two million families (and growing) across this country do not seem to be coming to the same conclusion that you have in this piece about homeschool’s so-called inadequacy regarding education and socialization of their children. One does not need to be sequestered in a brick building, 7 or more hours a day with like aged children/teens in order to grow up with all the necessary social training or contacts, or higher level instruction. The homeschool community proves this every day, year after year. Opportunities abound for families to fulfill the social and educational needs of their homeschooled children, and one only has to take the time to locate and utilize them.
Judy Aron
West Hartford, CT
