Posted on 02/16/2006 3:05:19 PM PST by Ronaldus Magnus
Meet My Teachers: Mom And Dad
A growing number of affluent parents think they can do better than any school
No longer the bailiwick of religious fundamentalists or neo-hippies looking to go off the cultural grid, homeschooling is a growing trend among the educated elite. More parents believe that even the best-endowed schools are in an Old Economy death grip in which kids are learning passively when they should be learning actively, especially if they want an edge in the global knowledge economy. "A lot of families are looking at what's happening in public or private school and saying, 'You know what? I could do better, and I'd like to be a bigger part of my kid's life,"' says University of Illinois education professor Christopher Lubienski.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
LOL - I briefly considered being a time-management engineer some years ago and settled for telling computers what to do with their time :)
Good to know there are other oddities than myself out there - In every homeschool group I've ever attended I am the ONLY single homeschooling parent. Since I've always been something of a contrarian, it has been kinda fun to be an exemplar of something that others consider impossible.
Mine leaves the house for 3 months each winter to live in FL with her (horse) trainer, so I've had an early introduction to the empty nest. I find that the first week is great, followed by a week of really missing the kid, then I have no time to miss the kid due to the many things I do.
School (K-12) crushes all but the juvenile delinquents, and since schools often resemble prisons anyhow, those kids are where they belong.
Oh my goodness. 3 months. Yeah, I haven't been away from my kids for longer than a week. My oldest son is a homebody, so he isn't the culprit. It is the teenage daughter, she is always off to camp. My son and I take off for the first day. Then back to work for the week. By Weds I am grieving for her.
This year, I am thinking of sending her to Florida for camp. So she will be gone for two weeks for two different camps. But, I will get to see her in between.
Three months. Wow.
So, I was thinking of looking at the local community college for adult education opportunities. When I was in college, I received a tutor of the year award for tutoring math and really have missed that interaction. But, helping out single parents who want to homeschool is another avenue now.
I really see the issue as the difference between liberal homeschoolers and the rest of us (conservatives, Republicans, Moderates). I know the trouble started for me ,in the secular group, when I put a George Bush bumper sticker on my car before the election.
After-all, we school differently, have different values, we play differently, have different interests and raise our children differently. (liberals raise rude little monsters)
One secular group I belong to reminds me of a dictatorship and it sucks the energy from me like a sponge with its petty politics and backstabbing. Lets just say: These people are *NOT* homeschooling for excellence.
I really think many secular groups are full of loud liberals and very quiet *others*.
My experience is that most of these people in the secular groups are seeking shelter from the schools policies on the ADD catastrophe.
Most of us could see that coming down the pipe about that 15 years ago- but liberals are always a little late to the party... (hehe)
I think we can only expect more of Liberal-secualr homeschoolers as time goes by. The word is finally out, in the libs circle ,that medicating young children is not good for them.
I foresee the school making radical changes to get some of these people back in to the fold- something like- "We wont force medication on the children of liberals- now will you come back?".....
I would rather have one secular Republican homeschool buddy over a gaggle of liberal secular homeschool support groups any day......
I'm on almost 2 months now (from right after Christmas) and counting ...
She sends me pictures and text messages from her cellphone, pictures and email from her laptop, and we talk every day about her ~schoolwork~ and her riding. She also emails me things she writes, scans artwork and pictures of her physics experiments and other work she does, so I get to see and comment on her work. We remain close even tho separated by 1100 miles, so it's not too bad.
Couldn't agree with you more, except that I'd add it's even broader. There are a lot of families I know who pull their kids because of the SPECIAL ED fiasco, whether ADD drugs are involved or not. When schools start classifying kids who excell at one subject but are merely above average in others as LEARNING DISABLED and want to put them in special ed with the kids who really should be in disciplinary school, you know something is wrong.
It is not new- the schools systems have just gotten more brazen about it all and are trying to grab more funds - so it is more widespread.
I am not even 40 and I have known about the problems in public schools for 15 or more years now.
We homeschool. I work part time, in the mornings. My hubby works full time, 2nd shift. He teaches his strong subjects in the morning (mostly Science - will eventually be physics type stuff) and I do the rest of the formal instruction in the afternoons. I say formal because learning is a way of life in our home. We are all curious and absolutely love learning new things.
There are so many benefits to this arrangement. First and foremost, my DS sees Dad a lot more than he would attending PS with a 2nd shift father. Secondly, my DH gets to be a part of the whole experience (which is what ultimately sold him on homeschooling). Thirdly, and not nearly as importantly, I get to keep my job skills up to date as well as bring in a little extra to pay for curriculum!
I can certainly understand your position.
"I have no college education but I feel even I can do better than the local school system."
You're making the decision to stay home with your children and take personal responsibility for their education. I don't see how that would be a recipe for failure. Actually, quite the opposite.
Please let us know how it goes.
"It looks as if these communities which helped encourage and support each other will be watered down with the inclusion of others."
That's the risk you take when you open up a new, cutting edge idea to the masses. In my view, the potential benefits far exceed the risks. Even assuming that there was a wholesale adoption of homeschooling, which I highly doubt will happen any time soon, the folks who really aren't cut out for it would weed themselves out.
I found it interesting that you use a Christian analogy. The new folks might water down the faith, but our duty as Christians, best I can tell, is to stand and bear witness for the faith. Not hide the light under a basket as it were.
"it's not "diversity of thought" that stands to suffer at the hands of homeschooling parents; rather, it's conformity of thought that would face decline. And that's what Robby really fears; that the American state will lose the capacity to forge a homogeneous worldview among the electorate."
To which Tired of taxes said: "Well said."
Motion seconded.
great find....
Thanks.,p> Sere_Doc
" Now Sally, hold the snake this way..."
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