Posted on 11/27/2006 7:04:44 AM PST by meandog
Schools With Good Teachers Are Best-Suited to Shape Young Minds
There's nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Certain jobs are best left to the pros, such as, formal education.
There are few homeowners who can tackle every aspect of home repair. A few of us might know carpentry, plumbing and, let’s say, cementing. Others may know about electrical work, tiling and roofing. But hardly anyone can do it all.
Same goes for cars. Not many people have the skills and knowledge to perform all repairs on the family car. Even if they do, they probably don’t own the proper tools. Heck, some people have their hands full just knowing how to drive.
So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children? You would think that they might leave this -- the shaping of their children’s minds, careers, and futures -- to trained professionals. That is, to those who have worked steadily at their profession for 10, 20, 30 years! Teachers!
Experienced Pros
There’s nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Whether it is window-washing, bricklaying or designing a space station. Certain jobs are best left to the pros. Formal education is one of those jobs.
Of course there are circumstances that might make it necessary for parents to teach their children at home. For example, if the child is severely handicapped and cannot be transported safely to a school, or is bedridden with a serious disease, or lives in such a remote area that attending a public school is near impossible.
Well-Meaning Amateurs
The number of parents who could easily send their children to public school but opt for home-schooling instead is on the increase. Several organizations have popped up on the Web to serve these wannabe teachers. These organizations are even running ads on prime time television. After viewing one advertisement, I searched a home school Web site. This site contains some statements that REALLY irritate me!
“It’s not as difficult as it looks.”
The “it” is meant to be “teaching.” Let’s face it, teaching children is difficult even for experienced professionals. Wannabes have no idea.
“What about socialization? Forget about it!”
Forget about interacting with others? Are they nuts? Socialization is an important component of getting along in life. You cannot teach it. Children should have the opportunity to interact with others their own age. Without allowing their children to mingle, trade ideas and thoughts with others, these parents are creating social misfits.
If this Web site encouraged home-schooled children to join after-school clubs at the local school, or participate in sports or other community activities, then I might feel different. Maine state laws, for example, require local school districts to allow home-schooled students to participate in their athletic programs. For this Web site to declare, “forget about it,” is bad advice.
When I worked for Wal-Mart more than 20 years ago, Sam Walton once told me: “I can teach Wal-Mart associates how to use a computer, calculator, and how to operate like retailers. But I can’t teach them how to be a teammate when they have never been part of any team.”
“Visit our online bookstore.”
Buying a history, science or math book does not mean an adult can automatically instruct others about the book’s content.
Gullible Parents
Another Web site asks for donations and posts newspaper articles pertaining to problems occurring in public schools.
It’s obvious to me that these organizations are in it for the money. They are involved in the education of children mostly in the hope of profiting at the hands of well-meaning but gullible parents.
This includes parents who home-school their children for reasons that may be linked to religious convictions. One Web site that I visited stated that the best way to combat our nation’s “ungodly” public schools was to remove students from them and teach them at home or at a Christian school.
I’m certainly not opposed to religious schools, or to anyone standing up for what they believe in. I admire anyone who has the strength to stand up against the majority. But in this case, pulling children out of a school is not the best way to fight the laws that govern our education system. No battle has ever been won by retreating!
No Training
Don’t most parents have a tough enough job teaching their children social, disciplinary and behavioral skills? They would be wise to help their children and themselves by leaving the responsibility of teaching math, science, art, writing, history, geography and other subjects to those who are knowledgeable, trained and motivated to do the best job possible.
(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.)
Ha!
What a crock.
One of the LAMEST statements attempting to support an argument I have ever read ...
"I’m certainly not opposed to religious schools, or to anyone standing up for what they believe in. I admire anyone who has the strength to stand up against the majority. But in this case, pulling children out of a school is not the best way to fight the laws that govern our education system. No battle has ever been won by retreating!"
'fight the laws'??? oh my ...
Where's the barf alert?
I am a homeschooling Dad - I am NOT a "wannabe teacher".
I have no desire to teach your kids.
Gasp! You mean a company actually wants to make a profit? Unbelievable! Well, I guess all those teachers' unions, NEA, etc.. will stop pushing for the need for more funding.
I HAVE wondered why parents who homeschool don't automatically band together and specialize, each focusing on a different subject. It would seem that charter schools would naturally flow out of such an arrangement. I'm pretty sure it happens, but it seems like it would be a natural outcome.
What a sick joke.
Send your kids to public school and they WILL be misfits.
Do you ever wonder where those social, disciplinary and behavioral problems COME FROM?
I wish that your average public school teacher WAS an "expert". Unfortunately, if you look at the mean SAT scores, the grades, the colleges of graduation, or any other indicator of success in learning, public school teachers are far behind the curve. In fact, the mean SAT scores of education majors are the lowest of any college major (this may have changed - the last time I looked was a few years ago - but I doubt it).
It has been my experience that the best teachers are those who are (1) familiar with the subject; (2) highly motivated. In the elementary grades, almost any parent of reasonable intelligence is both of these. When you reach high school, some of the specialized subjects can be more difficult, but that's why there are homeschool co-ops. If I were still homeschooling my son, I would "trade" my skills in English composition and grammar, history, Latin, and German for lessons from somebody who knows what a differential equation is!
As for this fellow's arguments, they are straw men (take the socialization riff for example. I have never heard a homeschooler argue "forget it!" Scouts, church, and athletic activities provide ample opportunities for socialization.)
My maternal grandmother had the equivalent to a 5th or 6th grade education (she grew up in the 1920s), and I bet if she were still alive, she could also run circles around the average NYC HS graduate.
Now that isn't a bad idea...however, it has been my experience that homeschooling parents have the hubris to believe they can really do it all and their arrogance wouldn't allow someone more qualified to touch their kids' brains--(consequently, when we teachers get their children back they are unprepared and over challenged).
Does head custodian have the same job description as it did when we were in school?
People who love their work are better workers than those who are simply punching the clock and drawing a paycheck.
I was amazed when I graduated and found that people would actually PAY me to read and write stuff all day long . . .
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