<story><title>Home schooling&apos;s rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2023/homeschooling-growth-data-by-district/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>akira2501</author><text>&amp;gt; The underlying problem is the completely unregulated nature.&lt;p&gt;I didn&amp;#x27;t need your permission to give birth to my children,  why do I need your permission when deciding how I educate them?&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Only dad is allowed to talk to anyone and when he does it&amp;#x27;s extraordinarily weird.&lt;p&gt;If you feel these children are legitimately being abused in some way,  I&amp;#x27;m guessing there are plenty of state resources to address that challenge.&lt;p&gt;Do you actually feel there&amp;#x27;s abuse happening?  Or,  is it that you just find them unusual?</text></item><item><author>303uru</author><text>Sure, that&amp;#x27;s one model. The underlying problem is the completely unregulated nature. Similarly, there is household in my neighborhood that home schools. The kids (all 8 of them) never leave the house. They have a 8ft. fence and 1 acre yard where I assume they get some outside time. No one visits. Only dad is allowed to talk to anyone and when he does it&amp;#x27;s extraordinarily weird.</text></item><item><author>brightball</author><text>When I moved into my current house about 10 years ago, the family next door home schooled. I&amp;#x27;d never known any home schoolers before and definitely had some notions about how terrible it must be until I learned about it.&lt;p&gt;This family was part of a home school group with other families. The kids went to different houses every day and had an instructor focus on 1 subject for half of the day, mixed in with free time, depending on the age. 2 subjects per day, so as a parent your teaching commitment was a half day a week on 1 subject.&lt;p&gt;They would do field trips. They held a school play in a garage complete with costumes and video. And the kids were smart, well mannered, socially adjusted kids with very happy and normal lives. And there are plenty of sports opportunities as well. As far as I know, they all went to public high school too.&lt;p&gt;Completely shifted my view of what I thought home schooling was, which was the kids stuck in 1 house with 1 parent all day in social isolation.&lt;p&gt;The reality was closer to a model of a Montessori school which has a huge amount of success stories.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>cycomanic</author><text>&amp;gt; &amp;gt; The underlying problem is the completely unregulated nature.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; I didn&amp;#x27;t need your permission to give birth to my children,  why do I need your permission when deciding how I educate them?&lt;p&gt;Because your children are not your property, they are your responsibility and we as society have decided that we want to make sure that the education is to a certain standard.&lt;p&gt;As a side note I find it fascinating how people who feel strongly about individual freedom, believe they should have ultimate authority (sometimes it feels more like ownership) over their children. Why do you believe that the freedoms do not apply to children?</text></comment>
<story><title>Home schooling&apos;s rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education</title><url>https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/2023/homeschooling-growth-data-by-district/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>akira2501</author><text>&amp;gt; The underlying problem is the completely unregulated nature.&lt;p&gt;I didn&amp;#x27;t need your permission to give birth to my children,  why do I need your permission when deciding how I educate them?&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; Only dad is allowed to talk to anyone and when he does it&amp;#x27;s extraordinarily weird.&lt;p&gt;If you feel these children are legitimately being abused in some way,  I&amp;#x27;m guessing there are plenty of state resources to address that challenge.&lt;p&gt;Do you actually feel there&amp;#x27;s abuse happening?  Or,  is it that you just find them unusual?</text></item><item><author>303uru</author><text>Sure, that&amp;#x27;s one model. The underlying problem is the completely unregulated nature. Similarly, there is household in my neighborhood that home schools. The kids (all 8 of them) never leave the house. They have a 8ft. fence and 1 acre yard where I assume they get some outside time. No one visits. Only dad is allowed to talk to anyone and when he does it&amp;#x27;s extraordinarily weird.</text></item><item><author>brightball</author><text>When I moved into my current house about 10 years ago, the family next door home schooled. I&amp;#x27;d never known any home schoolers before and definitely had some notions about how terrible it must be until I learned about it.&lt;p&gt;This family was part of a home school group with other families. The kids went to different houses every day and had an instructor focus on 1 subject for half of the day, mixed in with free time, depending on the age. 2 subjects per day, so as a parent your teaching commitment was a half day a week on 1 subject.&lt;p&gt;They would do field trips. They held a school play in a garage complete with costumes and video. And the kids were smart, well mannered, socially adjusted kids with very happy and normal lives. And there are plenty of sports opportunities as well. As far as I know, they all went to public high school too.&lt;p&gt;Completely shifted my view of what I thought home schooling was, which was the kids stuck in 1 house with 1 parent all day in social isolation.&lt;p&gt;The reality was closer to a model of a Montessori school which has a huge amount of success stories.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>vharuck</author><text>&amp;gt;I didn&amp;#x27;t need your permission to give birth to my children, why do I need your permission when deciding how I educate them?&lt;p&gt;One legal theory that may be relevant was brought up long ago for a case on banned books in school: you have the right to raise your kid according to your beliefs, but many states guarantee children the right to education.  So the state could regulate homeschooling to ensure all children have access to an actual education.&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt;If you feel these children are legitimately being abused in some way, I&amp;#x27;m guessing there are plenty of state resources to address that challenge.&lt;p&gt;A lot of those resources rely on processes that come after reports from teachers and caregivers.  If nobody outside the home ever sees or talks to the kids, there&amp;#x27;s not much the state can do to even start an investigation.  Children who go to daycare or public school are seen by professionals trained to spot abuse.&lt;p&gt;We allow anyone to have children, because otherwise we&amp;#x27;re on a very slippery and short slope towards eugenics.  But those children are entitled to the same rights and protections as their parents.  It&amp;#x27;s hard to strike a good balance between a family&amp;#x27;s freedom and a child&amp;#x27;s freedom.&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;Edited out some unnecessary detours in my ramblings&lt;/i&gt;</text></comment>