Accreditation of the homeschool and loss of revenue are the biggest concerns of homeschooling.

Public school districts get money for each student enrolled and in attendance. Homeschooling is reducing their funds.

Some district superintendents are genuinely concerned that homeschooled students are not learning essential skills because they are not being taught by professional educators. But their opposition is based on the loss of revenue, face and stature.

Some districts support homeschooling but others take an adversarial position and try to intimidate the participants.

Most professional teachers refuse to accept the fact that the vast majority of public schools fail the students on every level, and deny that they can be replaced by uneducated "homespun hicks." This concept is too humiliating to accept, so they justify their positions by criticizing the homeschool system. They try to discredit homeschooling by focusing on the myth that the homeschooled student lacks social skills and most often becomes a loner who cannot mix with peers. In actually, these criticisms are contradicted by the statistics that dispel these rumors and innuendos.

The vast majority of homeschoolers outscore their public educated counterparts in all facets of life and education. The deficiencies in social skills professional educators are so worried about are most often found in children who get "lost in the scuffle" and are not valued as individuals (obviously not the homeschooled child).

Homeschoolers have disproved these myths by producing students who excel on every level. If you are considering homeschooling, do not be intimidated. When you approach the public school administration do so with a firm resolve and knowledge. Statistics are on your side. You are doing what is best for your child.

Pam Connolly is a professional educator with the San Diego School District. She
has been teaching kids how to type for over 11 years. To teach your child typing,
visit http://www.1stoplearntotype.com.

---