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If I may interject here: Most parents don't volunteer for the community's children, they start out by wanting to do something meaningful for their own child. But what they do does benefit the entire school community. Some do get involved in bigger issues that way, as well.
Oh yes, I know... When my kids were in school, though, I went on two field trips (only for my daughter; my son didn't want me to go ) and volunteered two or three times over the course of the year. It in no way even began to add up to anywhere near the time I spent homeschooling them. It wasn't like I put in 20-25 hours per week into volunteering, just because that's what I spent doing schoolish stuff with my kids at home. I think that's pretty normal among homeschooling families.... if the kids go to school, that means that they have time for other things that are not directly related to their child. My kids are older now, so I have lots of time to work, do household things, volunteer, or whatever even though we homeschool, but when they were younger and needed a lot of hands-on teaching, there were a million other things I could have spent that time on. If they were in school full time, I would not have been there benefiting the entire school community.
Oh yes, I know... When my kids were in school, though, I went on two field trips (only for my daughter; my son didn't want me to go ) and volunteered two or three times over the course of the year. It in no way even began to add up to anywhere near the time I spent homeschooling them. It wasn't like I put in 20-25 hours per week into volunteering, just because that's what I spent doing schoolish stuff with my kids at home. I think that's pretty normal among homeschooling families.... if the kids go to school, that means that they have time for other things that are not directly related to their child. My kids are older now, so I have lots of time to work, do household things, volunteer, or whatever even though we homeschool, but when they were younger and needed a lot of hands-on teaching, there were a million other things I could have spent that time on. If they were in school full time, I would not have been there benefiting the entire school community.
Well, that's you! It's not everyone. The point is though, though, that involved parents find ways to get involved. My kids' elementary school often had so many volunteers they couldn't use them all on each specific occasion. The volunteerism does tend to drop off as kids get older. But, maybe homeschoolers don't like to volunteer. That might be the topic of a good research paper.
I think it might be that homeschoolers who end up sending their kids to school often (though not always!) do so because they have to return to work. We did it as a year-long experiment, mostly. I work from home anyway so I just amped that up. I didn't want to be in their classrooms all the time. (They were in 5th and 7th grades.) I still do volunteer for things, quite extensively, actually... just not in the schools.
ETA: The dark side is that homeschooling hurts public education because they pull the best kids from our schools leaving classrooms heavier in struggling students. If we kept them money for the homeschooled kids and could make class sizes smaller because some kids are homeschooled we'd have a win-win. The homeschooled kids will do fine because they come from a demographic that does fine while fewer students in the classroom would allow the teacher to spend more time addressing learning issues of the students who are left. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Funds are reduced to staff is reduced and classes stay the same size but now have fewer of the top performing kids in them.
This is my main philosophical point against Homeschooling.
It is ultimately a selfish endevour that is usually chosen with a certain sort of privilege.
However I'm not against the minority that homeschools, however I would be against its promotion, or the assumption that it is for everyone.
As many have pointed out logistically it doesn't work for many, and it would create a divide between the haves and have nots.
My other concern or comment is that I believe the best education is a mix of standard education and general knowledge learned by parents.
I think the main issue is with the lack of parent involvement and there needs to be more in children's lives. More participation, not total take over.
There is and will always be a chasm between the haves and the have nots. Nothing in life is fair, even with public schools. The kids in the Bronx don't have the same experiences in school as the ones in the wealthy suburb of Rye just a few minutes away. Unfortunately, that's life.
If homeschooling is selfish, then so is private schooling, and so is moving to a wealthier area so your kids can go to better schools. I'm fine with that brand of selfishness.
There is and will always be a chasm between the haves and the have nots. Nothing in life is fair, even with public schools. The kids in the Bronx don't have the same experiences in school as the ones in the wealthy suburb of Rye just a few minutes away. Unfortunately, that's life.
If homeschooling is selfish, then so is private schooling, and so is moving to a wealthier area so your kids can go to better schools. I'm fine with that brand of selfishness.
As I pointed out in a thread a few weeks ago, wealthy schools and poor schools aren't as fabulous or awful for some kids. I've met several people that hated being in a wealthy school system and many who have felt much more secure in a down to earth poor system.
While I won't regard homeschooling as selfish or maybe even private schooling, I do believe many private school parents are simply competitive about silly things. Even among state threads, you see people trying to find which is "better" among several wealthy and amazing public school systems. Some people simply need to one-up one another and some simply don't want their kids around kids they feel aren't as desirable as their own kids...the "not as desirable" I've found can range from poor unsupervised kids to upper middle class kids depending on how snobby the parents are.
Homeschooling, while it may benefit individually for some time, I don't think is good for public schools in the long run. Not only do public schools not have involved parents that can weight the dynamics of the school, they also eventually have to deal with a homeschooled kid who isn't up to par when that kid comes in...and most people I know that homeschooled eventually headed back to a regular school.
What I would classify as homeschool self centeredness would be the attempt to play sports for the local school. Too big a can of worms to open primarily. Secondly, I believe a school is a community and extracurriculars are privileges. If a kid/parent chooses to not be part of that community, then they shouldn't be able to play. Just my thoughts.
As I pointed out in a thread a few weeks ago, wealthy schools and poor schools aren't as fabulous or awful for some kids. I've met several people that hated being in a wealthy school system and many who have felt much more secure in a down to earth poor system.
While I won't regard homeschooling as selfish or maybe even private schooling, I do believe many private school parents are simply competitive about silly things. Even among state threads, you see people trying to find which is "better" among several wealthy and amazing public school systems. Some people simply need to one-up one another and some simply don't want their kids around kids they feel aren't as desirable as their own kids...the "not as desirable" I've found can range from poor unsupervised kids to upper middle class kids depending on how snobby the parents are.
Homeschooling, while it may benefit individually for some time, I don't think is good for public schools in the long run. Not only do public schools not have involved parents that can weight the dynamics of the school, they also eventually have to deal with a homeschooled kid who isn't up to par when that kid comes in...and most people I know that homeschooled eventually headed back to a regular school.
What I would classify as homeschool self centeredness would be the attempt to play sports for the local school. Too big a can of worms to open primarily. Secondly, I believe a school is a community and extracurriculars are privileges. If a kid/parent chooses to not be part of that community, then they shouldn't be able to play. Just my thoughts.
But if the parents are paying school taxes, they should be able to participate. Homeschooling is not about choosing to not be part of a community; rather, it's about choosing your child's curriculum and how it's structured.
^^ Right. I think of homeschooling a bit like shopping. We aren't forced to buy all of our groceries at one store. Some might go to a butcher for meat and a farm stand for fruits and veggies. They might go to a higher-end grocery store for some items, while a discount store works just fine for things like laundry detergent and packaged items.
Others choose to go to a place like Walmart for everything, from produce to meat to pillows to shoes to cat food.
Neither approach is right or wrong. They're just different.
The first person isn't banned from going into Walmart because they choose to only use it for certain items, or because they only stop in occasionally to pick up milk and bread. The first person is also not forced to grow and raise all of his or her own food because they have opted out of using a one-stop superstore for everything. There are tons of options.
It's the same with homeschooling. I might choose to use the school-based program for math and send my kids in the afternoon to be on a soccer team, but maybe I send them to a private school to participate in their French Club after school, a science museum for their science and an art center for pottery. I might choose a DVD program for history and a computerized Chinese program. I might design my own English curriculum using resources found online and maybe I have a friend's parent, who used to be a gym teacher at the public school, teach my kids health and PE. It's not all about designing and teaching everything at home; it's about finding the best solution for each child and each subject.
That's why I'm not really a fan of the term, "homeschooling." I think it should be called "worldschooling" or "real-life learning" or just "education." In a perfect world, everyone would be able to choose from all of the options in the way that suits their family best. Unfortunately, that's not possible right now, for a lot of reasons.
There is and will always be a chasm between the haves and the have nots. Nothing in life is fair, even with public schools. The kids in the Bronx don't have the same experiences in school as the ones in the wealthy suburb of Rye just a few minutes away. Unfortunately, that's life.
If homeschooling is selfish, then so is private schooling, and so is moving to a wealthier area so your kids can go to better schools. I'm fine with that brand of selfishness.
Yes. When charter schools/open enrollment were such hot issues here in Colorado, it was brought up that the wealthy have always had "school choice", either by enrollment in private school or moving to an area known for "good schools".
Oh yes, I know... When my kids were in school, though, I went on two field trips (only for my daughter; my son didn't want me to go ) and volunteered two or three times over the course of the year. It in no way even began to add up to anywhere near the time I spent homeschooling them. It wasn't like I put in 20-25 hours per week into volunteering, just because that's what I spent doing schoolish stuff with my kids at home. I think that's pretty normal among homeschooling families.... if the kids go to school, that means that they have time for other things that are not directly related to their child. My kids are older now, so I have lots of time to work, do household things, volunteer, or whatever even though we homeschool, but when they were younger and needed a lot of hands-on teaching, there were a million other things I could have spent that time on. If they were in school full time, I would not have been there benefiting the entire school community.
You never know. I started by organizing one after school program to benefit my kid. That program ended up benefiting 18 other kids because the demand was so high, we got another section going. Then I found some more programs and just ran with it and before you knew it, 250 kids were participating in at least one afterschool class.
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) and volunteered two or three times over the course of the year. It in no way even began to add up to anywhere near the time I spent homeschooling them. It wasn't like I put in 20-25 hours per week into volunteering, just because that's what I spent doing schoolish stuff with my kids at home. I think that's pretty normal among homeschooling families.... if the kids go to school, that means that they have time for other things that are not directly related to their child. My kids are older now, so I have lots of time to work, do household things, volunteer, or whatever even though we homeschool, but when they were younger and needed a lot of hands-on teaching, there were a million other things I could have spent that time on. If they were in school full time, I would not have been there benefiting the entire school community.
