Aschildrenarepushedtoachieveacademicgoalsatearlierandearlierages,theincidenceoflearningdisabilitiesisgrowingatanalarming(somesayepidemic)rate.Theremaybeahostofrootcauses,fromimmuneresponseissuestodietaryandfamilialproblems,butonefactorissusceptibletoimmediatecontrolbyparentswhochoosetohomeschoolandthatistheageatwhichtraditionalacademicworkisintroducedtotheirchildren.Onehundredyearsago,itwascommonforchildrentoenterschoolatage8orevenlater.Twohundredyearsago,childrenwerenotevenacceptedinmostschoolsuntiltheycouldread.

　　Today,incontrast,themostarduouseffortsofourpublicschoolscannotproducehighschoolgraduateswhocancomparefavorablyinknowledgeandskillswiththe8thgradegraduatesof1900.Whatonearthisgoingon?Itisclaimedbytheeducationestablishmentthatthefaultliesvariouslywiththechildren(learningdisabled),theirparents(incompetentand/oruninterested),orthegovernment/taxpayers(lowfunding),orallthree.Educatorsseldomblametheirownmethods,materials,timetables,etc.Mostpeoplewouldagreethat“onesizefitsall”itemsactuallydon’tfitmostpeopleverywell,butwhenitcomestoeducation,otherwiseintelligentfolksareinclinedtobowtothe“wisdom”oftheestablishededucationalorderinthematterofwhatachildshouldlearnandwhenheshouldlearnit.Homeschoolparentscometomeeverydayaskingfor“thelist”ofwhattheirchildrenshouldbelearningateachgradelevel.Or,theycomeinveryworriedbecauseJr.isinthirdgradeanddoesn’tyetknowhismultiplicationfactsorpartsofspeechorthedifferencebetweenaparallelogramandatrapezoid!Oh,my!