I picked this up at the library recently and I'm actually reading it. I read Ms. Jessops first book called Escape, about her escape from the FLDS. It's interesting. That book was about her own personal story and this one is more about the kids who were taken from the YFZ ranch in Texas a couple of years ago. She was (is?) a public school teacher and her opinion is very much in favor of the public schools and more homeschooling laws. She says that having stricter homeschooling laws in Texas would be good for the kids of the FLDS. It made me think. Homeschoolers tend to always be against more regulation because most of us are doing a good job and we know it and we don't want or feel that we need government oversight. My youngest son is a right brained learner and they have a tendency not to learn to read until later than left brained learners. He started reading really well at 10 and now (he's just turned 12.) we have a hard time keeping him in books, he reads so much. I wonder if we'd had to report to the government during that time he wasn't really reading, ages 6-10, if we would have been made to put him in school or fail him a grade?
But, in the case of the FLDS, I don't know, maybe stronger homeschooling laws would help? Her case is that the kids are not educated about the world outside the compound and they are married or working long hours as young as 12 and that the cult hides a lot of child abuse, which she believes would be detected at the public schools. Whether it would or not, I don't know. There is no perfect answer.
She also says that only certified teachers should teach children. I do think parents can do an excellent job without certification, I've seen it, but we as homeschool parents need to know when there is something we can't teach and find someone who can. For example, if my husband was not able to teach Algebra II this year, we'd definitely need to find a math tutor. I know enough to know that I shouldn't even attempt it.
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