As children are pushed to achieve academic goals at earlier and earlier ages,the incidence of learning disabilities is growing at an alarming (some say epidemic) rate.There may be a host of root causes,from immune response issues to dietary and familial problems,but one factor is susceptible to immediate control by parents who choose to homeschool and that is the age at which traditional academic work is introduced to their children.One hundred years ago,it was common for children to enter school at age 8 or even later.Two hundred years ago,children were not even accepted in most schools until they could read.
Today,in contrast,the most arduous efforts of our public schools cannot produce high school graduates who can compare favorably in knowledge and skills with the 8th grade graduates of 1900.What on earth is going on?It is claimed by the education establishment that the fault lies variously with the children (learning disabled),their parents (incompetent and /or uninterested),or the government/tax payers (low funding),or all three.Educators seldom blame their own methods,materials,timetables,etc.Most people would agree that “one size fits all” items actually don’t fit most people very well,but when it comes to education,otherwise intelligent folks are inclined to bow to the “wisdom” of the established educational order in the matter of what a child should learn and when he should learn it.Homeschool parents come to me every day asking for “the list” of what their children should be learning at each grade level.Or,they come in very worried because Jr.is in third grade and doesn’t yet know his multiplication facts or parts of speech or the difference between a parallelogram and a trapezoid!Oh,my!