Some courts have stricken compulsory-education laws for being too vague or have found that more restrictive regulations exceeded the state education agency's statutory authority. Other courts have allowed prosecution of parents when their educational program does not meet state requirements. The United States Supreme Court has not explicitly ruled on home schooling, but it did rule against compulsory school requirements in Wisconsin V. Yoder, a limited decision involving the Amish. More generally, it has also upheld the right of parents to direct the education of their children (Latham 85).
One argument states that parents do not have the knowledge required by an educator to take responsibility of teaching; therefore, the children would be poorly educated in comparison to other students ("Social Behaviors"). However, parents are not alone. There are many facilities available to help them, and there is at least one state-level association in every state. Home schooling parents form groups in their community to help each other out. They take turns teaching small groups of children. For instance, where one parent might be good at teaching math, the other might be better at language (Farris). In addition to the help they get from each other, there are many tools and services available that enhance and enrich children's learning experience. For example, various on-line services are available on the world wide web, which include interactive classes and virtual libraries. Also, educational CD-ROM's, workbooks, and magazines are good sources that provide the pare!.
nt with information of new educational tools (Packard 12). Books and other educational materials are also important, and in many cases there are educational institutions that provide these types of materials (Latham 86). Furthermore, support can be found at public schools. In Des Moines, Iowa, a program was developed that allowed home schooled children to use school computers, books and teacher's guides, and provided biweekly supervision from a teacher that records the child's progress and offers advice (Galen 22).
