Home Schools Run By Well-Meaning Amateurs

NEA ^ | By Dave Arnold

[bannie]

the sat's of home schooled children are higher than those of kids educated in public schools on average.

Again, I wonder if this is an actual statistic. I know that many brilliant, beautifully-educated kids come from home-schooling; but I wonder about the ones we don't hear of.

Does anyone know if SAT's are mandatory for all home-schooled kids?

[bannie]

I don't recall any one of my teachers ever knowing very much about the subject they "taught", at all.

WOW! Where did you get your education????

[bannie]

Is that why homeschooling parents still have to pay taxes to support schools they do not utilize?

I agree that we should only be taxed for things we use. Welfare, for instance: I don't want to pay for it!

[JenB]

Of course the SATs aren't mandatory for all home schooled kids. Why should they be mandatory for any child not seeking a college education? Now, the great majority of homeschooled kids will take the SATs because most of them want to go to college. I did, and ended up the only national merit semifinalist in my school district that year. Funny, the school district had tried to 'forget' to notify us of the SAT testing date. A friend at the high school told us the day before.

[bannie]

daughter is taking an honors english literature class from a retired teacher

[bannie]

I'm not saying that SAT's should be mandatory: I was simply wondering about the accuracy of the statistics when using SAT scores to evaluate the efficiency of home schooling.

[bannie]

Since I'm a late-comer to this party, I doubt that this will get much play...however:

As I read these posts, I see that we're using the cream of the home-schooling parents as examples. I believe that there are, however, a number of less-educated people who take on this daunting task. This I find as problematic.

Don't get me wrong, I promote home-schooling! I've stated before that a child's parents are their greatest allies. Who but a child's parents/grandparents would give the child the every bit of very best they had to offer?

I just think we're being naive here to use blanket claims about one choice (homeschooling or public education) being THE BEST for every student.

When a child comes from an uneducated family, perhaps public school is the best place for him/her--WITH the parents being full-participants in the education!

Conversely, when a child's parents have the resources to provide a better education for that child at home, the parents would be fools to opt for the lesser.

I agree that there are numerous (!) problems with the public educational system...but I think we're discussing throwing out the proverbial baby with the bathwater here. Something is required to fill this need for many students. I believe that repairing the political side of the system would be preferential to dumping the "baby."

[hinckley buzzard]

I notice that, aside from bald assertions, this novice fails to provide one single reason why home-schooling is not preferable to government controlled education. At least he acknowledged that homeschoolers are well-meaning--an attribute that is definitely up for grabs in the blackboard ghettoes of the NEA.

[JenB]

Do all goverment-schooled children take the SATs? I don't know that answer, I'm not trying to be tricky or anything. Seems to me like it's a college-prep sort of thing so comparing the scores makes sense.

[hinckley buzzard]

I am a homeschooling Dad - I am NOT a "wannabe teacher".

I can't imagine anything that a homeschooling parent would want LESS to be than a 'teacher' by this dolt's definition.

[ican'tbelieveit]

No, not all government schooled students take the SAT/ACT. In my highschool class of 50, maybe 1/2 took it.

[bannie]

The only problem in using this as a measuring stick would be in determining which percentage of each of the groups takes the SAT's.

In any successful experiment, all factors except the one being tested needs to be equalized.

[bannie]

In my small high school, almost all students take the SAT's.

This is indicative of another failing I see in public education: We try to direct all students to colleges. We have virtually eliminated "shop" classes--at least in California. We could use some apprenticeship situations!

[hinckley buzzard]

when we teachers get their children back

What do you mean "get them back?"

What do you think you are, some kind of zookeeper? Talk about arrogance.

[ConservativeDude]

in a public school...where else?

[hinckley buzzard]

Does head custodian have the same job description as it did when we were in school?

When I was in school we always could tell who the custodian was--he was the one who knew what he was doing.

[hinckley buzzard]

Maybe we need a Public School Deathwatch disclaimer.

We need an organization: "Americans United for Separation of School and State."

[bannie]

The way I see it, there are an awful lot of us conservatives who overcame our public school mantra. All it takes is parents who teach you common sense, right-minded thinking and how to see through liberal-speak.

[sitetest]

Dear JenB,

"Do all goverment-schooled children take the SATs?"

Not by any stretch of the imagination. In the Washington, DC area, the percentage of public schoolers who take the SAT ranges from jurisdiction to jurisdiction from around 50% to something around 70%.


sitetest

[JenB]

So by self-selecting, you could make the case that the homeschoolers and the public schoolers who take the SATs are similar groups - college-bound teens in the last year or three of their education.

In other words, comparing SAT scores should acceptable as a metric for homeschool achievement.