This might disappoint the supporters of the traditional schooling system and standardized tests (NCLB et al) those homeschooled students perform better not only in K-12 grades, but also in standardized exams like the ACT and SAT. (Read http://www.nheri.org/Research-Facts-on-Homeschooling.html to learn more).

A homeschool curriculum is flexible and effective. With issues like teen violence and drug abuse becoming commonplace, homeschooling seems to be the right solution. With a customized homeschool program, children can learn at their pace.

Online tutoring takes homeschooling to the next level. With tailor-made homeschool curriculum, online tutoring allows you to set your own studying hours and monitor your child’s progress. Parents across the world are choosing homeschool over formal learning methods. Homeschooling, in fact, has been made legal in many developed nations. Researchers have shattered the myth that parents need have certified teaching experience for homeschooling their children.

Education should not force children to memorize concepts. Education, in the real sense, should make a child a responsible citizen. Homeschooled students, according to statistics, grow up into responsible, involved adults. Educating children at home can also let you control their eating habits- perhaps the best solution to Child Obesity. From improving academic performance to character development, a homeschool program can work wonders for your child, and you too.

Believers of the SAT Monster now reason that the Writing section has intensified the difficulty level of the SAT test. The College Board, however, explains that the essay scoring system follows a holistic approach, taking the whole essay into picture.

SAT scores hold importance for college admissions. Therefore, you should start preparing for the SAT test at least a year before the test date. Free SAT practice tests can help you understand the actual structure of the SAT, and thus prepare you to do well in the test.

Work hard on all the three sections- Math, Critical Reading and Writing. Research shows that coached students score better than those who do not take coaching for test preparation. Join an affordable SAT test preparation program and crack the SAT.

Put the blame on the current education system or the impractical aspects of the No Child Left Behind Act, it is the kids who are suffering the most. Let us quickly go through some of the factors that have led to the worsening of the education system in the United States.

Teaching Methodology

The way teachers teach Math and Science in schools in the US do not quite help kids develop interest in these subjects. Compared to Asian nations, US schools do not teach ‘real’ math until children reach upper grades.

Hatred for Math

Ask any child in the US about his take on Math and his expression would answer your question. American kids fear Math. Again, this is due to their disinterest in Math, which is due to ‘established prejudice’ and boring teaching techniques.

One Size Fit All approach of NCLB

Standardized tests have worsened education system in the US. Unless we try to access the child’s problem solving process, we cannot just measure his performance on the basis of some tests. Children, each one of them, have their own unique identity. Applying a one-for-all test pattern can NEVER improve the education system.

Blame-Games between educators and parents, educators and government make matter worse. It is time parents and educators sit together and ponder over the current scenario and work out ways to improve the same. Last but not least, let us not sing to the tunes of the No Child Left Behind Act. I am sure school administrators voice the same opinion. An Act that cannot do any good to the education system should not exist!

These are just some of the articles that explain the growing concern among parents and educators in the United States. Isn’t it ironical that a country that is the most developed in the world fails to keep up with its counterparts as far as the school educational system is concerned?

A country’s future depends on the development of its children. Someone has rightly said “Our children are our only hope for the future, but we are their only hope for their present and their future”. The picture below taken from one of the articles on The New York Times is self explanatory:

According to the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the scores and rankings of 12 nations in the 2003 International Mathematics Assessments for Grades 4 and 8, US did not stand anywhere close to the top (read http://www.air.org/news/documents/Release200511math.htm).

US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan did not shy from speaking the harsh truth in front of a room full of Math & Science experts of the National Science Board “We are lagging the rest of the world, and we are lagging it in pretty substantial ways, I think we have become complacent. We’ve sort of lost our way”.

Blame-Games between educators and parents, educators and government make matter worse. It is time parents and educators sit together and ponder over the current scenario and work out ways to improve the same. Last but not least, let us not sing to the tunes of the No Child Left Behind Act. I am sure school administrators voice the same opinion. An Act that cannot do any good to the education system should not exist!