Posted on 04/27/2002 2:36:15 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
By looking at the e-mails to the editor this week, questions about home-schooling are still in play. Along with doubts about the home-schooling atmosphere and educational results, there is large concern over whether home-schoolers are properly socialized.
These concerns are spread throughout America, accusing home-schoolers, because they are educated at home with a loving parent, of not learning the necessary socialization skills required in later life.
I, as a home-schooler, am tired of my intelligence being insulted every time I turn around. Probably the most fabricated or misconstrued idea about home-schooling is that the child is inhibited from obtaining essential socialization skills.
The largest group spreading this disinformation is the National Education Association. In its 2000-2001 Resolutions, it writes, "The National Education Association believes that home schooling programs cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience."
In a letter to NEA President Bob Chase, the National Home Education Network wrote asking what their resolution regarding home schooling was based on. He replied, saying, "During the 1998 [Representative Assembly], delegates approved the policy on homeschooling. They were concerned that homeschooled students were not provided a comprehensive education experience because they did not have an opportunity to interact with students of different cultures, economic status or learning styles." In other words, because I stayed at home with my mother, brother and sister and not several hundred other children down the street, I will fail.
It is obvious that home-schooling has stepped in the way of the NEA's agenda, and because of the fact that home-schoolers make up less than 1 percent of the American population, groups such as the NEA are able to spread this obvious disinformation and deceit.
The premise of the war against home-schooling is that children do not obtain the needed socialization skills. By agreeing with that, you have to concede the point that public schools, private schools, etc., are the only source for socializing.
Ever hear of church, sports, community events or neighbors down the block? Many home-schoolers, such as myself, play sports, go to church, attend community events, play musical instruments and many other things.
Maybe if public schools learned from home-schoolers and focused less on socializing in class and focused more on learning, the average test score for public school students might be greater than 50 percent.
Critics state that the majority of home-schoolers are antisocial. In contrast, dare I suggest that, in proportion, there are more antisocial students in public schools rather than home-schools.
With one-on-one learning action with parents, many home-schoolers are able to communicate far better with adults, compared to their public-schooled peers leading to a greater success in the future.
Because of the rough peer pressure (pressure to have sex, use drugs, commit crime, cheat on tests, or pressure to commit other unethical behavior) and social situations, many are left out in the cold by other pupils unlike the alternative choice of home-schooling.
Tied to the antisocial claim is that home-schoolers will most likely fail in later life quite humorous. Even if you were to concede that home-school students are antisocial in grade school, saying that they will fail in later life because of it is nothing short of absurd. Just because a person is not a part of the "group" in their childhood does not mean they can't communicate in the present or future.
Although home-schoolers make up less than 1 percent of the population, you find home-schoolers winning the national spelling and geography bees, as well as being Rhodes Scholars, doctors, politicians, presidents, founding fathers and much more.
The start of the public education system only began in the previous century, but using the NEA's logic, all people educated before 1900, including all the founding fathers, government officials, doctors, lawyers and people from all occupations were not given a comprehensive education experience and not properly socialized.
So, stop the spread of this deceit and disinformation. The NEA says that I have not obtained the necessary socialization skills (or communication skills), but I just communicated information, facts and my beliefs to you.
Truth.
One way to stop the NEA is to cut into it's PAC funding by convincing teachers who are currently members to seek refunds for that part of their dues that are being used (illegally) for politcal activities. See the following information:
Reply #14 in the thread Let's Help Nail the Teachers Unions -- It is National FReep Time
References
Legal Costs Skyrocketing for Defiant Teachers Union - (see Teacher317's comments in reply #19)
NATIONAL UNION REFUNDS WASHINGTON TEACHERS
The Washington Times - Complaint accuses NEA of misusing funds to aid DNC
Another way to help defund the NEA is to convince education majors to join the AAE instead of the NEA when they take their first teaching job:
Association of American Educators
25201 Paseo de Alicia, Suite 104
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
Phone: 949-595-7979 or 1-800-704-7799
Fax: 949-595-7970
Email: info@aaeteachers.org
Website: www.aaeteachers.org
Please note that the AAE is not a union. It is a professional association. Annual dues are only $125 per year for teachers (includes $2 Million liability insurance - one of the reasons teachers join the NEA or AFT is for liability insurance). Student, retired educator, and associate/support memberships are $25 per year.
Labor Complaint Is Latest Hurdle For Teachers' Union
"New Teachers Not Necessarily Joining NEA
Landmark's most recent complaint was filed just one week after Mike Antonnuci, director of the Education Intelligence Agency, commented that some NEA state chapters are failing to recruit as many new teachers into the union as in past years...
Kafer says financially supporting the NEA could be especially troubling for a young, conservative teacher.
"I would think that would be particularly difficult to allow the money that you worked so hard for to go, not for negotiations for higher pay or the things that unions are supposed to do, instead it's going to defeat candidates that you support and going to causes that you really don't agree with," she argued. "I would think that would be a big disincentive."
In the most recent set of NEA resolutions, Kafer notes that the word "sexual" appears 41 times, "sexual orientation" 19 times, "reading" six times, and "mathematics" only five times.
"It seems like a preoccupation with an agenda that has nothing to do with reading and mathematics. I would think that would be a great concern to a teacher who is deeply committed to learning," she added. "There are other resolutions in there, too, about the environment, about cultural issues, things that have nothing to do with teaching, learning, or kids."...
"To some of these people, the union is an obsolete thing," she concluded. "They want to be able to control their careers."
Please pass this information on to teachers and education majors you know.
heh...heh...make them live there too.
I was homeschooled for a year and couldn't stand being away from my peers. My brother and sister were homeschooled for 5 years. They and the people in their "homeschool group" here weren't ready for the "real world". But I had another friend in Texas who homeschooled for many years, but was definitely ready for the real world because she also got out outside of the group. Some people are not ready for the real world regardless because of homeschooling, but as long as you go to functions outside of homeschooling activities, i think you can function quite well.
Well, that is a part of getting it figured out.
Have you checked out all the support groups in your community? We hooked up with a secular group, because, though we are Christians (Orthodox/Catholic mixed marriage) the many Fundamentalist support groups are a problem for both of us.
Be confident in your ability to teach your child, and do not be afraid to ally with non-Christians who also are doing the best thing for their kids. There is a common ground. I predict you will make friends, and get a chance to share your faith, at some point.
My boys play with pagans. The pagans we have met do not seek to convert us, nor do we seek to convert them. Rather, we agree on the basics of correct child nurturing. The faith matters then can happen naturally and in good time, as friendship and trust is developed
We have gounded the boys (ten and twelve) in the Christian faith, and they are well able to handle excursions into the "real world".
Au contrare.
Home-schoolers are a threat to the NEA!
Of course, schooling isn't the only source of youth-youth contact. So home schooling doesn't preclude gaining such social skills (childish as they are.) In fact, a kid isolated from other kids would probably be pretty lonely. So that would be bad.
I don't recommend home schooling for every family, for every parent, for every student. First of all it is highly inefficient. But if it works, they should go for it.
LOL! Seriously, I laughed so hard I nearly fell out of my chair. My main reason for homeschooling is because it is so much more efficient! Really, in just a couple (maybe 3 at the most) hours, my son is DONE with school each day, completed all required lessons, and off being a kid, playing at the park with his buddies, going to chess club, or just goofing off with his kid brother.
In the meantime, our neighbor's boy, who is the same age, leaves for school at 8am, gets in at 4pm and still has work to complete at home in the evening after supper! How inefficient is that? They have the kid for 8 hours and they still can't get him done before he has to come home?
When people ask me why I homeschool, they expect I do it for religious or political reasons. I do it because I think public school is a horrendous waste of time. You can ask just about any teacher and they'll tell you that a great part of their time is dealing with problems and not teaching. It's why even private school isn't an option for us. If they think can keep my kid for 8 hours and still not teach him what he needs to know before he comes home, just give him to me...I'll do it. A kid ought to be able to be a kid, not sit in a desk for 8 hours a day, 9 months out of the year.
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