Homeschooling Concerns Baseless

VJACK's post Atheist Homeschooling listed some of his concerns about homeschooling in general and atheist (really anyone who isn't part of the Fundamentalist Christian Homeschooling community) homeschoolers in particular. This is my response.

First I don't believe imparting your moral values is a "wrong reason" to homeschool. This is my response to VJACK's post Homeschooling is About Indoctrination. Public schools also indoctrinate children often with views that are different then, even hostile to their parents world view. Unfortunately no matter who is doing the teaching be it a public school teacher or a parent their biases will be part of the lesson. Parents have every right to impart their "moral values" to their children. And while I am pro-choice anti-choice parents have every right to teach their children their beliefs. I am very disturbed by VJACK's desire to indoctrinate children through the public school system with his beliefs in opposition to their parents beliefs.

I suppose the thing I would most worry about if I were an atheist parent considering homeschooling would be the issue of academic equivalency.

I have no doubt that my children received a superior education compared to what they would have received in the public schools. My eldest son started college at 16, he is in his fourth year of a computer science degree. He is also paying his own tuition with a scholarship and the money he earns at his part time job. He will graduate debt free. My youngest son is in his senior year of high school and is taking a course at the local community college for dual credit, he has an A in the class. Parents who choose to homeschool invest time and money in their children's education we are highly motivated to see that our children are well prepared for college and life. VJACK basis his concern on this

As someone who teaches college, I have found that the homeschooled children who end up there are often seriously unprepared to succeed.

I wonder how many of the public school students who end up in his classroom are also unprepared to succeed? I also wonder how many well prepared homeschooled students are in his classroom that he never realizes were homeschooled because they don't fit into his stereotypes of homeschooling?

According to Associated Content

A common homeschool myth is the one that assumes children who attend a homeschool will not be prepared for college. However, many college recruiters disagree with this myth, and in fact, some even prefer homeschooled students. Why? Many students who homeschool have advanced studying skills, such as the knowledge of various resources, as well as the ability to work well independently. Homeschoolers can also possess exceptional teamwork and social skills, which are very essential to many college courses. In addition to the above qualities, many homeschooled children begin taking college level courses before they are finished with their K-12 education, due to the flexibility of their schedules and the opportunity to advance at one's own pace.

The second concern involves the social development of the homeschooled child. In many respects, the social aspects of the school experience as as important as the academic ones. Christians who homeschool are probably going to have an easier time finding others homeschooling through their church than atheist parents can find through some alternative. How does the atheist parent attend to social development and prevent his or her child from being woefully unprepared to form positive peer relations?

The simple answer to this is you form your own homeschool groups or find inclusive and secular ones. There are also recreational sports teams/drama clubs/chess clubs etc. your children can join.

While I do not see this as a major barrier, I also wonder if it could be argued that an atheist parent who homeschools might be doing his or her children a disservice by depriving them of the opportunity to learn how to navigate the challenges of living as an atheist among a largely religious populace.

Funnily enough the opposite argument (it could be argued that a CHRISTIAN parent who homeschools might be doing his or her children a disservice by depriving them of the opportunity to learn how to navigate the challenges of living as an CHRISTIAN among a largely secular/materalistic populace) is often made in reference to religious homeschoolers who feel the public schools are a cesspool of secular humanism. Homeschoolers do not live in splendid isolation. We meet all sorts of people from various backgrounds merely by going about our daily lives. It's also ironic that VJACK assumes that his children will share his atheist beliefs, but then I suppose he intends to brainwash or indoctrinate them with his beliefs.

And before I start getting a lot of hostile comments for that bit of snark let me elaborate. All parents have the desire to pass their beliefs or values on to their offspring. We all believe our beliefs are the "right/correct" ones. But for some reason when Christians share their beliefs with their own children atheist often decry it as brainwashing/indoctrination. Ironically they are guilty of the same thing with their children but they don't consider it brainwashing or indoctrination because they are certain their beliefs are the only sane rational way to live. In a truly tolerant and diverse society both the Christians and the Atheist would respect each others beliefs and respect their right to pass their beliefs on to their own children.