Education in Utah

I know a lot of people around here are really confused about why I would want to homeschool when the schools out here, especially in my neighborhood are so good-- these are the best schools in the state after all!!-- so they say.

Well Utah education may not be as good as they think. I realized this when I was at BYU and would often not understand references people made to historical events and famous literature like the Odyssey for example. I had zero understanding of history and I graduated from high school with a 3.9 GPA with lots of honors classes and 4 classes worth of AP credit. I began to grasp how much I had never been taught and started wondering if those who told me I was smart and great knew what they were talking about. Thus the open mind to research homeschooling when I came across it. Many people I think, think they don't know things because they didn't apply themselves or pay attention as well as they should have, but for me I did my best and tried hard and did every thing they told me I should, and I got out and realized I didn't know much and it was because it wasn't taught. Utah schools don't teach Latin and Greek. They don't teach history very well. There are no formal logic classes. There are no rhetoric classes unless you count debate which is not true rhetoric. They are great at sports and dance competitions. Math was decent- I got through calculus. The music programs seem O.K. Science was O.K. But overall, my education was poor. I did not feel well read or educated. I did not even know what my deficiencies were, let alone how to make up for them. I felt cheated once I realized what I had missed. I guess that's the big reason I'm homeschooling now- to give my kids the education I wish I had received.

This week the Deseret News had an article about the the fact that when Utah test scores are compared to other states in the nation, Utah comes out somewhere in the middle of the nation, but when Utah is compared with other states with similar demographics of low poverty and high ratio of parents with some college education, then Utah is way at the bottom and often last.

That is very interesting for Utah. I don't fault anybody for sending their kids to the public school, but let's not delude ourselves into thinking they are receiving a superior education. I would really like to see the schools do better. I think we would all benefit from more people having a better understanding of history and the ability to think logically. And I would appreciate people understanding my position a little better. I'm not trying to one up anybody. I'm just doing what I think is best and there are valid reasons for it -- even in the best school district with the best schools in the state!