Posted on 06/26/2006 11:33:43 AM PDT by JZelle
Also, you need a parent to stay at home. Most are afraid of loosing thier life-style and some may feel they are just not in a financial position to risk it.
>>Sounds like you might need to consider "U-haul therapy."
Ok! Where else can I go to get a 19-room house that only costs $400/year in property taxes? Make sure it's an area with a crime rate close to zero, I don't want to relearn about locking my door every time I go out. :)
PS: And of course it has to be very, very gun-friendly territory!
There are other obsticles to homeschooling spreading.
One obsticle is that many homes have both parents employed full time. So homeschooling doesn't seem feasible. But if there are grandparents who are retired nearby, perhaps they could fill in (if they are in good enough health). But that also isn't always the case.
An obsticle nearly as big is the fact that many parents feel unable to bring the traditional classroom experience to their homes. What they don't know is that the traditional classroom experience is the problem. Before the public schools came around, it was believed that a good teacher simply gets the pupil started, then brings them to the level where they teach themselves, with the teacher only periodically monitoring progress. Good parents can do that.
Another valid concern is that many parents don't feel they're intellectually up to the task of teaching their children intellectually. This is particularly true with specialized topics (math & science, for example) that they feel weak in. But the homeschooling movement has grown to where they can provide tutors. Also, the internet, educational software, and even educational television shows can fill in some of the gap.
But the main reason that so many support public schools and send their children there is that they can't imagine that education can be done in any other way. They went through the system, their parents went through the system, their grandparents went through the system, and all their friends and neighbors went through the system. It's all they know.
Homeschooling will never undergo an massive expolsion of popularity. It can only expand one family at a time. You simply have to give it time to grow. But think of this: ten years ago, would you have imagined that homeshcooling would have as many families as it does now?
"Ok! Where else can I go to get a 19-room house that only costs $400/year in property taxes? Make sure it's an area with a crime rate close to zero, I don't want to relearn about locking my door every time I go out. :)"
Alabama. Or Kentucky. Or Oklahoma. According to the U.S. Census, states with some of the lowest property taxes in the country. I'd also include Alaska, but for most people, that's just not in the cards. Also, according to HSLDA, all of these are states with low or no regulation on homeschoolers.
As for guns (note the RKBA in my site name), all these states are good when it comes to gun laws if my memory serves. I couldn't do a quick check on packing.org this morning since the site is down, but I'm confident that these are all gun-friendly states.
"Also, you need a parent to stay at home. Most are afraid of losing thier life-style and some may feel they are just not in a financial position to risk it."
I agree that there are some folks where homeschooling just isn't an option. Some single parents and those on very tight incomes come to mind.
However, I don't buy into the economic argument for most families. For most, it's really is just a matter of relative priorities. So you have to miss the after Christmas sale at the local mammon-mart. Or you have to live in a smaller house. Or you have to cook instead of eating out.
The uncomfortable truth in my view is that many parents talk the talk about putting their children first. But in reality, children rank first just so long as they don't interfere with their parents "lifestyle."
I think you have some good points, especially with regard to parents simply accepting the existing educational paradigm. Folks are used to packing their children off to the government schools and can't imagine doing something else.
Most American families can afford homeschooling. It's a matter of priorities. And there are single parents who homeschool. I recognize that there are some situations where homeschooling or private schools aren't viable options. I just think that those are the exception rather than the rule.
I'm a bit more optimistic about the future of homeschooling. I guess we'd have to define "explosion of popularity." In my view, what we've seen in the last ten years would qualify, and I think it's going to continue at the same or perhaps even a slightly faster pace.
Thanks! I'll definitely explore those suggestions. (Too bad they are all even farther from the Jersey shore and Manhattan than we already are. Oh well, can't have it all I guess...)
If they are requiring more than the law requires, you can stop them. It will take a fight, but it is winnable.
It is bigger than anyone imagines at this point; there are states, such as Texas and Connecticut, etc. that do not require you to report that you are home educating. Some states are heaven on earth for home educating, but devilish when it comes to getting a precise count. It is many millions; more than they admit to. They have been saying that "it is 1 - 2 million home educated children" for at least the last decade.
Even the leftists home educate. Read the article about "The Gilded Age of Homeschooling" or something close to that wording. The leftists on the coasts are now employing private tutors to home educate their children while they work. It is the next logical step in home education, and signals many more joining the ranks, as well as the further establishment of home education as an education choice.
And it is driving the left wild!! May they further implode, and fall apart at the seams, while freedom continues to spring forth from America.
BTW, read your peeve about apostrophes, and there is a great, humorous book about punctuation that you would enjoy reading. It is being used in an online class for grammar. It is titled, "Eats, Shoots and Leaves". I forget the author's name, but look for it at Amazon. They will have it, and you can learn the author's name.
Lynne Truss is the suthor's name, and the full title is: "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves: the Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation".
I know many such chinese from our time in Kumon math; they are cannot think for themselves, and they berated and laughed at us. They are to be ignored, for they are bred for dictatorship. They are unable to run their own lives.
He attended two summer camps for debating, and now he loves it. He won tournaments this year. He has also jumped into competitive public speaking, as I forced him to do it, and has won in his category as well. He now enjoys it, and has received such praise from lawyers who have judged him.
It is not true that you can only educate through unschooling, and there are decades of proof.
Thanks for the interesting post. I wasn't aware of the return to paid tutors (i.e. traditional form of education).
I certainly wouldn't count so many of them as my close friends if I had prejudged them like that.
Leftists and their "dare not judge some" is garbage.
I was thinking more about this part:
They are to be ignored, for they are bred for dictatorship. They are unable to run their own lives.
I guess I can concede one point: you didn't prejudge them; instead, you observed them carefully before jumping to the wrong conclusion about them.
GOod grief! PA is worse than MA!
Yeah, Rob Reich doesn't like homeschooling because it gives parents too much control over their kids' thinking. He believes that Public schools are necessary so that the kids can be made to question everything that their parents, and especially their Churches, say.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.