Home is no place for school - Homeschool Alert

USA Today Op Ed ^ | September 3, 2003 | Dennis Evans

[Damocles]

Home is no place for school
Wed Sep 3, 6:49 AM ET


By Dennis L. Evans 

The popularity of home schooling, while not significant in terms of the number of children involved, is attracting growing attention from the media, which create the impression that a "movement" is underway. Movement or not, there are compelling reasons to oppose home teaching both for the sake of the children involved and for society.

Home schooling is an extension of the misguided notion that "anyone can teach." That notion is simply wrong. Recently, some of our best and brightest college graduates, responding to the altruistic call to "Teach for America," failed as teachers because they lacked training. Good teaching is a complex act that involves more than simply loving children. Research on student achievement overwhelmingly supports the "common-sense" logic that the most important factor affecting student learning is teacher competency. While some parents may be competent to teach very young children, that competence will wane in more advanced grades as the content and complexity increases. 

But schools serve important functions far beyond academic learning. Attending school is an important element in the development of the "whole child." Schools, particularly public schools, are the one place where "all of the children of all of the people come together." Can there be anything more important to each child and thus to our democratic society than to develop virtues and values such as respect for others, the ability to communicate and collaborate and an openness to diversity and new ideas? Such virtues and values cannot be accessed on the Internet. 

The isolation implicit in home teaching is anathema to socialization and citizenship. It is a rejection of community and makes the home-schooler the captive of the orthodoxies of the parents.

One of the strengths of our educational system is the wide range of legitimate forms of public, private or parochial schooling available for parental choice.

With that in mind, those contemplating home teaching might heed the words of the Roman educator, Quintilian (A.D. 95). In opposing home schooling, he wrote, "It is one thing to shun schools entirely, another to choose from them."

Dennis L. Evans directs doctoral programs in education leadership at the University of California, Irvine.

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

...Dennis L. Evans directs doctoral programs in education leadership at the University of California, Irvine...

And is a socialist moron.

Hahahahaha!

When was the last time a non-homeschooler won a spelling bee? Math bee? history Bee?

When was the last time a non homeschooler won the national merit scolarship in my town?

Never!

[from occupied ga]

Dennis L. Evans directs doctoral programs in education leadership at the University of California, Irvine.

Truly an objective viewpoint < /sarcasm>

[WestPacSailor]

Translation: liberals are terrified of losing their monopoly over captive young minds.

Da Komrade! If the children are taught to think for themselves how will we ever succede in our quest to make them all mindless servants to the will of the state?

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

How long has it been since real communication and true diversity of thought have been tolerated in the camps?

[netmilsmom]

>>Home schooling is an extension of the misguided notion that "anyone can teach." That notion is simply wrong. Recently, some of our best and brightest college graduates, responding to the altruistic call to "Teach for America," failed as teachers because they lacked training. Good teaching is a complex act that involves more than simply loving children<<

This is absolutely correct. Homeschooling is more than loving children. It is loving your OWN children. Loving them so much that one is willing to do anything for their best interest.
Who taught my daughter to tie her shoes or her ABC's? I did! With the proper information, I can teach her better than anyone. Especially a poor teacher who is just trying to maintain control in her classroom when all effective methods of discipline have been taken away.

[SuziQ]

I just turned the Glen Beck show on for a short time and he was talking about this Dennis guy, but I didn't hear the beginning of the discussion so I didn't hear the whole story.

Mr. Evans is the mis-guided one. He doesn't realize that we home educators don't really TEACH our children. We facilitate their learning. With the exception of teaching the little ones to read, write and cipher, the kids actually teach themselves, and do it in a far more interesting way than teachers. We provide materials and resources for our kids to learn the things they need to learn and the things in which they are most interested.

As far as some of the 'best and brightest' failing as teachers, I think they more likely failed as 'classroom managers' which is what teaching is mostly these days anyway.

We at home don't have to manage 20 kids in a classroom. We love our children and want the very best for them; no stranger in a classroom could ever match that.

I doubt very seriously if this man has met many types of homeschoolers. If he has, then he's letting his liberal agenda get in the way of the truth. I wouldn't be surprised if it's the latter.

[Mr. Bird]

Can there be anything more important to each child and thus to our democratic society than to develop virtues and values such as respect for others, the ability to communicate and collaborate and an openness to diversity and new ideas?

"Developing virtues and values" is the responsibility of the family. To suggest otherwise is sinister. The education establishment has already failed in the quest to impart the ability to communicate and collaborate. Kids can't read and they shoot each other. As for openness to "diversity and new ideas"? The education establishment marches in lockstep against most conservative ideas and values. They are against true ideological diversity. If they were pro-diversity, why not celebrate the portion of America that chooses to educate their children (successfully, at that) at home?

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Home schooling didn't start because moms thought "anyone can teach." It started because moms lacking training had to be able to accomplish more than the public school system was accomplishing. Besides, they didn't like WHAT was being taught in school as well as what was NOT being taught at school. They reluctantly decided to spend the time and money to home school despite the fact they had to pay for the public schools anyway.

The success of home schooled kids on tests and in academic competitions illustrate this author is completely wrong. In addition, his admonition to choose among available schools ignores the fact that he and his fight ferociously to limit those choices in order to protect their leftist enclaves.

[Damocles]

I've looked everywhere for that quote and found nothing to support it.

I did find some other interesting things about Quintillian however.

"I am not however so blind to difference of age as to think that the very young should be forced on prematurely or given real to do. Above all things we must take care that the child, who is not yet old enough to love his studies, does not come to hate them and dread, the bitterness which he had once tasted, even when the years of infancy are left behind. 

His studies must be made an amusement : he must be questioned and praised and taught to rejoice when he has done well; sometimes too, when he refuses instruction, it should be given to some other to excite his envy, at times also he must be engaged in competition and should be allowed to believe himself successful more often than not, while he should be encouraged to do his best by such rewards as may appeal to his tender years." - Quintillian

Sounds like homeschool to me...

[JustPiper]

Not many in numbers? We have over 2 million homeschoolers and more being adding. It is growing in the black community also!

[WestPacSailor]

Can there be anything more important to each child and thus to our democratic society than to develop virtues and values such as respect for others, the ability to communicate and collaborate and an openness to diversity and new ideas?

...and an openness to diversity and new ideas. I think that says it all about their agenda.

Such virtues and values cannot be accessed on the Internet.

Sure they can, and this site is an excellent example of values and virtues that can be found on the internet.

[Damocles]

Actually, he's still tearing it apart...

[biblewonk]

Home schooling is an extension of the misguided notion that "anyone can teach."

Considering the magnitude of this fib I wonder what kind of evil person wrote this thing.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

This creep can't stand the idea of children escaping the clutches of left-wing government employee union members intent on indoctrinating them.

[Sloth]

Home schooling is an extension of the misguided notion that "anyone can teach."

One could argue that public school staffing practices are an outgrowth of the same misguided notion.

Movement or not, there are compelling reasons to oppose home teaching both for the sake of the children involved and for society.

"Liberty protects the person from unwarranted government intrusions into a dwelling or other private places. In our tradition the State is not omnipresent in the home. And there are other spheres of our lives and existence, outside the home, where the State should not be a dominant presence. Freedom extends beyond spatial bounds. Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct." -- from Justice Kennedy's pro-fag majority opinion in Lawrence vs. Texas. Don't guess the leftists will be applying the same logic to home-schooling, will they?

[ladylib]

In 1991, they scored 72 points higher on the SATs than did their public school peers.

I don't know how they scored for 1992 or 1993.

The proof is in the pudding since everyone in the education business is so enthralled with testing students.

[Jonx6]

ping

[biblewonk]

My Homeschooled kids don't learn about the details of sex and all the aberations thereof, fighting, picking on kids who are different, the 7 words you can't say on TV and how to apply them, evolution is your god, Mother earth is your goddess, where to get an abortion or a condom, fisting, where to get and how to use drugs etc etc etc etc. This is the well roundedness whole child education they get in public church/school.

[VRWCmember]

Can there be anything more important to each child and thus to our democratic society than to develop virtues and values such as respect for others, the ability to communicate and collaborate and an openness to diversity and new ideas? Such virtues and values cannot be accessed on the Internet. The isolation implicit in home teaching is anathema to socialization and citizenship.

When was the last time home schooling produced a pair like Dylan and Eric? The socialization and citizenship aspect of public schools has such shining examples in Columbine, in Paducah, MS, and across the country; but that must be a gun problem rather than a socialization problem.

[kimmie7]

bump for later reading