Thanks due for educational freedom

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

The home-school movement offers long-term hope for the advancement of American values. It is one of the bright spots where the ideals articulated by the Founding Fathers still are being taught. More than 2 million students are home-schooled, and this number continues to grow by 7 percent to 15 percent each year. A new generation is being raised to respect the founding beliefs of America. One of those beliefs is a recognition that God governs the affairs of man.

This week, the country will express its thanks to God for the many blessings that have been bestowed on America. We at the Home School Legal Defense Association believe the nation should be thankful hundreds of thousands of parents are willing to make the considerable sacrifice to educate their own children.

It is a sacrifice that falls squarely on the individual family rather than society, and it does not cost the taxpayer anything. In contrast, it costs the taxpayer an average of $8,044 per child per year to educate a child in public school, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Even though a home-schooler creates zero cost to the taxpayer, home-schooling would not be beneficial if the home-schooled child did not receive an adequate education and consequently became a burden on society. Fortunately, home-schoolers have proved to be academically and socially successful.

The success of home-schooling over the past 10 years has caused a response from public schools. Many public schools accept the idea of phonics as the first step to successful reading. Schools also emphasize parental involvement as one of the keys to a child's academic progress. They also recognize the value of unit studies, in which a range of subjects is taught under a general topic, and hands-on learning, in which children experience practical application rather than simply looking at words on a page.

All of these ideas are being discussed seriously within the public school establishment. They have re-emerged, many home-schooling experts say, because of the growth and success of the home-school movement. Home-schooling has raised the bar for public education.

Just as society should be thankful for this movement, home-schoolers recognize that they should be thankful that they live in a country that acknowledges parents' right to home-school.

Home-schooling has been recognized formally by all 50 states. Unfortunately, many other countries make it very difficult for parents to exercise this right.

Our Constitution and belief in liberty and freedom enable parents to make the choice to home-school. It is a right parents hold dear because they can see the direct benefits. While children are home, they are developing stronger bonds with their parents and other family members.

Parents are able to have more oversight over their children's choice of friends and can delay the discussion of personal and controversial subjects until a child is ready.

Allowing parents to do what is best for their children, and by extension their families, has proved to be the best policy not only for home-schooling families, but also for America. Home-schooling is the most energetic and exciting method of education available today.

We all should be thankful for this movement. The basis of the upcoming holiday is thankfulness to God for providing for the early settlers. Most home-schoolers can relate to the early settlers as they also rely on God for provision as they raise their children with godly principles. The founding ideals of our country are timeless, and a new generation is being prepared to carry forward the American experiment.

Michael Smith is the president of the Home School Legal Defense Association. He may be contacted at 540/338-5600; or send e-mail to media@hslda.org.