Homeschooling proponents, Can you explain this?

Question

As I have stated here before, I do not have a problem with homeschooling if a parent is educated and organized themselves. This has gotten me thumbs down from many of you. Ok, to each his own. Now I would like you to help me understand something.

I have a child who is struggling in school. He is rarely attends, and when he does he is dirty and poorly dressed. (No underwear, pants too large, broken zipper..) He never finishes his work (I am give him work at his level, not above it.)

His father is little help, his letters go like this, "mi sun hrted his ne he ant gona be in scool tooda." and he tells me that he, "Can't get the child to do no work." The mother is not in his life, there isn't any other family.

Friday I was told that the child would be homeschooled next year! When I asked if the father was really prepared for this task, the local home school group started complaining. How can people who say they care about education actually condone this educational setting?

I know I made a typo- It is "I give", not "I am give". I tried to correct it, but the edit button isn't working.

Yes the father wrote the letters. I have been there and watched him write things.

No they are not second language speakers.

I did not say the father was home schooled, I said he was going to home school the child.

Yes, the family is very poor, but so are all the families in our school. My district has "neighborhood" schools which is a PC way to say "segregation". Yet because of the social economic level of our students, they are many support programs offered, the father just refuses them.

Yes, we have a truancy board, they have been sent to them many times, that is one of the reasons the father cited for wanting to homeschool.

The child is 9, his sister is 6. The father is in his 50's, all of his older children are either in jail or dead because of drug overdoses.

I am sorry for your bad experiences in school. I had horrible ones too, that is what made me want to become a teacher, I didn't want other children to go through what I did Just because you had bad public school experiences doesn't mean that all public schools are bad or that all public school teachers are bad.

Wow, you guys really hate teachers don't you. What makes you think that I think that I relate poverty with stupidity? I choose to work in a poor school in the middle of nowhere because I DO BELIEVE that ALL children can learn and that all people have the right to a good education.

I do worry though that someone who has problems reading, writing, doing math and being consistant will have a problem teaching his child to read, write, do math, and to be consistant in doing his work.

Answer 1

I agree with glurpy and the answer faerie. I hs and am a very strong proponent of hsing and of parents' right to choose. HOWEVER I am very well aware that there is a very small minority of hs'ers that are saying they are hsing and are actually participating in educational neglect. I cannot imagine a positive outcome if this father 'homeschools' his children. They are already neglected, and that is with them having contact with other people and probably at least a school lunch. What is going to happen when these kids are at home all day with no one to check on them? Yeah, I can see why you are worried. I would agree that you need to contact the local hs group to tell them what you have observed. Also, if there is any way to keep checking on this child, please do so.

Answer 2

As awful as you make it sound the father is still the one in charge of his son's education.

How old is the boy? Is he 5 or 6 and in K or 1st? Or is he 15 or 16 and in high school?

You might be happily surprise by the process of home-schooling. If the father is in contact with a group they may very well inspire him to do his very best. You will see TWO students grow in leaps and bounds. Before long, the father's writing will improve and the son will do well.

How do you know that the father is not going to get other people to help him?

There are large home-school co-ops and smaller groups that get together to help teach the children. You have no way of knowing what will be the end result.

Single dads have a hard time teaching the hygiene part of things to little guys. But, he'll figure it out.

I have a harder time condoning the educational setting that I experienced in public school.

Answer 3

Yes, this sends up red flags for me, even though I strongly support homeschooling. Although we are supervised here (we have to meet with a school board teacher twice a year) I have heard of one family who basically homeschooled because they couldn't be bothered to send their kids to school. They had done nothing, nothing, nothing all year and when the teacher came to visit, the house was an absolute disaster--they were living in filth. They were not permitted to homeschool the year after, from what I understand (but that's our laws!).

If he rarely attends, shouldn't there be some sort of looking into the situation? Do you not have a truancy board? I would do everything I could to have this looked into before the school year is out.

Answer 4

Although I home school my son,I do agree with you.The parent needs to be educated to teach their child.I know I will be thumbs down ,but come on!!If the parent isn't smart enough to help with home work ,how can they teach?
The only problem I have with your question is that the family sounds very poor.This in no way means they are stupid.Have you talked to the father about outside resources that may help this family?
Maybe home schooling is not the answer for this family.But as his teacher you can only encourage him this year.Talk to your principal and see if outside intervention is needed to help this child.

Answer 5

You have to take everything into concideration. Some public schools are good and some are poor. Some people have the ability to homeschool their children and some don't. So the sides must be weighed, before deciding which is better. Sometimes homeschooling is the best answer; sometimes it is not.

Answer 6

Well, for many students I would support homeschooling, but this sounds fishy to me. I would definitely suggest trying to find out more about this. This father does not sound like he should homeschool. I fully support homeschooling for people who can handle it. I would think that some form of abuse is going on here, or at the very least, neglect. Please, check into this.

Answer 7

Are you sure his father is writing those letters and if so is English his first language or is he joking? Kids often write letters and pass them off as their parents. Maybe the father knows his kid is writing those letters and doesn't care.

In the U.S. 21% of the adult population is illiterate and about 36% of those in Washington DC are illiterate according to a news story from last week. I doubt a large percentage of those people were home schooled.

Answer 8

I'm not sure why I, or any of the other home schooling parents here, should be called upon to account for the actions, or lack thereof, of the father you have described, or to explain your local home school group's defense of him.

Do I approve of the way he's raising his son, by your account? no.
do I think I parent of such limited academic means should be the sole source of a child's education? no.

You should express your concerns to the home school group. my guess is that they may be circling the wagons to defend HS in principle. I find it unlikely that they are aware of and condoning the educational setting you describe.

Answer 9

From what I am reading in your writing and about this youngster I think some counseling is in order. I don't think home schooling is a panacea for this problem.