THE DAY HOMESCHOOLING DIES

Email | 21 Oct 03 | Chis Davis

[Domestic Church]

The author is an award winning public school teacher. He won the NY state teacher of the year award (before writing it of course.) Besides, he knows his history.

[TopQuark]

Well, I tried: I read a few chapters. So far it seems to be a stream of consciousness.

To see the problem with our schools does not require this treatise: the problem is not the public form of education but that it is dominated by socialists --- much like other institutions of society. And, no, we did not grow so many socialists because of the public schools either: the two- or three-centuries-long retreat of religion left a vacuum that has been gradually filled with this new religion.

The problem is therefore not the FORM of schooling but the currently given CONTENT.

[annyokie]

How is un-schooling different? I mean no offense to any homeschoolers here, but how is watching the history channel at home any different than watching the history channel at school?

I'm not cracking wise, I really want to know the reasoning.

Thanks to all.

[harpseal]

BTT

[SauronOfMordor]

How is un-schooling different?

I use text books and assign problems. An unschooler would tend to let the kid explore and learn what interested him in whatever manner interested him, with the parent being available to answer questions and point towards resources

[annyokie]

Un-schooling sounds like it could be trouble. My youngest loves math and dislikes reading (he is seven.)

Is allowing a child to make his/her educational path a good thing? If I were allowed this option at seven, I never would have taken an interest in mathematics.

[Domestic Church]

Perhaps you should read Charlotte Iserbyte instead...she was in Reagan's Dept of Education and wrote a lengthy book about the educational machinery in this nation. The title is " The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America" and there was a good thread on it:

http://www.FreeRepublic.com/forum/a3846d8ab444a.htm

And also the Rudner study is worth a glance if you are statiscally oriented: http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v7n8/

[TopQuark]

Thank you for the pointers.

[TopQuark]

Thank you for the pointers.

[mo]

I find this post fascinating in its parallels with others detailing the "losses" of manufacturing jobs overseas...God truly has something wonderful for us yet...

[federalist1]

This is our family's sixth year of home schooling. My son did not read well by third grade. He could barely read at all. He did, however, master Newton's first three laws of motion; he was thrilled with how Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the earth; etc. He has an engineer's mind that, as a third grader, drew accurate conclusions about the way things work that took me some time to work through. He was always right. Had I tried to make my son fit the "read by x age" mold, he would be labelled learning disabled. In the public schools, he would have been a candidate for drugging into submission.

Re: schools. How can an entire group of children go through the same class and come out with such different results? We accept as self-evident that each child is different. Yet we presume to teach all at the same pace. And any child who is not ready to learn what the experts say they should be able to learn is considered out of step. Why? Because the child does not fit some expert's' mold?

Children are not machines to be programmed. It is high time more people -- particularly parents -- stopped trying to shave off this quality here and that quality there to make them fit a mold that has no basis in real life. The bell curve means some children are at the ends. Cramming all children into the middle ought to be criminal. We do not cut off children's fingers to make them the same length (not yet), we do not put them on stretchers to make them the same height. Why do we insist that their brains are the only parts that are supposed to grow in lock step with some invented norm?

Children are born sponges. They are forced during their school years to learn and do what someone else has said they should, and in the way someone else says they should do it. And then we wonder why middle schoolers become so detached and unmotivated. They've spent their whole lives being told what to do and how to do it!

Have you ever met a young child who did not blow your socks off with some amazing gift? Not all gifts fit into the school mode, though, and many are not rewarded or even recognized.

I highly recommend Dr. Raymond Moore's "Better Late Than Early." Some children's neurological connections don't get made until the age of 10 or 12. That's fine. Unless they've already been called stupid by the likes of people who think they are damaged if they can't read by third grade. Einstien and Thomas Edison were such idiots. I believe many Einsteins and Edisons are beaten down by the system and prevented from knowing of their genius, let alone using it.

In the U.S., we school for normalcy. We then complain that our children as a group are so horribly average. Those who can't read by third grade are condemned to intellectual ghetto for the rest of their lives? Maybe your children, but not mine! Mine are an heritage of the Lord with gifts of His choosing in His time.

By the way, both my children score several years above so-called "grade level" in standardized testing. They think the standards are silly. They are doing what they can as well as they can, and that is enough.

[Theophilus]

The leaders of the Public School movement were, for the most part, humanists

It would be nice to see a confirmation of that.

With the exception of Washington, this little list lifted from PBS is a humanist Hall Of Shame for social(ist) engineers & idealouges

Public education today is a product of more than a century of reform and revision. In each era, visionary individuals have taken the lead and transformed the system to meet their ideals. Below are some of the women and men who have shaped our experience of school. Click on an image to see their story.

[TopQuark]

Thanks for the pointer.

I read the article on Mann, as you recommended. What specific socialist or "humanist" measures did he take to qualify his as a shameful character?

[Theophilus]

Demonstrably false history???

Very early on: "Hughes and members of New York’s prominent Protestant establishment helped to set in motion the secularization of American public schools, a process that began in the 19th century, and continues to this day."

[Theophilus]

What specific socialist or "humanist" measures did he take to qualify his as a shameful character

"After brief stints in law and business" - failed in law and business - "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach"

"Mann committed himself to social reforms" - hmmmmmmm, how helpful! Whatever happened to: "If it ain't broke"???

"including the construction of a state insane asylum" - early socialized medicine?

"and leadership in the temperance movement" - a libertarian favorite!!!

"Mann established the state board of education" - statism pure and simple

"promoted state regulated public education as a way to bring order and discipline to the working class"

"Many historians, however, see Mann’s legacy as positive, contending that overall his contributions led to a more egalitarian and democratic society. Some credit Mann with spearheading the most successful progressive social movement of the 19th century: Public Education"

[coton_lover]

This article sounds really nice, but in California we must keep records and we must follow a curriculum set forth by the state. We have to have certain things. To give children experiences in learning that this author gave his own children, you need money. There are people out there that must deal with their money situation, that are always struggling just to get books. I know lots of homeschooling families that have a lack of funds. They can't get a bunch of fancy stuff and go places. They rely on what they can get their hands on. Thank goodness they still are willing to homeschool. These people would love to take their kids to aquariums and museums and any other educational places, but they lack the funds. A lot of these people use charter schools for what they need. But the bottom line is that there are willing to sacrifice--like the mother not working--to keep their children at home and our country will reap the harvest.

[shattered]

Is your son an only child and if so, did this create problems with loneliness and/or boredom? Curious if home schooling an only can be enjoyed by them as much as by a group of siblings. Thanks for any input.

[StarCMC]

Homeschool bump

[TopQuark]

"After brief stints in law and business" - failed in law and business - "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach"M

Nothing more than a smear on your part.

"Mann committed himself to social reforms" - hmmmmmmm, how helpful! Whatever happened to: "If it ain't broke"??? No, it was not broken: it was outdated. Some claimed that our racial laws at the time were not broken, too.

"and leadership in the temperance movement" - a libertarian favorite!!! You seem to be all over the map.

"Mann established the state board of education" - statism pure and simple You should familizarize yourself with a notion of a public good. I do share the view of most that a minimal level of education is a public good. Markets fail to provide public goods, and that is what the governments are supposed to do. As any producer, it requires a manager, which in this case is a board of education.

You are too hasty with your conclusions and accusations.

[Alia]

This article sounds really nice, but in California we must keep records and we must follow a curriculum set forth by the state.

Ah. Are you involved with an ISP? (Independent Schooling Program) through your county district's office? Private or homeschooling -- there is no "curriculum" set forth by the state; and there shouldn't be. Ever, IMHO.