Posted on 01/06/2009 11:39:38 AM PST by GonzoII
A homeschooling movement is sweeping the nation – with 1.5 million children now learning at home, an increase of 75 percent since 1999.
The Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics reported homeschooling has risen by 36 percent in just the last five years.
"There's no reason to believe it would not keep going up," NCES statistician Gail Mulligan told USA Today.
A 2007 survey asked parents why they choose to homeschool and allowed them to provide several reasons. The following are the most popular responses:
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
He is going to be studying plant genetics. He wants to work with our food crops to make them more productive while requiring less water. There was an excellent show on Discovery a couple of weeks ago, showing the underground labs in Ames, Iowa, where they experiment with corn.
That’s still great. I imagine the scoring is a bit tougher in college. Our son has to go to MSU in February to compete for more scholarships. He’s already gotten a few. Sure hope he gets more. He’ll be there for a bit since he wants to get a Phd.
I think you and I are gonna be in a bit of trouble here —— oh well.
Very good luck to him!
Just one tiny piece of advice, if he has the option of honors housing, it might be a good idea. The honors dorms are generally quieter.
Tell him to have a good time, but not too good!
I apologize if you thought differently ....
He’s already been accepted to the Honors Housing. We just found out today that one of his friends will be going their, too. He won’t be in the honors housing, but at least he will have a friend there on campus that he already knows.
Over the years I've noticed a few things about FR. While in real life I believe home schoolers do take significant flack from stupid people, this is not true here on FR. I can count on one hand the number of really stupid comments made about home schooling. But, here on FR, the bullying flows in the opposite direction and trust me I understand the frustration you and other home schoolers must feel when people take a brush and paint all home schoolers with the same taint. I know how you feel because it's how I and other public school parents feel.
That being said, I've not seen you do any of that, and for that reason, I respect you as a poster.
Have you not comprehended ANYTHING I've posted on this thread?
I have NEVER disparaged home schooling, yet all you have done on this thread is disparage any form of education other than home schooling.
Attitudes such as yours is why many people disparage home schooling. I am thankful that the vast majority of homeschoolers only wish to be acknowledged for the good they do and refuse to fault those who do not educate their children in the same manner.
The fanatics on FR are actually a minority of homeschoolers, thank goodness, because they give homeschoolers a really bad name.
Fanatics of any shape or form are not a good thing, in the end they do far more harm to their cause (whatever it is) than good.
I don't feel a need to run down homeschoolers or belittle them. Trying to get you to say anything remotely positive about public schools has been like pulling teeth. But, I have seen much worse here on FR. It gets very old.
No OOPS about it -— you were using that example to broadbrush public school education.
You insist on using one or two examples you have encountered to justify your broadbrushing, yet have yet to acknowledge the personal examples being presented to you which totally discount what you have said.
You can not have it both ways.
It’s not going to happen, my FRiend. When looking at the majority of home school posters on FR, those of us choosing public school will always be disparaged by them.
I’m starting to wonder why I bother defending them, here on FR, considering most of them think I’m lower than a snake belly.
Actually I defend them because all of my home schooling friends in real life are of the same opinion as I am about some of the fanatics on FR -— they give home schoolers a bad name.
Good points....but I, like you, will not allow myself to go to their level. I say what I believe, sometimes imperfectly, but do my best to stay away from stereotyping.
However, it does get old. Yes.
I hope not. Asking for a return courtesy, shouldn't lead to trouble.
Sometimes I just can’t help myself.
You are aware that all Carter did was split it off into it's own department and that before that it was part of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare aren't you? It's not like Carter suddenly stuck government into schools, it'd been there for decades.
You're not home schooled, are you?
Wasn’t any Oops - good grief, if I posted all the stuff I’ve read about PS education ...anyway, no sense in getting in a tiff over it ....
And again, you’re right ...there’s a lot on either side with good things to learn .... I enjoyed both worlds, home schooling with some PS ...
You obviously haven't hung out on some of these threads.
In general I have found that such courtesy is not afforded to those who have children in public school. Many do return the courtesy, but the true fanatics never do so.
Our public school has this 'home school' thing, where a student can take classes online. One student I know of wanted to do this because he gets headaches all the time. Nevermind that he plays computer games till all hours of the night, or its the Wii, or his playstation or the X-box or the portable playstation etc.
My question is this, there is no way to verify who is doing the online work. None. The mother could be doing it all and the computer can't tell.
What do you think of this type of alternative schooling?
Also, he has a brother that schools at home on the computer, but they are different types of online schooling, and he can repeat tests until he gets a score he wants. Again, there is no way to verify who is actually submitting the material. He was placed in a school that is for, shall we say problem students. Now, he studies at home. Oh and before he had no school on Fridays and of course now, he just makes his own hours and goes hunting in the mornings.
I suspect it was his being able to stay home and do as he pleased that led to the older brother wanting to school online and make his own hours, too.
I figure the proof will be in the pudding, when its all said and done. These are both terrible students that were failing every class and now are miraculously doing extremely well.
There are relatives, so, I know the family well and they are in the same school system as my son.
Children have one shot at going through the school system and I fear that online schooling where you can't verify who is actually doing the work may NOT be doing these children any favors in the long run. I'm waiting to see how ACT and other testing is done for them.
Thoughts?
I haven't hung out on many of them, but, I have seen several, and what you say is true.
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