Posted on 12/09/2002 11:24:05 AM PST by hsmomx3
There are too many people you don't want your kids to socialize with and they come in all races.
I'm not sold on homeschooling but I would do almost anything to avoid sending them to what we have now, and I told my adult children that. Grade schools aren't too bad if you can compensate at home for the propaganda that doesn't have anything to do with learning, but once they get to junior high and beyond, they are at serious risk for all sorts of negative influences.
The public schools contribute to crime, drugs and teenage pregnancies because of their policies.
sociopathic male teenage felons have doubled in vermont---
"the influence of NEA in... shaping(edu-thug-alert)---the future of American education."
"Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont was named the NEA friend of education recipient for his efforts to fight vouchers and cuts to federal education funding."
"With its Legislative Program, the NEA takes an active role in responding to issues that affect the quality of public education, student achievement, the rights of employees in the workplace, and other policy concerns."
“We strive to create a program that gives lobbyists the flexibility they need to respond to emerging issues,” said Gail Rasmussen of the Standing Committee on Legislation..."
good grief!
We homeschooled our oldest daughter from 4th grade until 9th grade. In 10th grade we put her back in the public system. We realized several things that caused us to make this decision.
1. we reached a limit in what we were able to teach with confidence
2. We could not afford to pay for the supplements needed to fill in the gaps we could not provide
3. The supplemental program we could afford was not accredited.
Those were the major concerns. If our daughter's only desire was to be a home-maker we would have continued down the homeschool path (not a commentary on all home-school families), however, she is career minded.
Having said all that - I was not surprised when we announced our decision to the local homeschool community. We were suddenly 'unclean.' I look back and laugh now - our daughter's doing great! She hasn't become 'the spawn of satan' through the public school's influence and she's developing a great reputation among her teachers. She was hand-picked to travel to Spain with a small group.
We have opted to put our younger ones in public school as well. They are doing well and I find that I tend to be a worse influence on them than their friends. My humor can be kind of gross (according to my wife) and they've found they cannot tell my jokes at school.
HOMESCHOOLING MIGHT:
1. Deprive the child of important social experiences
My niece is involved in church activities like choir, and regularly gets together with other homeschooled children her age for educational field trips and joint lessons.
2. Isolate the student from other social/ethnic groups
Hard to be isolated when you're regularly socializing with other children of other social and ethnic groups.
3. Deny students the full range of curriculum experiences and materials
What full range? She's missing out on the "Earth as God" curriculum? So math, science, history, art, music, reading, etc., aren't full enough for a 6-year-old? Her curriculum was created by the Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School, and is approved (reluctantly, no doubt) by the powers that be.
4. Provide education by non-certified and unqualified persons
Well, I guess that could happen, but my sister has a master's degree and has taught college courses. So what if she doesn't have teacher "certification"? Public school teachers are certified, and I don't see very great results there.
5. Create an additional burden on school administrators whose duties include the enforcement of compulsory school attendance laws
Perhaps these school administrators should lay off homeschooling parents, and give themselves a break.
6. Not permit effective assessment of academic standards of quality
An "assessor" periodically reviews coursework with my sister and even speaks with my niece to make sure she's actually learning something. The other day, my niece read her a long paragraph, providing her own commentary of what she thought of it.
7. Violate health and safety standards
That happens occasionally in the homes of non-home-schooled kids, too, but I think it's safe to say this is the most pathetic of all the alleged considerations.
8. Not provide accurate diagnosis and planning for meeting the needs of children of special talents, learning difficulties and other conditions requiring atypical educational programs
How do they know? They're already evaluating her progress. If she wasn't learning her words, numbers, etc., it would have become evident. As for special talents, that's why she goes to ballet class every Saturday.
That list was absolutely laughable. They could just as well have said that public schooling can be dangerous because school buses might be involved in traffic accidents. Hmmm ...
Non-certified by WHO?
And I suppose 4 years of courses like early-morning birdcalls makes a teacher qualified? How's about requiring them to know something about the subject they're teaching?
The only reason for public schools in the first place is that it's SUPPOSED to be cheaper to pool the resources than to have each family have to bear their own overhead expenses. The fact that some are doing a better job paying their education taxes PLUS successfully schooling their kids at home is a blatant rebuke of the public school system.
Of course school officials (who don't realize who they're working for) don't like it.
One of the things that strikes me about ALL of these points is that every single one might apply to any given school. I am entirely confident that a moderate amount of research could find mainstream reporting (as opposed to anecdotal evidence), testifying to exactly these flaws in public schools across the country. In fact, I'll bet the NAESP has cited some of these problems in public schools themselves as a justification for some piece of education funding or legislation. Anyone care to dig into it and find out?
If fear about these issues ought to make one reluctant to homeschool, one ought to be equally fearful about public schooling. And that is long before one looks at the particular problems in the public schools today that homeschoolers seem to be avoiding.
Now there's a laugher. The first two listed are " social engineering " not scholastic. Much of the list is "union whining". As to number four, the public schools violate that one at will.
Homeschooled kids outperform kids in public highschool. Yep, the rank amatures beat the professeional teachers. Must be embarassing.
Now think if this were any other profession where the know-nothing amatuers could consistently outperform the "professionals".
Two of my homeschool children ceased being homeschooled this last September. Both kids (one - starting 12th grade, and the second, starting 11th grade ) - starting taking college classes at the local Community College under the Washington State "Running Start" program.
The 12th grader is having fun and doing "okay". .. so much for the problems with home-schoolers fitting in. The 11th grader's biggest problem is he is known as the "curve-spoiler" in all 3 classes that he is taking!! (but it is hardly the problem that it would be in high school - where there is more adversarial pressure against top performers.)
It feels good to have 2 finish up after being only home-schooled, and see them very successful in making the transition to college.
Mike
An amateur, as the word means, does something for love. As John Gatto pointed out, public education is a vast public works/make-work jobs program for folks either unable or unwilling to do something useful. Only a minority of the NEA membership consists of teachers. More than half are "educators," who do not serve in the classroom. They find it hard to compete with people who fanatically love their kids, their God, and knowledge.
BTW -- how many "Smedleys" are there out there anyways?
So I started the practice, every week, of
Dan
(PS -- with apologies, I think, to AppyPappy!)
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