Tricia Smith Vaughan’s “Not Homeschooling? What’s Your Excuse?” a Critical Response

Should public, or government, schooling be avoided? In the essay No Home-schooling Vaughn Argues that Homeschooling is the best schooling for children and that government schooling should be avoided. Parents put forth the excuse that they are not smart enough to teach their children. Parents believe that government schooling teaches their children both academics and socialism. “The government schools are not teaching your child Judeo-Christian values; they are going to teach him or her how to survive in a group…” Public schooling in the United States is set up to dumb children down.

Homeschooling provides one on one attention to a child, and so they do not have to fight for attention from a teacher in governmental schooling. Public schooling is being used as propaganda changing the way your child may think whereas homeschooling provides your child the opportunity for a parent to teach the values of true freedom and individuality. Children need to be tested for their values instead of their knowledge and this simply cannot be done in government schooling.

Homeschooling is not for every child, some students learn better in a group environment where they learn the social skills necessary to succeed academically. Just because one thing is good for a certain child does not mean it is beneficial to another. All children have different learning styles specific to their personality. Some children need one-on-one attention to be able to comprehend academics to the best of their ability, and other students can learn in a group. It all depends on the child which education is best for them. Learn how your children are being tested for their values instead of their knowledge. ”(p647) Government schooling is secular thus there is no values of Christianity, but what about private schooling, or private Christian schooling? There are many other options for your child to obtain a great education. Different schools teach different values depending on the classification of the education, and you have to choose which is best for your child’s learning behavior. In private schooling children usually have smaller class sizes which allow for one-on-one attention.

Government schooling gives a better education than private schooling and homeschooling to the funding received and the children who want to learn. I think sometimes children that are homeschool or receive a private school education take their education for granted because they have opportunities that children in public school may not receive. In private schools children are taught values of Christianity and academics. In public schooling children are taught values of social survival and how to outsmart a classmate.

Socialism is always beneficial for a child, but it is how a child is taught the morals of socialization at a young age. I find that the author has a very biased opinion on Homeschooling. She uses her own child as an example on how homeschooling is best for every child. What the author fails to explain is that government schools are different all over the country. It depends on where the child lives, and how the state government is working to improve the education. The values a child is learning whether it is in any school private, public, or home they are learning the skills and values necessary to function socially in the world.

Education is different for every child; it all depends on their learning style. Children will be taught the values and skills necessary to socialize in the world through any kind of education. The government may not teach Christian values, but those can be taught out of school. Government schools are different all over the country it just depends on where you live that would provide a good education or not. Children just have to find out where they learn best and then they are going to thrive, and it may not be homeschooling but a government school.