Math is the key that unlocks both science and engineering — and without math, these disciplines are impassable.

To think that logic puzzles are sufficient for home schooled students to obtain a math educations is foolish. Math puzzles should compliment a solid math foundation.

Granted, students at school do often get left behind in math, but that is often not because of math, but because of poor teaching and student confidence and practice and practical applicability of math and home school mothers who also cannot do math, and student laziness.

If home schoolers want to compete in the world and become salt and light in the workplace, they should as much math as reasonably possible. To not force your kids to do math is — to my mind at least — a form of omissive abuse that the government should clamp down on.

CHEInc@free.net.nz

Answer: We don’t want to have to – be forced to carry ID cards. This is a free country and we don’t want to see what happened when Hitler introduced the yellow bands for one section of the community to wear. We don’t want to have our home educated students singled out like that.

That is not to say that it is a good idea to carry an ID card or a copy of the exemption form. It is great if we volunteer to carry these but a different story if our children are forced to carry them. If we kick up a fuss then our children may always have to carry them during school hours. At the moment families are finding that if their children are respectful and answer questions asked of them nicely then there is no problem.

Most home educators like to go to town or let their children go to town during school hours. It is more pleasant, safer and not so many people there at that time.

So we don’t want our children to be forced out of the CBD area of town or be forced to carry ID cards during 9am-3pm.

We just need to be a little wise about how we react to this.