“Of course you won't respond. Just like Metmom won't come out and admit that you do the cause more harm than good.
“Doesn't it bother either of you that the nicest thing you can say about wintertime is that his/ her style is ‘different’?”
Although I've disagreed with most of what you've posted about homeschooling when I've paid any attention to what you post at all, here, I must agree.
Wintertime is hardly the best spokesman to the “unconverted” about this topic.
Although I have a low view of it, public education predates the Revolution. It's thus hard to state that it's all just a communist plot!
That being said, I live in a state, Maryland, with allegedly very good public education (Number 1 in the country, or so I'm told by ceaseless mailings from our governor, Martin O’Mutley.). Our local elementary school is one of two or three in our county (which is the No. 3 county in our No. 1 state), because of its “excellence,” to which one may send his child if his child's own assigned school isn't doing the job for the child.
Our neighbors shunned us for years because we chose to homeschool. One neighbor told us that homeschooling was child abuse. Another neighbor questioned whether homeschooling was even legal. That neighbor also strongly implied we were just too lazy to send our children to school.
But the neighbor kids who stuck it out with the public schools, well, let's say that their college choices were a little limited. My son's choices were, in a sense, limited, too. Limited to the upper end.
I'm for what works for kids.
Whether it's public, private, parochial or homeschooling.
But the data that I see is that a mediocre homeschooling is usually better than all but the very best public school. And a TV set and a bag of corn chips is better than many, many public schools. Private schools are highly-variable, but the better ones are often better than their public school peers (not always, and not uniformly), but the best homeschool beats all.
For kids with intact families, that can manage to scrape together the mortgage or rent payment on one income, and will do without many of the luxuries of life, homeschooling is usually the best choice for most kids.
sitetest
I don't think you have disagreed with what I have said. I am in favor of "all of the above." If you are happy with what ever system you are using God bless you go for it. If people want to homeschool great I support them. If you want to use public schools or parochial ones great.
What I am against is certain posters labeling ALL public school teaches as communists or "useful idiots." Including many other insults veiled and otherwise.
When I taught in New York (rural school district) We had about 8- 10 families that had to use out facilities to take a basic (ninth grade) Earth Science test. 90% of our students passed 90% of the homeschoolers failed one scored a whopping 23 out of 100.
Since moving to VA. I have become acquainted with about 20 homeschooling families both through work and people at our Church. Two families in particular are exceptional with 12 children between them. Then there are the three that that are the opposite end of the spectrum. all three of these were put into our school because their parents were not able to handle them. We had to have one of the "little angels" (age 17 yrs 6 months)removed by the police and get an order of protection because he targeted a 14 year old girl to "date". He had a violent outburst one day when I separated them and did about $500 of property damage. One of them was dropped off at our building an hour later we received a call from his mother that she was not going to pick him up was instead asking us to have him committed to the children's Psych center because he had beat up her and her mother that morning.
The rest of them are just average, no better or worse than the kids I have in my class every day.
For kids with intact families, that can manage to scrape together the mortgage or rent payment on one income, and will do without many of the luxuries of life, homeschooling is usually the best choice for most kids.
Intact families, wow that is an oxymoron. I have 60 students right now. I can count on one hand the number of families that are "intact." And keep in mind this is a rural school district in VA. Out of those 5 only one does not have both parents working.
Like I said I am in favor of "all of the above." If it works for you God bless you go for it. But please don't attack me or insult me for doing the best I can do to help the maximum number of kids I can, because the sad reality is that while I only spend an hour and a half with these kids it is an hour more than many of their parents.