Wow. I bet I can get around that.

Online charter schools are NOT homeschooling your children.  A charter school is a public school, no matter if it's a brick and mortar location or a set of websites, video conferences and discussion boards gone through at your child's speeds, from your living room.  Do not assume that a charter school is significantly better than a good, local school district.  It often won't be.  And is not homeschooling, even if it's out of your home. 

If you want your kid to learn, think about your own education.  What did you learn, and when did you learn it?  What do you think your kid needs to know?  And do you know of a private school that can and will provide it, or do you need to make the sacrifices necessary to provide your child(ren) with what they need to succeed?

By kindergarten, I knew my alphabet, what a vowel was, what a consonant was, the names of colors and shapes, how to count to twenty, and how to read.  By first grade, I was adding and subtracting single digits, and learning to compose short paragraphs.  In second grade, I learned to add and subtract double digit numbers, to write longer paragraphs, and to write in cursive.  In third grade, I learned how to string paragraphs together, started learning history and geography, and learned how to multiply and divide.  Fourth grade was essays, state history and beginning government, and fractions/decimals.  Natural science was started.  Fifth grade, we did more complex maths, and intro to pre-algebra, more natural science (and the scientific method), more complex literature, and began synthesizing information in essays.  Sixth grade was more (but more complex) of the same--with added anti-drug propaganda.  Seventh we went heavy into world history, and how Western civilization was shaped by its precursors.  Eighth we went into U.S. History.  Both were heavy into pre-algebra, and we started physical science.

High school was easy.  More of the same, but with added, optional writing classes, Chemistry, Biology, science labs--nothing really hard...which struck me at the time as something a little strange.  I guess the dumbing down was already accelerating, even then.

I graduated in 1997.  Only fifteen years ago.  And it was noticeable then, to a teen that usually had her nose stuck in a book, and was oblivious to the world around her.

I do not and will not trust a curriculum designed by government--nor do I trust dumbed down standards.  I can and will hold my children to the same standards I used. 

I will not submit my kids to leftist propaganda, nor to data mining that destroys all possibility of privacy.  I will not submit my kids to a curriculum that will have them functionally illiterate, innumerate, and thoroughly ignorant of history. 

I will not permit the government to turn my children into serfs and slaves.

How about y'all?