Homeschooling and Educational Neglect
A-Z Homeschooling: Educational Neglect
What is Educational neglect? Educational neglect occurs when a child is allowed to be repeatedly truant from school, or is of mandatory school age and not participating in any kind of educational program. If a child is neglected educationally, they will likely perform poorly in life.
People who have no idea of what homeschooling is about often accuse Homeschoolers of educational neglect. There was a time during the early days of the modern homeschooling movement when no homeschooler would dare attempt to teach their child at home because is was just a matter of time before a charge of neglect was risen. Lately however, while nosy neighbors, and controlling relatives may voice concerns over educational neglect, few people will actually make a formal accusation.
But don't some homeschoolers neglect their children's education, you may surely be asking. Of course, it could happen. It happens every day. When a parent claims to be homeschooling a child but in fact is trying to hide the fact that they are abusing the child, the education of that child is being neglected. When a well-meaning parent decides to homeschool, only to find that they cannot handle the job, and leaves the child to his or her own resources, they are educationally neglecting the child. When a parent allows a child to 'homeschool' because they are tired of dealing with the truant officer, the education of the child is being neglected. Such educational neglect however, is very rare.
What do you do when you think a homeschoolers education is being neglected? If I only had a nickel for every time someone sent me an email with that question... It might not make me rich, but I'd have a few bucks stashed away. If you feel that a homeschooler in your life is being neglected, I recommend you have a heart to heart conversation with the family. One thing you will find out about homeschoolers is that they are rarely shy about sharing their homeschool experience. You may find that what you think is educational neglect, is merely freedom allowed to the child to follow his or her own heart. My kids for example, are free to do what they like in the afternoon. This made my neighbor think they had not structure at home. What she did not realize is that they spent the mornings following a very structured curriculum. So, what I am saying is if you are in doubt, ask... politely.
If the answer causes you more alarm than before, then you either do not understand their homeschooling program (many people do not understand unschooling), or the child is being neglected. If you feel at this point that you may want to report the family for educational neglect is rare, you need to be sure that the child is being neglected. False accusations could end with your being sued for harassing the family.
Published by A. Hermitt
Andrea Hermitt is an artist by nature and an educator by necessity. As a homeschooling mom of 10 years, she stays current in all things educational, and cutting edge to help her homeschool her children, and... View profile
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12 Comments
Post a CommentHowever, she isn't in school is she? She's out at a store or what you call it, "town." I happen to think people who are paranoid or get offended are usually the ones who are actually "homeschool or educationally neglecting" their kids. I have a friend who wrote out on a message board about a family who are completely neglecting their child. The family knew exactly who the person on the board was talking about (them) because it was all true! And, they are now getting away with a federal crime. Their daughter, moved out at 17, never finished "school." and getting married. Will never amount to anything. the kid, plays with 5 year olds. He's 13 and too dumb to play with kids his own age. You can tell he's neglected as he's never at home and just at whoevers house that will take him. Sick trash.
Ok, here's how the testing should go: The homeschoolers should be put in an education center with government teachers and be allowed to test THEM!
Make your kids be tested in a government indoctrination center! Anyone who has an original way of doing something must be looked at with suspicion! Step out of line and be ready to pay the consequences! Can anyone say Nazi Germany?
Fortunately that is not going to happen. Homeschooling families who do a good job should not be punished because of a few bad seeds. If you know a family who you think are truly neglecting their kids, then call the authorities, but don't take it out on every homeschooler in the country.
get away with this crap! Please write to your state and ask homeschool testing in front of teachers be mandatory to protect our children from "homeschool neglect."
"Matilda," movie or even worse, during a "The waterboy" episode. Seriously, why can't these parents be made to start having THEIR KIDS TESTED, once a year. They aren't teachers. They don't have a teaching degree. So, how do we know their kids are actually learning anything? We don't! Make these kids go to a center of learning once a year, and take some kind of basic skills test, in front of licensed teachers. Make them read, write and do math for the grade level their parents claim they are in. And, if they fail, throw their bottoms back into a real school just like my kid has to go to. If they pass, then that is all good and great! Good job homeschooler! I say it should be a law that homeschooled kids HAVE to be tested. I guarentee, you will then see all the abusers' parents come out of the woodwork and claim well, homeschooling just isn't that cool and great anymore and Johnny needs to go back to school. It makes me sick that The United States of America is letting parents g
We hear of children being absent from school each and every day. Sometimes, the parents are too tired to get up and take them. Or, maybe they are abused and the parents just don't care about their education. Thankfully, in these situations, teachers can pick this up and staff members can report it to the appropriate authorities. STOP AND THINK A MOMENT. "Homeschooled" children, and I do not mean children who are actually being taught, but children whose parents don't care, claim they homeschool, have NO CHANCE ON EARTH of any authorities catching their parents. These kids slip through the system, because their parents are getting away with it day after day after day after day. As CC said, there are NO mandatory testing sites to take these abused children into and prove they are not being taught. Nope, all the parents have to do is keep attendance records, and send in test BY MAIL. This means, an older sibling, or the daddy can fill out Johnny's paper really quick during a "Matild
I should also mention, standardized testing is not required by all state statutes.
I like what you say in this article about getting to know home school families. Being friendly instead of being suspicious and bigoted really goes a long way in any social setting, to foster a community of understanding. People these days are careful not to judge people of other cultures. Likewise, we should also show empathy toward the home school community. Lucy says a "school setting" is superior to a "homeschool setting" for detecting child abuse. She accuses home school teachers of deceiving the school districts with their tests. This is not true. Depending on the state, families are not allowed to home school unless they test in front of teachers, or test with a standardized test administered by a state approved proctor. The results are sent to the school district or appropriate agency. If the home schoolers do not allow test results to be sent in, the district "will" demand the results. So, it doesn't make sense what Lucy accuses. What makes home school families any l
Very rare, however, in a school setting, where abuse can be detected, the child has a chance of getting help. At home however, where the child is in a "homeschool" setting, the family gets away with abuse, the child never goes detected and falls through the cracks. This is the problem with Homeschool. Sure, many loving parents do it by the books out of love and care. But, something simple should be in check where these poor children who are being neglected or beaten don't have to live like this. If only changing the law to test them IN FRONT of a real teacher once every 3 months, instead, of letting the parents do the test for the kids etc. to trick the system into thinking they are actually doing it. Like you said, noone really reports anything, even if they suspect it. It just makes me sick for the children going through it. And, here good parents keep their kids out of school 4 days because they are actually sick and get in trouble without a doctors note, while, homeschooler