Do home educators need a teaching certificate?

Question

Teaching isn't rocket science...as far as I can see what you need a teaching certificate for is "crowd control". Disruptive kids cause a lot of downtime in the class room. Anyone else have thoughts on this issue?

Answer 1

They shouldn't.

My cousin is a teacher and she says that most of what you learn is how to get a big group of kids to shut up and do what their told.

Even the most rigid homeschoolers -the ones with school rooms and school hours- don't need to know how to make 30 high school students shut up in math class.

Answer 2

First (before I forget), Barb - I LOVE your certification!

I am a certified teacher - completed a masters level program and took the Praxis exams.  I taught in the PS classroom.  I was a good teacher and not just bragging on myself - I really was.  The Director of Schools for our system called me personally upon learning of my resignation and asked if there was anything they could do to keep me.

I said that she could not fix what was broken.  And that was and is a true statement.

I loved being in the classroom and I truly cared about the kids - even the "bad" ones.  It is the "system" that is broken and it was the "system" that broke me of teaching in PS.

The education program I completed did not teach me any subject matter at all.  It was about public relations (not kidding), handling diversity, special needs, creating individualized lesson plans and unit plans, some child psychology (very light), etc.

At an In-Service meeting, our state's Secretary of Education spoke and made the comment that a Harvard professor with a Ph.D. in physics would not be "qualified" to teach science in the public school system because of the *strange [my word not hers] certification requirements.  

Certification, I know, is not primarily about subject matter expertise, it truly is about how to handle rather large groups of same aged kids - plus some other nonsense.

About disruptive kids: I had very little problems with that even with high schoolers.  Perhaps that I am male had a little bit to do with that plus I taught in a relatively good school system.

Most of my disruptions came from outside the classroom and were not caused by kids.

I have (nearly) as much empathy for teachers as I do for students.

If you know a good teacher, show them some extra kindness and appreciation.  They are a blessing to the students they teach and they have to live within and do their best to overcome a broken system too.

Answer 3

I've done both-- teaching in the classroom is not the same as homeschooling. It's a completely different educational model, and for many, a different educational philosophy than schools employ drive their home education.

You don't need to be a licensed teacher, or have a degree in education, in order to homeschool, just like you don't need a degree in medicine to treat your child's minor cuts and bruises and tummy aches, or a nutritionists degree to feed them a healthy balanced diet.

Answer 4

Teaching certificates for home-school would be such a joke.  The only benefit would be to the people that are running the certificate system -- they would make money off of a requirement such as that.  But then too... homeschoolers are very savvy and they KNOW how to get around stupid issues like this.

There are children in home-school that easily surpass their parents' knowledge.  We stumbled on an amazing process of self-teaching about 10 years ago.  The children study almost entirely on their own.  They master the math facts at an early age and with help they learn to read.  Then they take the knowledge and tools that they have acquired and push forward from Saxon Math 54 through Calculus!  They do the lessons 5 to 6 days each week and check their own work.  They rework all of the incorrect equations and do not move into the next lesson until they completely understand each one.  All of my children surpassed my own level of math.  I completed basic algebra in public high school and do not remember much about it.  

My children write very well -- without much input from me or from anyone.  They become proficient writers from natural absorption of excellent reading material.  They can't help but *copy* the form and style of great authors.  

Reading is something that is the best self-teaching tool around.  The more they read the more they know.  And they read plenty.  The books that we choose to use are some of the best that are available.  Reading is the back-bone of ALL other learning --- when a student can read well and understand an enormous vocabulary the student can self-study any area of academics and master it.

I hold 5 certificates.  One for myself and 4 for my children.  They are call birth-certificates.  It's all I need to qualify me to home-school my family.

My *children* are grown now -- 25, 22, 19, and 17.  They are doing very well and are intelligent, smart and wise.  They are outgoing and friendly.  They work well with others and are valued employees.  They are also college students with high grades.

Additional comments:

It is imperative that we show support for the family in question.  We must stand up for their parental rights.  They haven't ruined anything for anybody --- it is the self-appointed lawyer that filed the case on behalf of the children without the parents' permission.  If we allow this to happen to one family it will only snowball and happen to more and more.....

Answer 5

We are not required to have one in our state.

My brother has been teaching 8th grade for over 20 years in the public school system.  He is a good teacher.

I graduated high school and worked in customer service for over 20 years.  I teach my son at home.  I am a good teacher for my son.   I don't know how well I could teach a class, but I can teach my son.  

By the way, I drive a public school bus and work in high school cafeteria.  I really don't WANT to teach a class. (smile)

I love "my" kids, but they are too diverse and complicated for me to know each one on a level where I could teach them.

I'll stick with my one 'student'.

Answer 6

No ned to have a teaching certificate, but you need to have enough knowledge of what you are going to teach.

Answer 7

No, they don't.  A teaching certificate states that according to a test, you are qualified to teach a group of kids a body of knowledge.  An education degree prepares you to lesson plan, manage a classroom, and teach a diverse group of kids a body of knowledge - it does not prepare you for the logistics of homeschooling.  Honestly, out of all of my hs friends, many of the people who have found homeschooling the most difficult to get used to have been teachers, as it's a whole different world.  I'm not saying that you shouldn't have an ed. degree or certification, those are fine to have, but they don't prepare you to teach your own child(ren) as a lifestyle.

Answer 8

No. We have been home schooling for 3+ years and do not need one. Between my wife and I and our experiences/education throughout life, we are well educated enough.

Answer 9

Since you are in California, may I ask you to inform your  leadership that you are in favor of the courts restricting the legislation they are hoping to pass (that ALL homeschooling teachers be certified) to just the one family in question.  Please.  Go to family dot org (i think. . . google it) and let them know that CA is making a huge error including all homeschooling parents in the 'certification' process.  it is a slap in the face of parents who want to home-educate their kids.