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Date published: 10/5/2005
The recent debate about home schooling versus public is unfortunate ["Home-school if you like--it's your loss, but public schools are great!" Sept. 9]. As a parent who has used more than one form of education (public, private, and home schooling), I have to say there are good experiences and less favorable experiences that go with all of these choices. In the schools, I have encountered wonderful and caring teachers, yet I've also found many who were simply not involved. One letter-writer said public school children have access to things they cannot get at home, but this is untrue. The resources in the home-schooling community are tremendous, and the parents can always locate the needed items for a subject. Home-schooled children have high SAT scores and do well in college, so somewhere along the line they learned how to take notes. And they interact with people in society in real settings. Many home-schooled children run a small business and go to college early, so they must have learned "people skills," right? Teachers in the schools are expressing concern over the emphasis on testing versus teaching these days. Some public school teachers doubt that children are retaining the information they need to know for SOLs and other tests. No one system is without its problems, no matter how good. Many counties in Virginia have begun to work with the home-schooling community to bridge any gaps that exist between them. Some are now offering partial enrollment. If the focus is on offering and supporting many educational choices to parents and children, we would all benefit from children who grow up loving to learn, not simply trying to get a degree to finish school.
Brad Childress Spotsylvania
1. Be respectful. No personal attacks.
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