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If one cannot secure a position as an educator within the public or charter school systems, then what makes that individual qualified to teach mathematics, english, history, chemistry, etc. at all?
That assumes one would desire a position in the public school system.
Teaching degrees include a number of classes that are not actually on specific subjects. A homeschool parent doesn't need classroom management techniques or educational theory to manage a group of two or three. (And since those management techniques are frequently geared to same-age cohorts, they'd be pointless in most homeschooling families.)
In fact, this entire semester (taken from the U of Florida website) looks pretty much superfluous:
EDE 6948: Internship (12)
EDE 6225: Practices of Childhood Education (3)
EDF 5552: Role of Schools in Democratic Society (3)
EDF 5441: Assessment In General and Exceptional Student Education (3)
TSL 5142: ESOL Curriculum & Assessment
EEX 6125: Intervention for Language and Learning Disabilities
Quote:
Originally Posted by ncpropertybroker
I understand why someone would want an alternative form of education (mine is in a charter school), but to be so audacious as to think they can give a child the intellectual tools and social refinement that best prepares them for their admission to maturity, self-reliance, and satisfactory employment is beyond my comprehension of what the term "common sense" really means. Am I wrong here or is a child's social development not just as important as their intellectual development. It's perfectly OK for a child to act as a child. If they are obviously gifted, that gift should be exploited by that child for his or her benefit, and not for the parents. Children are not trophies, they are entrusted to us, on loan to us.
Unless the sum definition of "social interaction" is "sit quietly in rows and don't talk", "be subjected to bullies in PE class" and "commiserate with one's peers over baloney boats in the cafeteria", the homeschoolers we've met interact with the public far more often, and in more varied situations, than their publicly- or parochially-schooled schooled friends. There are simply more hours available in the day to do so.
As for "trophies"...if I really wanted to display my son or daughter as a trophy, wouldn't I have logically chosen the venue in which they'd have easy competition and get lots of pretty paper awards saying "student of the month" (or its asinine companion, "positively charged kid") and "FCAT champion!"?
Have you even read the thread at all, or do you actually know *anything* about homeschooling other than the one or two families that you may or may not know who have homeschooled? I know hundreds of homeschoolers, and none of them are deprived of social contact with others.
I do know one.
Several of us who know this family through homeschool circles are trying to get them the help they need. It's entirely possible, were their daughter in public school, that she'd fall through the cracks-- not because "schools are bad", but because it's not unusual in these days of email and school buses for a teacher not to see Mom for long stretches of time. In our homeschooling community, it is-- and we know each other far better than most parents whose children share a public school classroom. If someone is suddenly avoiding social contact and it doesn't involve strep or the plague, you notice pretty quickly.
Again, it is a publicly-funded school open to students without regard to race or socioeconomic means. Because it is good or gifted, does not mean it is not public. Do you consider all specialized schools (e.g. a special-ed school or a Performing Arts HS or a Vocational H.S.) "not terribly public." I know of many schools like this in Illinois.
This area has a number of charter and magnet programs (ranging in quality from "actually quite good" to "oh dear Gods, you go there on purpose?!"). One of the ways in which they themselves promote their programs is as "private school for free". And there's some merit to that claim. When you set specific standards (FCAT scores, gifted qualification, auditions or math prerequisites or whatever) for admission, and then have license to kick underperforming students out of the program...yeah, I'd agree with Sandpointian and with the directors of the schools that they are "not terribly public".
Originally Posted by Aconite We get that at co-op. ... or the "you'll go to Hell if you don't love Jesus" speeches (all of which were part of their third grade year in public school),
You know what is so funny about that is I would have to work to find a homeschool group around here where my kids would not hear that (well, something similar) from the other kids. I know someone (different state) who decided to go it alone instead of joining a group/coop/association because of that.
Our particular coop, though secular, does have plenty of Christian families-- just not the fringey ones who happily damn children to hell for reading Harry Potter or Phillip Pullman. The extremely evangelical (and yes, they are well represented in homeschooling) generally prefer to keep their kids away from us heathen hippie commie liberals, so they have their own communities, and avoid us like the plague.
Probably insome parts of the country it would be harder to find secular homeschool communities. I know when we were in South Carolina, it was harder to find secular anything. They don't call Charleston the Holy City for nothing.
It sounds like you are excellent at taking your kids on field trips.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Probably bean or charles wallace or sandpointian or any of the homeschoolers here could reel off a list of "well, today we worked on calculating standard deviations, fourth grade spelling, our reading comprehension homework, and dissected a cow tongue"-- but it's more fun to talk about going with two other HS families to the aquarium for a dolphin behavior class.
It's still perfectly within a parent's rights to decide not to send his or her children to an unsafe school setting. A parent who doesn't put his or her children's safety first if there is an acknowledged, known threat is not a good parent.
I don't think it's that cut and dried, really. Good parenting is about far more than keeping them alive until the next day, and different families perceive different things as threatening. For that matter, different situations hold different threat levels to different children.
Probably bean or charles wallace or sandpointian or any of the homeschoolers here could reel off a list of "well, today we worked on calculating standard deviations, fourth grade spelling, our reading comprehension homework, and dissected a cow tongue"-- but it's more fun to talk about going with two other HS families to the aquarium for a dolphin behavior class.
Yes... a homeschooling mom is used to defending the "what about socialization" question, so when she waxes on about the outings her family does, it's assumed by those not familiar with homeschooling that that's *all* they do. It's hard for some to believe that "sit down work" can be done in under 2 hours per day, leaving hours upon hours to enjoy "real life."
I'll leave you with this. Few parents are in a position to properly homeschool.
I'm not sure what you mean by "properly homeschool". In fact, I'd suspect that you couldn't get a good consensus on what "proper homeschooling" is within the homeschool community, given the vast array from unschooling to Dorothy Sayers to Waldorf to Charlotte Mason (and all the combinations and permutations in between).
One of the best arguments for homeschooling is alluded to in some of the above posts--the variety of ages and experiences available. Public schools segregate by age; one of the flaws in our educational system lies in cutting off interaction between younger and older students.
One of the best arguments for homeschooling is alluded to in some of the above posts--the variety of ages and experiences available. Public schools segregate by age; one of the flaws in our educational system lies in cutting off interaction between younger and older students.
Not so sure I agree with either side of that argument. If you are homeschooling your own 2-3 kids, your kids are basically interacting with their siblings most of the time. If they go to classes such as gymnastics, scouts or church activities with other kids, well, most of the other kids there are public/private school kids, so everyone is getting the benefit.
In addition, my kids, who are now 10+ years out of elementary school, had "reading partners" in ele school, where older kids read to younger kids, and did other multiage activites. By middle school, most kids are taking classes with students from the other grade levels, and by high school, I would say virtually all the kids are doing so.
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It's hard for some to believe that "sit down work" can be done in under 2 hours per day, leaving hours upon hours to enjoy "real life." 
