Quote Originally Posted by Puckstop31 View Post
Also, please do not misunderstand me. I am not going to smother our child and be fearful at every step. We are just not going to "trust" the 'system' to be responsible, all on it's own. If/when Hannah wants to get into sports (etc), you better belive I am going to check into the coaches and staff's background, as much as is legal. Also, Hannah is going to be homeschooled until at least age 12. We are blessed to have access to a wonderful, faith based, homeschool group near us. The group is really neat. They have field trips, group sessions and such. The high school age kids even have a PROM. LOL And yes, I plan on digging into the background of the other homeschool parents who teach the certain subjects they are proficient in.

Indeed they do. We just disagree, sorta, on what that special protection should be. To us, it is simple. God commands parents to raise their children up in the way that they should go. Parents, not the community. Community is important, but at the end of the day, the parents are responsible.

Of course this does not guarantee Hannah will be perfect or even grow to be a confident, self reliant, honorable person. But it sure increases the odds.
As a public school teacher, I so do not understand the homeschool idea.

Why limit the child to homebound education? What about the socialization that she or he would receive going to a public or private school?

I know that here, in PA, a homeschooled child can petition the schoolboard and be a part of the sports teams. Personally, I don't think they should be allowed to. You want to join the school's football, baseball, or whatever team, come to school. Your mom and dad want you to be educated at home, then tough luck.

I also don't think that the state should foot the bill for your child's education if you decide to school at home. Sorry. You want to school your child at home, foot the bill yourself. Not saying that you and your wife will do that, but most homeschooler rely on the state for funding (computers for the child and such).

Public and private schools give kids foundations for being well rounded kids. You can't get that from a homebound education. The opportunities for classes, and diversity in curriculum and not to mention diversity of the student population as well, you just don't get that with a home based education.

Granted we have problems with teachers in public and private schools, but you have that in any job/career you look at. You can have it in homebound education as well. We need to have better screenings for the people who are teaching our kids. The fact that we have so many that are being arrested as drug users, or sexual abusers, is just horrible. There needs to be a better way to track these things, and make sure those types of predators aren't working with children (it would be nice if they didn't exist at all). I just don't see that limiting a child's education to the home as an answer.

If the public schools are really that bad in your area, I'd look into the private schools, where at least Hannah would have the ability to meet other kids, be involved in school sports and get those socialization skills.