Posted on 07/25/2005 7:26:05 PM PDT by Millicent_Hornswaggle
Agreed, but we do not have that system available to us at present. Nice to work toward that, but for those who have kids of school age now, they have to choose from the options currently available.
Dave Arnold. . .is head custodian. . .
Bwa-ha-ha-ha! Now we have the NEA using custodians to tell us how to educate our children!
(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.)
That's who said anything about being a janitor!!
There's no question about the NEA protecting it's @$$ all the time----I'm just tired of people out there referring to all NEA members in a derogatory way!!
Oh please...
Even I know homeschooling scares the NaziEducationAssociation because of the potential loss of funding.
These "gullible parents" still pay their education taxes in addition to assuming the costs of educating their children.
Saw this last night and didn't dare comment.
The funny thing is this guy's a janitor. Maybe he's not qualified to teach his kids, but I am. If I have kids someday.
Well, you know I'm convinced not all parents are cut out for homeschooling. But this guy goes way too far to the other extreme.
bookmarking for later
Yeah, and I'd never say all parents are cut out for it (99% have the talents teach their kids, and thanks to circumstances a smaller percentage could teach their kids) but this guy is plumb stupid.
I'll put ten random homeschool parents against ten random teachers any day. I mean, just the numbers - three or five kids over 20ish years versus 35 kids per year - are in our favor.
So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children?
Even if what he says is true, most homeschooling parents network with other such parents and usually seek out certain parents who may specialize in a particular subject to teach all the kids in that network.
My wife and I have a six-month old son. We're totally focused and planning on homeschooling him and all other future children. We consider ourselves pretty well educated. She has good general knowledge of most subjects and particular aptitude in art and English, while I specialize in Latin, Gregorian Chant, and Higher Mathematics. We know nothing about manual labor skills, but I'm sure we'll network with people who do and our children will be able to learn how much ever they want about any given subject. (instead of wasting half a year each year reviewing stuff that is already learned and being bored).
Point is, most parents who have done well in high school and college are more than fit to teach their own kids, and kids who are homeschooled develop a better sense of self determination so they can specialize in areas which interest them.
Homeschooling is more relevant to the real world than public school anyway. People work in fields which at least somewhat interest them, and no job is composed of people of one age group. The peer mentality and pressure does more damage to children's socialization than good.
As far as "social skills". I have a son who has been called a nerd. On the other hand, my daughter can go anywhere and make a new friend within half an hour. They have played with some of the neighborhood kids who have bullied them and have no respect for my family or our property. Someone said those children probably do not know how to act, and maybe my children and I could teach them what was acceptable behavior -- or I could forbid my children from playing with them. After a year of drama from these -- uh-- children, I finally decided that we've had enough "social skills" and "diversity", so for the time being my children are playing with children from church and children who homeschool.
As far as "social skills". I have a son who has been called a nerd. On the other hand, my daughter can go anywhere and make a new friend within half an hour. They have played with some of the neighborhood kids who have bullied them and have no respect for my family or our property. Someone said those children probably do not know how to act, and maybe my children and I could teach them what was acceptable behavior -- or I could forbid my children from playing with them. After a year of drama from these -- uh-- children, I finally decided that we've had enough "social skills" and "diversity", so for the time being my children are playing with children from church and children who homeschool.
That may be true, but, speaking as a college junior who was homeschooled all twelve grades, this is an area in which you will need to be careful. While on the whole much of the socialization in homeschooling is good, there are two concerns.
First and foremost, (from what I have seen--it may by different now than it was then) it is dangerous when homeschoolers limit their social experience to only the homeschooling community. While it may not produce "misfits" as many people claim, many homeshoolers who grew up that way do have difficulty fitting into college (and I go to a Christian college).
Second, looking back, the thing I regret most from my homeschooling experience is that I never had the opporunity to play a sport seriously. Unfortunately, homeschoolers often have a reputation for being unathletic, and athleticism and teamwork have long been considered important parts of a balanced education. I would highly recommend putting in the effort necessary for your kids to play sports; it's often not as easy for homeschoolers, but it's worth the extra effort. This would then also cover the first issue I mentioned.
Finally, I have almost nothing negative to say about the academic education I received. My parents have a similar range of areas of expertise to what you describe, and it served my family well. There will be subjects in which any family is weak, but the goal of a good education is largely to teach people the ability to learn (something at which homeschooling excels), and with that ability (and a solid base of English and reasoning skills), a homeschool graduate will be well-prepared for college.
I wish you the best of luck with your kids, and I hope this is a really beneficial experience.
As far as sports... there is always the YMCA or local town programs. My son just finished three weeks of getting up at 6 am every morning to play softball with a church group. They practiced for a week. Then played against other church teams and each other (it was divided into two teams).
Priceless!
Remember, an amateur does it for love.
A professional just does it for money. ;-)
That's a good way to go. There are usually opportunities; they're often just not as convenient (and sometimes considerably more expensive) than playing for a school team. Still, looking back, they woukld have been worth it.
You know... I was homeschooled all along, I'm in grad school now, and I didn't mind not fitting in as an undergrad. I didn't like the casual-sex beer-party atmosphere that so many of my "peers" seemed to enjoy... instead I hung with the other geeks, who were nerd social outcasts in high school themselves. Our fun looked a little different but it was fun.
I also got to play softball as a kid through the community teams - many sports are at the community level until high school - but I had no athletic ability either.
I'd rather risk my future kids being geeky non-athletes than undereducated drugaddled pregnant at fifteen (admittedly a worst case scenarion, but...)
"This site contains some statements that REALLY irritate me!"
OK, this editorial just went from a reasoned but uninformed argument to a whining session. Somebody tell this guy to grow up.
Who taught this guy how to write? Those highly-qualified public school teachers at the NEA?
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