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G'morning justshutupand take it! :) (Interesting handle BTW).

You said, QUOTE: "You will not find any statement I have made that no parent should homeschool. However, I will definitely say that most should not because they don't have the capacity to be a teacher or sufficient knowledge. Deciding you want to home school does not make one an efficient effective teacher.

Some people could be adequate teachers with a high school education and some could not with a Ph.D. I find it incredibly arrogant that many here will argue that they can teach every subject. This disdain for intellectual depth is beyond arrogant it is madness." END QUOTE.

I've been following this thread, and you make one erroneous assumption which I would like to address, if you will allow me that.

As a parent who has "educated" (along with my husband of course) all of our children at home using the "UNSCHOOLING" method (which is statistically by far the most successful method), I am here to tell you that PARENTS DO *NOT* NEED TO UNDERSTAND *EVERYTHING* THEIR CHILD LEARNS.

Think about this for a minute.

Sure, y'have to be able to give your kids a good *basic* education, which can be done in an informal way (we have yet to purchase a "desk" or like that and never will) which the kids will thrive on, and so will their NATURAL LOVE of knowledge.

Kids are *loaded* with curiosity and you just have to be available to turn that curiosity into *opportunities* for them to learn everything they need to know about life, as far as their time with you permits.

Again, I will use the example of our youngest daughter (now just turned 14, and who earned her High School Diploma with a 97.1% grade average about a year ago), who I feel is fairly typical of Home Educated kids.

In many areas, she knows a great deal more about many subjects that I know, or care to know. She READS and LEARNS about things which interest HER these days, and some of those things don't particularly interest me, and so I never studied them in my youth. Consequently, she oftentimes tells me fascinating things about a variety of subjects, which I just never knew. One of the most common phrases around our house is "Hey mom (or dad), did you know *this?*" ;)

Now, we taught her to read, to count, and saw to it that she had a basic education. Our work is such that we traveled a lot, and we watched out for what interested her and our other kids (we still do this) and then made sure they had a fertile learning environment to explore each subject that they were interested in. We still do THAT too.

However, it would be unreasonable to expect that either her father or I would be interested in or know in advance about ALL THE DIVERSE subjects that all of our children have learned exhaustively about.

THEY LEARN ON THEIR OWN after a while.

It doesn't take long, (obviously) to take them through what they need to ace the subjects that are required to get a High School Diploma. After that though, there are still many years left at home, and for them MANY subjects and experiences they wish to put themselves into. We encourage that in all our children (even the ones who are no longer living at home), but by the time they have passed the High School Diploma stage, they are obviously going to be delving deeply into other subjects/areas which I or my husband *may* know little or even (horrors) nothing about, until our child comes home and tells us about this or that "neat" thing they've learned.

We require that each of our children keep a daily journal, and that they read it to us every day (except on weekends). We learn through what they write in their journals just what they ARE exploring at any given moment, and their thoughts about things, and how they see the world. Thus, we are always on top of what they are studying, even if we aren't experts in each area ourselves.

We are always there for them, and oftentimes are called upon to help them RESEARCH something which they can't quite grasp for whatever reason, and to be truthful, it sometimes takes both my husband AND I looking at the material to come up with some helpful suggestions for our children.

These kids are into some pretty heavy learning in a lot of different areas, and so we don't have a chance to let our own brains atrophy, LOL, since we are always being challenged somewhat by the interests of our children.

The bottom line here?

If you can read, write, and count; find your way around a map of the world and have even a *basic* understanding of history, geography, and current events, YOU CAN TEACH YOUR CHILDREN! I don't care if you were the bottom of the class at your Public School! (Think Einstein here!). This has all been well documented and proven time and time again.

It has been my experience that there are very few people who *can't* teach their children, though there are very many who *think* they can't.

I think *wanting* to Home Educate is probably the most important qualification you need.

One more rather important point. I see here that many people mistakenly think they have to quit work, buy a desk and recreate a "school" environment in order to Home Educate their children. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We traveled the world (almost) while we were educating our children, but even if we'd never left home we would have simply kept them *with* us all the time. THAT'S the *key.* We attended all their sports events, soccer games, ballet classes, horse riding lessons, swimming and skating lessons etc., etc. ad infinitum. They had plenty of opportunity to *socialize,* - a common concern of those who haven't yet Home Educated but would like to.

If I was grocery shopping, *THEY* were grocery shopping. A great way to teach them reading skills, math, budgeting, proper stewardship, where things come from (Social Studies), all about ingredients and what they are and what they do, and why we buy one thing but not another and so on and so on.

If my husband was out chopping wood, - so were they. If we were gardening (we like to grow most of our own food), so were they. If we were cleaning house, so were they. Likewise if we were cooking, canning, fixing the car, playing musical instruments, balancing the chequebook, paying bills, doing volunteer work in the community, evangelizing, having a Bible Study, visiting/caring for the sick or elderly, hunting, fishing, building a log cabin, - you name it, - if we did it, they did it. The result is a bunch of kids who left home pretty adept at most things prior to being totally responsible for said things themselves.

Sorry this post is so long, but it's just so easy to keep your kids with you and let them learn *your* value system, and give them a GOD-centered education that I hate to read posts where parents don't feel they can do this. Especially when the truth is, practically anyone can!

Shabbat shalom, - Anij.

Great post! I too believe in an unschooling approach. None of the busy, in one ear long enought to test-then out again for my kids! What they are "learning" they are actually learning! At the moment I'm reading "A Mind at a Time", Mel Levine. He states the obvious fact that soooo much of what kids "learn" at school is a total waste of time and that it's ridiculous to expect kids to be masters of all subjects (the way schools do), none of us expect adults to do this! We respect adult's differences, strengths and KNOW that they have a wide variety of interests. If all adults were required to attend the local PS, for even one year, and be treated the same/do the same meaningless grunt work that kids are expected to do (for 13 years), pS would be dead in no time!
Again, Thanks for a great, thoughtful, enlightening (at least I hope so for some here) post!

Thank you for your thoughtful post. I am not as optimistic as you and do not believe most people have the patience/love/understanding that you exhibit in it. However, I am happy to have received a non-belligerent, non-insulting post from a defender of h.s.ing.

It does not negate my basic concern though which is the ability to provide adequate teaching in advanced subjects. Had my parent tried to h.s. me there is no way they could have provided the technical apparatus in chemistry and physics or the training in math.

While I respect your opinion and point of view I insist on my teacher having more knowledge than me in the subject they are teaching.

Continued success and best of luck to you and your family.