Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education.

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

03 Dec 2006 09:53 PM

I am a mother with 4 years worth of hands-on experience in home schooling. I am a home scholar who reads extensively about education in all of its forms. I take note of all new information pertaining to home schooling and education. I watch, listen, and discuss the current state of education in America.

I am often one lesson ahead of my kids, as it has been a long time since I have multiplied fractions, or determined a square root. When I find that I am inadequate to teach a subject, I have resources in the form of friends, family, and tutors to rely upon. While I have not been home schooling long, I have been home schooling with a dedicated and invested passion. How well my children do in life, reflects directly on me.

I am in tune with my children. With one glance, I can tell if they are having a good day or a bad day. I can tell if they need to eat, or sleep. I can alter their plans for the day according to their individual needs. I am hardly an expert, but I am a good teacher for my children.

So, are traditional schoolteachers experts in education? ...Not hardly.

Teachers are educated in education. They have pieces of paper that say they are certified to teach. They are taught how to handle a classroom of children. Crowd control takes up the bulk of their day. They are educated in the local, currently acceptable, and ever changing forms of education.

Many teachers find themselves just one lesson ahead of the students in many cases, as they are given new curriculum on a regular basis that they may not be familiar with. Some teachers are brand new having only assisted another teacher previously. Other teachers have taught for years, and only continue because they can see the white light of retirement through an otherwise bleak and dark tunnel.

Oh, there are good teachers who truly have a gift for inspiring students to learn. I have had a few myself. Unfortunately, many of the best teachers find they have their hands tied when it comes to truly making a difference in the life of a child. Yes, there are a great many good teachers, but they are hardly education experts.

So who are the education experts? I went to educationexperts.com and all I found was a woman who gave workshops on Internet Technology training. I went to educationexpert.com and all I found was a school evaluation website that serves parents trying to gain or retain custody of their children. I went to the U.S. Department of Education website and all I found was No Child Left Behind justification and no real proof of advancement. I went to the American Federation of Teachers website and all I found was a website serving the specific needs of the teachers... not necessarily the children. I went to the Homeschool legal defense website and I found a website that supports parental rights and the freedom of parents to educate their kids at home, though I feel they exaggerate their usefulness.

Then I visited the blogs of a great many homeschoolers, and though like me, they are not experts, they certainly are aware of the state of education in America. They also have a dedicated and invested passion to educate their children in a way that is best for them. They are in tune with their children, and making a difference in education, one child or family at a time.

Therefore, I will be the first to admit that as a homeschooler, I am hardly an expert in education. At the same time, I will not say that teachers are any less qualified to teach than parents, although motivation is often different. As for the government and big business and their expertise... personally, I feel more comfortable with the amateurs than the experts.

Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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Andrea Hermitt (5507) 06 Dec 2006 09:59 PM

for more on education experts, read this article by Valorie Delp: http://homeschooling.families.com/blog/home-schools-run-by-well-meaning-amateurs-part-1