Teachers learn pedogogy and sometimes specialize in science, english or what have you. That is if their aim was a teachng degree, there are other ways to be certified to teach such as doctorate of master degrees in some fields. Either way teachers are using a predesigned course to present to the students.

The teachers job is to present the course in such a way to engage the students in several different ways if needed and even further illuminate areas and parents may not have this background to pull from to aid them in teaching.

Even if a parent holds an advanced degree even in teaching students at stages requires different methods of teaching. Parents who homeschool for long periods have to also develope skills to match the age group they wish to teach, or at least they should if they want to help their childrens education. A highschool math teacher may not have the temperment nor desire to teach primary school maths or vice versa, parents just the same.

I would also hazard to guess that if a parent holds an advanced degree in maths, I doubt they also hold the same in sociology, physical education, biology, english and so on. While a parent might be able to teach a couple subjects well enough the whole spectrum of what is required is another story.

So are parents qualified to homeschool beyond gradeschool? I would say in general no because the parents have to wear many hats in areas they may not have much knowledge in.

The two most obvious arguments critics of homeschooling make are that it's primarily to brainwash their kid in their own way, and that they miss out on the type of socialization they'll need when they do go out into the real world and finally have to deal with all the other people out there who were not homeschooled I agree with those by the way. Those are enough reasons by themselves to not do it. But let's look further...

1) The average adult may be educated in one subject but has only a surface knowledge or even no knowledge whatsoever in other school subjects. Even when it comes to professional teachers themselves, they may know math but really aren't qualified to teach English or history or even typing. Teachers may have a license in one area but literally have to take hours of extra classes to add on more specialties and more licenses. Yet homeschooling assumes Joe Sixpack can do everything a school faculty can do.

2) Most people, adult or child, who get removed from a formal structured environment, will do the bare minimum of what they need to be doing and/or will have maybe one or two areas they're genuinely working on but certainly not the scope you'd get in an actual school. I know adults who "work from home" some days of the week who basically just check their e-mail once in a while (working from home is a joke more often then not). I know kids who can manipulate their parents to fake doing things when they're not really doing anything. I know parents who have a million other things to do besides sit with their kid through what would be an entire school day making sure they're doing they're work.

3) Perhaps most importantly, there is virtually no check or balance on the damage a parent can inflict on their kids' education. Other than an occasional knowledge test by the State, the parent can completely warp that kid in every other way. In schools, you've got parent teacher conferences, school boards, auditors checking certifications, counselors, nurses, a whole village of people watching what everyone else is doing. At home you've just got a closed door and a none of your darn business what's going on inside. The lack of a check and balance indeed makes parents unqualified to just go it alone and educate how they see fit. There are mentally ill parents, criminal parents, delinquent parents, and simply big old loser parents, and any and every one of them could make a case to homeschool their kids.

In those cases where no actual school is present (such as they family lives remotely) then I get it. And in those cases where the kid is actively pursuing some sort of full time life enrichment (like they're already professional actors) then I get it. And even in those cases where there is serious risk your kid is going to die if s/he goes to your local school then I get it. But in reality, those are not most of the true reasons for homeschooling. Usually it's just an uptight set of parents who think they know better than pretty much the entire stinking world. And usually they don't. Usually they're just @holes and idiots.

Well, I am answering "No" but I do not mean it to be an eteched-in-stone absolute answer.

As you did not provide for my true opinion to the question, which would be along the lines of..................

"Usually not. But sometimes. Rarely."

We just had a similar debate where the author asked if HomeSchooling should be totally outlawed.

And again, I answered in the negative, but added a caveat.

Which was.........I believe the parents wishing to Home School their children should have to take and pass an Competency Exam. Perhaps something along the lines of an SAT or ACT test, as we do to graduating high school seniors wishing to gain entrance into a college or University.

Ironically, it has indeed been my experience that the vast majority of parents who home school their kids, or want to in the future, or, well, idiots. Usually below average intelligence, and worse--are often Religious Fanatics.

Which I think is just as detrimental if not more so to a child/student than is a Home education by a parent of slightly below average intellect who is NOT a religious zealot.

To infuse a child with superstitious notions of a pretend sky god, as well as the fantasy Eternal Punishment that comes to the Unbeliever or the sinner, well, I consider this tantamount to Child Abuse. As well as Brain Washing.

But that is a bit off topic, I know. Thank you for indulging me on that.

This is a good Topic, BTW!

Thanks.