Homeschooling: Your Views, Please

[Pogo]

One's views on homeschooling is likely reflective of their social experiences and age. When I was a kid, you seldom heard of it and it was mostly confined to complete religious zealots. Since then, the academic spectrum has broadened widely. In order to be released to home schooling in my area now, the parents either have to demonstrate that they have a workable plan or enroll the child in one of the school system approved home school courses. ironically, in my area, the religious zealots have built private schools--several of them--that do far more damage to the kids than a parent ever could IMO (which is not to say that I have any issue with religious instruction, but these schools really are a bucket of snakes away from being criminal in their incompetence).

Good points -- parents can end up creating a monster where not only have they created a channel where they think the "proper" message goes out, but that message might go off script. And what's off script for parents A might be a different off script for parents B.

To some extent though, kids are bright enough to figure out when they're being bullshat. I can remember a teacher around third or fourth grade telling us the earth is rotating at "thousands and thousands of miles per hour" which I knew was crapola, so at some point, and it doesn't take long, kids do figure out that the authority figure (parent or teacher) isn't infallible.

 

[Wake]

Nothing wrong with that, unless you're an inbred Confederate Republican who doesn't know shit about the world except what you hear from Rush O'Reilly or Megyn Palin.

If the parents are dead wrong about everything from religion to science then the children shouldn't be homeschooled.

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

 

[sealybobo]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

I work with a lot of home schooled kids. Their parents sign them up for music lessons at my private business music school. So they pay $30 per week for their kid to learn guitar or drums or piano or sing. Nice kids, but they are a little weird and here is why. Any kid who's being home schooled probably lives in a bad neighborhood or their parents have a lot of bad experiences growing up and they are projecting that onto their kids. Maybe if more and more people did it eventually it wouldn't be mostly crazies/wimps/intraverts who do it.

Just my opinion.

 

[Pogo]

Nothing wrong with that, unless you're an inbred Confederate Republican who doesn't know shit about the world except what you hear from Rush O'Reilly or Megyn Palin.

If the parents are dead wrong about everything from religion to science then the children shouldn't be homeschooled.

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

Ideology is one thing. It's not the only thing. The argument can certainly be made that the community at large has an interest in its citizens being on the same educational page in non-ideological education -- like where Istanbul is or what the square root of 5 is. To that argument it's reasonable for some kind of standard to be set --- assuming one agrees that the child should have that level playing field.

 

[KNB]

Nothing wrong with that, unless you're an inbred Confederate Republican who doesn't know shit about the world except what you hear from Rush O'Reilly or Megyn Palin.

If the parents are dead wrong about everything from religion to science then the children shouldn't be homeschooled.

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

And then you have a fractured nation full of misinformed simpletons still dependent on filtered corporate media for the information that they will pass on to their kids.

This country spends more money on bombs than books and anyone wonders why Americans are dumber than retarded rocks?

 

[Meathead]

Nothing wrong with that, unless you're an inbred Confederate Republican who doesn't know shit about the world except what you hear from Rush O'Reilly or Megyn Palin.

If the parents are dead wrong about everything from religion to science then the children shouldn't be homeschooled.

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

And then you have a fractured nation full of misinformed simpletons still dependent on filtered corporate media for the information that they will pass on to their kids.

This country spends more money on bombs than books and anyone wonders why Americans are dumber than retarded rocks?

This makes an excellent case for home schooling. I say that because I've little doubt you're publically educated.

 

[Pogo]

Nothing wrong with that, unless you're an inbred Confederate Republican who doesn't know shit about the world except what you hear from Rush O'Reilly or Megyn Palin.

If the parents are dead wrong about everything from religion to science then the children shouldn't be homeschooled.

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

And then you have a fractured nation full of misinformed simpletons still dependent on filtered corporate media for the information that they will pass on to their kids.

This country spends more money on bombs than books and anyone wonders why Americans are dumber than retarded rocks?

All of which brings up the vital question: to what extent are children passive sponges that accept whatever they're taught without question?

Far as I can see the most important thing one can teach a kid is not isosceles triangles or creation myths, but simply to question logically and to desire the answers.

 

[KNB]

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

And then you have a fractured nation full of misinformed simpletons still dependent on filtered corporate media for the information that they will pass on to their kids.

This country spends more money on bombs than books and anyone wonders why Americans are dumber than retarded rocks?

This makes an excellent case for home schooling. I say that because I've little doubt you're publically educated.

And you're from what? Private education? You're in favor of home-schooling your kids?

You spelled "publicly" wrong, Meathead.

 

[Meathead]

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

And then you have a fractured nation full of misinformed simpletons still dependent on filtered corporate media for the information that they will pass on to their kids.

This country spends more money on bombs than books and anyone wonders why Americans are dumber than retarded rocks?

All of which brings up the vital question: to what extent are children passive sponges that accept whatever they're taught without question?

Far as I can see the most important thing one can teach a kid is not isosceles triangles or creation myths, but simply to question logically and to desire the answers.

Great. Now we've got a bunch of self-righteous idiots who, like yourself, are functionally useless. This will make China's rise and America's demise much quicker.

 

[KNB]

Morons teaching their children incorrect "facts" will be the downfall of America. How many of you still think that there were WMD in Iraq? How many of you "small-government Republicans" are in favor of the USAPATRIOT Act and domestic spying? How many of you "fiscal Conservatives" are in favor of unending war at taxpayers' expense?

If you are wrong about everything then you shouldn't be a teacher.

 

[Misty]

I have no problem with homeschooling.

It's the parent's choice.

 

[Wake]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

I work with a lot of home schooled kids. Their parents sign them up for music lessons at my private business music school. So they pay $30 per week for their kid to learn guitar or drums or piano or sing. Nice kids, but they are a little weird and here is why. Any kid who's being home schooled probably lives in a bad neighborhood or their parents have a lot of bad experiences growing up and they are projecting that onto their kids. Maybe if more and more people did it eventually it wouldn't be mostly crazies/wimps/intraverts who do it.

Just my opinion.

That's commendable.

On the bolded, however, that is certainly not the case for most. Homeschooling, from my own humble perspective, typically happens in families that are middle class and up. As for the parents, it's unfair to say that of every parent that homeschools, much like saying every person who is liberal has misgivings about hard work and self-reliance. Let's qualify these comments and prize the fact that not everyone in each group is the same.

All cases are different. In my case, I was viciously bullied to the point of my flesh being whipped off by wet, twisted towels. We lived in the suburbs, too. If there is one thing you could take from this post, it's the message that you should meet and better understand the people who homeschool their children, and why.

Nothing wrong with that, unless you're an inbred Confederate Republican who doesn't know shit about the world except what you hear from Rush O'Reilly or Megyn Palin.

If the parents are dead wrong about everything from religion to science then the children shouldn't be homeschooled.

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

Ideology is one thing. It's not the only thing. The argument can certainly be made that the community at large has an interest in its citizens being on the same educational page in non-ideological education -- like where Istanbul is or what the square root of 5 is. To that argument it's reasonable for some kind of standard to be set --- assuming one agrees that the child should have that level playing field.

If you mean academia, then I don't disagree, to an extent. If you mean the child's homeschool package brimming with academic knowledge, I agree. If you mean that the only parents who homeschool must be teachers or professors, I do not. Furthermore, I am very wary of partisans from both the Right and Left instilling their own fallible beliefs into the coursework. Academia should be objective, from discussing the atomic number of iron, to describing the phases in a moth's lifespan.

Nothing wrong with that, unless you're an inbred Confederate Republican who doesn't know shit about the world except what you hear from Rush O'Reilly or Megyn Palin.

If the parents are dead wrong about everything from religion to science then the children shouldn't be homeschooled.

I would rather not insult any political/social/ideological group out there.

Every parent does and should continue to have the right to homeschool their children as they see fit. This includes gay and straight people, religious and atheistic people, etc.

And then you have a fractured nation full of misinformed simpletons still dependent on filtered corporate media for the information that they will pass on to their kids.

This country spends more money on bombs than books and anyone wonders why Americans are dumber than retarded rocks?

Personally I think you are making your posts from a particularly biased viewpoint. Assumptions, to be, I think, more accurate. If you'd like to discuss and debate this issue with me I would like to, provided you not use hyperbole, logical fallacies, or partisanship. For example, you assume Americans (not just some) are dumber than retarded rocks. No meaningful conversation can happen when you input those kinds of misconceptions.

 

[KNB]

ALL Americans, left and right, are morons for tolerating what the moneyed class has done.

 

[KNB]

Here's from another thread. It proves my point nicely:

Shariah Law Demands=One Nation Under Allah ==Comming to USA?? sHARIAH law demands: Death nto all daughters who indulge in premarital sex= death to all homosexuals= death to all Islamic apostates who speak against Allah,Muhammad,or the Koran=death to all infidels of all other religions. Some "churches" in the USA are trying to combine christianity with Islam=chrislam==The off-base Emerging Church is encouraging pastors to embrace an ecumentical concept of combining Christianity and Islam, actually partnering with Islam, to launch a new religion called…Chrislam—which would combine the two. So far, they have managed to gather 130 Christian leaders who collectively state that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. No they do not! Allah was the Arabic name for a higher power, or a god. Mohammed ‘s god was Allilah, the moon god which conveniently became the generic name for a god, Allah. This is why a crescent moon and star is on the flag of Islam and mosques. YES! MORE SIGNS OF THE LAST DAYS!!!

Are you going to argue that this freak should be allowed to teach children?

 

[Pogo]

And then you have a fractured nation full of misinformed simpletons still dependent on filtered corporate media for the information that they will pass on to their kids.

This country spends more money on bombs than books and anyone wonders why Americans are dumber than retarded rocks?

All of which brings up the vital question: to what extent are children passive sponges that accept whatever they're taught without question?

Far as I can see the most important thing one can teach a kid is not isosceles triangles or creation myths, but simply to question logically and to desire the answers.

Great. Now we've got a bunch of self-righteous idiots who, like yourself, are functionally useless. This will make China's rise and America's demise much quicker.

Being taught to think is "functionally useless"??

You jealous?

 

[Pogo]

Morons teaching their children incorrect "facts" will be the downfall of America. How many of you still think that there were WMD in Iraq? How many of you "small-government Republicans" are in favor of the USAPATRIOT Act and domestic spying? How many of you "fiscal Conservatives" are in favor of unending war at taxpayers' expense?

If you are wrong about everything then you shouldn't be a teacher.

But it's also a fallacy to assume that kids just blindly accept everything they're taught and have no power of reasoning. That just ain't realistic.

 

[Meathead]

All of which brings up the vital question: to what extent are children passive sponges that accept whatever they're taught without question?

Far as I can see the most important thing one can teach a kid is not isosceles triangles or creation myths, but simply to question logically and to desire the answers.

Great. Now we've got a bunch of self-righteous idiots who, like yourself, are functionally useless. This will make China's rise and America's demise much quicker.

Being taught to think is "functionally useless"??

You jealous?

If you need to be "taught to think" then yes, absolutely. You nailed it!

 

[CTSV]

I was born and raised in Midland Michigan, public schools all the way, including college at MSU ultimately.

My career took me to Iowa where we are raising our three boys, my wife does not have to work (fortunately) so we could home school, but the public schools here are excellent....and the boys are doing great. The best performer is our eldest who takes the most advance math classes two grades above him....next year he will go to the local college for math.

We are fortunate to live in a community where access to top notch education is available through the public school systems....and I detect no biases from the curriculum that offends my personal beliefs in any way. Evolution, equal marriage, no racism....of course it's a pretty homogenious community (not completely so, I'd guess 85% caucasian)

If the public schools were not this good, my wife and I would figure something else out, likely private school as I doubt we have the patience to home school.

 

[Pogo]

If you mean academia, then I don't disagree, to an extent. If you mean the child's homeschool package brimming with academic knowledge, I agree. If you mean that the only parents who homeschool must be teachers or professors, I do not. Furthermore, I am very wary of partisans from both the Right and Left instilling their own fallible beliefs into the coursework. Academia should be objective, from discussing the atomic number of iron, to describing the phases in a moth's lifespan.

Isn't this the entire point of institutionalized education and teacher certifications -- to get everybody on the same educational page? The question becomes, how do you do that with millions of autonomous parents teaching and omitting whatever they either see fit or just don't know?

I'm reminded again of the Hutterites, a religious communistic sect that sees no particular value in public education; they're entirely self-sufficient so they see their children as ingredients of that self-sufficient community, so they're taught farming or ranching (whatever the colony is doing) and religion. But they also by agreement with the State provide a dwelling where a teacher comes from outside, called an "English teacher" (because they speak English) to teach them English and the basic "three Rs". Just to keep them competitive in the world should they ever decide to venture out into it. It works well for them.



Incidentally Wake it would be helpful not to combine unrelated posts and answer them all at once - makes it hard to edit responses.

 

[Pogo]

Great. Now we've got a bunch of self-righteous idiots who, like yourself, are functionally useless. This will make China's rise and America's demise much quicker.

Being taught to think is "functionally useless"??

You jealous?

If you need to be "taught to think" then yes, absolutely. You nailed it!

Everybody needs to learn how to think. Without that they end up like you.