It is the responsibility of the parents to teach their child to read, even if they are going to home school or public school. I taught my daughter to read when she was three years old. I started teaching her the alphabet when she was less than one year old and couldn't even walk yet. Eleven is way too late.

It never occurred to me that some home schooled children are late readers and that they learn to read very effectively. I know that for some kids, especially boys, learning to read is difficult because instruction starts too early in their development since it requires them to sit and concentrate when they are still too wiggly to do it easily. Maybe that's why children who are adopted as teenagers from countries where they never or rarely attended school can have such quick development that they end up at college with their age peers. I'll have to do some more investigation. Still, I would be worried if I were the aunt. She should be spending some time with her niece alone, like taking her to the zoo or out to lunch. Then she can assess her knowledge of ordinary subjects and see if she is actually being neglected rather than on a self-directed program. In any case, they can develop a relationship which will be good for both of them.

Thing that most bothers me about the niece's situation is that everyone is approaching reading as a "have to do" skill. It is, but it's so much more than that. That poor girl is missing out on one of life's great pleasures. My guess is that if she's not interested in learning to read, then she has not been read to and discovered why books are so wonderful.

Some parents just shouldn't be allowed to home school, but it's difficult to stop them because of their legal rights.

I know a few of these families and I've found that a lot of these parents have political ideas that are outside the mainstream--which they are entitled to--but that part of their belief system entails automatically setting themselves in opposition to what is going on in most schools. They are anit-estasblishment, meaning that teachers and school systems generally are their enemies, witness the one response the Annie's included.

I understand that a lot of people have issues with the education system, but it's been developed largely by consensus and by people who do care about what they are doing. I follow another forum where there are two posters who have home schooled their kids. They are by far the most intransigent and self-important people in the forum. It's their way or the highway and they will fight to the bitter end, even if it means posting hundreds of times. I can't think that this has made them good teachers or role models for their kids.

Sometimes people need to let go of their kids and trust that other people out there are doing their jobs. It's a shame when I hear stories like this. It's the kids I feel sorry for.