Homeschooling debate

[ScarletBlood31]

[mod edit - split from Non-Religious Homeschooling?]

Based off atleast your wife's experiances, what does she have to say overall about being homeschooled compared to going to a public high school?

I can understand how it would probably be a very good education from that standpoint, as you would have more direct focus on your learning, I just would think that overall going to a public school and interacting with kids your own age everyday would teach you things that you would never learn from homeschooling. Not to diss on anyone's choice for their children, because it is their decision, I just think that the social and life skills that you learn from being around people everyday are things that can not necessarilly be substituted.

 

[Buckeye513]

Not trying to judge you or your wife or anything, but why would you want to homeschool a child that young? Are the schools in your area bad? Seems like something that could hinder the development of her social skills.

Anyway, I homeschooled for my junior and senior years in highschool (I graduated in January). My curriculum came from one of the local charter schools. I'm not sure if charter schools in every state support homeschooled kids though.

 

[shetuck]

This is an older (2003) but good resource from the National Center for Education Statistics (nces.ed.gov):

Homeschooling in the US: Statistical Analysis Report

This report represents the latest survey information from the National Center for Education Statistics on the prevalence of homeschooling in the United States. Homeschooling in the United States: 2003 uses the Parent and Family Involvement Survey of the 2003 National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) to estimate the number and percentage of homeschooled students in the United States in 2003 and to describe the characteristics of these students and their families. It reports on the race and ethnicity, income level, and educational attainment of students? parents; compares the characteristics of homeschoolers to those of public and private schooled students; examines how homeschooling rates have changed between 1999 and 2003 for different segments of the student population; and describes parents? primary reasons for homeschooling their children, as well as the resources and curricular tools homeschooled students use in their education. Children were considered to be homeschooled if their parents reported them being schooled at home instead of at a public or private school, if their enrollment in public or private schools did not exceed 25 hours a week, and if they were not being homeschooled solely because of a temporary illness.

cont'd...

My wife and I were considering homeschooling. We wound up deciding against it, but, iirc the research that we did was pointing us toward Calvert.

Good luck to you and your wife muffler. Homeschooling can be a great thing. Keep us posted...

 

[Gatorubet]

Judge orders homeschoolers into government education
[SIZE=+1]Court: Family's religious beliefs 'no evidence' of 1st Amendment violation[/SIZE]

Posted: February 29, 2008
3:24 pm Eastern



[FONT=Palatino, Times New Roman, Georgia, Times, serif]By Bob Unruh[/FONT]
[SIZE=-1]2008 WorldNetDaily [/SIZE]
A California court has ruled that several children in one homeschool family must be enrolled in a public school or "legally qualified" private school, and must attend, sending ripples of shock into the nation's homeschooling advocates as the family reviews its options for appeal.
The ruling came in a case brought against Phillip and Mary Long over the education being provided to two of their eight children. They are considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court, because they have homeschooled all of their children, the oldest now 29, because of various anti-Christian influences in California's public schools.

Judge orders homeschoolers<BR>into government education

Well, this in certainly interesting.

 

[methomps]

The words echo the ideas of officials from Germany, where homeschooling has been outlawed since 1938 under a law adopted when Adolf Hitler decided he wanted the state, and no one else, to control the minds of the nation's youth.

 

[BB73]

Godwin's law in evidence.

 

[rocketman]

I could be totally wrong, but I have to wonder about how the lack of social interaction that you get at public or private schools impacts a kids development. In our flag football league, we had, almost every year a group of homeschooled kids that sign up as a team together. Year in, year out they exhibited the worst sportsmanship of any of the teams we played - constantly complaining about calls, belittling their own teammates, complaining about cheating even though they stuffed their flags under their shirts. It could be just that those group of kids were assholes, but I can't help but draw the conclusion that they act that way because they were homeschooled.

 

[BuckeyeRyn]

I am anti-homeschooling for a variety of reasons... ranging from lack of social exposure to lack of exposure to germs and everything in between.

Yes, you read correctly, I wouldn't want my child to stay at home all day long because they need to get out in the world and experience life, and build an immune system, learn to problem solve, learn consequences, learn proper interaction.

I would much rather raise a "street smart" child than a "book smart" child. If my kids grow up and don't know the answer to a question they would have the life skills in place to problem solve, to know they can access the internet, head to the library, things like that... however, if they don't know how to problem solve then they are screwed, unless they have many psych books at their fingertips. Even then, they still might be in trouble, they would have the ability to "read" the info in the book but that doesn't mean they would know how to apply it to themselves...

 

[iambrutus]

I am anti-homeschooling for a variety of reasons... ranging from lack of social exposure to lack of exposure to germs and everything in between.

Yes, you read correctly, I wouldn't want my child to stay at home all day long because they need to get out in the world and experience life, and build an immune system, learn to problem solve, learn consequences, learn proper interaction.

I would much rather raise a "street smart" child than a "book smart" child. If my kids grow up and don't know the answer to a question they would have the life skills in place to problem solve, to know they can access the internet, head to the library, things like that... however, if they don't know how to problem solve then they are screwed, unless they have many psych books at their fingertips. Even then, they still might be in trouble, they would have the ability to "read" the info in the book but that doesn't mean they would know how to apply it to themselves...

i agree with you 100%. as much as i hate having to put my daughter in daycare, i love it on the other hand because she is so much more social than her peers that have a stay at home parent. i would expect that its the same for children that are home schooled, but to each their own.

 

[buckeyegrad]

Although we like to use a lot of rhetoric about education being a liberating experience and the chance to explore new ideas and thoughts, in reality it is often an exercise in indoctrination and the closing off of creative and intellectual horizons. When the state becomes involved in this process, the frequency of closing such horizons becomes all that greater.

Universal, public education has always been about normalizing individuals to become what the state considers good citizens. If you doubt this, do some research on Horace Mann, the father of public education in the United States. His primary reason for wanting to create universal public education is because too many immigrants (i.e. Irish and German Catholics) were changing the character of the United States and they needed to brought in line.

I can only hope this decision is struck down by the appellate courts because it could set a dangerous precedent that a child's education should be dictated by the state rather than the parents. As a parent, if you want your child normalized because you think it will guarantee a greater chance of success or it will help them be a "better person" as defined by the dominant culture, then you should have the option. However, you should also have the option to not have you child exposed to normalization if you believe success should be defined differenlty than it is by the domiant culture or the state.

 

[Taosman]

Parents should... be parents and not educators. They are not trained to educate and have to devote a huge amount of their time to just parenting.
Many have trouble just parenting.
Let parents teach moral values and educator's teach math and science.

 

[BuckeyeRyn]

Parents should... be parents and not educators. They are not trained to educate and have to devote a huge amount of their time to just parenting.
Many have trouble just parenting.
Let parents teach moral values and educator's teach math and science.

I tend to disagree with this.. parents should be parents on all levels.. this includes educating our children... for instance, about 2 weeks into kindergarten my daughter came home and announced at the dinner table they had learned about Venn Diagrams that day. While I must admit I was quite shocked and didn't think she had any clue what the hell she was talking about I pressed further...and that little booger actually knew what a Venn Diagram was....We spent a bit of time creating more Venn diagrams, explaining them more in depth, expounding upon the foundation the teacher had laid... I look at the parent/teacher relationship as a duel team working to better my child.... ultimately though Im the majority leader.. I am fortunate enough to have the help of a teacher during the day. It shouldn't be the other way around, in my opinion...

 

[buckeyegrad]

Parents should... be parents and not educators. They are not trained to educate and have to devote a huge amount of their time to just parenting.
Many have trouble just parenting.
Let parents teach moral values and educator's teach math and science.

Exactly how do you divide out educating a child from parenting a child. The two processes are completely intertwined and I have no idea how you parse out what is what.

Furthermore, each and every parent has primary responsibility of educating their children. Professional educators are there simply to provide expertise knowledge in the educating process that the parent does not have.

 

[Mike80]

[mod edit - split from Non-Religious Homeschooling?]

Based off atleast your wife's experiances, what does she have to say overall about being homeschooled compared to going to a public high school?

I can understand how it would probably be a very good education from that standpoint, as you would have more direct focus on your learning, I just would think that overall going to a public school and interacting with kids your own age everyday would teach you things that you would never learn from homeschooling. Not to diss on anyone's choice for their children, because it is their decision, I just think that the social and life skills that you learn from being around people everyday are things that can not necessarilly be substituted.

After going through one of the most backwards and extremely limited educational systems in Southern PA, I really wish I'd been home-schooled from day one.

From the whole "your child won't be able to socialize with other kids" that's on the parents IMO. The kids can still be part of the neighborhood. After being in school with the idiots I had to go to school with I didn't WANT to be around them for the most part.

And yes I'm damned glad I moved to Ohio.

 

[jwinslow]

After going through one of the most backwards and extremely limited educational systems in Southern PA, I really wish I'd been home-schooled from day one.

Not sure you were lucky enough to get the 'creative writing' curriculum, where they refused to teach grammar, or correct any mistakes in submitted assignments. They didn't want to impede creativity, but instead impeded literacy. I was very fortunate to move out of that town before HS.