Homeschool-Articles.comArticles by Homeschoolers for Homeschoolers!

For twenty-one years Basic Skills presented the Winter Home Schooling Workshop. Sono Harris was among the many speakers who made regular presentations. Sadly for us, on July 4, Sono passed away after battling cancer.

Early on in the homeschool movement, virtually all academic instruction took place at home. After all, if you just took your kids out of school, where else would they be learning? This worked fine for all of us for awhile, and then a strange thing happened.

Here are five reasons why we reluctantly use published tests and some follow-up responses.

End of the year achievement testing is now here, and in many states it’s a requirement. It’s one thing to possess a set of skills, but another to be able to demonstrate them in a test setting which may be unfamiliar and feel uncomfortable to the student.

You’ve seen them, and so have I. We’ve all received ads delivered to our in boxes suggesting we can be awarded (read that purchase) various degrees. Once we possess the degree, we can move easily into the school or profession of our choice. Barriers to entrance are flattened. Diplomas mills, as these are called, are everywhere. And the U.S. Department of Education is taking action!

Some home schoolers hold the belief that grading and learning don’t mix, that grades and grading, being a fairly recent innovation used by schools, should be avoided at all costs.