Posted on 03/02/2006 11:45:53 AM PST by LouAvul
Elizabeth and Teddy Dean are learning about the Italian scientist Galileo, so they troop into the kitchen, where their mother Lisa starts by reviewing some facts about the Renaissance.
Elizabeth, 11, and Teddy, 8, have never gone to school.
Their teachers are primarily their parents, which puts them into what is believed to be the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. education system -- the homeschool movement.
For their science lesson, Teddy and Elizabeth are joined by three other homeschooled children and their mother, who live down the street in their suburb midway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Before the lesson starts, all five kids change into Renaissance costumes -- long dresses and bonnets for the girls, tunics and swords for the boys.
"We definitely have a lot more fun than kids who go to school," Elizabeth said.
.................
But there is no disagreement about the explosive growth of the movement -- 29 percent from 1999 to 2003 according to the NCES study, or 7 to 15 percent a year according to HSLDA.
This growth has spawned an estimated $750 million a year market supplying parents with teaching aids and lesson plans to fit every religious and political philosophy. Homeschooled children regularly show up in the finals of national spelling competitions, generating publicity for the movement.
Parents cite many reasons for deciding to opt out of formal education and teach their children at home. In the NCES study, 31 percent said they were concerned about drugs, safety or negative peer pressure in schools; 30 percent wanted to provide religious or moral instruction while 16 percent said they were dissatisfied with academic standards in their local schools.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
This is already old news for Americans. Had the folks from Britain been sitting idly at Manhattan and Hollywood for too long to notice it?
In addition to those of us who do not want the commie pervert peacenik babykiller government workers (teachers) to pollute their souls and crush their spirit.
Next week, you'll hear stories about the axe-murdering homeschool mom in Kansas, and the squalor of Mrs. B. in New Jersey who has 3 kids who can't read and we need to take over these people and make it all right for the children dontcha know.
Spot on.
With the systematic PC nonsense coming out of today's school system, who would want to put their child through it?
The case of children not being allowed to perform "A Christmas Carol" at their school proves my point entirely.
When CNN is running an overwhelmingly positive story like this, that's a clear sign that the government-union school system is in deep, deep trouble.
Homeschooling is becoming so popular, there are homeschool sports teams in our area that compete with some private schools.
Even if each respondent only chose ONE of those reasons (they overlap - someone could legitimately choose all three reasons), it's only 78%. I wonder what the others said.
Maybe it was "CNN? Pahhh! Buzz off, ya hoser!
That is why the government is going to try to quash this eventually. I am waiting for when the gov't says that to homeschool you need to be a licensed, accredited teacher. I am waiting for them to say that you have no right to keep your children OUT of the public schools. I will not be the least surprised.
Maybe if liberals get leadership back.
"bad" from whose point of view?
The schools lose money. The teachers lose face. The admins lose their arguments.
Not that that's a BAD thing...
Proud parent of a homeschooled 5 1/2 yo boy..
Part of his schooling includes sports.. Brazilian Jujitsu, Kung Fu, and soccer.
He is also taking acting workshops, history, math, reading, science...
I wouldn't send him to public school or Catholic school to save my life. (Sure there are good schools, but you find out after your kid brings home "my two mommies" that the school you sent them too is crappy).
Homeschooling is not "informal" education. Most homeschoolers follow a curriculumn of some sort - unschooling works differently and I won't try to speak for that. Just because most homeschoolers are "amateurs" (no teaching degree) doesn't make homeschooling somehow a shady option.
That is about right.
the only danger I see is what if leftists get into homeschooling in a big way. No telling what kind of subversive brainwashing they'll teach.
It's ironic that CNN even posted this. The idiots over there don't have a clue.
I'll wager my kid (age 7) gets more social contact, with a wider variety of ages, than most public-school kids.
Yesterday, it was piano lessons, open gym, and he looked at a fencing class for the first time. Today it's math and reading lessons at home. Tomorrow it's karate class. People of all ages enjoy his company, because he relates to people of all ages.
Let's hope this is the beginning of the end of government education as we know it.
###
Yep, more people are weaning themselves from the government tit. Our socialized schooling is the second biggest welfare program in the country now. It is nothing more than income redistribution.
The more people who assume their personal responsibilities, the sooner we can return the education industry to the private sector.
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