No children left behind with home schooling

19 March 1999

I would like to applaud Barbie Estes' defense of home schooling in her March 10 In My View. Her answers were precise and clearly written. I would imagine that her children are getting an excellent education.

Public school personnel are the first to admit that many overachieving and underachieving children are overlooked in the classroom as the teachers attempt to meet government regulations and are forced to teach to the middle achiever.

Even with all of their required formal education, teachers are unable to meet the needs of each child. No one can understand and love a child more than a parent. It is this fact that enables most home-schooled families to love learning and look forward to each school day. Often the love of learning is forgotten with each government school year as the bright children quickly learn to just play the game, and the lower-functioning children become frustrated and are left behind.

The home school need not worry about the official school calendar because parents understand that learning occurs every waking moment. And the good teachers never stop learning with their students. The history books, corporations, and universities are full of creative, self-educated, home-schooled people. (Does Abraham Lincoln sound familiar?)

In comparison, I imagine all of us also know a few highly educated people who are as dumb as rocks. It will be a sad day for our country when the government is allowed to determine what and how all of our children learn.

Linda Smith Ivey
Utica