The Yellow Bus (poem for homeschoolers)

World Net Daily ^ | 3/22/04 | Vox Day

[Pukin Dog]

Some need to speak when silence works
Free Republic's share of jerks
Their opinion clear minority
Disagreement their priority
Attention seeking is their mission
Like some strange mental condition
"I'm okay, so all is fine"
Challenge them and watch them whine
Its like mommy never cut the cord
Take the last word, because I'm bored.

[Right Wing Professor]

I'm wuilling to live and let live too
The poem that did this thread debut
Could simply have said 'homeschooling rules'!
Without attacking public schools

[JimRed]

As for me and my house, we choose to believe the Word of God and a literal 7 day creation.

"A day with God is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day."

Sorry, I don't remember chapter and verse, but it's in there somewhere. We agree that God did it; I respect your right to believe as you do. But the numbers don't add up, and since the Bible is true, I believe He has explained it if we're astute enough to find it!

His love and peace be upon you.

[Technocrat]

The public education fools
wait far too late to force to schools
the willing mind, the empty slate
and so I now decree their fate

A steel foundation, thrice annealing
with Christ's power, math, and reading
Hand the child this shaft of light
Release them then, in glorious might

The power of the Holy Ghost
increases learning rates the most
As four sigma mount to six
the child will know both God and logics

The chains of liberal doctrine creak
when faced with fact and analysis bleak
The child will learn, the falsehoods spurn
and in due time the tables turn

For those who in their foolish pride
deny their nature, God deride
Damn themselves with progress blocked
and come to class with head half-cocked

No morals and no clarity
no founding lemmas, nullity
washed away like shifting sand
while those with power, left, to stand
and win all hearts, capitulation
thus renews our civilization

[GOPrincess]

"So end all this indoctrination
Let's brainwash kids about Creation!"

Oh honestly, why bring this up in such a confrontational tone?

Better to learn about Creation than to have my Honor Student daughter's Chemistry teacher, who has mistakes on EVERY answer key (since he only hands back Scantron sheets, my daughter must go after school after every test and comb through the tests to figure out what she misses and why, and then she finds the errors...)and has only a couple of students out of any of his classes combined getting an "A," which says a heck of a lot more about the teacher than the students.

We all have choices. You had a good experience with public schools, fantastic! Some of us are not so fortunate. My daughter's experience in our "good" district has been so discouraging (the AP history teacher is so bad that she's studying at home for the AP exam and skipping the class, despite the negative impact on her GPA) that we've pulled the next three out of the system completely.

[Right Wing Professor]

Oh honestly, why bring this up in such a confrontational tone?

The confrontational tone began in the initial post. Insult the choices people make for their kids, and people are going to get mad.

[CholeraJoe]

Good One! I like it.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[Aquinasfan]

Wow! This poem gives me goosebumps. Well done!

As they teach things that are not true.
They will not let you learn of God
And instill logic badly flawed.
It's not so much education
As naked indoctrination.
For little is more blindly cruel
Than sentencing a child to school.

This is not hyperbole. Imprisonment for the crime of having been born. My children will attend school over my dead body. Homeschooling, year 4.

[Aquinasfan]

My father was crushed when he learned years later how miserable we were in school. We didn't hold it against him, since he had no idea what was going on. He was an immigrant.

[Right Wing Professor]

Your father was in a different situation. I was actively aware of what was going on in my kids' school.

It's a shame people can't celebrate homeschooling without over-broad attacks on regular schools. Some schools are terrible. Some schools are good.

[GOPrincess]

"Some schools are terrible. Some schools are good."

Exactly. My take is the initial post was a complaint and response based on bad experiences with schools. I found it reflected much of my own experience. My experience, and the experience of many, is that the quality of public schools has declined precipitously, and I think the poem addressed some of the sadder aspects of school experiences -- I've been there, done that, seen attempts to turn my children into learning robots by removing recess time, seen time spent uselessly and not addressing the educational progress of the individual child, experienced teachers who shouldn't have been in the classroom, etc.

I didn't, however, construe the post to be an attack on every public school in existence. Even if I had, and were happy with our schools, I would not have used it as an excuse to turn around and change the subject to bashing religious beliefs. I'd like to suggest that a more appropriate way to express your thoughts would have simply been "This poem makes me feel as though all public schools are being attacked, and we had a really good experience." I don't think anyone would have a problem with that, ya know? You could have engaged others in civil conversation and perhaps won people to your point of view, so to speak. One can make points more persuasively when they are expressed with a modicum of respect, not with unrelated angry and defensive flames.

JMHO.

Best wishes --

[smcmike]

No more rhyming and I mean it!

[smcmike]

I agree that many public schools have serious problems, and also that home schooling may be an excellent answer for many people, on a personal level. My question is how do we fix the public schools as well? The majority will continue to be educated by the state, so shouldn't we make sure they are educated well, and not simply criticize public education?

[Tribune7]

Thank you. Whenever I want to imagine what life was like in a communist country or a prison, I think of my days in public school

[Tribune7]

Some schools are terrible.

The system in general is terrible and will be as long as the NEA has the influence it has.

[GOPrincess]

"My question is how do we fix the public schools as well? The majority will continue to be educated by the state, so shouldn't we make sure they are educated well, and not simply criticize public education?"

I'd suggest that the first step in improving public school is necessarily to be critical. As for the next steps, to actually improve the schools, I have no answers. I have had a child in the public schools for over a decade. We have been as involved as parents could be, volunteering, donating, communicating, making sure that our children were always there on time with homework done. Attempts to recommend improvements, whether at the school or district/school board level, have always been met with a "There, there, we know best" pat on the head, defensiveness, or simply bureaucratic inertia. Our principals in particular do not seem interested in setting standards for excellence in behavior and education, but in defending the status quo and marking time until they can collect their pensions. My own feeling is that the only thing that will work to constructively improve public education and push school staff to greater accountability is *competition*, something the public schools and teachers' unions vigorously oppose.

[netmilsmom]

Thanks for the ping my FRiend.

Those who are willing to slam homeschoolers do not sit in a state which sits 47th in the country. My kids are documented bright (by the county) yet they were to sit and exist until third grade gifted and talented.

RWP, please go to the K12 website and see that what your kids learned, mine will too. (mine are four and six). You paint the homeschoolers with a broad brush.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Go to his weblog, and you will see Vox mentions your thread. :)

[Tribune7]

Cool!

Thank you Kyle Williams.

Speaking of bad poetry Kyle Williams sent the following note: Just wanted to alert you to this thread at Free Republic. Inspired by your column, posters are arguing with each other through poems.