PBS DISCOVERS HOMESCHOOLING

Religion and Ethics ^ | January 12, 2007 | Lucky Severson

[achilles2000]

BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: By some estimates, the number of children in this country being taught at home is well over a million and may be approaching two million, and in some states there is very little or no government oversight of what the kids are learning, which is just the way most home school parents want it. We have a Lucky Severson story today on the home school debate...[be sure to watch the streaming video of the program that is now being broadcast over PBS's TV stations this weekend]

[achilles2000]

"Religion and Ethics" is a PBS television news magazine. The linked story addresses the "homeschooling debate. Be sure to watch the video. Considering how liberal PBS is, this is a surprisingly sympathetic treatment of homeschooling. Note the featured critic of homeschooling is the renowned "homeschooling expert" Robert Reich of Stanford. He doesn't homeschool, probably doesn't know many homeschoolers, but he plays a "homeschooling expert" on TV.

[achilles2000]

PING

[John 19-21]

low number by at least half..IMHO

jc

[ican'tbelieveit]

Surprising to me is a large number of my liberal acquaintances showing a lot of interest in homeschooling. They see the public schools as the same disaster and threat to their children.

[proud_yank]

in some states there is very little or no government oversight of what the kids are learning

Uh-oh! Better change that quickly.

REVISED CIRRUCULUM:

-Socialist economics
-Zero sum fiscal theory
-Athiesm 1, 2, and 3
-Revised history
-Basic alternative lifestyles
-Tolerance, diversity, and acceptance

[mountn man]

By some estimates, the number of children in this country being taught at home is well over a million and may be approaching two million, and in some states there is very little or no government oversight of what the kids are learning,

Heck, in public schools there's all types of government oversight and very little learning. Accept of course if learning about Suzie Has Two Mommies, or how to deep throat a banana and apply a condom at the same time, qualifies as learning.

[dhs12345]

I feel for the teachers. The good ones that is.

My son's school has made a decent attempt to give him a good education. His current teacher is top notch. And her work ethic puts everyone I know to shame.

[jwalburg]

Better make that Tolerance, diversity, and acceptance of anything not conservative.

[achilles2000]

I feel sorry for them too. It is almost impossible today for good teachers to function at even a minimal level in public schools. I hear lots of sad stories from teachers..

[Paige]

You forgot "EVOLUTION" and how we came from the big bang and evolved from a drip.

[dandelion]

I was extraordinarily pleased with my daughter's public schooling (she graduated three years ago from a "magnet school" in a large city). I would never trade anything for what she was able to do and able to learn there - but so much of it was because the teachers were allowed to teach their subjects without a lot of political interference from their supervisors...

My son, on the other hand, is 14 years younger than his sister, and the approach local educators are taking with his peers is less that satisfactory. Hence, his homeschooling began early, and we have never regretted it. I am convinced that there are many good schools left, but they are becoming harder and harder to find. As a certified public school teacher, I am convince that homeschooling is by far the best choice for my son.

[dandelion]

Err, um, make that "convinced". Why oh why must typing in the dark be so hard??

[Gelato]

there is very little or no government oversight of what the kids are learning

How much oversight do parents have of what their children learn in public school?

[lainie]

Just the fact that it's a show entitled "Religion and Ethics" that's covering homeschooling is proof of their attempt at denigration. In the first place, liberals by and large don't approve of strictly religious families. They just don't. And secondly: many, many people homeschool their kids for other than religious reasons.

[proud_yank]

That should be well covered in Athiesm 1 or 2 ;-)

[proud_yank]

True. Anytime I need a good dosage of tolerance, I tell a leftard that I support the NRA.

[LadyNavyVet]

I've come across several liberal, non-religious homeschoolers in my many years of homeschooling. I'd say offhand that, in my experience, secular homeschoolers are about 20% of the total these days. They homeschool for some of the same reasons I do: they want their kids to be able to read, write and do math, and they worry for their safety.

These homeschoolers really are under the radar as far as the MSM is concerned. The media like to pretend that all homeschoolers are fundamentalist Christians.

[WorkingClassFilth]

[Liberals] see the public schools as the same disaster and threat to their children.

I don't think they see it quite like we do. What they are alarmed about is the violence (begotten by their social policies) and the poor learning environment (again, ultimately, thanks to their policies). Certainly they want their children to be safe learners like we do, but they differ - hugely - in that they approve of the curriculum and the rubbish being taught.

40 years ago when the HS debate was being re-waged in this country, those were seminal issues and even radical lefties sided with the religious elements to gain HS freedoms. The religious wanted freedom to teach their values and the lefties wanted to be free of the man. Today, the lefties control the subject matter, the NEA and the school environment in general. The great problem is the consequences of their social agenda returning to haunt them.

Of course, they haven't learned that yet...

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

SEVERSON:

Home schoolers are quick to point out that their own surveys show their kids are outperforming those in public schools. They cite statistics that home schooled kids read better in comparable grades, score better on ACT and SAT tests, and have a higher GPA average in college.

REICH:

The worry I have about those claims is that it's based on research that has been done almost exclusively by home school advocacy organizations, and so it's not an accident that very little of the research on home schooling has not appeared in peer-reviewed academic scholarly journals.

The worry I have about this claim is that very little research on homeschooling has appeared in peer-reviewd academic scholarly journals. This suggests that those journals will not publish anyone who is interested in the subject.

In the absence of such publication, the assumption has to be that the obvious advantages of tutoring over classroom education do produce the results claimed by the parental tutoring ("home school") advocates.