Homeschooling

#1
CSpindizzy

CSpindizzy

Five Star Recruit
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
11,351
Likes
542
#1
I'll open up a whole new can of worms here and see the views on homeschooling your kids. I've seen a few groups really begin pushing this harder than before. The argument is to flee public schools because of the quality of education, ideology, safety, etc.

Pros? Cons?
 
#2
#2
If you can afford to stay home and home school your children, then you can take a low level job, earning $20K-25K annually and send them to private schools.
 
#3
#3
Home schooling is a fine idea. I am amazed people think that shoving their kids off to someone else for their primary education will have better results than taking ownership of this role themselves. Is there really going to be a teacher that cares more about your kid than you do? That is not to say there are not plenty of qualified teachers at public and private schools, but I doubt you can find one that is more interested in the success of your own child than you are.
 
#4
#4
allvol123 said:
Home schooling is a fine idea. I am amazed people think that shoving their kids off to someone else for their primary education will have better results than taking ownership of this role themselves. Is there really going to be a teacher that cares more about your kid than you do? That is not to say there are not plenty of qualified teachers at public and private schools, but I doubt you can find one that is more interested in the success of your own child than you are.
Click to expand...
Primary education is about more than just learning the alphabet, learning to count, and long division. It is the fundamental base for learning how to act amongst your peers. Also, home schooling is fine, in an academic sense, as long as the parent is qualified in the subjects they are covering. However, the child's grade level and the parent's qualifications are usually contained in an inverse relationship. Keeping your child out of the daily social setting that is school and then throwing them into it in middle school or high school is just cruel, in my opinion.
 
#5
#5
therealUT said:
Primary education is about more than just learning the alphabet, learning to count, and long division. It is the fundamental base for learning how to act amongst your peers. Also, home schooling is fine, in an academic sense, as long as the parent is qualified in the subjects they are covering. However, the child's grade level and the parent's qualifications are usually contained in an inverse relationship. Keeping your child out of the daily social setting that is school and then throwing them into it in middle school or high school is just cruel, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

No doubt socialization is very important. A home school kid should definitely be involved with church, sports, or any other activites that gets them involved with their peers. My wife has her Master's in Education and is working on her doctorate. That combined with her love for our child makes her the best candidate for my child's early education. But to be honest, parental involvement period, is the most necessary item early on. There is nothing a public school could teach that is so harmful that involved educated parents can't fix on a daily basis. That being said, I would never send my kid to a public school:)
 
#6
#6
I find myself in one of those rare moments that I agree totally with therealUT on this issue.

I think the whole concept of social interaction is an absolute necessity.

I'll also add the concept of (borrowing a recent catch phrase) cut and run in the public schools is insane. You are paying untold amounts of tax dollars into a system and then abandoning it while still paying? The problems that many who support homeschool can easily be recitified with more parental involvement. Attend the schools, talk to teachers, go to PTO meetings, go to BoE meetings and actually study who is running for BoE. I guarantee you if parents were more plugged into the curriculum and staff there wouldn't be all of these issues coming up in the schools. Start tossing out some elected officials and see how things 'clear up'.
 
#7
#7
allvol123 said:
That being said, I would never send my kid to a public school:)
Click to expand...

I'm not meaning this to sound as crass as it might come across but the same thing you'd hide and protect your child from in the public schools will be in the other activities you allow them to be involved in. Unless you plan on keeping them locked in their room, they will be subject to one of the 'evils' the homeschoolers are hiding from.
 
#8
#8
CSpindizzy said:
I'm not meaning this to sound as crass as it might come across but the same thing you'd hide and protect your child from in the public schools will be in the other activities you allow them to be involved in. Unless you plan on keeping them locked in their room, they will be subject to one of the 'evils' the homeschoolers are hiding from.
Click to expand...

Not hiding them from anything.

The essential question would be, what is better for my child? The options are homeschool, public school, or private school. I can guarantee what comes in last on that list from my standpoint.

Avoiding public school is not hiding them from anything. It says I find the public education system inept and do not plan on wasting my child's time in it. Would she succeed in life with a public education? Yes she would, because she has great parents. I have choices, so I will make one.

I don't necessarily avoid public schools because of drugs or sex or those social issues. I avoid it because I think it is not the best choice.
 
#11
#11
I agree with the comments on socialization -- especially given the growing diversity of our society.

Something needs to give in the public school system. BOE's and teacher unions are resistant to change and incredibly defensive. Parents have abdicated their responsibility. Extreme views from both the right and left have driven educational objectives and made political correctness the order of the day.
 
#13
#13
Well if you choose to throw money away at the schools that you won't send your children to, that is your choice. As we were talking about investments with no return, that would be one. So just pay hundreds of dollars a year into something and then let it go.
 
#14
#14
CSpindizzy said:
Well if you choose to throw money away at the schools that you won't send your children to, that is your choice. As we were talking about investments with no return, that would be one. So just pay hundreds of dollars a year into something and then let it go.
Click to expand...
It is definitely a sunk cost for many. However, most Catholic Churches and Schools offer discounted tuition to parishoners. Seeing as I have an obligation to tythe at 10% or more, I am sinking about the same amount of money into public education as I am parochial. So, that becomes a non-issue.

I just feel that education is more properly administered in an environment where discipline is paramount. I know that when I was growing up in the Catholic school system, students could be expelled simply because the administrators felt they were too big of a distraction in the learning environment. Compare that to the beaurocratic nature of the public school system, in which teachers are just forced to deal with a minority of students who have no respect for authority and their parents who do not care.
 
#15
#15
CSpindizzy said:
Well if you choose to throw money away at the schools that you won't send your children to, that is your choice. As we were talking about investments with no return, that would be one. So just pay hundreds of dollars a year into something and then let it go.
Click to expand...

I have no choice in paying taxes, but one bad choice should not lead to another. I should not base sending my child to a public school on the fact that I have had to put money into that school.
 
#16
#16
therealUT said:
It is definitely a sunk cost for many. However, most Catholic Churches and Schools offer discounted tuition to parishoners. Seeing as I have an obligation to tythe at 10% or more, I am sinking about the same amount of money into public education as I am parochial. So, that becomes a non-issue.

I just feel that education is more properly administered in an environment where discipline is paramount. I know that when I was growing up in the Catholic school system, students could be expelled simply because the administrators felt they were too big of a distraction in the learning environment. Compare that to the beaurocratic nature of the public school system, in which teachers are just forced to deal with a minority of students who have no respect for authority and their parents who do not care.
Click to expand...

There is no doubt that the Catholic school systems have the experience and track record that dwarf any other educational system.
 
#17
#17
Lexvol said:
There is no doubt that the Catholic school systems have the experience and track record that dwarf any other educational system.
Click to expand...
Of course, they were the original education system in Western Europe. Gotta love those Jesuits!

Speaking of Catholic education, I thought I would share this with you Lex. One of the major Catholic High Schools in the Kansas City area, Rockhurst, is of course a Jesuit institution. Prior to 1999, the principle in this high school had sets of boxing gloves in his office. If any two young men wanted to fight, they could request the gloves, and they would fight in the gymnasium. Apparently, the uproar over the Columbine incident ended this glorious tradition.
 
#18
#18
Why does it have to be a bad choice? If parents stood and fought for their local school systems instead of letting them be overrun by agendas outside the parents and children then there would not be such a stink about the problems in the public schools.

I've talked to several parents who complain about local schools but when I ask if they are involved, they say they don't have enough time. So there is no time to spend on their kids and their future so they rather have some other entities raising them.
 
#19
#19
therealUT said:
Of course, they were the original education system in Western Europe. Gotta love those Jesuits!

Speaking of Catholic education, I thought I would share this with you Lex. One of the major Catholic High Schools in the Kansas City area, Rockhurst, is of course a Jesuit institution. Prior to 1999, the principle in this high school had sets of boxing gloves in his office. If any two young men wanted to fight, they could request the gloves, and they would fight in the gymnasium. Apparently, the uproar over the Columbine incident ended this glorious tradition.
Click to expand...

I find that to be a reasonable way to resolve problems in a controlled environment. I am as protestant as Martin Luther himself, and will gaurantee that my kids end up in Catholic schools from the very start.
 
#20
#20
CSpindizzy said:
Why does it have to be a bad choice? If parents stood and fought for their local school systems instead of letting them be overrun by agendas outside the parents and children then there would not be such a stink about the problems in the public schools.

I've talked to several parents who complain about local schools but when I ask if they are involved, they say they don't have enough time. So there is no time to spend on their kids and their future so they rather have some other entities raising them.
Click to expand...
But in the public school system, no matter how involved you are, you cannot force other parents to get involved. When parents are directly investing into the Catholic school of their choice, they are more apt to get involved to make sure that investment is being put to good use.

I understand that everyone is investing into the public school system, however, because of our tax system, parents do not see themselves as investing in their childrens' education (as an investment would be voluntary.) Therefore, many parents just do not get involved. That lack of involvement from other parents can be a large obstacle to your own child's education.
 
#21
#21
CSpindizzy said:
Why does it have to be a bad choice? If parents stood and fought for their local school systems instead of letting them be overrun by agendas outside the parents and children then there would not be such a stink about the problems in the public schools.

I've talked to several parents who complain about local schools but when I ask if they are involved, they say they don't have enough time. So there is no time to spend on their kids and their future so they rather have some other entities raising them.
Click to expand...

You make a good point, but are you going to put your child through this school while it's being fixed? That could take years, long after your child has passed through. Plus you can get involved as you want, but it is almost impossible to get an incompetent teacher fired. Like I said, my kid would be fine if she went to a public school because she has a firm foundation at home. Unfortunately not all kids can say this.
 
#22
#22
Lexvol said:
I find that to be a reasonable way to resolve problems in a controlled environment. I am as protestant as Martin Luther himself, and will gaurantee that my kids end up in Catholic schools from the very start.
Click to expand...
The controlled fights seemed to actually cut down on bullying, as bullies tend to pick on kids who do not want to get in trouble and therefore will not fight back. When a kid can fight back without getting in trouble, it changes the dynamics quite a bit.
 
#23
#23
therealUT said:
The controlled fights seemed to actually cut down on bullying, as bullies tend to pick on kids who do not want to get in trouble and therefore will not fight back. When a kid can fight back without getting in trouble, it changes the dynamics quite a bit.
Click to expand...

It would control bullying and cure the disease that some have called "popping off at the mouth syndrome".
 
#24
#24
Wees is all a homeskooled down hear in alabammy aint nor odder way n my pinyon lesten ye livs n d big sity
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top