No to P.S. seeking to regulate homeschooling in PR

H_ROSE

/ #18 Homeschooling Regulation Prejudiced Invasion of Privacy

2015-02-13 14:37

Homeschooled children receive individualized attention at THEIR pace. This helps them to truly master what they are learning and builds self-confidence. Children should not be made to feel that they have to compete or be better than anyone else to have self-worth. School systems often impose these feelings on young children often with devastating results that last a lifetime. If they do not do as good as their peers or do as well as some think they should on a standardized test they are made to feel shame. They are often told they are lazy or lead to believe that there is something wrong with them when all they may need is a little more time or maturity to master the skill.  Children should be made to feel proud of their OWN hard work, their OWN accomplishments and their OWN improvement, not how they fare in comparison to others. This truly motivates children to want to succeed. No individual learns exactly alike and homeschoolers are able to experiment with different teaching methods till they find one that suits their child best, while schools often use the one size fits all method which many times fall short in reaching all students. This often leaves students who don't learn well with this method frustrated and unmotivated. Children need education but they need to be children too. Children are natural learners, naturally curious and deserve a chance to thrive and explore their own interests not only those imposed by adults. Homeschooling gives children this opportunity.  Homeschoolers also learn to socialize with all sorts of individuals young and old not just their peers which results in well-rounded individuals. In a real world setting we deal with not only our peers (people of our own age, intelligence level and/or social back round), but also with those who are of different ages, interests, intelligence levels and back rounds. Homeschoolers are better equipped to deal socially with all types of individuals since they are educated in a variety of settings and therefore benefit from the experience of dealing with all types of individuals. If I agreed with the way schools educate children I would have sent my children to a traditional school. Clearly I do not since, as expressed above, homeschooling offers children benefits that in my opinion far exceed those of traditional schools. Regulating homeschooling to fit traditional school standards would suppose that this is the only correct way to educate an individual when much evidence has proved that homeschooling methods are just as effective if not better. This is an imposition on a parent's choice to choose what type of education is best for their children and relinquishes a parent's natural right to educate their own child the way they think is best. The government only has the right to relinquish a parent's rights when their course of action is PROVEN detrimental to a child's welfare. Homeschooling has NOT been PROVEN detrimental to children's welfare on the contrary it has been PROVEN beneficial. Therefore this regulation is a prejudiced invasion of the privacy of homeschooling families throughout the island, assuming that these parents are less fit and more negligent with their children than other parents that have chosen a traditional school for their children. The government thereby assumes that all parents are incapable of caring for their own children without their constant supervision and intervention.