Home Schools Run By Well-Meaning Amateurs

NEA ^ | By Dave Arnold

[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.)

[RegulatorCountry]

School marm-alade ... it's what's for breakfast!

[Tax-chick]

If you lived here, you'd eat anything that wasn't kickin' on the way down.

"What IS this stuff?"

"If you're talking, it proves you're not hungry! Give your plate to your brother and start washing up!"

[RegulatorCountry]

I remember the days of tight budgets, when I was a young kid. My folks were likely relieved that I actually loved Kraft Mac & Cheese, and Hamburger Helper. Good thing we didn't have homeschooling back then though, because my teachers would have been tough, stringy and full of toxins, lol.

[RegulatorCountry]

My actual school teachers, not my parents.

[Tax-chick]

LOL!

My brother and I loved creamed-chip-beef-on-toast, baloney wheels, and other ghastly Ship Food.

(This was only served when Dad was at sea - he expected Real Food when he was at home.)

[Nonstatist]

When I worked for Wal-Mart more than 20 years ago

I see the dumbas$ janitor used to work at WalMart. If he's not qualified to give a polemic on the evils of home schooling, than who is ?!

[Cementjungle]

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.

That's precisely what home-schooling parents are doing.

[Theo]

You are EXACTLY right. How long do we have to wait until the uneducated stateschooler discover the truth about homeschooling?

[RegulatorCountry]

"My brother and I loved creamed-chip-beef-on-toast"

Did you ever have it with sliced, boiled eggs between the toast and the creamed-chip-beef? My dad was in the Navy and he called it SOS (if you don't know, don't ask, lol).

[mockingbyrd]

arrrgh Fr. Henle....not my finest memories from highschool. Then again, sure helped with the College Latin. Warriner's Grammer and Saxon Math were staples of my highschool education as well. There is much to be enthused with a curriculum that includes these.

[GraniteStateDad]

Thank you for your kind words.
While I don't consider myself truly pro-teacher, I do think that there are some really good ones out there. But thanks to the NEA, the good ones usually move on to other careers...
GSD

[SuziQ]

Our daughter didn't want to study Latin when she was homeschooling in high school. She wanted to learn Japanese, so I got her some workbooks created by the Japanese Language Association, designed to teach young people. She did the work in one of them, but was mostly self-taught, from watching Anime in the undubbed versions, and reading Manga in Japanese. She just figured out the words and phrases from the context. When we went to Japan in the summer of 2005, to visit some friends who are living there, she was the only one of all of us who could read menus!

She's in a small Catholic college now, and is taking Latin. She said the grammar reminds her of Japanese, so she's not having any trouble with it at all. Who woulda thunk it?

[RavenATB]

"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. "

And hasn't the "professional monopoly" of public education done a great job of it...

The fact is that American public education is a cesspool of intellectual and financial waste and underachievement. For most most parents it's simply the cheap, easy way to get their kids out of the way for a few hours a day, and avoid any financial sacrifice.

Are there exceptions? Yes. But the exceptions are a minority.

The fact is that a huge percentage of American parents are perfectly happy leaving the future of their children to chance.

[RavenATB]

"A better sample would be to compare homeschooled kids against a subset of public school students who have parental involvement. And, when that comparison is made, the homeschooled kids place well-behind their competition."


Provide the source, please.

[RavenATB]

"Not true with most home schooler parents! My whole family, cousins, aunts, grandmother have been school teachers. All are big proponents of home schooling."

Thank you for caring about the wellbeing of kids over the "empire" of big government liberalism.

[mockingbyrd]

Which small Catholic College is she at?

[RavenATB]

"And when you're a teacher, prepare to be FReeper flamed...teachers here are treated worse than Democrats!"

Not so. In my opinion, and observation, those teachers who are normally "flamed" in FR have been teachers who demonstrate that they place the protection of the institution at a higher priority than the best interest of children.

I have nothing against someone who wishes to teach in a public school. What I have a problem with is public school teachers who denigrate the other viable educational alternatives available to parents and ignore the weaknesses and failings of American public eduction.

In other words, I hate teachers to want to trap kids in failing schools in order to protect their own jobs. I think that's a fairly common sentiment among those in FR.

[Cogadh na Sith]

(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.)

OK, in that case: when it comes to teaching my kid, I know best. If my toilet is clogged I'll call you.

[Blueflag]

I agree with your sentiment. I was contesting this 'teacher's' sentiment. No worries.

[Tax-chick]

She said the grammar reminds her of Japanese, so she's not having any trouble with it at all. Who woulda thunk it?

Japanese grammar is much more like Spanish (and Latin, I guess) than like English. When I took Japanese in college, I took all my class notes in Spanish.