Posted on 03/02/2006 11:45:53 AM PST by LouAvul
Elizabeth and Teddy Dean are learning about the Italian scientist Galileo, so they troop into the kitchen, where their mother Lisa starts by reviewing some facts about the Renaissance.
Elizabeth, 11, and Teddy, 8, have never gone to school.
Their teachers are primarily their parents, which puts them into what is believed to be the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. education system -- the homeschool movement.
For their science lesson, Teddy and Elizabeth are joined by three other homeschooled children and their mother, who live down the street in their suburb midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Before the lesson starts, all five kids change into Renaissance costumes -- long dresses and bonnets for the girls, tunics and swords for the boys.
"We definitely have a lot more fun than kids who go to school," Elizabeth said.
.................
But there is no disagreement about the explosive growth of the movement -- 29 percent from 1999 to 2003 according to the NCES study, or 7 to 15 percent a year according to HSLDA.
This growth has spawned an estimated $750 million a year market supplying parents with teaching aids and lesson plans to fit every religious and political philosophy. Homeschooled children regularly show up in the finals of national spelling competitions, generating publicity for the movement.
Parents cite many reasons for deciding to opt out of formal education and teach their children at home. In the NCES study, 31 percent said they were concerned about drugs, safety or negative peer pressure in schools; 30 percent wanted to provide religious or moral instruction while 16 percent said they were dissatisfied with academic standards in their local schools.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Well, she needs to get informed on what the different options are.
I prefer a structured study, while me ex prefers "unschooling" (which I have severe reservations against). So we compromised on a montesorri type of cirriculumn, with some structure in there..
The Brazallian Juijitsu and Kung fu were my idea... :-)
If she is Catholic, here are two sites..
http://www.catholic-homeschool.com/
http://homeschoolcentral.com/catholic.htm
Not sure about good non-catholic sites, maybe someone body else can chime in...
More Catholic homeschool sites
http://www.setonhome.org/
http://www.love2learn.net/
Yes it is and it is good as far as it goes. One problem is so many people think they are paying their own way for the socialized schools.
When I point out that the national average spending per kid was $8,589 in 2005 and ask them how much school tax they pay they never want to answer. They hate to face the fact that they are on the dole.
People in socialist housing pay part of the rent. The rest is paid by others. It's the same with people who put their kids in socialist schools. Both are sponging off others.
A $750 million a year market for homeschooling materials divided by 2 million students equals 375 bucks per year per student -- for a better student too. What do the public schools get? $10,000 per student and they are screaming for more?
If I was starting a family today, I'd homeschool in a heartbeat. Now, I'm working on my kids and planting that idea into their heads. The schools around here are degenerating fast. Within the past 5 years or so, right before my youngest finished high school. She'd talk about lesbos kissing in the halls, fights and such. They had police drug dogs do lockers checks, and we're in a small town of about 25k. I can't imagine what Manhattan is like (or is that Kansas?)
I live in Massachusetts, and even here it's easy. We submit two letters to the superintendent at the beginning of the school year. The first is a formal request to homeschool, about a paragraph long. The second is a cover letter for our lesson plan, which is provided to us by the program that we use (http://www.setonhome.org).
I save the Word files and just change the date every year. As a courtesy to the super, we enclose a copy of the results of the previous year's standardized tests.
If you want homeschool motivation, try reading this essay, and The Underground History of American Education. It will put the fear of God into you.
Finally, I highly recommend Mark Tucker's Dear Hilary letter. This is what the schooling elites have in mind for American children.
Um, leftists started the current homeschooling trend back in the late 70's and early 80's. :-) Evangelical Christian pastors fought us tooth and nail until January 1990 when Michael Farris and HSLDA started selling homeschooling legal insurance. $$$
Look for Teach Your Own, by John Holt, or early copies of Growing Without Schooling which he edited, starting about 1978 or '79.
Pinz
Whose 4 'unschooled' kids are all grown up and doing fine. ;-)
I sent my youngest to a private school, it was on top of the government robbery. And that was about 3000 per year. It frosts me that a private institution can do it better and for under half the cost as the government. But, as you said, it's slowly changing.
mrs tiggywinkle can help you out.
Excellent choice! I would have liked to have used that approach, but it doesn't jive with my wife's personality.
"The NEA says the kids need to be "socialized", so once a week take your kids into the bathroom, beat them up and take their money."
LOL! Good one.
But, Karl? How will kids ever be productive members of society if they're not instructed on how to put a condom on a cucumber? *Smirk*
I wasn't able to home school my step-son (lazy-@ss bio-Mom vetoed that request) so I was one of those annoying "School Moms" who knew all my son's teachers by name, went on all the field trips, spoke up on "High Propaganda Days" and de-programmed him myself over homework at the end of each schoolday...and on weekends when situations presented themselves.
You do what you can, where you are, with what you have. My hat's off to ALL homeschooling Moms & Dads out there. God Bless Them! :)
I taught my girls how to make pipe bombs, so they wouldn't feel "different" than the other kids.
I don't worry because (a) it can't be worse than leftist public school curriculum already, and (b) they won't be teaching OUR kids, only their own.
Good sign, and I hope it continues!
You're a wise lady. My hat's off to you. I bet that de-programming is harder than homeschooling.
Excellent! I was going to use that as a tagline, but it's too long. Can anyone come up with a reduced version that would fit?
ping
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