[Persevero]

First question is, who decides who is qualified? Who is in charge here?

But no I think some parents are “not.” They are lazy or incompetent and the kids can suffer from that and any bad parenting.

But I went through the public schools and had lazy, incompetent, and yes, abusive teachers and personnel. Government schools are NOT the solution.

Homeschooled all of mine. They have turned out great.

[arthurus]

The years I was a carny I met a lot of carny kids who were officially home-schooled. Their actual schooling consisted of working and learning their business. They all seem to be literate and can add and subtract, at least enough to work the fairs. They all grow up with jobs assured, even if they don’t know any more history or science than the public school kids.

[Rurudyne]

Homeschooling inherently preselects out the lazy unconcerned parent.

[wintertime]

Re: Lazy and incompetent parents

I occasionally get this question or response.

My answer:

The lazy and incompetent are the **most** likely to institutionalize their kids. The lazy and incompetent are the least likely to homeschool.

I also add that homeschooling is the healthiest and most natural way to rear robust children into successful adulthood. Yes, some children will need to be institutionalized for their children for their schooling. We need orphanages, too, but no one claims this is the best environment for a child.

[DoodleBob]

It is vital to keep in mind that the Catechism of the Church states clearly that Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. This is an unqualified truism that a note from some politically-stacked Synod of bishops etc cannot change. Keep in mind, the people at this gathering are generally from the liberal wing of the church - a sort of Catholic Church Deep State. These guys have as much standing on these matters as Nancy Pelosi has on foreign policy.

In truth there ARE churches and even archdioceses in the US that are supportive of HSing - Mrs DoodleBob and I encountered this during our HSing adventures. To be sure, there are also plenty of people who don't get it; a priest in the 1990s suggested we get more "contemporary" (read: liberal) educational material (we used the Baltimore Catechism). Many HSers from the 1960s-1980s forged a path that made it easier for GenX and other later HSers. Today's opposition shouldn't be taken any less lightly. But context is important, because you can't fight every battle. This Synod is a pimple on the face of HSing opposition.

I don't doubt many liberals - religious or otherwise - view HSers as "the enemy" for the same reason Deplorables strike fear into the hearts of statists: we stand as the living embodiment of rebels who Won't Go Quietly Into the Night (and we are usually heavily armed).

Like anything good in life, you have to work at it and you will find all sorts of roadblocks or even enemies along the way. While it's a shame there are so many confused Church bureaucrats on this topic, we always have God and Truth in our side.

Just like our God-given right to keep and bear arms cannot be removed by a Supreme Court opinion, the fundamental right - nay, responsibility - of the parent to the education of their children cannot be eradicated by some new pronouncement. Interpreting these notes as THE OFFICIAL CATHOLIC STANCE ON HOMESCHOOLING is akin to using the Obama Admin's stance on guns as the official US interpretation of the Second Amendment. Caveat emptor.