Weekend Edition~Inferior Education or Developmentally Correct?

Many people are not very well educated on the statics of homeschooling, or the actual developmental age appropriate stages of children. Sometimes they will have the erroneous thinking that because they knew of a homeschool child who still wasn't reading by a age that most public schools push reading, or math, or what ever subject that homeschooled children are getting a inferior education.

Please do not allow these unfounded and ignorant judgments influence your homeschooling choices. Do your own research, make your homeschooling choices based on facts. And do not forget, children are individuals, not robots. We homeschool so that we can tailor each child's education for them personally, not the masses. We do this because this is a superior way to educate children. The mass education system of institutionalized schooling does not work for the majority of children. Because each child has their own strengths and weaknesses, and learn at different times and different paces. So when we actually look at institutionalized schooling we can see, only a few children will be right at the pace that they have made up. Most will either be bored because they are ahead of the material chosen to be taught at the age/grade, or be frustrated because they are behind! Homeschooled children do not have to be boxed into these holes!

The actual studies show, that in the end homeschooled children on average rate a much better education. No matter if they learn to read early or later. In fact, most actually do better when they wait til they are developmentally ready, because they do not get frustrated by being pushed beyond what they are ready for, and give up! But, love to learn because they have been allowed to learn at their own pace that is correct for their personal needs.

So if this argument is ever presented to you, remind yourself. You are not educating the masses, you are educating your individual children. And you are doing what is perfect for them! No need to argue about it though. Your child is your responsibility and you do not owe any one, except for God, a explanation of your choices for their education. Do not let their uneducated, and often swayed by their own fear of inadequacy propagandized by the school system get under your skin. Your child, and most homeschooled children will learn to read, write, do arithmetic et al, when they are ready and will do just fine. Most will even surpass what the children in institutionalized schooling will learn. You do not need to follow any one else's learning schedule, it is not based on any real study of how children learn or thrive. Most of the government institutionalized schooling choices are based on competition with other nations. The problem is, so far all of their work to rise to the top, still has most very low on the totem pole. It's been proven time and again, pushing children to learn developmentally inappropriate tasks is ineffective at best and devastating to the child's ultimate education, self esteem, self worth and much more at worst.