Educators are tuned to student needs

Re: Toppling misconceptions about what homeschooling really means — Sept. 27

The authors of the op-ed column on home-schooling quoted studies conducted by the Canadian Centre for Home Studies, which tells me that they were unable to find independent studies to support their contentions.

Provincial curriculum standards have never been a limit on educators, rather a minimum standard to be met. If the educators wish to improve the delivery of the curriculum, there is little to stop them from doing so. Most spend a lot of time and energy trying to make the education in their classrooms the best they are capable of providing.

There are many well-intentioned parents who are home-schooling. There are others with personal axes to grind but I wouldn’t depend on them to do anything equal to what a well co-ordinated staff of highly trained and frequently in-serviced and upgrading professionals can do over a student’s 12-year career.

Some parents may be in a position to know what’s best for their children, but in this modern world of ever-changing tools, norms, relationships and opportunities most of us are behind in the field before our children even reach school age, much less when they are old enough to graduate. We cannot possibly know all that is available or coming on-stream unless we are as tuned in to the education field as are the professional educators. Professional faculties are constantly changing and evolving to keep their programs fresh and current.

Parents do home-schooling for a variety of reasons that boil down to them wanting the best education and future opportunities possible for their children. Paul Mundy Kitchener