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You continue to oversimplify and, in the process, demean the teaching profession. Schools do not spoon feed information to their students; they do teach research skills; they do not teach students to memorize the answers to math problems. It is obvious that you have very little regard for teachers and schools - the public schools in your area should be very grateful that your children are being home schooled.
Your children appear to be bright and without learning problems - you are very fortunate. You appear to know what higher order thinking skills are and are also able to recognize them when you observe them. Not all parents possess your skills.
You say you will whisk you children to the community college when they are in need of instruction that you are unable to provide. I don't believe that young teens belong in the company of older teens/young adults, particularly young teens who are not used to being part of a diverse population or making decisions independent of their parent(s).
You say that your high school experience provided little or no learning because you were busy flirting. Have you not considered that the flirting prepared you for the dating experience, which in turn prepared you for making a (hopefully) good decision when choosing a life partner? You will be depriving your children of this particular learning experience.
I don't understand why home schooling parents must denigrate teachers and the public school system in order to justify their decisions to control every aspect of their children's lives. They're your kids, do what you want with them...but don't bash what others choose to do with their kids in the process.
I don't know why you would think that I'm bashing teachers... saying that you don't *need* a teacher and a textbook to understand US History is not bashing teachers, any more than saying you don't *need* meat to get protein into your diet is bashing meat eaters. We don't need public school or schoolteachers (we being my family). We also don't need public assistance programs, or psychologists, or cardiologists, but I'm still glad that they're there for those who do need them!
I wholeheartedly support a parent's right to homeschool their children provided that their kids can prove they are passing the State's minimum requirements. Sort of what newtowli was saying earlier.
Personally, I would homeschool my child up to a certain age (say 7th grade) and let them into the public school setting where by the time they hit their Freshman year in High School, my kids would be acclimated to the school environment, made new friends, and be eligible to participate in all sports (because my child will be a tremendous athlete dammit!!!!).
In any event, I went to public schools my whole life and am very thankful that I had terrific teachers who taught me as opposed to lecture to me or indoctrinate me into ANY beliefs. How was I lucky to get such teachers? Parents in the community demanded it, and were willing to pay a bit more so that the school system had the resources it needed. Education starts at home, regardless if you homeschool or not.
The best answer to the question about whether or you not you should send your kids to public school or homeschool? Both! Go over what they did in class that day and supplement what they are learning with your own experiences. Check over their homework each night perhaps giving them a small reward when finished. Let your kids know that it's ok to not know an answer or that they aren't stupid if they are struggling with a particular subject. Enforce effort. Checking over their work will help YOU see where your child may be having trouble and then you can take steps in correcting it along with the teacher. Doing so will probably make school much more enjoyable.
Just my opinion. Thanks.
Be very careful with that... My fiancee was homeschooled until 8th grade, then he went to the public high school to finish his education off. He's a very smart guy, but going from a homeschool environment that was 'holding hands' and 'everyone is equal' etc etc to high school, which is the exact opposite was kind of traumatizing for him.
High School, for the most part, is horrible. Your kids will be exposed to things they've never seen, and the kids who have grown up together will have already formed cliques that are very hard to break into. They WILL get made fun of by their peers, teachers will ignore them and students will harass them for no good reason.
Until he hit 9th grade, he had never taken a 'test' or received a 'grade'. He went from getting gentle help from his family to being told 'you aren't good enough, try again'.
The only homeschool kids that I know (who are in their mid twenties) are religious children who can't cut in in real jobs because they were coddled their whole lives and just can't have people being 'mean' to them. They spend their lives in the church or become missionaries.
I'm all for people homeschooling, because it's none of my business, but I know my fiancee wishes he hadn't been.
Where in that document does it state that all homeschooled children exceed their peers in public school? BTW, I in public HS, learned that you should never state with certainty that ALL of one data set performs in a certain matter unless you have solid data on every single representative of that data set and the opposing set.
The only article on that page that even sort of discusses that is 11 years old, and states that 70% of homeschooled children in Iowa are on par with their grade level.
Parents homeshool their children in order to provide them with something the government clearly cannot provide - an education. Before the Democrats created the unconstitutional Department of Education in 1980, the US ranked in the top 10 among other industrialized nations in science and mathematics. Today, the US does not even rank in the top 20. The only industrialized nation that has an even worse educational track record than the US is South Africa, and that comes from the National Center for Education Statistics. See National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education
Why only parents? It should be applied to ALL teachers (from elementary to even as high as undergrad college teachers)... I wouldn't create double standards... there was a huge revolt when teachers were failing their subject areas... some don't even speak/write English.... the result? They still teach cause there is a teacher shortage...lol... so much for no child left behind...
I am not against homeschooling at all, but it's amazing to see the vitriol and absurd claims made towards our public school system here in the US. The majority of students here in the US are coming out with a perfectly acceptable education. The way some posters are coming off here, you'd think every graduate is coming out unable to read.
My High School alone had 5 separate magnet schools you could attend if you wished for a different learning environment. If you had issues with the material, you were paired up during your free period with a teacher and other students for help with your classwork. 3 different levels of teaching for each course. My Elementary School had me in a Gifted program from Grades 3-5. Public Schools are not as horrible as people are making them out to be... I'm wondering where you guys live, South Central? The South Bronx? East New York?
I respect the right to school your children, but the way you speak about Public School is incredibly overblown. You don't want your children judged for being homeschooled, yet are the first to finger point and judge Public School children.
I can't speak for others,but the only problem I have w/ homeschooling is the parents who are dumb as bricks "teaching". I have seen/read about some who "unschool", who consider Bill Nye the Science Guy her child's science for the day,counting pennies in the piggy bank their math,Reading Rainbow their reading for the day,& so on. Just sickenng.
However some do actually take it seriously,are well educated & qualified to teach their children. If you are doing it "right", I don't see any reason to worry about stricter laws, regulations, and requirements on homeschoolers.
See those types of parents are the ones who ruin the freedom of having to teach your child/children, and to those parents who truly care and take homeschooling serious.
There are requirements in order for parents to homeschool. You have to have a Highschool diploma, proof of work given through out the year of teaching your child, you have to have an evaluator with a teaching degree evaluate the child and scores of state standards given. If there are parents teaching children by who consider Bill Nye the Science Guy her child's science for the day,counting pennies in the piggy bank their math,Reading Rainbow their reading for the day,& so on. Then which ever school district they belong too are not doing their jobs by making sure that the child is being taught properly.
I homeschool and it is the most rewarding, exhausting, hardest, fun job I have experienced.
There are requirements in order for parents to homeschool. You have to have a Highschool diploma, proof of work given through out the year of teaching your child, you have to have an evaluator with a teaching degree evaluate the child and scores of state standards given. If there are parents teaching children by who consider Bill Nye the Science Guy her child's science for the day,counting pennies in the piggy bank their math,Reading Rainbow their reading for the day,& so on. Then which ever school district they belong too are not doing their jobs by making sure that the child is being taught properly.
I homeschool and it is the most rewarding, exhausting, hardest, fun job I have experienced.
Every state is different. In Connecticut, and several other states, there are no such requirements.
I am not against homeschooling at all, but it's amazing to see the vitriol and absurd claims made towards our public school system here in the US. The majority of students here in the US are coming out with a perfectly acceptable education. The way some posters are coming off here, you'd think every graduate is coming out unable to read.
My High School alone had 5 separate magnet schools you could attend if you wished for a different learning environment. If you had issues with the material, you were paired up during your free period with a teacher and other students for help with your classwork. 3 different levels of teaching for each course. My Elementary School had me in a Gifted program from Grades 3-5. Public Schools are not as horrible as people are making them out to be... I'm wondering where you guys live, South Central? The South Bronx? East New York?
I respect the right to school your children, but the way you speak about Public School is incredibly overblown.
The rep fairy denied my point for you. Excellent post!
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