Were You Home-Schooled? (1 Viewer)

[johnnycakes]

Home schooled kids around here participate on the public school sports teams and in other public school activities.

They can around here to too.

Lord help us.. let's hope home schooling works better than it did for this guy.

 

[msommer]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

 

[mr roboto]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

They do pay for public schools. And if you send your kid to private school or homeschool, most of the time you don't get a rebate.

 

[lombardi]

KCiton and worm are also right about efficiency.

In H.S. there are tracks and there is a place for the applied and advanced student. Until then it's one big pot and everyone learns at the slowest kids pace. My son was reading a book every two days in his last year of school because when his work was done he had nothing else to do but read. I know he is lucky. He has two parents at home, we're not drug addicts, he is loved and provided for. I'm not saying he is the second coming of Einstein. But we live in a less than affluent town full of addiction, broken homes, and every other pathology plaguing our society. So my son has to wait while the uncontrollable kid who screams and hits his mother is dealt with, until the kid who hasn't handed in a piece of homework for 2 months understands the concept.

Also, testing is a problem in public schools. My entire school is obsessed with "the test". The pressure is so intense that teachers and administrators are getting arrested for fudging tens of thousands of tests (see Atlanta). Our school districts superintendent was let go 2 years ago for fudging tests before they were sent to the state. So with all of this pressure where do the resources go? The schools spend 90% of their resources on the lowest denominator. There is more bang for the buck for the school to get a kid from a 40% up to a 78% than getting the 90 percentile kid up to the 98th percentile. It's the same reason music programs are disappearing (like ours), field trips, and sadly advanced education programs. The honors programs have become an afterthought. It helps get the average score up but in the long run we're stunting the growth of the kid who IS the next great mind who may cure cancer or solve the energy crisis.

When you add up all the time my kid spends doing nothing in a school day it far outweighs the actual work and learning time. He does twice as much actual work now in half of the time.

Lots of great reasons but this is one of the best.

I also know friends who are doing it for the opposite reasons. Kids who struggle in a large classroom, families with special needs kids, all kinds of reasons.

 

[msommer]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

They do pay for public schools. And if you send your kid to private school or homeschool, most of the time you don't get a rebate.

So what you are saying is that

1) the public schools suck or

2) the public schools might teach my kids something I don't want them to learn (e.g. the world is more than 6000 years old or the moon is made of green cheese) (this is really a variant of 1)

3) 'I' can do this better than trained professionals (because of smaller classes) (another variant of 1)

Why not work on 1?

 

[lombardi]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

What? My taxes do pay for public school. I'm just pointing out that you said your country provides school for free and that nothing the government gives you is free, you're paying for it through taxes.

Of course there is nobody in this country who would pay $16k a year for the education their kid is receiving in the public school. People just don't see it that way.

 

[mr roboto]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

They do pay for public schools. And if you send your kid to private school or homeschool, most of the time you don't get a rebate.

So what you are saying is that1) the public schools suck or

2) the public schools might teach my kids something I don't want them to learn (e.g. the world is more than 6000 years old or the moon is made of green cheese) (this is really a variant of 1)

3) 'I' can do this better than trained professionals (because of smaller classes) (another variant of 1)

Why not work on 1?

. Well sure. Let me get right on that task of changing public schooling philosophy.

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

I'm not sure that the worst aspect of home schooling is lack of socializing, but the lack of participation in class discussions with a variety of view points. Even bad ones. Learning isn't all about reading, doing workbook exercises, and passing tests.

 

[msommer]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

They do pay for public schools. And if you send your kid to private school or homeschool, most of the time you don't get a rebate.

So what you are saying is that1) the public schools suck or

2) the public schools might teach my kids something I don't want them to learn (e.g. the world is more than 6000 years old or the moon is made of green cheese) (this is really a variant of 1)

3) 'I' can do this better than trained professionals (because of smaller classes) (another variant of 1)

Why not work on 1?

. Well sure. Let me get right on that task of changing public schooling philosophy.

I know you won't quit because the task is difficult

 

[KCitons]

Home schooled kids around here participate on the public school sports teams and in other public school activities.

They can around here to too. 2

Lord help us.. let's hope home schooling works better than it did for this guy.

Yes, help us with the public school kids' texting that spills over to homework.

 

[lombardi]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

They do pay for public schools. And if you send your kid to private school or homeschool, most of the time you don't get a rebate.

So what you are saying is that

1) the public schools suck or

2) the public schools might teach my kids something I don't want them to learn (e.g. the world is more than 6000 years old or the moon is made of green cheese) (this is really a variant of 1)

3) 'I' can do this better than trained professionals (because of smaller classes) (another variant of 1)

Why not work on 1?

1 Millions of kids get a great education in the public school system. Millions of kids would be hard to reach in any school system because of their environment at home. However, if you compare cost vs. result I would say based on that alone the public school system is seriously flawed and getting worse.

2. You can continue to cast aspersions about faith all you want but denying that there is a serious difference in belief systems in this country, both spiritually and civically, is naive. The school system, at least in the Northeast where I live, is completely controlled by one side of the political spectrum. It's a reality and I feel a need to protect my children from indoctrination at a young age until they're taught how to think and reason on their own. Now you may think yours is a superior viewpoint and that it's better for society, I disagree and I also warn that the pendulum swings and you wouldn't feel that way if the political atmosphere reversed itself.

3. I don't want to disparage teachers but let's not pretend they're all Jaime Escalante. My kids have had some great teachers, so did I, very inspiring people. They've also had just as many teachers who were doing time at a job they hate until their retirement comes in. I think the current public school system is hurting teachers. My school has really taken a turn for the worse. Teachers who used to enjoy their job and were engaged have been beat down and have had all of the joy removed from their jobs. They're locked into rigid, inflexible curriculum, everything they do is judged by a test that only evaluates 2 basic skills, and it's almost impossible to control a classroom of 20-30 kids in our current social climate. Add to that the constant out of control spending on administrators, assistants to administrators, and every other level of bureaucracy that continues to reduce spending on things that are really important like classroom suppliers and teacher salaries. Talk to some teachers, generally speaking they're not a happy bunch of people and their job is just getting more difficult. Yes, I'm positive I can do a better job, at least at this age.

 

[proninja]

Unsurprising to open the the thread and see roboto posting just about exactly what I was going to.

 

[mr roboto]

Public schools do a great job given their challenges IMO. They have to teach every kid, in large groups, standard learning path, despite massive difference in children's ability to learn, home life, outside influences, constant pressure from public to underfund education etc. Given the task they are trying to accomplish, they do very well.

But the format is no where close to the optimal format for the individual child.

 

[lombardi]

I'm not sure that the worst aspect of home schooling is lack of socializing, but the lack of participation in class discussions with a variety of view points. Even bad ones. Learning isn't all about reading, doing workbook exercises, and passing tests.

I agree with this to an extent. Much of this is counter balanced by the one on one attention my kids get. Part of school is debating, writing papers and discussing them, reading through history texts withe their siblings and discussing it. I think this becomes more important as they get older and there are many home school groups that provide that give and take and even a classroom setting. Co-ops, youth group, debate clubs, other clubs like robotics, programming, advanced science, chess, etc.. Most of the home schoolers I know spend a part of the week outside the home in some kind of group setting. Before we went out on the road my kids were part of a weekly science club and if we stayed home we would certainly be a part of the Co-op at our church.

But my 13 and 11 year old discuss, debate, and learn a lot together, they work through things with us, and they are being exposed to a TON of different viewpoints and information as they travel around the country. I don't discount your criticism but I think it's available to most home schoolers through alternative methods.

 

[Buckfast 1]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

They do pay for public schools. And if you send your kid to private school or homeschool, most of the time you don't get a rebate.

So what you are saying is that1) the public schools suck or

2) the public schools might teach my kids something I don't want them to learn (e.g. the world is more than 6000 years old or the moon is made of green cheese) (this is really a variant of 1)

3) 'I' can do this better than trained professionals (because of smaller classes) (another variant of 1)

Why not work on 1?

1 Millions of kids get a great education in the public school system. Millions of kids would be hard to reach in any school system because of their environment at home. However, if you compare cost vs. result I would say based on that alone the public school system is seriously flawed and getting worse.

2. You can continue to cast aspersions about faith all you want but denying that there is a serious difference in belief systems in this country, both spiritually and civically, is naive. The school system, at least in the Northeast where I live, is completely controlled by one side of the political spectrum. It's a reality and I feel a need to protect my children from indoctrination at a young age until they're taught how to think and reason on their own. Now you may think yours is a superior viewpoint and that it's better for society, I disagree and I also warn that the pendulum swings and you wouldn't feel that way if the political atmosphere reversed itself.

3. I don't want to disparage teachers but let's not pretend they're all Jaime Escalante. My kids have had some great teachers, so did I, very inspiring people. They've also had just as many teachers who were doing time at a job they hate until their retirement comes in. I think the current public school system is hurting teachers. My school has really taken a turn for the worse. Teachers who used to enjoy their job and were engaged have been beat down and have had all of the joy removed from their jobs. They're locked into rigid, inflexible curriculum, everything they do is judged by a test that only evaluates 2 basic skills, and it's almost impossible to control a classroom of 20-30 kids in our current social climate. Add to that the constant out of control spending on administrators, assistants to administrators, and every other level of bureaucracy that continues to reduce spending on things that are really important like classroom suppliers and teacher salaries. Talk to some teachers, generally speaking they're not a happy bunch of people and their job is just getting more difficult. Yes, I'm positive I can do a better job, at least at this age.

You've got to protect your children from liberal indoctrination by indoctrinating them with your own religious homeschooling?

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

I'm not sure that the worst aspect of home schooling is lack of socializing, but the lack of participation in class discussions with a variety of view points. Even bad ones. Learning isn't all about reading, doing workbook exercises, and passing tests.

I agree with this to an extent. Much of this is counter balanced by the one on one attention my kids get. Part of school is debating, writing papers and discussing them, reading through history texts withe their siblings and discussing it. I think this becomes more important as they get older and there are many home school groups that provide that give and take and even a classroom setting. Co-ops, youth group, debate clubs, other clubs like robotics, programming, advanced science, chess, etc.. Most of the home schoolers I know spend a part of the week outside the home in some kind of group setting. Before we went out on the road my kids were part of a weekly science club and if we stayed home we would certainly be a part of the Co-op at our church.

But my 13 and 11 year old discuss, debate, and learn a lot together, they work through things with us, and they are being exposed to a TON of different viewpoints and information as they travel around the country. I don't discount your criticism but I think it's available to most home schoolers through alternative methods.

Well the criticism isn't limited to just home schooling as there are "work book schools" that have no counter balance. And, while I agree that such alternatives are available to most at least in theory, I'm not sure I trust that most home schooled/work book school students are consistently offered these alternative. Hopefully my instincts here are wrong.

 

[cstu]

no but my kids were for a time

13-18 seem like good ages for home-schooling.

No. Do you want them to be socially inept?

My daughter? Yes.

Maybe I'll compromise and send her to an all girls school.

I recommend Catholic All Girls school. I had a lot of luck with those girls.

Believe me, it wouldn't be a religious school.

 

[proninja]

We do not yet have kids, but my wife and I were both homeschooled for periods of time as kids, and we plan on homeschooling.

Given the facts that:

1. We are smarter than the average schoolteacher

2. We will care more about our kids than any schoolteacher

3. We won't have to divide our attention 30 ways

4. We will get them for the whole day, rather than in short blocks for different subjects

I think it's painfully obvious that my kids will receive a better education at home from an intelligent, motivated, loving set of parents who make this choice for the betterment of their kids. Roboto posted studies that show the facts bear this out. So that's what I will do. There are massive amounts of fantastic resources available for homeschooling parents these days. There are coops and private schools that teach subjects the parents may not be well versed in. Let's not pretend that the only reason to do it is so you can shelter your kids from the real world and teach them that Jesus rode around on a dinosuar clubbing gay people. Practically speaking, many homeschool kids get a better education than those who go to the public school system. Things like reading, writing, and math.

Homeschooling is not for everybody. It's a lot of work. If the parents aren't committed to it, the kids are probably better off at public school. I think public schools are fantastic, because not every kid has two parents. Many kids don't have parents whose work schedules even make it possible. Many parents don't think they can do it. Many parents really, really want a babysitter for most of the afternoon, and public schools are a great babysitter.

Homeschooling requires a huge investment in time and some investment in money on top of your taxes funding the public school system, but some are willing to do it because they think they can do better by their kids than the public school system. Good for them.

 

[Bottomfeeder Sports]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

They do pay for public schools. And if you send your kid to private school or homeschool, most of the time you don't get a rebate.

So what you are saying is that

1) the public schools suck or

2) the public schools might teach my kids something I don't want them to learn (e.g. the world is more than 6000 years old or the moon is made of green cheese) (this is really a variant of 1)

3) 'I' can do this better than trained professionals (because of smaller classes) (another variant of 1)

Why not work on 1?

1 Millions of kids get a great education in the public school system. Millions of kids would be hard to reach in any school system because of their environment at home. However, if you compare cost vs. result I would say based on that alone the public school system is seriously flawed and getting worse.

2. You can continue to cast aspersions about faith all you want but denying that there is a serious difference in belief systems in this country, both spiritually and civically, is naive. The school system, at least in the Northeast where I live, is completely controlled by one side of the political spectrum. It's a reality and I feel a need to protect my children from indoctrination at a young age until they're taught how to think and reason on their own. Now you may think yours is a superior viewpoint and that it's better for society, I disagree and I also warn that the pendulum swings and you wouldn't feel that way if the political atmosphere reversed itself.

3. I don't want to disparage teachers but let's not pretend they're all Jaime Escalante. My kids have had some great teachers, so did I, very inspiring people. They've also had just as many teachers who were doing time at a job they hate until their retirement comes in. I think the current public school system is hurting teachers. My school has really taken a turn for the worse. Teachers who used to enjoy their job and were engaged have been beat down and have had all of the joy removed from their jobs. They're locked into rigid, inflexible curriculum, everything they do is judged by a test that only evaluates 2 basic skills, and it's almost impossible to control a classroom of 20-30 kids in our current social climate. Add to that the constant out of control spending on administrators, assistants to administrators, and every other level of bureaucracy that continues to reduce spending on things that are really important like classroom suppliers and teacher salaries. Talk to some teachers, generally speaking they're not a happy bunch of people and their job is just getting more difficult. Yes, I'm positive I can do a better job, at least at this age.

#3 is because your side of the political spectrum imposed "accountability" on the system. And #2 pretty much tosses the whole "exposed to a TON of different viewpoints and information" out the window.

 

[KCitons]

I'm not sure that the worst aspect of home schooling is lack of socializing, but the lack of participation in class discussions with a variety of view points. Even bad ones. Learning isn't all about reading, doing workbook exercises, and passing tests.

I agree with this to an extent. Much of this is counter balanced by the one on one attention my kids get. Part of school is debating, writing papers and discussing them, reading through history texts withe their siblings and discussing it. I think this becomes more important as they get older and there are many home school groups that provide that give and take and even a classroom setting. Co-ops, youth group, debate clubs, other clubs like robotics, programming, advanced science, chess, etc.. Most of the home schoolers I know spend a part of the week outside the home in some kind of group setting. Before we went out on the road my kids were part of a weekly science club and if we stayed home we would certainly be a part of the Co-op at our church.

But my 13 and 11 year old discuss, debate, and learn a lot together, they work through things with us, and they are being exposed to a TON of different viewpoints and information as they travel around the country. I don't discount your criticism but I think it's available to most home schoolers through alternative methods.

Well the criticism isn't limited to just home schooling as there are "work book schools" that have no counter balance. And, while I agree that such alternatives are available to most at least in theory, I'm not sure I trust that most home schooled/work book school students are consistently offered these alternative. Hopefully my instincts here are wrong.

You are correct in your assumption. Depending on what curriculum a parent chooses, it still falls to the parent to recognize the shortcomings and take steps to add to it. Similar to lombardi, I have a 17 year old daughter and 15 year old twin boys. They rarely agree on anything, So the discussions can be interesting to watch.

 

[cstu]

no but my kids were for a time

13-18 seem like good ages for home-schooling.

Oof. That's the worst time.

I kind of agree with this.

I'm kidding. The flip side is doesn't seem strange to keep them at home and then release them to the hounds at puberty.

 

[cstu]

2. You can continue to cast aspersions about faith all you want but denying that there is a serious difference in belief systems in this country, both spiritually and civically, is naive. The school system, at least in the Northeast where I live, is completely controlled by one side of the political spectrum. It's a reality and I feel a need to protect my children from indoctrination at a young age until they're taught how to think and reason on their own. Now you may think yours is a superior viewpoint and that it's better for society, I disagree and I also warn that the pendulum swings and you wouldn't feel that way if the political atmosphere reversed itself.

 

[proninja]

I'm not sure that the worst aspect of home schooling is lack of socializing, but the lack of participation in class discussions with a variety of view points. Even bad ones. Learning isn't all about reading, doing workbook exercises, and passing tests.

I agree with this to an extent. Much of this is counter balanced by the one on one attention my kids get. Part of school is debating, writing papers and discussing them, reading through history texts withe their siblings and discussing it. I think this becomes more important as they get older and there are many home school groups that provide that give and take and even a classroom setting. Co-ops, youth group, debate clubs, other clubs like robotics, programming, advanced science, chess, etc.. Most of the home schoolers I know spend a part of the week outside the home in some kind of group setting. Before we went out on the road my kids were part of a weekly science club and if we stayed home we would certainly be a part of the Co-op at our church.

But my 13 and 11 year old discuss, debate, and learn a lot together, they work through things with us, and they are being exposed to a TON of different viewpoints and information as they travel around the country. I don't discount your criticism but I think it's available to most home schoolers through alternative methods.

Well the criticism isn't limited to just home schooling as there are "work book schools" that have no counter balance. And, while I agree that such alternatives are available to most at least in theory, I'm not sure I trust that most home schooled/work book school students are consistently offered these alternative. Hopefully my instincts here are wrong.

In the trivium of a classical education, it's next to impossible to get out without disagreeing. Read up on the grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages of learning. You teach the kids how to learn and think for themselves.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classical-education/

Classical education is not commonly known in the US, and it's absolutely not the way we teach kids in the public school, but it's next to impossible to learn logic and rhetoric without disagreeing.

edit: Here, I'll post it

The first years of schooling are called the “grammar stage” — not because you spend four years doing English, but because these are the years in which the building blocks for all other learning are laid, just as grammar is the foundation for language. In the elementary school years — what we commonly think of as grades one through four — the mind is ready to absorb information. Children at this age actually find memorization fun. So during this period, education involves not self-expression and self-discovery, but rather the learning of facts. Rules of phonics and spelling, rules of grammar, poems, the vocabulary of foreign languages, the stories of history and literature, descriptions of plants and animals and the human body, the facts of mathematics — the list goes on. This information makes up the “grammar,” or the basic building blocks, for the second stage of education.

By fifth grade, a child’s mind begins to think more analytically. Middle-school students are less interested in finding out facts than in asking “Why?” The second phase of the classical education, the “Logic Stage,” is a time when the child begins to pay attention to cause and effect, to the relationships between different fields of knowledge relate, to the way facts fit together into a logical framework.

A student is ready for the Logic Stage when the capacity for abstract thought begins to mature. During these years, the student begins algebra and the study of logic, and begins to apply logic to all academic subjects. The logic of writing, for example, includes paragraph construction and learning to support a thesis; the logic of reading involves the criticism and analysis of texts, not simple absorption of information; the logic of history demands that the student find out why the War of 1812 was fought, rather than simply reading its story; the logic of science requires that the child learn the scientific method.

The final phase of a classical education, the “Rhetoric Stage,” builds on the first two. At this point, the high school student learns to write and speak with force and originality. The student of rhetoric applies the rules of logic learned in middle school to the foundational information learned in the early grades and expresses his conclusions in clear, forceful, elegant language. Students also begin to specialize in whatever branch of knowledge attracts them; these are the years for art camps, college courses, foreign travel, apprenticeships, and other forms of specialized training.

 

[lombardi]

Whatever. I'm not from the US and in our constitution the state is required to give you nine years of education. For free, And by the way it's a pretty decent quality.

The rest of the education (through university) is free too, So here, the only reason you would be home schooled is if your parent were religious nuts.

So, please, educate me on why it makes sense to keep your children inside your house for whatever education you as parents deem fit to give them.

First of all it's not free, you're paying for it through your taxes. Just as I'm paying in NJ for the 3rd highest per student spending in the nation... $15,968 per kid per year. I have 3 kids, I spent about $1200 on curriculum this year. I don't know if my kids are going to be Rhodes scholars but they're all learning either on pace or at an advanced pace compared to their public school curriculum. We have weekly testing and grading and my kids are doing great so far. I don't anticipate them having any trouble going back to school in 9th grade. My daughter went to school last year after a year of home schooling and she ended up learning absolutely nothing in match we hadn't already covered the year before. I think it will be more work to keep up with the diversity and expertise of the education my kids can get in an above average high school, but until then I don't think there is anything form K-8 that my wife or I am not capable of teaching them as well or better than school. I don't have any experience yet at the high school level but the available material is excellent and I know a lot of really great kids doing fantastic in college who were home schooled their entire lives.

It's not like we're making this stuff up, we buy professional curriculum made specifically for our children's education level. It's not like I'm sitting at the table trying to think of what to teach them today. So a comparable or better education at less than a tenth of the price seems like a good deal to me.

I also don't have to worry about counteracting an ever increasing liberal viewpoint in my children's everyday education. Not just from a religious viewpoint but also from a secular one when it comes to U.S. history and civics. It's no secret that I live in a dyed in blue state that has a strong, liberal teachers union that advocates curriculum and social engineering that doesn't agree with both my spiritual and my civic beliefs.

None of this is why we home school. We began home schooling so we could travel around and give my kids the adventure of a lifetime. We spent a year on the road and just started our second year out in July, it's been amazing. This was our reason for home schooling. All of these other benefits were just gravy. I came to it reluctantly, after doing it I would recommend it to anyone who has the time and inclination to do it.

So you are saying your taxes don't pay for public schools. RIght. I guess that settles the argument right there.

They do pay for public schools. And if you send your kid to private school or homeschool, most of the time you don't get a rebate.

So what you are saying is that1) the public schools suck or

2) the public schools might teach my kids something I don't want them to learn (e.g. the world is more than 6000 years old or the moon is made of green cheese) (this is really a variant of 1)

3) 'I' can do this better than trained professionals (because of smaller classes) (another variant of 1)

Why not work on 1?

1 Millions of kids get a great education in the public school system. Millions of kids would be hard to reach in any school system because of their environment at home. However, if you compare cost vs. result I would say based on that alone the public school system is seriously flawed and getting worse.

2. You can continue to cast aspersions about faith all you want but denying that there is a serious difference in belief systems in this country, both spiritually and civically, is naive. The school system, at least in the Northeast where I live, is completely controlled by one side of the political spectrum. It's a reality and I feel a need to protect my children from indoctrination at a young age until they're taught how to think and reason on their own. Now you may think yours is a superior viewpoint and that it's better for society, I disagree and I also warn that the pendulum swings and you wouldn't feel that way if the political atmosphere reversed itself.

3. I don't want to disparage teachers but let's not pretend they're all Jaime Escalante. My kids have had some great teachers, so did I, very inspiring people. They've also had just as many teachers who were doing time at a job they hate until their retirement comes in. I think the current public school system is hurting teachers. My school has really taken a turn for the worse. Teachers who used to enjoy their job and were engaged have been beat down and have had all of the joy removed from their jobs. They're locked into rigid, inflexible curriculum, everything they do is judged by a test that only evaluates 2 basic skills, and it's almost impossible to control a classroom of 20-30 kids in our current social climate. Add to that the constant out of control spending on administrators, assistants to administrators, and every other level of bureaucracy that continues to reduce spending on things that are really important like classroom suppliers and teacher salaries. Talk to some teachers, generally speaking they're not a happy bunch of people and their job is just getting more difficult. Yes, I'm positive I can do a better job, at least at this age.

You've got to protect your children from liberal indoctrination by indoctrinating them with your own religious homeschooling?

Absolutely. It's ridiculous that people think they're not teaching their kids things and they're letting them decide on their own. Please, stop it. Everything you do teaches them. If you decide to intentionally not teach them about something you're teaching them that that thing is just not that important or is something they're not old enough to learn yet.

It's your job as a parent to raise a child to be a responsible adult who values the things you feel are important. We all do this whether we try or not, at least I'm intentional and don't deny my beliefs or pretend they don't exist.

 

[lombardi]

no but my kids were for a time

13-18 seem like good ages for home-schooling.

Oof. That's the worst time.

I kind of agree with this.

I'm kidding. The flip side is doesn't seem strange to keep them at home and then release them to the hounds at puberty.

Our thought process is that we believe public school are exposing kids to things they're way to young for. Sadly this is necessary in many families where the parents aren't teaching kids these things and their is a danger to the children who are under educated and vulnerable. Some of it is that and some of it is trying to socially engineer the next generation, I would prefer to opt out at an age when my kids are very impressionable and not completely capable, mentally, to disagree with an adult authority figure. I will teach them what I think is appropriate and raise them to think and reason.

I think raising a kid at home for 12 years then unleashing them into a public college is kind of crazy. So we feel like high school is the place where they are old enough to reason, to have some of their own convictions, but still young enough for us to support them and assert some authority when they need protection. Sure, there will be things we're not happy with that they're taught and exposed to but it's going to come eventually and I would rather it happen when I can be an everyday part of my kids lives. When I can see that something is wrong and take my son on a hike and ask him what's up, when I can encourage my daughter as she navigates her first crushes, relationships, and starts deciding how she defines her self worth. After four years of high school they're on their own but hopefully they've gotten enough exposure to the real world to not be shocked by it but have had enough support and mentoring from home to value it when they leave. We'll see.

 

[cstu]

What is it you are afraid of them learning? I honestly don't get 'socially engineering' you're talking about from teachers.

 

[cstu]

You're better than this

You're right, I deleted it.

 

[proninja]

You're better than this

You're right, I deleted it.

So'd I (homeschool grammar)

 

[Guest]

I feel very fortunate to have raised my kids in a small town with very good (public and private) educational systems.

 

[pollardsvision]

I don't think I'd ever choose the homeschooling route, but I don't understand the backlash towards it either.

Sure, there are plenty of morons doing it poorly, but if a parent wants to put in the time and effort to do it well, more power to them. I used to run into a lot homeschooling families in my old job and they were some of the greatest families you'd ever want to meet.

If parents want to spend more time with their children helping to make sure they get a great education, that seems like something to encourage.

 

[Apple Jack]

Tebow was homeschooled while playing for Nease.

 

[James Daulton]

For those who choose to homeschool, how can you teach your children higher level math and science? My daughter is a high school freshman and taking Geometry. By the time she's done school, she'll have been through Calc 2, Physics, Chemistry, and will have 7 years of Spanish. I find it hard to believe that homeschooling can come anywhere near that type of rigorous intellectual curriculum.

 

[DiStefano]

Public school is the answer!:

43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900. (that's pretty good!)

More than a quarter of all U.S. high school students thought that Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean after the year 1750 (brilliant!)

Approximately a third of all U.S. high school students did not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of religion (who cares about them silly things!)

Only 60 percent of all U.S. students knew that World War I was fought some time between 1900 and 1950 (ahh! it's only the world, and there's cheerleading classes to go to.)

What is the supreme law of the land? 28 percent

What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? 26 percent

What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? 27 percent

How many justices are there on the Supreme Court? 10 percent

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? 14 percent

What ocean is on the east coast of the United States? 61 percent

What are the two major political parties in the United States? 43 percent

We elect a U.S. senator for how many years? 11 percent

Who was the first President of the United States? 23 percent

Who is in charge of the executive branch? 29 percent

But you know what? If you add those percentages together, it's more than 100%. Our public school kids is educated.

 

[cstu]

Public school is the answer!:

43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900. (that's pretty good!)

More than a quarter of all U.S. high school students thought that Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean after the year 1750 (brilliant!)

Approximately a third of all U.S. high school students did not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of religion (who cares about them silly things!)

Only 60 percent of all U.S. students knew that World War I was fought some time between 1900 and 1950 (ahh! it's only the world, and there's cheerleading classes to go to.)

What is the supreme law of the land? 28 percent

What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? 26 percent

What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? 27 percent

How many justices are there on the Supreme Court? 10 percent

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? 14 percent

What ocean is on the east coast of the United States? 61 percent

What are the two major political parties in the United States? 43 percent

We elect a U.S. senator for how many years? 11 percent

Who was the first President of the United States? 23 percent

Who is in charge of the executive branch? 29 percent

But you know what? If you add those percentages together, it's more than 100%. Our public school kids is educated.

That's terrible but has anyone done this for home-schooled or private schooled kids?

I believe a lot of those are things parents should be talking to their kids about anyway.

 

[cstu]

I don't think I'd ever choose the homeschooling route, but I don't understand the backlash towards it either.

Sure, there are plenty of morons doing it poorly, but if a parent wants to put in the time and effort to do it well, more power to them. I used to run into a lot homeschooling families in my old job and they were some of the greatest families you'd ever want to meet.

If parents want to spend more time with their children helping to make sure they get a great education, that seems like something to encourage.

For the parents who treat education seriously I have a lot of respect for the parents that do it. The most precious thing you have to give your kids is time and it's tremendous gift.

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

Public school is the answer!:

43 percent of all U.S. high school students knew that the Civil War was fought some time between 1850 and 1900. (that's pretty good!)

More than a quarter of all U.S. high school students thought that Christopher Columbus made his famous voyage across the Atlantic Ocean after the year 1750 (brilliant!)

Approximately a third of all U.S. high school students did not know that the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of religion (who cares about them silly things!)

Only 60 percent of all U.S. students knew that World War I was fought some time between 1900 and 1950 (ahh! it's only the world, and there's cheerleading classes to go to.)

What is the supreme law of the land? 28 percent

What do we call the first ten amendments to the Constitution? 26 percent

What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress? 27 percent

How many justices are there on the Supreme Court? 10 percent

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? 14 percent

What ocean is on the east coast of the United States? 61 percent

What are the two major political parties in the United States? 43 percent

We elect a U.S. senator for how many years? 11 percent

Who was the first President of the United States? 23 percent

Who is in charge of the executive branch? 29 percent

But you know what? If you add those percentages together, it's more than 100%. Our public school kids is educated.

Cite?

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

No, thank god.

parents' aren't too bright, eh?

Somewhere between average and above average I'd say. Certainly smarter than a few posters I could name. And way smarter than every person I ever met claiming they could teach their kids every subject through every grade and do it better than the public schools.

We use a group of home schoolers as babysitters because their schedules are a lot more flexible. I've found they are generally much more intelligent, more personable, more well-rounded, and damn sure know how to hold an adult conversation compared to the average public school kid. And the public schools where I live are rated amongst the best in the country.

 

[KCitons]

For those who choose to homeschool, how can you teach your children higher level math and science? My daughter is a high school freshman and taking Geometry. By the time she's done school, she'll have been through Calc 2, Physics, Chemistry, and will have 7 years of Spanish. I find it hard to believe that homeschooling can come anywhere near that type of rigorous intellectual curriculum.

Every parent is going to find obstacles when homeschooling their kids. When my daughter went through Algebra a couple of years ago, I was reminded of how terrible I was at it in high school. It forced me to relearn a lot of things in order to help her. As a bonus, it paid off for me as well. I was taking college classes at the time and needed to take the math placement test. Scored a 97, due in large part to the Algebra work with my daughter.

I don't think people realize how much homeschooling material is available. Some of it is easy to find and easy to use. Other times, it may require a lot of work by the parent or a tutor. But, I think it's a fair trade off.

I don't think I'd ever choose the homeschooling route, but I don't understand the backlash towards it either.

Sure, there are plenty of morons doing it poorly, but if a parent wants to put in the time and effort to do it well, more power to them. I used to run into a lot homeschooling families in my old job and they were some of the greatest families you'd ever want to meet.

If parents want to spend more time with their children helping to make sure they get a great education, that seems like something to encourage.

For the parents who treat education seriously I have a lot of respect for the parents that do it. The most precious thing you have to give your kids is time and it's tremendous gift.

This might sound a little corny.

But, when my daughter was 17 months old, she was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. She spent nearly a week barely eating and laying around the house. Two trips to the doctors and they found nothing. One pediatrician told me to that she is just being picky about what we are feeding her. I tried everything, even taking her to the giant ball pit she always liked at the family fun center. Finally, after a third visit to different doctor, he recommended we take her to the ER, He feared she had a brain tumor. She spent 4 days in the hospital until her blood sugars came under control. For the first 2 nights, I held her in my arms and didn't leave the hospital entire time. When she woke up, I wanted her to see someone she knew.

I learned two very important things from that experience. Nobody knows my kid better than me and I will do anything to help my kids.

With the exception of a few vacations, I've been a daily part of my kid's lives. I don't know how they will turn out, but I know I've done everything I could to be a positive influence.

 

[James Daulton]

While math and science aren't in every kids future, I think we'd all agree these are critical skills to compete today. I don't think home schooling can adequately prepare kids for this. Do home school parents use tutors or some other outside assistance?

 

[mr roboto]

While math and science aren't in every kids future, I think we'd all agree these are critical skills to compete today. I don't think home schooling can adequately prepare kids for this. Do home school parents use tutors or some other outside assistance?

Yes, outside assistance, co-ops, small group tutors, on-line tutorials, etc. And homeschooled kids perform better in math testing compared to public school kids. So it's incorrect to say that a homeschooled kid can't be adequately prepared.

 

[joffer]

Of course not

Parents>> thank you

 

[Cliff Clavin]

I don't think I'd ever choose the homeschooling route, but I don't understand the backlash towards it either.

Sure, there are plenty of morons doing it poorly, but if a parent wants to put in the time and effort to do it well, more power to them. I used to run into a lot homeschooling families in my old job and they were some of the greatest families you'd ever want to meet.

If parents want to spend more time with their children helping to make sure they get a great education, that seems like something to encourage.

Have you not been reading Lombardi's posts?

 

[Hooper31]

The district I teach in has a program that brings students in for only a few classes called the P3 (parent partnership program). They meet in a separate building away from our high school. Lots of it is done via the web. Students and teachers use webcams to communicate. Some parents utilize the program quite a bit, while some others use it for just math or other subjects. Parents have all the control over the program. Its very popular. We only have about 400 students in our high school while the P3 has over 500. It brings in a lot of money to the district. How the program is funded is controversial in our state and it's seen quite a bit of modification over the past two years.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

While math and science aren't in every kids future, I think we'd all agree these are critical skills to compete today. I don't think home schooling can adequately prepare kids for this. Do home school parents use tutors or some other outside assistance?

There are homeschool groups and the moms will trade off who teaches what. Often there are former teachers in those groups too.

Thinking that public school teachers are better educators than parents is ignorant. There are great teachers out there but most have too many kids in their class and parents are way more capable of educating than many in this thread give them credit for.

 

[Guest]

I believe a kid's education depends on the support they receive at home.

Aren't home school parents just taking this a step farther?

 

[KCitons]

I believe a kid's education depends on the support they receive at home.

Aren't home school parents just taking this a step farther?

Kind of. If the child is in public/private school, then the parent is supporting whatever path the school board, school and teacher has set forth.

In contrast, the home school parents will be the ones to choose the path.

The one thing that I find disturbing about homeschooling is the different regulations from state to state. Some states have very lenient rules on curriculum, testing, and parent qualifications. While others require rigid testing and submitted documentation of progress. I would think with something as important as education, there would be a minimum standard across the board.

 

[Steve Tasker]

I'm not sure that the worst aspect of home schooling is lack of socializing, but the lack of participation in class discussions with a variety of view points. Even bad ones. Learning isn't all about reading, doing workbook exercises, and passing tests.

I don't think this can be discounted. Different students learn in different ways. I was 100% a student who thrived on classroom interaction, different ideas, different questions. I never could've gotten that from a 1-on-1 homeschool situation.

Honestly, how beneficial home-schooling is will depend on the student, I think. Some students will thrive. Some will not. I don't think I would have, and I'm happy with the decisions my parents made when sending me to school.

Note: I was private (Catholic) educated K-12.

 

[DiStefano]

I believe a kid's education depends on the support they receive at home.

Aren't home school parents just taking this a step farther?

Kind of. If the child is in public/private school, then the parent is supporting whatever path the school board, school and teacher has set forth.

In contrast, the home school parents will be the ones to choose the path.

The one thing that I find disturbing about homeschooling is the different regulations from state to state. Some states have very lenient rules on curriculum, testing, and parent qualifications. While others require rigid testing and submitted documentation of progress. I would think with something as important as education, there would be a minimum standard across the board.

But in public schools the teacher's union opposes any idea of minimum standards.

 

[cstu]

I believe a kid's education depends on the support they receive at home.

Aren't home school parents just taking this a step farther?

Kind of. If the child is in public/private school, then the parent is supporting whatever path the school board, school and teacher has set forth.

In contrast, the home school parents will be the ones to choose the path.

The one thing that I find disturbing about homeschooling is the different regulations from state to state. Some states have very lenient rules on curriculum, testing, and parent qualifications. While others require rigid testing and submitted documentation of progress. I would think with something as important as education, there would be a minimum standard across the board.

Regardless of the path there are still basics that kids need to learn. How about using all the time and energy you would spend on homeschooling to instead supplement your kids education in public school?

 

[cstu]

Lombardi, is this the stuff you are talking about kids learning in public school:

If you go to public school, you learn to be a socialist, think like the masses, study from textbooks, have small families, etc.