September 06 Newsletter
Newsletter for September
This year, there's a new program available to homeschoolers. The IDEA. It's got its pros and cons, like everything else. It might be right for you, and it might not. At least you'll know about it once you read what these authors have to say.
A Pro IDEA letter from a Homeschooler
The Seduction of Homeschooling Families
And this next article, on a Kindergarten level, again capitalizes on the predjudice that public schools are better than homeschooling, even though in this program, the public schools are encouraging, and getting grants to pay for, homeschooling:
I keep hearing, over and over, that people fear that homeschooling limits a child socially. However, 50 years of research shows that a child does not suffer socially by leaving their assigned room full of age-mates, as long as that child's academic needs are met. The principals from T or C and Arrey Elementary schools appear to agree, since they are advocating Ready!, a homeschooling program for preschoolers.
I think that the problem is not social isolation, the problem is predjudice. Thus one serves the needs of one's child by challenging the detractor to prove their claim. This next excerpt from an article is actually about a principal overcoming the teacher's predjudices against accelerating the gifted child, but is relevant to homeschoolers, because we are our own principals and teachers dealing with the assumptions of others.
It seems to me that we are often asked to defend our decision, when really, we are following a centuries-old tradition that has lasted this long because it works so well. So, please, somebody, anybody, show me the article that proves that homeschooling limits a child's social development! In the meantime, here's another article that provides the proof that homeschooling supports a child's social development.