Arizona: Home schooling is poorly portrayed

AZ Republic Opinions Page ^ | 12/30/03 | Jennifer S.C. Moeller

[hsmomx3]

The Sunday Education page feature, "Your School, Your Choice," listed benefits and drawbacks of educational choices. The home-schooling "drawbacks" were stereotypical misinformation.

Less state oversight is one of the main reasons parents choose home schooling. Our children can learn history without being taught that their country is evil and imperialistic. We can teach about sex within a moral framework we find acceptable.

[ConservativeDude]

"These kids are often shortchanged because they lack the collegiality of learning with others."

Interestingly, I would say this about the kids in the schools. At home, kids learn with their parents and their siblings and with other HS kids. At school, kids are age-segregated (a pattern not found elsewhere in the real world)and then taught at the pace of the dumbest person in the class. Bright kids kill time by being bored, causing trouble, tormenting others and so on. I don't recall a whole lot of collegiality in my school experience.

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[mountaineer]

My 7-year-old niece is home-schooled by my sister. She's ahead of her public school peers in all academic areas, especially math, is learning German (my sister, a professional musician, was a Fulbright scholar in Austria and is fluent); she takes ballet and piano lessons, goes on field trips with other home-schooled children from their Presbyterian church, and sings in her church choir. One of these days, I'll find some area of her life that is lacking, in comparison to public school students in her district (something other than a profane vocabulary and an addiction to TV, that is).

[Elliott Jackalope]

The homeschooled children of today will be the leaders, visionaries and builders of tomorrow. The publicly schooled children of tomorrow will be the followers. The choice is yours to make.

In case you didn't notice, I despise public schools. I have mostly bad memories of my years in public schools. That was decades ago, now they are much worse. I am convinced that the only way to fix them is to evacuate them, fire everyone who works there, and then bulldoze them.

Bless you for caring enough to homeschool your kids.

[ConservativeDude]

"she takes ballet and piano lessons, goes on field trips with other home-schooled children from their Presbyterian church, and sings in her church choir"

what about SOCIALIZATION????

oh, wait a minute...looks like they got that covered, also....

[netmilsmom]

Hey Lady! I was looking for you yesterday!

I'm sure some of the same people who were so kind as to come to my vanity yesterday, will be here today.

Just an update. My six year old completed an entire unit in two hours this morning. (this took a week at her charter school). We had lunch and I spoke with the Cleveland family who are on a baby watch. (God Bless Emmie and Kayla). After lunch and some run around time, we started a Bible study I downloaded. The girls the drew pictures of their favorite Bible stories. We had a quick playtime and we will start working on computer math in a few.
I called my six year old in sick for fear this would not work, but it is GREAT!

Thanks so much for all who helped Dad give the OK!!

[Oberon]

what about SOCIALIZATION????

I LOVE it when non-homeschoolers ask this question. My patented reply is "Well, we too were concerned that our children were not receiving the socialization of their public-school counterparts...so twice a week I take my kids into the bathroom, swear at them, rough them up, steal their lunch money, and offer them drugs."

[TruthConquers]

Great news! I'm very happy for you.
Homeschooling is the best.

[ConservativeDude]

and don't forget this lesson: NEVER let them associate with someone who is not their exact age, don't let them make and keep appointments on their own, and NEVER NEVER let them learn anything beyond the ability of the dumbest person in your age group.

If you do that, then you can say that you have been socialized.

[mountaineer]

Good answer!

[farmfriend]

homeschool ping

[Atlas Sneezed]

"These kids are often shortchanged because they lack the collegiality of learning with others."

---

It is interesting that some people consider sending your kids to learn (and/or be abused by) the behavior and language of savages is "socializing" them.

[RightField]

Bless you for caring enough to homeschool your kids.

One of my neighbors remarked to me several years ago, when both our sons were 8 or 9 years old, that she could never homeschool because she didn't think she could stand to be around her son all day, every day. She said she was grateful for the hours that he was away at school. She is a stay-at-home mom with only that one child. I remember smiling blandly back at her because I could not think of a single, socially acceptable thing to say back.

[international american]

" I have mostly bad memories of my years in public schools. That was decades ago, now they are much worse"

Same here. I graduated in 1972, and went to a (so-called) top school. They are indeed much worse now. I home schooled my daughter for 6 years...grades 7-12.She graduated from Stanford with honors at age 21. Four of the top ten in her graduating class were homeschooled.

[4mycountry]

You go, girl. :)

[netmilsmom]

>>so twice a week I take my kids into the bathroom, swear at them, rough them up, steal their lunch money, and offer them drugs<<

I am going to memorize that!!

[Tax-chick]

Congratulations on your success! Naps are good, and plenty of time for reading :-).

(Still pregnant, after all these years ...)

[ConservativeDude]

"homeschool because she didn't think she could stand to be around her son all day, every day"

the more i hear about why people don't HS (which they offer - we never bring it up), the more I think that this is the real reason....and it is incredibly sad.

Me, I can't bear the thought of my wonderful, beautiful, wild and incredibly exhausting children being stuck in a socialist schoolhouse for most of their childhood, without me and mom.

[netmilsmom]

HEY!!!!
How was your day?

I needed a FReep fix!