REGIONAL – With school back in session, the battle over the new national standards in education, known as the Common Core, is persisting in parts of New York and other states.

The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, which conducts an annual "Schooling in America" survey as part of its advocacy work on behalf of school voucher and other privatizing systems, reports finding that 49 percent of the parents responding oppose the standards, while 44 percent are supportive. They stress, moreover, that the intensity of those opposed is stronger: 33 percent strongly oppose whereas only 12 percent strongly favor.

OPINION

New York is one of 45 states that initially accepted the Common Core curriculum. That number has recently dropped to 42, with Oklahoma, Louisiana, and South Carolina discontinuing use of the national standards. In addition, Florida, Missouri, and North Carolina have legislation pending that, if passed, would exempt their participation.

According to recent news from the south, reported by the right-leaning Breitbart news network, a growing number of families in Alabama "are making the decision to homeschool their children because of the 'confusion, chaos and stress' related to the Common Core standards." Closer to home an informal survey I have made of parents visiting the Middletown Thrall Library reveals a similar trend.

A number of them report that they, too, are considering homeschool or private school because of perceived problems with the new curriculum in the public schools. In addition, parents visiting the library who already homeschool their children (as I did mine, in part) have raised a number of concerns.

First of all, the consensus among these already-homeschooling parents is that one size does not fit all when it comes to education. They feel that federal level bureaucrats are not likely to know better than loving and concerned parents what is best suited to their children's unique abilities, needs, interests and styles of learning. They point out that America is a land of freedom of thought and expression with a very diverse population and "the idea of a state-run national curriculum seems more in line with a centralized government than with a free and open society."

A second objection from the homeschooling crowd centers around the new way math is taught. While some feel the new approach helps children to grasp abstract number concepts, others feel that it is too convoluted, it requires age-inappropriate verbal explanations from students, and insists upon laborious methodologies. Speaking of the new math standards, one parent remarked, "They take a very long road to go a very short distance."

Thirdly, homeschoolers feel that any excessive testing, coupled with what they consider to be confusing methodologies, leads to high levels of stress which the concerned parents feel can severely impair a child's ability to learn, as well as a teacher's ability to teach.

"It used to be that kindergartners were considered too young for school-wide testing, but times have changed," reported a recent Chicago Sun Times article these parents have pointed to. "From September until June, they participate in five sets of standardized tests."

The result, concerned parents like to point out? Stressed out students with no time to grow and explore, and stressed out teachers with no time to truly stimulate young hearts and minds.

Bob Muller, a Mamakating resident who has been homeschooling his fourteen-year-old son, Truth, since second grade, noted that, "[The Core Curriculum] is all about testing, and it's really criminal," he said. "There is no joy in learning there; unless you enjoy something, you're not going to get anything out of it."

A fourth objection from those against Common Core is that the new standards do not include any instruction in cursive handwriting, and do not even encourage a child to learn to print legibly. Ignoring studies that seem to show that learning to write by hand is directly related to optimal brain development, proponents of the Core Curriculum maintain that keyboarding into electronic devices will adequately replace cursive and printing.

Finally, the concerned home schooling parents feel that the new emphasis on non-fiction texts does not encourage a love of reading in children. They worry that without exposure to great stories and literature, students will not learn to appreciate the language of metaphor, the subtlety and beauty of expression of our classic writing, or the depth and nobility of the human spirit expressed through great works of art. All of these take second place to practical, informational texts that tell students all about the different types of insulation used in construction, for example.

"Story, imagination, and beauty of language are important, too," said Muller. "They stimulate the neurons, they make you think about things beyond your daily life."

Muller maintains that a child needs the opportunity to discover for himself what he really likes. He gave the example of his son, who years ago became enthralled with the book, "Mysterious Island" by Jules Verne. He was able to put himself inside the pages of the book in his imagination and after finishing it, he began to wonder, "Who wrote this book? What's inside the mind of the person who created this classic story?" So the natural progression was to read a biography of the author.

The book also sparked an ongoing interest in the ocean and related topics, Muller says. Currently, his son is contemplating a career in marine biology, and is reading all kinds of material on the subject.

Contrast this, say Muller and other parents concerned enough with standardized curriculums to consider private or home schooling alternatives, with students who must cram into their heads material which they often find boring and/or irrelevant, just to pass the next battery of tests.

"That's no learning process," said Muller. "Right after the exam it's all gone!"

True education, according to these concerned parents, must spark a child's interest and imagination and allow space for creativity and exploration.

As a result of this philosophy of education, many of the other homeschooled children who patronize the library seem to have developed an avid love of reading and of learning... at least as far as I've seen.

Which, unfortunately, seems to be going against the national trend.