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I have often wondered about that myself. How much can a willfully ignorant, unworldly, anti-science, possibly uneducated parent teach a child? I'm sure that in many, not all, but many instances, these homeschooling parents are doing nothing more than continuing and passing on the ignorance that they posess for generations of their family to come.
That's generally how it works it's all to escape the "liberal Indoctrination" aka Dahhhhhuhhhhhhhhh smart peoples are libsssss we needs know engrish and all I need to know about science is that if it's not in the bible it doesn't exist !
I now find that this approach to my profession is not only devalued, but denigrated and perhaps, in some quarters despised.
This thread, of course, is Exhibit A.
After reading this, one wonders why would anyone want to teach your bratty rotten kids who their parents have taught to despise teachers and look down on them. No doubt your kids prefer to spend their time shooting things and think learning math and evolution instead of Invisible Sky God is worthless.
My daughter passionately wants to be a teacher and is a junior in college studying for exactly that. I worry every day about parents like the dumbed-down, ignorance-worshipping cretins on this board who blame everything they hate -- which is everything, actually -- on teachers.
Good post. I'm going back to school to become a teacher and the only indoctrination I've received so far is to treat everybody with respect (which, by the way, includes conservative groups.) If that's liberal and socialist, I don't want to know what the alternative is.
conservatives don't really believe in public education and never have.
First the idea that all children should be educated is something that many conservatives think is a waste of time after a certain point because they believe many children just can't learn all that much after a certain point, and we waste money on those children's education.
Also, the idea of American citizens of differing backgrounds getting together as a city or a state or a community to educate children deciding based on diverse ideas how and what those children should learn is terrifying to conservatives because they view so many other Americans as enemies out to destroy America and because they have a very narrow definition of who is a real American.
They don't want those people to have any input into how children are educated. To them courses should only be taught in certain very narrow ways touching only on certain subjects.
Any deviation is understood by conservatives as indoctrination.
There is a lot of truth to this. In my experience as a teacher, the moral support I've received has seldom come from self described conservatives. And the number of right wingers who have told me they would like to see public education done away with would surprise you. It's one of the reasons that I stopped considering myself a conservative long, long ago.
Try reading more. Home schoolers score higher in both ACT and SAT tests.
I've known boatloads of ignorant people who scored well on standardized tests.
That homeschooled kids score better on standardized tests isn't all that surprising. Most of the parents who choose this are very dedicated to their childrens' educations, unlike a large percentage of parents, in general. Homeschooled kids can get more intensive practice, they don't have to deal with disruptive classmates, they are more able to move at their own pace, et cetera. What's striking if you work within the educational system is what happens to homeschooled kids who are "taught" by disinterested or incompetent parents. For these kids, they end up years behind their counterparts, even the struggling learners, who stay in the school system. Homeschooling works for many, but is the absolute worst option for another section of that group. Not only do they learn nothing, but they develop the worst habits for succeeding in school and life. It's a travesty.
Frankly, if we are doomed to follow this Michelle Rhee, standardized testing, corporatized, privatized road, I'd just as soon have all the interested parents try to homeschool.
This is why my kids will never set one foot in to a public school.
You can't figure out who is out for whom.
Public school teachers claim "it's all for the kids".
While they ***** and protest (while closing schools down for weeks on end) about everything else....change it from the core. Get RID of teacher UNIONS.
Private schools don't have these issues all day long and every day of the month and every month of the year.
This is what they do, this is what YOU will do, and if you have a problem as a teacher or a parent, you are free to go teach elsewhere or put your kid in a different school.
BTW...Teaching to the test is a a problem in public education and I do not see how it differs in homeschooling. There's a lot more to education than a standardized test.
BTW...Teaching to the test is a a problem in public education and I do not see how it differs in homeschooling. There's a lot more to education than a standardized test.
Unfortunately, when people in the education industry speak of "critical thinking," it is usually a glob of gobbledy-guck. What it should mean is learning to think in a logical manner with supporting evidence. Actually, in this regard, the new Common Core Standards are a step in the right direction.
I will say this to those who sneer at the idea of memorization of facts: You cannot "critically think" about issues and problems unless you remember and understand some facts. I've encountered this marvelous idea from some within education that in this day and age, memorization of facts is pointless, what with the internet at our fingertips. Yes, indeed, if I wish to converse intelligently about the situation in Syria with someone who knows no facts about the issue, I shall just wait for them to "Google" the information and we shall then carry on an intelligent conversation.
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I don't foresee things getting better in this area. I fear that we will end up a society not unlike the one in the future in H.G Wells' A Time Machine.
How much can a willfully ignorant, unworldly, anti-science, possibly uneducated parent teach a child?
I think you just described the typical parent that most public school teachers complain about
There are more of those type of parents in the public school system, than you will
ever find in the home schooling environment, believe me.
You know, one can be an advocate for public education without bashing
those that chose another path for their kids...
My philosophy - as long as your kids are safe, sane, and smiling
they'll learn.
Unfortunately, when people in the education industry speak of "critical thinking," it is usually a glob of gobbledy-guck. What it should mean is learning to think in a logical manner with supporting evidence. Actually, in this regard, the new Common Core Standards are a step in the right direction.
I will say this to those who sneer at the idea of memorization of facts: You cannot "critically think" about issues and problems unless you remember and understand some facts. I've encountered this marvelous idea from some within education that in this day and age, memorization of facts is pointless, what with the internet at our fingertips. Yes, indeed, if I wish to converse intelligently about the situation in Syria with someone who knows no facts about the issue, I shall just wait for them to "Google" the information and we shall then carry on an intelligent conversation.
I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but I don't foresee things getting better in this area. I fear that we will end up a society not unlike the one in the future in H.G Wells' A Time Machine.
I've always felt that this is the destiny. We certainly know that there will be creatures like the Morlocks, considering the fact that so many extremists are building bunkers. I wonder if they realize that they will one day be cannibals that have red eyes and a hairy white body...
I think you just described the typical parent that most public school teachers complain about
There are more of those type of parents in the public school system, than you will
ever find in the home schooling environment, believe me.
You know, one can be an advocate for public education without bashing
those that chose another path for their kids...
My philosophy - as long as your kids are safe, sane, and smiling
they'll learn.
You did not read my prior posts. I stated that there are many, but not all, that are not qualified to deliver a well rounded education to their kids.
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