10 Questions to Help Gauge the Quality of

Your Child’s Education

By Linda Dobson

The way the public school system teaches is but one way to go about learning.

Does your child awake on weekdays well rested and eager for the day’s learning (education) to begin? While it seems to be a standing cultural joke, it’s also a lie that all children dislike learning. It’s not the learning (they are natural born learners), it’s the schooling; it’s the way in which schools go about “distributing” education.

If your answer to the opening question is “no,” it likely will help your child and your family a lot to begin pondering the following 10 questions. There are no quick answers. These are definitely questions to “sleep on.” It might be helpful to print them out so you can refer to them more than once. Let them help you gauge the quality of your child’s current education process.

10 Questions to Help Gauge the Quality of

Your Child’s Education

1. Can your family do what it wants, when it wants, or is your family life, to a great degree, dictated by the school schedule?

2. Does your child return home from school in “good condition,” or is s/he stressed, tired, belligerent, bored or cranky?

3. When was the last time you saw or heard a series of positive expressions about the state of public schools?

4. If the Latin root of “to educate” is “educere,” which means “to lead out,” is your child receiving a true education in public schooling, or is public school’s approach “to stuff in?”

5. Are the problems with public schooling a result of individual schools, or of the system of schooling that has not significantly changed over the last 150 years?

6. If the problems originate from the system, can the current system be tweaked, or should it be replaced?

7. In the Information Age, do we really need the “middleman” that was required in the 19th century while educating children for factory work, especially now that testing in only language and math is all that seems to “count?”

8. Why are so many homeschoolers writing about how wonderful homeschooling is?

9. Why are so many educators and reporters writing about major problems with public schooling?

10. Does your definition of a successful life for your child revolve around income, or around health, happiness, contentment and joy?

There Are Many Ways to Get an Education

Once you feel that you have honest answers to these questions, it’s time for pause. If your answers reveal that your child is less than happy, learning less than that of which he is capable, or suffering negative experiences that either overtly or covertly impact his health, there are many low- or no-cost options available to you. The way the public school system “teaches” is but one way to go about learning. If this way isn’t working for your child, you’ll need to do some research, but it’s worth it.

See also  “Your Homeschooling Options.”

The right education will turn your child into a happy, healthy, successful learner and human being.

Linda Dobson is author of The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child, The Ultimate Book of Homeschooling Ideas, and half a dozen more books.

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