Reasons for Homeschooling.

[007]

My 14 year old goes to a top public school in Prague. I would never allow him to suffer a US public education because of the marginal education/indoctrination offered. The self-righteousness and very limited knowledge of what I assume to be the younger posters on sites like are a clear indication of the results

You like got like that like right... like...

 

[rightwinger]

Nothing wrong with home schooling if it is done right

But it is a niche market and is not the answer to our educational problems

 

[editec]

My 14 year old goes to a top public school in Prague. I would never allow him to suffer a US public education because of the marginal education/indoctrination offered. The self-righteousness and very limited knowledge of what I assume to be the younger posters on sites like are a clear indication of the results

The notwits on this board to not represent the state of education in this nation.

The quality of public education in the USA depends on which of the nearly 20,000 individual school districts you're talking about.

If one doesn't understand such basics as that, one is wholly unqualified to even enter into a discussion about ED in the USA.

Which, if you look at the number of posters here who clearly don't understand such basics, means that most people here don't know what the hell they're talking about.

 

[PoliticalChic]

This is an update posting from the Doctor-home-school mom who wrote the OP:

"Four years ago, after I had my third child, I started working all night shifts as a hospital-based pediatrician. This schedule allowed me to be home with my babies and available for school pick-up for my older children. When we were expecting our fourth child, my husband resigned his full-time job a large company in St. Louis so that he could start his own business as an independent IT developer, and so that he could be more committed to our family life.

My husband does the homeschooling on the mornings when I am sleeping. On the mornings when I am awake, I do the teaching. My husband and I split the teaching about 50/50. We try to make sure that at any given time one parent is employed and one is teaching/parenting/running the home.

Now that we homeschool, everything has become a team effort in our house. Both my husband and I teach, do housework, and make money. Everyone does chores. Walking in each other’s shoes each day has made us more compassionate towards each other. We are less likely to criticize each other when things don’t go right, and we’ve learned to be better communicators. This is, perhaps, my favorite part of homeschooling, that our family is happier together."
18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children ? ChildrensMD

thanks PC, homeschooling is an interesting topic. my wife and I cut work hours and volunteered for shift work once we started having kids. once they started school we became very involved in the local school, to the point where we were even asked why we didnt homeschool. but we thought we were helping the community, and indeed we were. by the time the kids were moving through middle school we gave up and put them into a Catholic high school. I dont begrudge the time and effort we put into public education but it all seems rather meaningless now because most of the programs that we championed have fallen by the wayside due to parental and administrative apathy.

If I had it all to do over again I would homeschool through grade seven and put (more) time and effort into kids' sports. I would also recommend Catholic high schools because they are cheaper and even though I am not a believer I appreciate that they have proactive set of standards. you dont necessarily get better kids at private schools but you do get other parents who value education enough to pay for it.

oh, and like another poster stated; if you arent doing a lot of homeschooling even if your kids do attend school, then you arent much of a parent.

There are a number of reasons to encourage aid to Catholic schools:

a. Many families favored the safety, discipline, and attention to character development in addition to academics, but would have to continue paying public school property taxes in addition to tuition.

b. Teacher unions opposed any aid to schools that were not unionized.

c. Urban parochial schools were serving a growing share of disadvantaged and frequently non-Catholic youngsters. In a study published in 1990, for example, the Rand Corporation found that, of the Catholic school students in these Catholic high schools in New York City, 75 to 90 percent were black or Hispanic.

i. Over 66 percent of the Catholic school graduates received the New York State Regents diploma to signify completion of an academically demanding college preparatory curriculum, while only about 5 percent of the public school students received this distinction;

ii. The Catholic high schools graduated 95 percent of their students each year, while the public schools graduated slightly more 50 percent of their senior class;

iii. The Catholic school students achieved an average combined SAT score of 803, while the public school students' average combined SAT score was 642;

iv. 60 percent of the Catholic school black students scored above the national average for black students on the SAT, and over 70 percent of public school black students scored below the same national average.

 More recent studies confirm these observations. Why Catholic Schools Spell Success For America's Inner-CityChildren

 

[t_polkow]

" I wanted my kids integrated and socialized. I wanted their eyes opened to the realities of the world. I wanted the values we taught at home put to the test in the real world. But necessity drove me to consider homeschooling for my 2nd and 4th graders, and so I timidly attended a home school parent meeting last spring. Surprisingly it was full of doctors, lawyers, former public school teachers, and other professionals. These were not the stay-at-home-moms in long skirts that I expected. The face of homeschooling is changing. We are not all religious extremists or farmers, and our kids are not all overachieving academic nerds without social skills.... experts are predicting an exponential boom in homeschooling in the next 5-10 years. ...

Here are 18 reasons why we have joined America’s fastest growing educational trend:


1. We spend less time homeschooling each day than we used to spend driving. With four kids in four locations last year (including a newborn at home), school drop-off and pick-up took four hours, on a good day... Now we spend about four hours per day homeschooling, instead of four hours in the car.

2. We can’t afford private education. Even on a doctor’s salary, private education has become unaffordable, especially for larger families.

3. Our kids are excelling academically as homeschoolers. Homeschooling allows us to enrich our children’s strengths and supplement their weaknesses.




4. Homeschooling is not hard, and it’s fun! We bought a “box curriculum” from a major homeschool vendor, and all the books and the day-by-day curriculum checklist came in the mail. We have a lot of fun supplementing material through YouTube and online educational sites...

5. Use whatever public school services you like. Need speech therapy, the gifted program, or remedial academics? Homeschooled kids are still eligible for all these services.

6. I like parenting more, by far.

7. Our family spends our best hours of each day together. We were giving away our kids during their best hours, when they were rested and happy, and getting them back when they were tired, grumpy and hungry... Now, our kids have happy time together each day. At recess time, the kids are actually excited about playing with each other!




8. We yell at our kids less. Homeschooling forces us as parents to maintain a loving authority in the household.

9. Our kids have time for creative play and unique interests. Once my kids entered school, they seemed to stop making up their owncreative play together. They didn’t have time for creative play during their busy evenings. Now they build forts and crazy contraptions, play dance parties, and pursue their own unique interests.

10. We are able to work on the kids’ behavior and work ethic throughout the day.

11. Get rid of bad habits, fast.




12. Be the master of your own schedule. Homeschooling provides a great deal of family flexibility, which is a tremendous asset for our busy family. For example, we save a lot of money on plane tickets because we have the flexibility to fly almost any day of the week. Zoos, children’s museums, libraries, parks, etc., are far less busy on weekdays as they are on weekends. Scheduling anything is eons easier—doctor’s appointments, piano lessons, vacations, etc.

13. Younger children learn from older siblings.

14. Save money. Committing to homeschooling requires at least one parent at home for most of each day. Although you may lose an income with this commitment, you save (a lot) of money since younger children don’t need daycare and older children don’t need private school. We also save a lot of money on gas now that we drive less.

15) Teach your kids practical life skills. Homeschooled kids learn parenting skills, cooking, budgeting, home maintenance, and time management every day. Time management skills are learned out of necessity. Our kids have to keep their own schedules and budget their own time.




16) Better socialization, less unhealthy peer pressure and bullying. Our kids no longer beg for video games we don’t want them to have or clothes we don’t like, or junky snacks they saw at school.

17) Sleep! A research study by National Jewish Health released in March, 2013 showed that homeschooled students get more sleep than their peers who attend school. The result may be that homeschooled kids are better prepared to learn. Parents get more sleep, too! Now we don’t have to get up early to meet a bus schedule, prepare sack lunches, etc. Our mornings are great times together to snuggle with our children and talk about our plans for the day. No more “Hurry up and get your shoes on or you’ll be late for school!”

18) Teach kids your own values. According to the national center for education statistics, 36% of homeschooling families were primarily motivated by a desire to provide religious or moral instruction. Our family is not part of this 36%– we never objected to any values taught in either our public or private schools. Nevertheless, we’ve really enjoyed building our own traditions and living out our family values in a way that wasn’t possible before homeschooling."
18 Reasons Why Doctors and Lawyers Homeschool Their Children ? ChildrensMD

We too have home schooled our now grown children (Who are now college Graduates) and our grand kids are being home schooled, but not for religious reasons. Living in NYC there are many resources culturally to teach and they are very well socially adjusted and integrated with other children. It is not for everyone though as parents have to put a lot of effort into it. It was a plus when we traveled as the children got to see the world and learn.

 

[editec]

I taught at a suburban Catholic School for a year.

The kids on average were slightly more motivated not to fail than the kids I taught in inner cities schools.

Parental involvement was, I suspect, the key.

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

As soon as tenure and unions are out of public schools the quality of education will improve, not because teachers will be better but because bureaucracy can be cut.

Probably the starkest comparisons are between Catholic schools and public schools. In urban areas both take about the same pct of minority and "special" students, so comparisons in urban areas tend to be valid.

IN 2000 (last year it mattered to me) Chicago public schools had one certified bureaucrat for every 29 students; that is one overpaid college graduate (and beyond) paper pusher with no classroom duties for every 30 students. Catholic schools had one certified bureaucrat for every 250 students. The 8:1 disparity in educationally certified bureaucrats is a big part of the reason public education is failing.

And it is by far the most significant reason public education is now more focused on preserving the system than it is on the product it produces.

How did this happen? Unlike private sector unions there is no accountability in government. People who claim elections establish accountability in government don't understand either the power government unions now have or the damage unions and civil service "protections" have done to accountability among government workers.

Worse, Reagan signed at least two "pay parity" bills aped by state and local governments, and no level of government seems to have considered the effects on pensions and other benefits. Pay parity was the primary impetus for growth in public sector hiring at all levels as government unions became self perpetuating leeches on the necks of taxpayers. In addition to missing the reality that higher pay would fill public schools with non-avocational teachers and bureaucratic hustlers, the cost of maintaining public sector retirees has almost tripled since the bobble headed one signed those bills. Now any number of local jurisdictions is looking at financial calamity on top of producing a low quality product.

 

[longknife]

Of all the reasons, I think this is the most important =

7. Our family spends our best hours of each day together. We were giving away our kids during their best hours, when they were rested and happy, and getting them back when they were tired, grumpy and hungry... Now, our kids have happy time together each day. At recess time, the kids are actually excited about playing with each other!

 

[rightwinger]

Of all the reasons, I think this is the most important =

7. Our family spends our best hours of each day together. We were giving away our kids during their best hours, when they were rested and happy, and getting them back when they were tired, grumpy and hungry... Now, our kids have happy time together each day. At recess time, the kids are actually excited about playing with each other!

Sounds good but doesn't reflect our current economy. Families are struggling to stay above water. They need two incomes and a mother can't afford to stay home and teach children for twenty years

Frankly, many parents are just plain stupid. There is no educational requirement for procreating.

 

[PoliticalChic]

Of all the reasons, I think this is the most important =

7. Our family spends our best hours of each day together. We were giving away our kids during their best hours, when they were rested and happy, and getting them back when they were tired, grumpy and hungry... Now, our kids have happy time together each day. At recess time, the kids are actually excited about playing with each other!

Sounds good but doesn't reflect our current economy. Families are struggling to stay above water. They need two incomes and a mother can't afford to stay home and teach children for twenty years

Frankly, many parents are just plain stupid. There is no educational requirement for procreating.

"...doesn't reflect our current economy. Families are struggling to stay above water. They need two incomes..."


Simple solution to that: cut taxes.


Hard to figure how you couldn't fathom that.

 

[psikeyhackr]

Sounds good but doesn't reflect our current economy. Families are struggling to stay above water. They need two incomes and a mother can't afford to stay home and teach children for twenty years

Frankly, many parents are just plain stupid. There is no educational requirement for procreating.

Our miseducational system did not make accounting mandatory 50 years ago and teach children to concentrate on NET WORTH.

Instead everyone has been brainwashed into being stupid consumers. We also could have had a National Recommended Reading List decades ago.

Subversive (1962) by Reynolds Mack
DigiLibraries.com - eBook: "Subversive" by Reynolds, Mack

Cost of Living (1952) by Robert Sheckley
https://senjibqa.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/cost-of-living/

So now we have the results of 50 years of stupid consumerism and most economist argue for doing more of what screwed things up over the last few decades.

psik

 

[Wicked Jester]

Of all the reasons, I think this is the most important =

7. Our family spends our best hours of each day together. We were giving away our kids during their best hours, when they were rested and happy, and getting them back when they were tired, grumpy and hungry... Now, our kids have happy time together each day. At recess time, the kids are actually excited about playing with each other!

Sounds good but doesn't reflect our current economy. Families are struggling to stay above water. They need two incomes and a mother can't afford to stay home and teach children for twenty years

Frankly, many parents are just plain stupid. There is no educational requirement for procreating.

Another reason for Vouchers and Charter Schools.....It would give parents power in their childrens education when the public school system fails them.

Sadly, many schools, particularly in the inner cities, have turned into nothing more than babysitting warehouses, being attended to by disinterested, or completely inept teachers and administrators....And even more sadly, many of those students parents are just plain lousy, and don't care.....But, many of those parents are good parents, who just don't have the power to take control when the school system fails their children. And that's just wrong, on so many levels.

 

[Samson]

Frankly, many parents are just plain stupid. There is no educational requirement for procreating.

I'm certain that your ideal centralized government could solve that problem.

Let's start by legalizing marriage for parents who cannot procreate!

 

[rightwinger]

Frankly, many parents are just plain stupid. There is no educational requirement for procreating.

I'm certain that your ideal centralized government could solve that problem.

Let's start by legalizing marriage for parents who cannot procreate!

It has

We have made a free public school education available to all Americans regardless of how poor or uneducated your parents are

 

[Samson]

Frankly, many parents are just plain stupid. There is no educational requirement for procreating.

I'm certain that your ideal centralized government could solve that problem.

Let's start by legalizing marriage for parents who cannot procreate!

It has

We have made a free public school education available to all Americans regardless of how poor or uneducated your parents are

Yeah, you keep believing that..........

 

[rightwinger]

I'm certain that your ideal centralized government could solve that problem.

Let's start by legalizing marriage for parents who cannot procreate!

It has

We have made a free public school education available to all Americans regardless of how poor or uneducated your parents are

Yeah, you keep believing that..........

A free public school education is what made this country great

 

[Wicked Jester]

It has

We have made a free public school education available to all Americans regardless of how poor or uneducated your parents are

Yeah, you keep believing that..........

A free public school education is what made this country great

That was before the greedy, corrupt unions got their grubby hands in the system....And that is one of the reasons why our public school system is helping to make this country not so great.

 

[Samson]

It has

We have made a free public school education available to all Americans regardless of how poor or uneducated your parents are

Yeah, you keep believing that..........

A free public school education is what made this country great

An abundance of natural resources and very few restrictions upon their development was what made the USA great.

With the exception of military academies, Intellectual Resources have never been developed through a centralized authority.

 

[rightwinger]

Yeah, you keep believing that..........

A free public school education is what made this country great

That was before the greedy, corrupt unions got their grubby hands in the system....And that is one of the reasons why our public school system is helping to make this country not so great.

The unions have nothing to do with it. In fact, school systems with union teachers perform better than school systems without.

 

[rightwinger]

Yeah, you keep believing that..........

A free public school education is what made this country great

An abundance of natural resources and very few restrictions upon their development was what made the USA great.

With the exception of military academies, Intellectual Resources have never been developed through a centralized authority.

America would be a bunch of dirt farmers without an educated workforce. In terms of centralized authority, most schools in the world function from a centralized authority and perform much better than the US with it's hodge podge of independent school districts