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At least if the kids qualify they can get a free or reduced hot lunch at school. Home schooling is the cheapest way to go now plus no bullys or peer pressure. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/485686...oing-cost-you/
Yes, and they grow up without knowing how to handle bullys and the like on their own.
Peer pressure is a fact of life which they will face in spades in the work force.
And, with both parents working these days, who is going to home school the little tykes?
"The public school system spends on average $8,000 per child, of which around $2,500 is spent on materials and physical resources. Home schoolers may spend a little less than that, but by my calculations, not much less," Belfield says.
Home schooling costs a whole lot more than traditional schooling. It costs one parent's income.
If I homeschooled my chidlren, when they were young, I would have first had to have given up my $90K engineering job. THEN I would have had to spend that $2500/child. So, for me, the cost of homeschooling would have been $47500/child.
Even a parent working a part time minimum wage job can earn more than the cost of an education in the public school system. If mom sent her kids to public school and took a job as a lunch lady working 4 hours/school day, she'd earn about $5000/school year and save that $2500/child in materials so worst case is break even for one child and the cost goes up from there. Granted this same mom would spend a lot less even including her lost income if she had more than one child BUT is a mom who is only capable of getting a job as a lunch lady really the best choice to educate children? You can't forget to deduct the income the parent doing the homeschooling is not earning when you calculate the cost of homeschooling. For most of us, it would cost a whole lot more than what the state pays per child because of lost wages....and then there's lost experience, vesting for retirement, retirment savings, college savings....Sorry but in most cases homeschooling is not the bargain.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 08-14-2012 at 06:43 AM..
I think home schooling is fine for some, but it's gotten kind of tiresome how many (especially in the conservative leaning media) present it as a comprehensive solution to our nation's educational problems. For the vast majority, home schooling is not realistic or viable.
I think home schooling is fine for some, but it's gotten kind of tiresome how many (especially in the conservative leaning media) present it as a comprehensive solution to our nation's educational problems. For the vast majority, home schooling is not realistic or viable.
One must look at the reason it's fine for those who do it. The demographics of the average homeschooler predicts success in education regardless of how it is delivered. These are the kids who would have done very well in the public schools. They have the three top predictors of student success. Higher SES (high enough to be able to afford one parent at home), they come from two parent families and they have parents who are involved in their educations. That same demogaphic in public schools excels!
For this reason, it would be a huge mistake to push homeschooling as any kind of solution. As things are now, the only thing homeschooling can claim is their kids to better than average but given the demographic that traditionally homeschools, I would expect them to be doing fantastic not just better than average. The question is what will happen if we start seeing homeschooling among demographics where kids don't usually do well in school? If we start seeing parents lowering the family's SES so one parent can stay home to homeschool (going onto WIC or Welfare for example) will increased parental involvement by traditionally less involved parents be enough for these kids to do well?
IMO, pushing homeschooling as a solution is a huge gamble. I teach the demographic that traditionally homeschools, among others, and these are kids who excel anyway. That's why homeschooling works. I can, however, see why the government would push it though. It's a huge cost save. For every child who is homeschooled, the government gets to keep $7000 or more per year for something other than education. I'd push it too. The more families who do not use the schools, the more money the government has to spend on other things.
People really don't see when they are being manipulated.
The term "bully" is overused. It seems like everything is considered "bullying".
I agree. For some reason, past generations were able to deal with "bullying" and thrive. It seems kids today crumble when they face any kind of adversity. I'm not saying bullying is good but I agree with you that we're labeling things bullying that never were in the past. When I was a kid, bulling meant someone beat you up and took your lunch money. If someone said something about you it was kids being kids and you defended yourself. Now adays if one child tells another child their hair cut is stupid, it's bullying and reason to call parents in and have an intervention. Seriously, we have taken protecting our kids a bit to far. They NEED to learn to deal with adversity when young or they won't know how to deal with it when they are older.
I don't quite understand the title to this thread. In our area everyone that owns a home pays school taxes, no matter if they have kids in school or not and that includes people that send their kids to private school. So if you home school them you will be paying your school taxes plus whatever it costs for homeschooling. I think it makes more sense to become active in your school community and work for the change you want.
This article is pointing out a nationwide trend of schools relegating some operating expenses (that used to be in the schools budget) onto parents. This is very much something that can be different school to school. Our HS has decided to give every student a laptop, whether they want one or not and since a very, very small minority qualify for a free or reduced lunch there is little need for that.
After reading the article, I just wanted to say, "Duh!" Kids cost money. If you're stressing about the cost of tests and copy paper, wait until you see how much college costs....
Ok....home schooling is good for some & not for others. Its up to the parent to decide whats best for their kid. I do know a few people that were home schooled & they are doing just fine. Soe kids do get harassed in school & the teachers sometime do nothing about it. That could lead to suicide & thats a proven fact. I hate bullys & no i wasnt harassed in school but i did witness it many times. I stepped in on a few of them before it got worse.
Ok....home schooling is good for some & not for others. Its up to the parent to decide whats best for their kid. I do know a few people that were home schooled & they are doing just fine. Soe kids do get harassed in school & the teachers sometime do nothing about it. That could lead to suicide & thats a proven fact. I hate bullys & no i wasnt harassed in school but i did witness it many times. I stepped in on a few of them before it got worse.
We had bullies when I was in school. Real bullies. The kind who beat you up and take your lunch money. You know the ones who wait in bathroom stalls so you learn to hold it all day long. We also had zero suicides. It's not bullying that results in suicides. It's the inability to deal with the bullies. We survived because we learned how to deal with the situation. Our mommies didn't run to our rescue every time someone called us a name and we didn't go crying to her when they did. We learned to defend ourselves or to, at least, avoid the bullies. We learned that there is safety in numbers and that we weren't alone. We banded together, survived and went on with our lives.
Kids today have been brought up to think that life is fair but life is not fair. They think life owes them their fair share but it doesn't owe them a damned thing. They've been brought up to believe that everyone is special but they're not. Most of us are pretty average. They've been brought up to believe that the prize is theirs for the taking but it's not. The prize is only for the winners (which they know nothing about because they grew up in world with no losers). It's not bullies causing the suicides. It's lack of resiliency because they've been raised in a bubble.
While I appreciate that parents are trying to protect their kids, there comes a point when they are over protecting them. You can't shield them from every insult and expect them to know how to deal with insulting people. You can't put them in activities where everyone gets a trophy and expect them to know how to lose gracefully. You create something very fragile when you coddle kids.
Personally, I do think something should have been done with the bullies in the bathrooms. Yes the system failed here but I would rather have grown up dealing with them, and learn that there are jerks, life isn't fair and I'm going to have to deal with idiots than to have been coddled in a bubble thinking they don't exist. I'm not sure what I would have done if the first time I met a bully was in the work force (I met one of the worst bullies in my life there. Poor guy, he had no idea I knew how to kick below the belt because I grew up dealing with jerks like him.).
I would think that the way kids are coddled today, a child who was being bullied would feel very alone because they've been raised to believe that things like this SHOULD not happen. So WHY is it happening to THEM? When reality is, things like this happen all the time and if someone doesn't stand up to the bully, they keep on bullying.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 08-14-2012 at 04:54 PM..
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I agree. For some reason, past generations were able to deal with "bullying" and thrive. It seems kids today crumble when they face any kind of adversity. I'm not saying bullying is good but I agree with you that we're labeling things bullying that never were in the past. When I was a kid, bulling meant someone beat you up and took your lunch money. If someone said something about you it was kids being kids and you defended yourself. Now adays if one child tells another child their hair cut is stupid, it's bullying and reason to call parents in and have an intervention. Seriously, we have taken protecting our kids a bit to far. They NEED to learn to deal with adversity when young or they won't know how to deal with it when they are older.
