Home Schooling

[enfp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC If you can't afford private school, parents (especially fairly religious folk that have lots of kids) often homeschool instead. " ''I'd personally go crazy at the idea of staying with kids all day, but then again, that's why I didn't have any in the first place.

While the homeschooling movement had its' roots in the religious community, these days it appears that most people are doing it because of the differing educational values or avoiding certain influences reasons. In atlanta there are many secular groups. And in fact, influences are everywhere. My kids' favorite friends are children of atheists and agnostics (my homeschooling friends), not exactly what I had envisioned. But I'm not attending the catholic homeschooling group because it's too far to drive (BIG deal in atlanta). We belong to a secular group and that's what we get and it's ok. (except they've all had the sex talk with their children. I'm hoping to put that off for a while longer. Wish me luck )

Many people we know who homeschool can afford private schools. Most school systems are the same whether public or private. Grades may be better, but the downsides still exist. I believe the system is dysfunctional and outdated. But if we had wanted private school DH would have kept working.


I never said I wasn't crazy. That's why ER was so important to me. I needed DH home. The whole SAHM thing was pretty rough on me. It is great having 2 parents dealing with everything.

[TromboneAl]

UPDATE: The mom and the homeschooled kids all disappeared in the night, leaving tons of stuff the house required major cleanup.

[Dreamer]

Do you know why she left in the middle of the night? I was just curious. Was she wanted by the law or was she just skipping out on rent that was owed? I know that it could be for various other reasons, but those are the first two that popped into my mind. I could be totally off base, but I feel sorry for the kids.

[W2R]

My daughter had a friend (when she was a little girl, back in the 1980's) whose family moved in the middle of the night like that. It turned out that they owed hundreds of thousands of dollars to everyone conceivable. I don't really see how slinking away would help that, unless perhaps they owed quite a bit to individuals and/or didn't want their car repossessed.

You would never have known it from appearances! Talk about skeletons in the closet...

[TromboneAl]

No, I don't know anything more. I talked to the guy who was cleaning out the house.

[FUEGO]

Maybe your neighbor's "ceremony to eliminate the curse" was unsuccessful so she was just cutting her losses. I'm sure she explained the problem to her landlord, who I can only assume was unsympathetic to her desire to live in a lava rock curse-free dwelling. Isn't that one of the basic human rights we all deserve?

It's constructive eviction if you ask me, and I think she just may have a cause of action in court against her landlord!

[OAG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl I can easily see both sides of this issue. In theory the idea of "perhaps the parents know better than the state about how to give a good education" is a good one. But in practical terms, I have come face to face with some issues. Certainly I don't know the entire situation (I'm just making conversation here). I've seen: 1. Pretty much zero interaction with other kids. They are in the house all day. They seem a little starved for attention from outsiders. 2. There's no way she has time for any real schooling. These kids are all over the place. Conversation: Kid: We're both ADD! Me: You guys seem OK to me. Kid: You should see us in the house! 3. They had an assignment of writing a recipe and making it for me. I'm not familiar with how well a fourth grader should spell, but I'm guessing "Put in the ovn for 5 sacins" indicates a problem. California's low regulation approach to home schooling may be letting them down, and they might be behind the eight ball when they grow up.

My kids went to PS all their 1-12 school years (none went to KG); however I moved them so often and so fast they never had much of a chance to "interact" or form a "group" except for the youngest. By the time they got to HS I decided (maybe stupidly) to try to keep them all in the same HS, which I did. That in 3 cases was fine but in the youngest one's case I almost lost him due to the "school system" - the "track team" and some nut (later arrested on molestation charges) for a teacher that told him and the others they did not have to do what society (or their parents) wanted or them to do. Took several discussions with this teacher and the principal to get him off of the sociology kick and back to teaching the "track" he was hired to do. That was the only kid that "would not go to college" out of HS - so after a short discussion we (he and I) decided he should go into the Army and off to "see the World" and to "find himself". Worked out fine; he did his 4 years got out as a Sergeant, got married, went off to college (Accounting Major), and is a CPA today. But, there was a short (seemed like a long one) period I was not sure he was not going to shoot me and he was not sure I was not going to shoot him (literally).

I never had the ability or the inclination to "home school" my kids but I would never fault a parent(s) that does it - and I salute TEXAS for not forgetting what FREEDOM, at least in this area, really is.

[bright eyed]

That is strange T-Al, one of the draw backs of homeschooled kids is that they aren't in the system and abuse/neglect can be going on and nobody would know (not saying the pub schools are perfect at catching that either, but hey, it's part of a broader safety net).

As for their grammar - that's about on par w/ what my 1st grader spells (and her version might be better than that)...so yes, I'd say that's pretty behind.

Anyhow, of course there are amazing public schools and awful ones and I think the same goes for homeschooling experiences. For whatever it's worth, a lot of the people I know around here doing it do not seem particularly qualified. I think teaching is a highly trained skill and value my daughters' well trained teachers. Her current teacher has her masters in early literacy and I see how i contributes to my daughters' development. I'm well educated compared to the general public but would never feel I could give my kids the education they need in all the various subjects without extensive training...

Same goes for private schools. They are not all universally better either.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl UPDATE: The mom and the homeschooled kids all disappeared in the night, leaving tons of stuff the house required major cleanup.

Wow, she's really on the homeschooling ball. I was at least 25 years old before I learned to do that...

[Texarkandy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bright eyed That is strange T-Al, one of the draw backs of homeschooled kids is that they aren't in the system and abuse/neglect can be going on and nobody would know (not saying the pub schools are perfect at catching that either, but hey, it's part of a broader safety net). ....

Here's a sad & sickening local case we have going on around here right now involving some homeschoolers (however I think it's really more about these parents religious beliefs & general nuttiness than "homeschooling" per se)

House of horrors

But yes, this is something that likely would have been caught by the school before it went too far. On the other hand, catching child abuse/neglect is an "incidental" function of the school - not the reason schools exist.

I'm not sure, however what this case says about our adoption laws/procedures. But then, in many places (esp. E. Texas) if one presents themself as a "devout christian" they are presumed by many (incl CPS workers & judges) to be "OK" to adopt without much further inquiry.

Note: not mentioned in this article, but the "dad" was also arrested soon after for helping "mom" attempt to clean up the crime scene & try to pretend to authorities it was an accident.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Wow, she's really on the homeschooling ball. I was at least 25 years old before I learned to do that...

Maybe the mom is going to college Nords, that would explain it.

[barker]

We home-schooled both our children through high-school age, and they both went on to college and obtained straight A grades all through. One is still in college, the other is working as a professional computer engineer at a large financial company.

Home-schooling can be uneven in educational breadth, but children will excel in certain areas on their own, and have to catch up in others. That's what we found when our kids enrolled in college. Our daughter for instance went into college in honors/advanced language courses, but needed 1 semester of remedial math catchup before taking college level math.

[Trek]

I have a sister who home schools her kids, currently aged 10 & 12. The majority of parents that home school are anything but lazy. The laziest thing you can do is kick your kids out the door in the morning and not have to deal with them the rest of the day.

Her kids are already speaking Spanish and learning more languages that interest them. They deliver meals to the elderly that are homebound. They go to museums and field trips to historical sites. They meet with other home school groups and do public speaking projects, music recitals, put on plays, etc. But they're also allowed to explore things that interest them most and are not confined to any strict program.

You really see the benefits of all this as they are the most polite and well mannered kids I've come across. And what is particularly interesting about them, is that they are interesting to talk to, something I haven't found to usually be the case for a 10 year old. They know more about complex issues in the world and have had time to come to a more meaningful understanding about things as they are let to delve deeper into a topic, instead of being forced to "move on the next chapter after lunch."

These kids bring up subjects about sustainable forests or giving small business loans to underprivileged women in third world countries.

They also participate in baseball and ballet to stay physically active. They are allowed to quit if they want to, but thus far, they've stuck with it over the years.

Perhaps they'll miss out not having a Nintendo, watching South Park reruns or learning how to take a punch from the schoolyard bully, but I think spending all your time raising your children is something to be admired.

Having said all that, I don't know if I could do it. I'm pretty lazy.