Posted on 11/20/2002 8:50:54 PM PST by Sir Gawain
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[Meet five homeschoolers — four from Massachusetts and one from Oklahoma — who are among the growing number of American teenagers who have exchanged the dog-eat-dog world of high school and middle school to pursue academic excellence, entrepreneurial endeavors, travel, quality time with their families, and their dreams.] Eighteen-year-old Naomi Haqq of Belchertown, Massachusetts is the kind of young woman that would make many parents proud. She has strong moral convictions, is employed as a hotel front-desk clerk, and is following in her mother's footsteps by studying nursing. At age 16, she was accepted into the University of Massachusetts' (Amherst) dual-enrollment program and has done well enough with her college- level courses to earn a 3.69 grade point average. Naomi's work ethic and faith were cultivated during the time she and her three younger siblings were schooled at home by her parents. While she holds to a philosophy that "homeschooling isn't for lazy people," she agrees that one of the advantages of this educational choice is that it offers individuals the flexibility to make their own schedule. That flexibility, in fact, has tremendous appeal to Wid, my number two son, who is seventeen. Last school year, for instance, Wid spent his mornings studying biology, grammar, Algebra II, and American literature. He often devoted his afternoons to snowboarding, motocross, ice hockey, or paintball. Some of his other extra-curricular experiences, however, have thrust him into the work world — pumping gas at a service station and laboring on a roofing crew. Twice he has driven cross-country with his dad visiting places such as Niagara Falls, the UP of Michigan, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Recently, he worked security for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona-Kailua, Hawaii. Naomi Haqq's learning experiences have had an international bent. As she did at age 14, she accompanied her father (Emmanuel Haqq) on a trip to India this summer, where he engaged college-aged students in debates about science and Christianity. The endeavor fits his background; Dr. Haqq, a pastor, is a native of India with a doctorate in high energy physics from the University of Minnesota. On this trip, father and daughter also vacationed in Italy for a week. During her high school years, Naomi attended youth group meetings, worked at a college dining hall, and played piano, but she didn't dance at a prom. Does she feel that she missed out on an adolescent rite of passage? Not really. "I went through a time when I wished I had more friends," Naomi admits. "But I played on a (public school) soccer team during my sophomore year and found the kids to be snobby and cliquish, even though I had been playing with many of them since seventh grade. Everybody seems to be the same in high school." Wid wouldn't disagree with that statement. This academic year, he has the opportunity to simultaneously participate on two sports teams in Bozeman, Montana. He plays on a high school ice hockey team of which all his teammates attend public school, and he also joined a high school basketball team of which all his teammates are homeschooled. Of the compare-and-contrast experience he has this to say: "I like hockey more because I am better at it, and my teammates are appreciative of my skills. But I prefer being with the basketball people, because I have more in common with them. They have cleaner language and more trustworthy behavior. The basketball team never had to apologize to any hotel staff." (This last statement is a reference to an episode in which several of his fellow skaters, attending an away game, threw plastic containers of cream into a hotel's swimming pool.) Miriam Anzovin, 17, is a self-motivated homeschooled student who also has a strong opinion about the negative encounters that pass as "socialization" in most modern schools. She has been a homeschooler for three years and previously attended both private and public schools. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. "The mindless self-interest of some teenagers I've met, who attend high school, certainly does not make me want to go back. I found that when I was in school the cliques and social hierarchy bring out the worst in people. When I left school, it was as if somebody had yelled 'wake up already' at me. The things that get in the way of getting an education, like dating and parent bashing, were gone," notes Miriam. Miriam is the middle child in a close-knit Jewish family. Her older brother, Raf Anzovin, who was also homeschooled, founded a computer animation studio during his teen years and counts Apple Computer among his clients. In addition to applying herself to traditional high school subjects like biology and literature, Miriam is a serious student of Hebrew and Judaic studies. "Homeschooling also allowed me to practice my religion unimpeded by school rules and ignorant faculty members," she says. She is learning Filipino martial arts and American kenpo karate, and plans to begin training in Krav Maga, the Israeli system of self-defense. Miriam would like to become Hollywood's first "Orthodox Jewish fight choreographer." She directed, edited, and starred in "Sisters of Fury," a short action film in which two warriors battle for a priceless artifact. Bonnie MacDonald, 15, is a member of the MacDonald Family Singers, a homeschooling family with eight children, ages 3 to 18, who perform bluegrass, gospel, and classical music. The ten MacDonalds live in Orange, Massachusetts. Concerts typically take place at churches, malls, birthday parties, and nursing homes. Bonnie, an alto, fingers the the trumpet, saxophone, harmonica, piano, and flute. She divides her free time between being a webmistress, volunteering at a community clothing center, and playing in local orchestras. She enjoys a close relationship with her older sister, Carol, and her mother, Laurie. The MacDonald's homeschooling style falls between unschooling and highly structured, so, in addition to academics, the family enjoys crafts and fixing things like tree houses, soda machines, car transmissions, and appliances. Bonnie appreciates the get-up-and-go attitude that homeschooling has given her. "Homeschooling teaches you to teach yourself," says Bonnie. "I can also concentrate on the areas I don't do well in." Like the other girls, Naomi and Miriam, she is unimpressed by the behavior of most government school students. "Most of the kids I see from public school don't know how to talk. They aren't trained to think and have no sense of who they are or where they're going," she observes. Kyle Williams, age 14, resides in Guthrie, Oklahoma. He is a political columnist for WorldNetDaily, an Internet news site. His weekly commentary is titled "Veritas." He has written about the issue of socialization and made this pointed observation: "Maybe if public schools learned from homeschoolers 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." Kyle is the third of three children and is taught by his mother, Debbie Williams. Typically, he begins his lessons around 8:30 a.m. and studies subjects like constitutional law, economics, algebra, and composition. His afternoons are spent playing sports, going to church activities, and catching up on current events. "I was dying to get published in print or on a popular web site. I emailed my stuff to (editor) Joseph Farah with no expectations of being a columnist. But we talked for several days, and then I talked with the commentary editor. The rest is history," explains Kyle of how he became the site's youngest writer. In addition to penning opinions, Kyle is writing a book for Thomas Nelson Publishers. His topic? The culture wars. Kyle, who traveled to Washington, D.C. to deliver a speech before the National Press Club, thinks that homeschooling has broadened him as a person. "I'm able to communicate better with adults and children, learn necessary life skills, and become closer to my family." He says that apart from the responsibility of "having to cook my own lunch," he is content to learn at home. His future goals include attending law school after he earns a degree in journalism. No doubt about it. These homeschooled teens are enthusiastic about their lifestyle. They are also preparing themselves, early in life, for adulthood. As Miriam puts it, "I think that high school just puts off the inevitable in terms of organizing your life, being responsible, and learning how to be self-directed." Isabel Lyman, author of The Homeschooling Revolution, can be reached at ilyman7449@aol.com. She lives in western Massachusetts. |
But at least you're honest enough to admit it. The NEA and other educrats believe that parents aren't qualified to teach their own children, and that's what most homeschoolers get their defenses up about. I feel that, unless proven otherwise, every parent is doing what they think is right for their children. If everyone felt the way you did, there would be no need for threads such as these. Thanks.
Think about it. The Phoenicians were world traders. Why them instead of the Greeks (who were better situated)? Cedar, and no other reason. Toredo worms and rot fungi don't like cedar so the ships stay intact. Take care of that forest or else lose the edge. Once you've got that edge propagate it through port facilities to North Africa (Carthage), Sicily, Gibralter, and onward. Then there was the eastward route through the Indian Ocean to the coast of South America. With them they took the Hebrews. There are found pyramids and glyphs EXACTLY reminiscent of those of the Middle East. There it is: economics, resource biology, and the diffusion of cultures worldwide.
The Babylonians made money on agriculture. Why? The rivers. When they built a city what did they need? Wood for roofs and metals for tools. They had river transportation but needed conquest to acquire the goods. When their supply lines got strung out, when they got lazy from the easy life, and they had something worth stealing, in came the Hittites on charriots followed by the Assyrians. Why were the latter successful? Iron weapons.
Economy, resources technology. It's the real story of history that all those "historians" seem to forget with their obsessions about culture and religion. Just because it's boring to historians and archaeologists doesn't mean that it isn't the engine of history.
That doesn't change the pivotal role catastrophes have had in shaping history such as cometary or meteoritic impacts, and volcanism. The resulting weather changes destroy crops and cause those annoying famines you read about in the Bible.
We don't have a good grip on the quantitative consequences of these events as relates to the political fallout. This is, in part, because of the many different types of archaeologists involved, each with their own politics, much less considering the astrophysicists. We have a FReeper (blam) who is doing a quite a job of chronicling papers as they become available. They are indexed and I will try to get you the list name.
You're welcome. Ernest_at_the_Beach set that up. Unfortunately, I never could understand the instructions on how to place articles in there and Ernest got tired of 'carrying-my-water', so, things aren't placed in there much any more. I keep some things bookmarked on my profile page.
We have homeschooled - just not high school. Even with all the children in school, I would still be out there lobbying for the right to homeschool (the NEA can go stuff a sock where the sun don't shine.) I want a trap door personally, as well as believing that parents are the ones to decide. It would be nice if we lived in an area with a wider variety of older homeschoolers, but that's life - nichevo as the Russians say. : )
And keep up the good work.
I do not intend on insulting you, however, as a homeschooler it is important that the public understand Homeschooling is a movement , not just about WHERE we choose to educate our children.
Homeschool is a lifestyle. We choose not to take no for an answer. We choose to overcome obstacles. We choose not to take the easy way of raising our children. We choose to allow our children to direct their own lives and not have to answer to government institutions.
There is so much more to our children's lives than having friendships with other people exactly like themselves , " friends"that will be only around for a few years.
Homeschooling is not for everyone, and it is very time consuming and taxing at times. Homeschooling is a choice, and some people ( few) do not have the luxuary of choices. However, I can't take the socialization excuse anymore. If you really thought homeschooling was right for your kids you would find a way to do it. That is the type of Gusto that is needed for homeschooling in the first place. Our Homeschool moto is ... " if we can get a man to the moon, then anything is possible. You may have to work at it ... so get busy."
We aren't doing either. Our dd is in 9th grade and our ds is in 7th. They attended school up until two years ago, when we began h/sing. We get our ds together with a friend from his old school sometimes, but most of his 'socialization' comes from Boy Scouts and a get together we have once a week or so with two or three other h/sing families. It isn't a formal homeschool group, we just get together for FUN! The kids play games or run around outside if its nice, and the moms and dad just chat. It is very relaxing, and no one has any particular responsibilities. Our dd had made friends with one of these girls from Girl Scouts before we ever knew she was homeschooled! Neither of our kids play sports, so they don't have a whole lot of friends, other than the homeschooled ones, but they are content. Our dd had such BAD socialization experiences in school, she's just as happy to be left alone!
All that having been said, sometimes h/sing won't work out; not every family can or wants to do it. We h/sers have to be less judgemental of others who are not h/sing. Being pushy or ugly about it certainly won't win folks over!
=)
Not socializing into todays society isn't necessarily bad; but even given that statement, there are other possibilities: Boy Scouts, Church Groups, Community Theatres, Community Classes (swimming, etc). Also, I believe that because you pay taxes your child is entitled to participate in whatever classes you want him/her to in the local school. The fact is, you do not have to dump your child at the town education refuse area to get interaction. Even if there was no opportunity to socialize, no socialization is better than bad socilalization.
God Bless from a fairly new Home Schooler (just started in September).
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