How are you giving up a liberty to ask a child to take a test to prove he/she is being taught? We have a couple of homeschooled kids in my sons Bear pack that are barely literate. They sleep until 12 or 1 every day and I know for a fact the mother has been subjected to abuse.
home school under attack
See, for some people, homeschooling is not only an educational option but also a political statement. Any government regulation, no matter how minimial, is too intrusive for these types.
Personally, given the government's compelling interest to see that children who do not receive the freely provided public education are being educated at home and not being abused, it seems to me to be 100% reasonable to mandate annual standardized testing, an annual individual home instruction plan outlining the curriculum you intend to use, and quarterly progress reports. These kinds of documentation are the sort that teachers have to keep for their kids. The documentation isn't too onerous, but only weeds out the riff-raff who only claim to homeschool their children.
"How are you giving up a liberty to ask a child to take a test to prove he/she is being taught?"
Because if the test is written to ensure homeschooled kids fail, then they're playing against a stacked deck.
What if the history test is written to focus on black/women's/queer studies, while the homeschooled kid learned about Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, Christopher Columbus and Ronald Reagan? The answers could be totally different from the liberal perspective.
How about government just keeps its nose OUT of homeschooling?
Which goes to show that kids do NOT have to attend a public school for abuse to be detected. Shoots down his arguement.
Very simple, Homeschooling parents know that if your child is slow to grasp one thing, you do pound it into them when they are not ready. You switch gears, teach what they can grasp at that time, and wait until they are of age to grab the information in large chunks later on.
My 7y/o is doing leaps and bounds in math, he now almost knows his multiplication tables to 12 X 12 by heart. He has a very firm grasp on fractions too. But... He is trudging slowly through reading.... but that is ok, we don't push until frustration hits on spelling yet, we know it will come in leaps and bounds later. Science is another strong point of my boy, and I can tell there is gonna be no stopping his wonder and development.
But the failure of schools to adapt a child by child basic learning program tends to push brilliant (in certain areas) children behind others.
The beauty of HS teaching is to max your child's abilities at the right time. It is the ability to teach outside the four walls in real world examples. It is the ability to form connections with other home schoolers to max your core values.
Locally there is HS proms, HS sports, and HS church groups that band together to teach. Almost twice a month our kids attend HS field trips to interesting places.
It is freedom, at it's inner most core.
BTW... we do test, we do take notes, we do submit to our groups requirements. But we did so voluntarily and I will fight to keep it that way so busybodies like you mind your own ..... business.
Guilty until proven innocent?
In this case, the child cannot be forced to take a test by the school system. That is the law. You say you are concerned with abuse, but evidently judicial abuse doesn't bother you.
Oh, and have you done anything about those barely literate Bears?