Posted on 06/02/2005 12:55:33 AM PDT by baseballfanjm
ESPN.com ran this article, intending for it to be an amusing take on how to predict the winner of the National Spelling Bee. However, the last "formula" irked me.
Here's what it says:
"Stay away from home-schooled kids.
It goes without saying that these kids don't get out of the house much. There are 34 home-schooled competitors in this year's bee, including speller No. 142 Jack Ausick and speller No. 217 Benjamin Zachary Walter. The first home schooler won in 1997 and others followed, including Lala in '99 and Thampy in 2000. But kids that actually interact with other children at school have won three out of the last four bees."
While he has other "stay away from" picks that fit the joking manner of the article, that one struck me as just lame and as a swipe more than a joke.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Choices is what makes this country great. To send my child into a school that is rift with drugs(drug dealers), guns, and violence in city schools that are out of control, where student ratio next year will be 1:35+ all in favor of teaching my child about the social ills and how to cope? That is abuse on my part. My child deserves better than this, any child deserves better than this, and if it means homeschooling to ensure they learn the proper skills to be a success in life and not just survive life, then homeschooling is where my children will be. They don't need to go to school to learn about life's social ills, they see more than enough of it on the streets as it is.
There are positives and negatives to each side of the education issue. While never homeschooling, I do know some children who were. You're right, some do not have social interactions skills. Many do. On the reverse side, some children interact and deal well with the societal outcasts in public school while others are drug into the sad depths of the outcast world. Remember, for every positive, there is a negative. And vice versa. The key to teaching children is to teach them to think outside the box without giving up truths. Not ill conceived values, but truths. And how to recognize what appears to be truths vs people clinging to values that are no longer valid or rooted in lack of knowledge.
Why?? There is ZERO evidence that this has emphasis on "diversity" has any positive effect of any sort. It's just a major part if the "liberal dogma" of "diversity is good".
"I don't like our public school system(especially in UT where we rank last or next to last in the nation on public spending) but to shelter you (sic) child from a social experience is just abuse"
Like you, L.N. Smithhee, I too would be curious about UT test scores. The writer must be one of the"throw money at a problem till it is solved" crowd. If a home schooled kid has outside contact with other kids then I do not see where they are missing any Social experiance. The use of the term "abuse" is likely no accident. There are alot of people who dislike the thought of home schooling so much that they would love to force them back into public schools in any way they can. And if that means getting people to believe it is "abuse" they will use it.
Your experience is not representative. ALL the homeschooled kids I know are much better socialized than public schooled kids. They don't hide from adults, they interact with all kinds of people, and so on.
Public schools are actually anti-social. Where in the real world do you socialize only with people exactly your own age? That is artificial, and counter-productive. Homeschooled kids often have the advantage of interacting with a variety of people, not just those their own age.
I will definitely homeschool my kids (the oldest is 13 months old). Parents are responsible for the education of their kids, and may delegate that to someone else if they wish. My wife and I choose to take on that responsibility.
Hey Mikey,
Get with the program. Do your homework!
Homeschoolers all over the country held their Homeschool Prom's just last month.
They even took dates (gasp), and rented tuxedos or wore prom dresses.
And they danced the night away!
My kid will be a senior, but for the last two years has taken all his classes at the CC. He still is considered homeschooled by our school district, so he got to participate in the prom.
Homeschooled kids are all over the college campus where he attends, and they aren't social misfits, LOL.
Anyone who thinks the public schools are just fine needs to remember the NEA runs the schools, not the parents or the school boards. I don't want my children educated by NEA members, no matter how fine and upstanding they may be as citizens.
Recently there was a kid in our area whose brother gave her a pornographic magazine. She took it to school and showed it to other third graders and now parents are dealing with their children being socialized in a way they probably didn't want.
Mikey - you can spend all the time you want with your kids after school and on weekends, the fact is that the NEA has them for 7 or 8 hours a day, you only have them for what's left over. If you think you can counter all that adverse mind-bending yourself, more power to you. Just please don't refer to home schooling as abuse. That type of comment makes you read like a site pest/troll type.
God Bless you for being in your children's corner! So many homeschoolers have problems with families that are divided in support.
LOL so has my five year old. Count to 100, add, subtract, group and use Venn diagrams. She is quite the little scientist (ugh, all those bugs!!!) she gardens with her Nana, and likes to watch her videos with the sound off and the subtitles on so she can read the stories.She is in church and is learning our values. She is able to extrapolate across situations and apply those values in a constructive and generally successful manner. Sometimes I'll catch her shaking her head after playtime with some children, and she will say so and so don't know how to act. They are mean to each other. And you have another teachable moment.
It's not easy and it is not natural.It takes commitment, clarity of purpose and vigilance. So much of the time, if you aren't vigilant, your child is influenced by factors that don't even register on their radar and if not caught by you, and challenged then it was a teachable moment for someone else with your child on values that may not be yours.
Yes, I would say mission accomplished!!!What a wonderfully rich experience to be in Europe on a homeschooling trip.
You are a troll, obviously. If you were a Christian, you would exhibit a bit more humility and graciouslness, and would recognize that those who personally take on the education of their children rather than abdicating that to the godless are to be honored rather than ridiculed.
I predict your stay at FR will be a short one.
Making jokes at the expense of children is a line the media should never cross. But the Christian-hating left usually can't help themselves.
Going to public schools back in the 1960's and 70's made me feel like a beaten dog. Teachers that were there just for the pay-check, etc. That was even obvious to me as an 11 year old kid. I would have been better off if my parents had sold me to a slaver in the Sudan. Anything other than public school would have been a relief.
In a world that listens to Gangsta Rap, considers "a little chronic OK', tells my kids that abstinence until marriage is impossible, makes Paris Hilton an idol, etc, etc, and so forth, I fervantly pray that my kids are going to be "misfits".
Fitting into this society just is'nt worth your immortal soul.
Interesting choice of words.
I am a parent of five children. My oldest is a cop, #2 is a PUBLIC school teacher. They were home-schooled for part of their education. They are both married.
The school teacher married an elementary school teacher, and she teaches my granddaughters.
My oldest daughter is now 25. she has a 3 yr old. She attended south Lakes High School in Reston, VA, before we moved to Clarke County (VA). She would come home telling me of the interactions.
There was a racial problem at South Lakes, in the late 90's. My daughter would come home, and tell me of being fondled, and incessantly propositioned (hey baby, I want some of that...), while changing classes. She had large breasts.
That daughter came home one day, and had a black eye. One of the 'sisters' was PO'ed because her "man" was hitting on my girl. They gave the sister a day of in'school suspension.
I took her out of the school. You can send yours there!
As for the rest of your 'social misfit' bravo sierra, I repeat, you are clueless! Your son is exposed to more junk, and more bottom feeders in the public schools.
If you don't feel your child should be home-schooled by you, send him to a GOOD private, preferably Christian-oriented, school. Make sure they have a steady hand, and believe that discipline is an integral part of education! They will LEARN MORE about the other subjects!
Know your subject better, before opening your box to post! Public schools are not social centers. They are social experiments!
Last I looked there was nothing in the homeschool handbook about keeping your kids in purdah :)
I think Mikey might have given the anonymous author the inspiration for this song.
The Twelve Days of Homeschool
(To the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas.)
On the first day of homeschool, my neighbor said to me,
"Can you homeschool legally?"
On the second day of homeschool, the store clerk said to me,
"Are they socialized?"
On the third day of homeschool, a teacher said to me,
"Who will give them tests?"
On the fourth day of homeschool, my doctor said to me,
"What about P.E.?"
On the fifth day of homeschool, my sister said to me,
"YOU ARE SO STRANGE!"
On the sixth day of homeschool, my pastor said to me,
"Why do you do this?"
On the seventh day of homeschool, my best friend said to me,
"I could never do it!"
On the eighth day of homeschool, my mother said to me,
"How long will you do this?"
On the ninth day of homeschool, my in-laws said to me,
"Look at what they're missing!"
On the tenth day of homeschool, my florist said to me,
"What about the prom?"
On the eleventh day of homeschool, the librarian said to me,
"They'll miss graduation!"
On the twelfth day of homeschool, the reporter said to me,
"Can they go to college?"
On the thirteenth day of homeschool, my support group leader said to me. . .
"They can go to college,
They'll have graduation,
They won't miss the prom,
Look at what they're learning,
You can teach through high school,
You can really do this,
Love is why you do this,
YOU ARE NOT STRANGE!
They can have P.E.
You can give them tests,
They'll be socialized,
You can homeschool legally!"
Original author unknown
Our two granddaughters were home schooled for 7 years until they were in high school. They are doing beautifully. One has just been accepted into the national honor society and the other is on track to finish high school in three years. Their mother gave up a promising career to do the home schooling. She and the girls are extremely close which greatly benefits them.
Contrast them to their foul mouthed, pregnant (some for the second time), disruptive classmates some of whom will be dropping out and tell me that our girls missed out on positive socialization experiences.
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