September 6, 2011Dear Sir,These comments are addressed to Concerned Citizen in Devonshire.With regard to your "concerns" most of us homeschoolers are doing this for our children because of the very concerns you bring up. Wedon't want our children to be lost in the system, so to speak. I would hazard a guess that most of these people who can't "adequately provide for themselves" are not homeschoolers.If you are so concerned about the homeschoolers as you profess why don't you contact one of us and visit our home one day while we are teaching instead of voicing your concerns to an Editor who probably doesn't know anything about it.Most of the homeschooling mothers I have met if not all have a post-secondary degree and are very intelligent people who have sacrificed a lot to teach their children from home for many reasons. These children are very intelligent because they are allowed and encouraged to ask a lot of questions, and if we don’t know answers we will find out. My daughter was in grade 5 last year and was reading at a grade 8 level, not because I pushed her, but because she enjoyed it.I think you will find the same for many of the children.Yes, we do have phys ed (soccer, squash, tennis, gymnastics, sailing, hockey, horse riding, dance, yoga, golf, to name a few), art classes, music classes, and much more. We have outings together and separately. We do classes at the aquarium, BUEI, BNG and many other places. We even have our own sports day every year. We register with the government and take the same tests that the children in schools take every year. I would say that our children are getting a better education than most public school kids just because the ratio of teacher to child is one to two or three vs. one to 30. If our child has trouble with a class, we find a tutor just like you would. The best part is that we are able to instill our own values into our children instead of their peers doing that.We are not being a burden to society. Our children are outside of the system, but we have our own network of families that we draw upon in time of need. We have moms who have been teaching for 20 years and moms who are just starting from Kindergarten. Please do not feel concern for our children because we choose to teach them from their own homes. They are getting a very high level of education. Just like any parent of a schooled child, we are making sure our children get the best of educations possible.If you are really concerned, please feel free to contact one of us and I'm sure most would welcome you into our home for a day in the life of homeschoolers. Then maybe you can capitulate and we can see what a day in the life of a non-homeschooled parent is like.BUSY HOME SCHOOLING MOM