Ready…Set…Homeschool!

LewRockwell.com ^ | August 27, 2003 | Linda Schrock Taylor

[Kuksool]

Families should be allowed to homeschool in peace. That is all.

[annyokie]

"We know people who home school starting at 1:00 AM"

How high-handed is this? GED'd mom trying to teach her kids advanced math when she obviously, couldn't graduate herself?

Plus, who can learn at 2 am? I've done college and grad school and I wasn't seven.

I have conviction about educating my boys and I also know my limitations.

[Kuksool]

Your post 32 comment made it sound like you want criminalize homeschooling.

[annyokie]

No, I do not. It is the mindset of many who want to homeschool.

I am not a teacher. I idolize many of my teachers and professors. I am bright enough and humble enough to know I cannot duplicate that environment around my kitchen table.

[kuma]

We are homeschooling this year ^_^.

[Kuksool]

Hoemschooling is not for everyone. Some families are able to handle it. Some can not. Those families who decide to pursue homeschooling should be allowed to do so without any interference from the government or the NEA.

[annyokie]

Thanks! (I'd say ma'am or sir but haven't the information.)

I really get tired of and should (Honest, hubby says "quite these threads. Who needs the abuse?"?)stop replting to these threads since I am not one of the anointed.

[annyokie]

No one, me included, said that one shouldn't homeschool. The "better than thou because I teach my kids at home and you are sucking off the government teat" attitude just goes up my *ss.

[Kuksool]

Good luck homeschooling. PA has one of the more restrictive homeschooling laws in the country.

[Lady Heron]

Many of the homeschool gang are isolationist in ALL aspects of their lives

As a home schooler who has had a leadership role in that community in the past, I did not believe you needed to be flamed until this statement. It is obvious you need to meet more home schoolers before spout off things you have no clue about. Home schooling encompasses a large and diverse crowd.

[fml]

It's ma'am. While I agree that homeschooling may have it's place, I wonder what ever became of the responsible parents who become involved and make sure the school in their area (which they pay taxes, sometimes BIG taxes) is worth sending their kids to, I think there is a very real issue involved with the "community" of public schooling that is overlooked when some decide to homeschool. BTW my husband is on the same page as yours.

[2Jedismom]

"Preachin' to the Choir" ping!

:-D

[Lizavetta]

Liz, I don't have the expertise. Life is high-tech.

One doesn't need expertise to homeschool.Anyone can learn Excel, Quicken, ATM machines, word processors, computerized cash registers, etc. Computer programmers are of course a different story, but we'll be sending them off to college for that.

If you (in the broad sense, not "YOU") are exposed to other people, be they poor, be they rich, be they from other countries and different cultures, how can that fail to enrich ones life and learning experience?

I agree with this. I'm not sure what I said to make you think that exposure to other countries and cultures wasn't a good thing.

Many of the homeschool gang are isolationist in ALL aspects of their lives. "We can't go to X church because Pastor Y said Z." "We must school our children at home even though XYZ (science labs, foreign language, technology) are available because they will be exposed to the undesirabale."

Yes, many are like that, but as a homeschooler for many years I can say that many ARE NOT like that....critics of homeschooling (not you, but true homeschool-haters) are fond of painting with a broad brush and tend to focus on the 'fundamentalist extremist etc.' population to put forth a negative picture of all of us; it makes good TV copy and gets everyone riled up. I know religious families who don't let their kids associate with children from non-religious families (like ours), but the flip side is that all of my friends *are* religious people who DO socialize with us.

Many of us see blocking pornography, violence, drug use, and surly rebellious behavior from our children as our job. My children know about these things, but they don't *live* them nor do they need to. And much of what is considered real world is in reality isolated to school society. Peer pressure to do drugs or have sex, bullying, forced attendance, etc. only happen in schools and prisons.

Is this whole attitude REALLY for the children or a grasping for a rose-colored childhood no one ever had?

I think it's an attempt to allow their kids to be kids until it's time to be adults. Today's children are robbed of their childhood at outrageously early ages and we don't see it as a benefit at all.

Just my $.02.....

[2Jedismom]

Hi there! Just got around to pinging my pings!

[goodseedhomeschool (returned)]

Placemarker

[M0sby]

With you right there!!
I think homeschooling is SUPER DUPER!!! I also think that LOTS of aspects of school are SUPER DUPER!!! I will do my BEST to supplement or change the ones that AREN'T!
I will teach LOTS at home! I am a GREAT TEACHER!!! (plus my kid loves me)
But my best friend (who is also my cousin) homeschools her 2 children and I don't share some of my fears/frustrations or "Other Stuff" about school with her becasue I am worried she will ask me the big "THEN WHY DON'T YOU HOMESCHOOL" question!!!
I argue and the POSITIVE side of homeschooling all of the time because lots of people want to RUN IT DOWN~ but that doesn't mean that I don't think that there aren't drawbacks~
Bottom line~~
I PROBABLY COULD HOMESCHOOL, AND I DON'T WANT TO!!! (AND I ADMIT IT!!!)


Maybe someday I will... and then I will!

[GOPrincess]

"I wonder what ever became of the responsible parents who become involved and make sure the school in their area (which they pay taxes, sometimes BIG taxes) is worth sending their kids to..."

Speaking as one of a set of responsible parents who have done everything possible, from attending and speaking at numerous school board meetings to meeting with principals and teachers, volunteering, donating, etc., after 10 years of same we're tired of banging our heads against the wall without positive results. Indeed, we have seen a marked decline in our neighborhood schools since our eldest child's first 4 years of school, which were positive. There have, of course, been some wonderful teachers along the way, but the damage done by the terrible teachers far outweighs the positive. There have also been a number of non-classroom issues (i.e., safety) which we have had to deal with and gradually realized how scary it is that so many administrators and teachers with poor judgment are responsible for our children. And this is at the "best" schools in a typical middle-class district.

Among other things, my husband and I decided we would both be happier if we could leave off dealing with all the negativity and instead channel our energies into the positive project of educating our children. We couldn't possibly do a worse job than the teachers, and I suspect over the long haul we'll do better, because we care. Studies have shown there is no correlation between parents' educational backgrounds and how their children fare homeschooling (if it matters, I've got a Phi Beta Kappa key, LOL, but I stopped math at 10th grade geometry -- there are tons of resources available for the areas where one needs help!); what matters as far as the homeschooling child's educational outcome is that the parents have the desire for their children to be well-educated. We begin homeschooling the two youngest next week and will probably add a third (currently in private school) in a year's time. I'm excited and I feel so *free*! No worries this year about whether my 3rd grader will have the "yelling" teacher or whether my Kindergarten child will have the proper attention as one of 34 students.

[Kuksool]

***I argue...the POSITIVE side of homeschooling all of the time because lots of people want to RUN IT DOWN***

How true. The NEA is fixated on hindering the civil rights of homeschoolers. Every year at its annual convention, the NEA passes some sort of anti-homeschooling resolution. Here is a link to the NEA's 2002 Resolutions.

"This year's NEA RESOLUTIONS ** Edu-thugs alert"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/801461/posts

Excerpt:

"NEA resolution B-69 says home schools cannot provide a comprehensive education experience. NEA officials lobby to bring home schools under the scrutiny and control of state boards of education, stating, “When home schooling occurs, students enrolled must meet all state requirements. Instruction should be by persons who are licensed by the appropriate licensure agency, and a curriculum approved by the state department of education should be used. The Association believes that home-schooled students should not participate in any extracurricular activities in public schools.”

[afraidfortherepublic]

Yikes!

Never fear. It is an easy mistake to make because it is one that you hear all the time -- especially from TV personalities. When in doubt, just remove the first person, or object, in the list and try the phrase. You will know immediately that you would never say, "Between I..."

I think people get confused because we are taught to always put others before ourselves in lists. John, Mary, and I fed the Bradfords." In that case John, Mary, and I are all subjects. If you turn it around, the statement would be The Bradfords fed John, Mary, and me." Now the people being fed are the OBJECTS and you must use the objective form of the pronoun - me.

You can always check by saying to yourself, The children fed I . You immediately see that that form doesn't work and you know that you must use the objective form -- me. The same rules apply for him, he; her, she; us, we; they, them. You is easy because the object and the subject is the same word.

All that grammar lesson does not diminish your endeavor to teach your daughter yourself. I'm sure it will be worth every minute you spend. You just need to know where your weaknesses are and where to turn for help. I wish I had homeschooled my children. Good luck.

[afraidfortherepublic]

I stand in awe of your effort. As I said earlier, I wish that I had had the gumption to do this with my four. Of course now there are far more resources for the homeschooler than there were 20 years ago, but it still takes a lot of courage to stand up against all the criticism. I'm sure you will be successful, however.

I absolutely hear you on talking to the wind when you speak at School Board and PTA meetings. I spent over 20 years doing just that at various public school districts and wound up with my sons at a Jesuit High School. If there had been a comparable school for my daughters, they would have gone there instead of the public school.

My children are now facing the same wall of stubborness when dealing with the shcools about my grandchildren. I hope they get fd up sooner, rather thank later. I could write a book about some of the stupidity I heard from public school teachers and administrators. And yes there were some wonderful teachers along the way, but they seemed to be outnumbered by the bad apples. The good teachers are always afraid of being spotlighted in front of their colleagues and that they will be demoted or transferred out of jealousy. (One of the public school principals I locked horns with was later exposed and arrested and fired as a child molester after I had moved away from the district. That was not my dispute with him, but I knew that I didn't like him and something creepy was going on.)