More Parents Opt for Homeschooling

Lawrence Journal-World ^ | May 13, 2007 | Mindie Paget & Terry Rombeck

[MortMan]

Barbara Ballard realizes it’s a bold move.

Her daughter, Katie, is 4. The state says she should start kindergarten in the fall.

But Katie won’t be boarding a school bus and making macaroni art projects with 25 other children. Instead, she’ll have “school” by herself at her mother’s office in southern Lawrence, where Ballard owns a technology company.

Ballard plans to home school her daughter, and in doing so joins a growing number of families who choose not to send their children to public or private schools.

“It’s a strong statement: I don’t think the professionals can do as good a job educating my child as I can,” Ballard says.

More parents are agreeing with that assessment, according to government figures and groups that advocate home education.

[metmom]

Yes. But calling teachers *professionals* is a stretch. Both my best friend and s-i-l have recently received their teaching degrees and I asked the both these same questions separately: Did your teaching degree prepare you to become a teacher? In other words, did they teach you how to teach?

Both of them gave me the exact same answers...."No". You're expected to learn as you go.

The other thing is, there's nothing any different intrinsically between them and me that would better qualify them or anyone else to be a better teacher than I could be. I'm just as smart as any of them, I just chose to get my degree in a different career field than they did. It's simply a matter of a different course of education and I don't think most teaching degrees require two years of calculus.

As far as teaching, I graduated my oldest from homeschooling and at the same time taught my youngest two at their own grade level; teaching three different grades at one time. She finished high school in three years, including physics and calculus. She 1530 on her SAT test, which so far is better than any high school valedictorian we have yet to meet.

[metmom]

I have had educators literally look down their noses at me because I homeschooled and said, "Oooohhhh, you hooomeschoooled."

There is a mentality among some that teaching is something that only *professionals* can do properly because they are trained for it. It's an argument that has been used against homeschoolers.

And while I have met some very good teachers, I'm afraid that many do not have what it takes to be called professionals, either in qualifications or attitude.

I apologize if I seem to have come on too strong, but sometimes that just ruffles my feathers.

[metmom]

I couldn’t teach because I simply loathe grading papers. Just doing my own kids tests and stuff made me want to run screaming.

[shag377]

Believe me, I have had my feathers ruffled more than once.

What I have issue with is for those who berate and scream at those of us who choose to teach and enjoy it and the kids, who bring me to work each day.

I am 100% pro for what you feel is best for you and your child, and I do not snub my finger at anyone who chooses to homeschool, but the elitist snobbery does go both ways at times, as I have been guilty of it myself.

And by the way, a teaching degree does not prepare one to teach any more than reading a book teaches you how to ride a bicycle.:)

Thanks for being understanding when conservative, Christian, pro-parental choice people choose to teach, because it does happen.

[VRWCer]

It’s funny to read that you are the “MortMan” on the article’s website, because before I was aware of that fact, but while I was reading the hideous responses posted there, I thought to myself, “MortMan sounds just like a FReeper...”!

I know that speaking to “4th-grade” is similar to trying to teach a pig to sing, but I thought you might want to post this little link for him, which speaks volumes in statistics on homeschooled children. It proves, beyond any possible dispute, all that we already know about the success of homeschooling, but it proves it with hard scientific facts, as well as some awe-inspiring “anecdotes”. Here is that link:

http://www.chec.org/Legislative/News/HomeschoolingStatistics/Index.html

I really enjoyed reading it, as it is always refreshing to have outside verification that we are doing the best for our children, even though we already know it!

Thanks for posting this thread, and Godspeed!

[metmom]

When I read of the stories of some poor kids whose only good example in life was a teacher who cared, I could never criticize anyone for making that decision.

Knowing the atmosphere that exists in most public schools, I consider teaching more of a calling because (for me, at least) I could not imagine what on earth would otherwise compel an otherwise sane adult to become a teacher.

It is a rewarding feeling, though, when after you have explained something to a kid, the lights go on and they say, “OH! NOW I get it.”

[VRWCer]

I had to laugh when I read those comments about the homeschooled children not being indoctrinated into “world views”. This nonsense was written by people who don’t allow for any theory except evolution to be taught in school, and who don’t allow children to wear t-shirts that represent any belief that doesn’t mesh with their own (i.e., a kid can wear shirts supporting homosexuality, but not a shirt with a confederate flag or a cross), and who don’t allow children to learn about or talk about God (only the Muslim one). Ironic, isn’t it?

My children, who are homeschooled, can wear what they please to school in their dining room, and out and about in the world, without censorship, they are at least nominally familiar with the key aspects of all of the major world faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam), they understand creationism and what the ***theory*** of evolution is (and conclude something akin to Intelligent Design, all by themselves, at the ages of 9 and 13), and they are aware of the existence of such things as homosexuality and transgenderism, though they are equally aware that these are exceptions rather than norms.

The utter ignorance of those posters is laughable, though tragic.

[metmom]

The intolerance of the *tolerant* is laughable, and sad.

[SoftballMominVA]

I'm rather unconcerned as to whether or not someone sees me as a "professional." It is my opinion that the more concerned someone is about titles, the less they concentrate on their work. But that's me.

Did my teaching degree teach me how to 'teach?' My undergrad provided some basic structure and gave me the opportunity to teach with supervision, but wasn't terribly important. My masters is a different situation. That degree is from UVA and is in the teaching of reading. I could write a book on what I learned from every class. Yes, emphatically, that program taught me how to teach reading, especially to struggling readers and the learning disabled.

Congratulations to your daughter. She worked hard for what she learned and she is deserving of praise. I take a slight bit of umbrage with the SAT comment. You may not have met Valedictorians with 1500+ SAT's, but I have. In fact, my 17 year old has a 1500+ SAT and she's not even ranked as the Valedictorian, but the Salulatorian. (Actually, I don't know what the Valedictorian's SAT is - I just know she has taken one more weighted class than my child) Senior year will determine her final placement. When she has finished high school, she will have taken 12 AP's, including AP physics, calc, chem, English, and a myriad of social studies/history. In complete honesty, no hyperbole, I do not think I could have taught her the majority of those subjects. But at the end, hopefully we both produced the same product didn't we? Two very well-educated young ladies, strong in their faith and conservative beliefs ready to take their place in this world.

As far as 'ruffled feathers' I try to remember that basically as conservative parents we are all expressing the same sentiment, but using different words. You took a look at your situation and determined that homeschooling was your best option. I looked at my situation and determined the public school was the best option. For either one of us (or anyone else) to then point and say that the others' decisions were wrong and that the other committed an act of abuse upon their child - that is where my feathers get a bit ruffled. Unless you live in my community, you cannot know what type of education my children received - and conversely, I cannot comment on your community either.

I believe you 100% that other teachers have appeared to look down on your for your choices and I know that was uncomfortable. I've had posters here on FR berate me for my choices and say some pretty ugly things, and I was uncomfortable also. What can I say but that the world is filled with ignorant people in every ideology, and I can no more control what a public school teacher says to you than you can control what a home schooling parent says to me. But it is sad that conservatives can't put aside the small things and focus on the big issues and not drive away our own.

[JenB]

There’s nothing at all contradictory between saying “I can do a better job with my kids than a ‘professional’ teacher can” and “a ‘professional’ teacher would do better with a classroom full of third graders”. The two situations are not comparable. They require very different skill sets. Homeschoolers primarily need resource management skills; maximize learning while minimizing time and money. Government schools have to mass-produce a product. It’s like the difference between something hand-crafted and something built on an assembly line.

[VRWCer]

In case you are interested, here are a couple of links to websites which give a peek into the history, foundation, and ultimately, the underlying purpose of public school education. It amazes me that so many put their trust and faith in an institution which has existed for less than 100 years, as though it were as necessary as air and water. Our founding fathers were mostly home educated, whether by parent or tutor, yet they managed to orchestrate the winning of our freedom from the British Empire, and to establish a Republic which has become the finest country on earth.

Here are those links:

http://www.curriculumconnection.net/thomasjeffeducation.htm

(this is a review of a book, but in that review is a succinct encapsulation of the text).

http://www.thememoryhole.org/edu/school-mission.htm

(this is a brief overview of the research and work done by John Taylor Gatto, on the ills of the public school system).

[MrB]

No offense to you, but I’ve run into some real wieners who are “education majors”.

One in particular that I remember. She had the attention span of a gnat. She couldn’t get further with her education because she couldn’t pass the elementary math (not algebra - just add,subtract,mult & divide). And she was going to teach children...

Yeah, I want to turn my kids over to a “professional” like that.

[MrB]

Notice that one of the critical posts was lamenting that these children wouldn’t be made into good little socialist robots.

[SoftballMominVA]

No offense taken. I've seen some adults in various professions I wouldn't trust to water my plants, including my neighbor who is an engineer with IBM that we have to call to remind that he left his car running in his driveway - again.

Different skill sets. He is apparently a genius, but a total doofus when it comes to every day skills.

[RKBA Democrat]

“Tell me, what would have happened to the young man who was born to a crack mother, had he not been adopted and placed into a public school?”

Your argument is a sound one, but only to a point. I do not argue for the complete closure of the government schools, because I recognize that they are the necessary educators of last resort for those who would not get an education otherwise. Government schools are needed, in much the same way that lunatic asylums and prisons are needed.

That does not mean that government schools should be the educators of first, second, or even third resort. There are far better alternatives to be found in private schools and home education.

[RKBA Democrat]

“Cringe, lefties, these kids will FAR outperform yours, won’t be indoctrinated into your ideology, and each family of homeschoolers averages around 6 kids!”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how conservatives ultimately win the game.

[esquirette]

Excellent response. Public schools are a back up plan not the primary plan.

[jude24]

Many parents actually cringe if the kids get an unexpected day off from school-—whatever will they do with them?

If you have to make unexpected child care arrangements, that's a huge hassle. Like it or not, there's a lot of families where both parents work. It's not like Mom is just annoyed that the kids are cramping her style.