So, you homeschool your child(ren) because . . .
. . . you want to provide a better quality curriculum, you want to address certain learning needs, you want to provide a religious perspective, you want to keep them safe from violence, you want to instill certain values, you want to . . .
There are as many reasons to homeschool your child, as there are individuals in our country. Homeschooling is all about providing individual educational instruction and attention as deemed appropriate by parents. It’s great that we still have a choice. Many, before us, have fought long, hard battles to ensure we have the freedom of choice to homeschool or send our children to private schools, as an alternative to the public education system. And so, you breathe a sigh of relief, that you have been able to make a better choice for your child(ren). But are you and your children really safe from the dictates of the public education system? The answer is NO!
The facts are these: The Obama administration’s Race To The Top policies have successfully infiltrated the nation’s education reform platform. They are absolutely being promoted by Democrats and Republicans, alike. All but a few states (including Missouri) have adopted Common Core Curriculums State Standards, mandated by the federal government. That means the federal government is dictating across the board curriculum for all publicly educated students. Your local school districts have no control over curriculum anymore.
I know, you are thinking it doesn’t affect you. You homeschool, or send your kids to private schools, right? Wrong. It does affect you. The success of Common Core Curriculums depends on total buy in, in much the same way Obama care only succeeds if everyone is on government provided healthcare. They know it and that is why the are coming after homeschooled and private schooled children. It’s all in the assessments and data collection. That’s how they are gonna rope you in, among other things
In Missouri, we are now faced with the task of funding the unfunded mandate adopted by Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Common Core State Standards require every public school to administer, electronically, standardized testing aligned, of course, to the Common Core Curriculum. Electronic administration of these tests allows for easy data collection, by government, of those results. Your public schooled child will no longer have academic privacy. And tax payers are footing the bill for it. See where I am going with this? It also doesn’t stop with the public education realm.
The architect for the Common Core State Standards is now the president of the College Board. That’s right! David Coleman now oversees the College Board, so if your child takes college entrance exams, such as the ACT, SAT, etc., regardless of where he/she was educated, your child will likely be taking standardized tests that have been geared toward Common Core Curriculums. So, if you didn’t teach Common Core Curriculums in your homeschool, what is the plausibility your child will achieve acceptable college entrance levels on the tests?
Here’s some background on how Common Core is reaching into the homeschool community. Homeschoolers should also be very wary of participating in publicly offered virtual schools.
There are many aspects to this issue, and homeschoolers should no longer feel safe from the long reach of government because they have kept their children out of the public school realm.
On January 31st, Dr. Brian Ray, of National Home Education Research Institute, will be in St. Louis to discuss the aspects of Common Core State Standards, Academic Angst and its target on the homeschooling community. No homeschool family should miss this discussion.
An Evening with Dr. Brian Ray
of the
National Home Education Research Institute
January 31st, 2013 • 7:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m.
Family Vision Library
2020 Parkway Drive
Phone: 636-447-6900