The decision to home school empowers parents to deeply impact their child's learning and who he or she become as adults. Parents have the Constitutional guaranteed right to teach their child their principles and beliefs, instead of society's political correctness and the current educational fads. Academic curriculum can be individualized for their child's personal learning style. The child's educational needs can be assessed by the people who know him or her the best, the parents. Parents working one-on-one with their child can accommodate his or her individual needs and the opportunity to teach according to his or her interests. Home school allows the child freedom to discover and explore areas according to his or her interests in contrast to the rigid structure required in mass education of public schools. Home school gives the parents and child time to relax and enjoy learning. It prepares the child for a lifetime of learning. Learning takes place wherever the learner chooses.
Parents have become disillusioned with the "one-size-fits-all" mentality of the public school system. If children don't fit the mold of the standard student, teachers recommend the use of medications in an attempt to fulfill the "one-size-fits-all" philosophy. It has been normal practice for public schools to pressure parents to medicate their children which has led to the overuse of stimulates. ADHD diagnosis in children grew from 150,000 in 1970 to 6 million in 2000, representing 12 to 13 percent of school aged children.
In 1994 Congress passed laws that guaranteed one-year expulsions for any student who brought a firearm to school. The laws were passed as a result of a number of high profile, extremely violent incidents at public schools. Public schools had to implement the laws in order to receive federal funding. This started the spiral descendent into the zero tolerance policies present in the public school system today. Many state legislatures extended the laws passed by Congress with their definitions of what constituted weapons, extended weapons to include alcohol, cigarettes, illegal drugs, and limited the discretion of school administrators in handling out the punishments. The term zero tolerance became the phrase that described the public school response to students' misbehavior. Under the zero tolerance policies public schools automatically punish students for a variety of infractions. Zero tolerance policies have become standard operating procedures in 109,000 of the United States public schools.
Zero tolerance policies have become a "one-size-fits-all" solution to all the misconduct in public schools. Zero tolerance results in mandatory suspensions or expulsions from public schools regardless of the surrounding circumstances. The unfortunate consequence of the mandatory sanctions is regular kids, and not just the troublemakers, are being punished. In lieu of handing out appropriate punishment in accordance with the child's age, the history of his or her behavior, circumstances surrounding the misconduct, and the actual nature of the offense, punishment is handed out as "one-size-fits-all". Zero tolerance policies teach children nothing about fairness. Public schools are confusing equal treatment with equitable treatment.
The author became involved in the Texas home school movement as a result of zero tolerance. The author and her husband have raised their grandson since his birth. Their grandson's Mother, and their daughter, completed suicide on May 16, 1995 when their grandson was only three years old. He attended a private Christian school from kindergarten through third grade. He was going to have to repeat the third grade again, and as a result, he started attending the neighborhood elementary school. He attended the elementary school from third through fifth grade without any difficulties. Unfortunately, when he was transferred to the neighborhood middle school his troubles started. He became the unwilling victim of bullies. The bullies would harass him about the loss of his Mother, and occasionally physically beat him. He was not a fighter, and he had to start therapy in order to gain enough self-confidence to stand up against the bullies. The author and her husband were working with school authorities in an effort to stop the bullying. Eventually their grandson had reached his breaking point, and stood up for his rights by defending himself against the bullies. It was at this point, the author and her husband were confronted with the zero tolerance policies of the public school system. All parties to a fight, regardless of the circumstances, were automatically suspended.
The author and her husband had reached their breaking point with the public school system, and its inattention and lack of care for their grandson's needs. The author and her husband realized that if their grandson was unhappy, bullied, stressed out and going through unnecessary turmoil, his mental, emotional and physical health were at risk. His negative experiences with the public school system were impacting his attitude towards learning. His grades and his ability to learn were starting to suffer. The author and her husband turned to home schooling as a viable alternative to the public school. Home schooling placed the author and her husband back in control of their grandson's learning environment. Home schooling became a rich and rewarding experience for the whole family.
Every home schooling scenario offers unique advantages for learning. Members of the family can pursue their own interests and learn in their own way, come to know what it takes to run a home and family, what work is, and become active participants in their communities. The home environment promotes children to thrive and grow into caring and concerned adults, capable of meeting new challenges as it comes along in life. The family that home schools together, stays together!
"Home schooling is a grass-roots educational alternative that originates with the seed of parental love and commitment and blossoms into a lush garden of personal empowerment for child and parent" is how Linda Dobson summed up home schooling in her book The Home Schooling Book of Answers.
