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Subject: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
What do you think of Home Schooling?
There are obviously both good and bad points.
Bad: lack of social interaction with other students(I know several people who were home schooled and they all lacked social skills as compared to students who attend a regular school)
Good: many schools are now public wastelands (mostly thanks to the plague aka "political correctness" ::)); lack of individual attention to some who need it most.
What do you think about Home Schooling?
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
Good: many schools are now public wastelands (mostly thanks to the plague aka "political correctness" ::)); lack of individual attention to some who need it most.
End Quote
They are 'public wastelands' because the government doesn't think that education is as important as say.......oil. It has nothing to do with 'political correctness'. Blaming a bad education system on liberals is ridiculous to say the least.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
They are 'public wastelands' because the government doesn't think that education is as important as say.......oil. It has nothing to do with 'political correctness'. Blaming a bad education system on liberals is ridiculous to say the least.
End Quote
did I say liberals? No. But your automatic assumption that "political correctness" is directly associated with liberals goes without saying, and speaks volumes. ;)
And yes, it has tons to do with "political correctness". See the thread regarding "Political Correctness out of Control" posted last week on the board to see how schools are so afraid of "offending" anyone that they are teaching a completely false sense of reality to the students to appease the "PC" crowd.
Anyway, public school are wastelands for several reason, one being how the teachers no longer run the classrooms. The students are the rulers and all they have to do is hire a lawyer when the teacher tries their hand at discipline, and so on.
Another problem is that teachers nowadays are much less qualified than they used to be. Do you know in my state, as long as I have taught a Sunday School class at a church, or led a group such as Boy Scouts or 4-H, I am automatically "qualified" to be a substitute teacher? That to me is astoundingly stupid.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
Another problem is that teachers nowadays are much less qualified than they used to be. Do you know in my state, as long as I have taught a Sunday School class at a church, or led a group such as Boy Scouts or 4-H, I am automatically "qualified" to be a substitute teacher? That to me is astoundingly stupid.
End Quote
Ah! But these qualifications vary from state-to-state. Not so easy in Missouri... you must have completed at least 60 hours of college to substitute teach. Missouri teachers must also be certified with "The Praxis i & ii", which are NOT continuous certifications. At least for my state, I would have to disagree with your statement that teachers nowdays are less qualified to teach. I think your earlier statement about how the students are running the classroom is right on the money. I can also see where it would create a tremendous sense of teacher-apathy. The up-side of home-schooling, IMO, is that the PARENTS are unequivicably INVOLVED in the education process.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:Not so easy in Missouri... you must have completed at least 60 hours of college to substitute teach. End Quote
when I was in college, I had several classes that were 4 hours long/session. So theoretically, based on Missouri law, I would be "qualified" after only a few weeks of classes? Thats not what I call proper qualification.
Quoting:I think your earlier statement about how the students are running the classroom is right on the money. I can also see where it would create a tremendous sense of teacher-apathy. The up-side of home-schooling, IMO, is that the PARENTS are unequivicably INVOLVED in the education process.End Quote
I think its such a shame how our schools have become the way they are regarding discipline(or lack thereof). One of my best friends is a 6th grade teacher and is always telling if it weren't for the threat of constant law-suits, teaching would be a much more desirable career than it is.
(I say again as I have said in the past here, we have too many lawyers!!!!!!!!)
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
You act as if substitute actually do anything to influence our education. My football coach would often have to fill in for teachers. Subs don't do anything. They just follow the instructions left by the regular teacher. Usually it involves reading and doing questions in a book.
I wouldn't worry about qualifications for being a substitute teacher.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
You act as if substitute actually do anything to influence our education. My football coach would often have to fill in for teachers. Subs don't do anything. They just follow the instructions left by the regular teacher. Usually it involves reading and doing questions in a book.
I wouldn't worry about qualifications for being a substitute teacher.
End Quote
the substitute teacher "qualifications" was just an example.
And its and example across the board, unfortunately.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
I need a better example.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
There's a guy who was home-schooled who lives in my dorm at college, and I hear he's pretty smart.
The guy has so little idea how to act around his peers that for a while I was sure he was autistic.
Meanwhile, I think I've done pretty well on my public education. I can read. I can write. I can identify our founding fathers, like John Hancock, and Thomas Paine, and Samuel Adams. (Actually, most people I went to high school were very knowledgeable about Samuel Adams, but that's a different story.)
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
There's a guy who was home-schooled who lives in my dorm at college, and I hear he's pretty smart.
The guy has so little idea how to act around his peers that for a while I was sure he was autistic.End Quote
thats a huge drawback to home schooling.
One of the people I know who was home schooled is so backward and shy, she is scared to even go out on weekends or anything similar.
But then again, like your friend, she is very very smart and well read. And her parents taught her the facts.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
I know home schooled kids. I wonder what their parents are thinking. They've stunted their children's emotional growth by not allowing them to have contact with other, non-parental human beings. I think of home schooling the same way I think of sleeping in your parents bed until age 10. It warps you.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
when I was in college, I had several classes that were 4 hours long/session. So theoretically, based on Missouri law, I would be "qualified" after only a few weeks of classes? Thats not what I call proper qualification.
End Quote
However, it takes the average college student approx. 4 semesters to complete 60 hours, which is apparently 60 hours more than in your state. At any rate, my point was that the qualifications vary from state to state.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
when I was in college, I had several classes that were 4 hours long/session. So theoretically, based on Missouri law, I would be "qualified" after only a few weeks of classes? Thats not what I call proper qualification.
End Quote
At most colleges 60 credits is the completion of sophomore year, so to be qualified to substitute teach you would have to be at least a junior in college, or have an AS degree (sounds like a pretty good qualification if you ask me).
A full time student at my school is 12 credit hours so 60 hours would take five semesters. That is a lot longer than a few weeks. (I am only my third semester and have earned 39 credits)
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
I think home schooling would be great. If you choose to, though, you do need to balance it with social interaction with other kids. There are ways you can home school and still let them have the social interaction. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, church etc. Not all home schooled children have no social skills, but it is up to the parent to make sure that they get the interaction necessary to become a productive member of society.
I would love to either home school or put my daughter in private school. Unfortunately I can't afford private school and I am realistic. Home schooling wouldn't work, I don't have the patience and am afraid my daughter wouldn't take it as seriously as she needs to.
I guess I will just have to keep a close eye on homework and what is happening in school.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
This may take a different perspective but why not have kids go to school and let their parents take an interest in what they are doing so that there kids can do better? ;)
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
I have a good friend who homeschools her children due to some learning disabilities they each have, which the schools were not willing to compensate for. As Dag stated, she also has them involved in activities which "require" social skills (for lack of a better term). Her oldest (who is 16) also takes Biology at the local high school. In social settings, they do just fine.
I also knew a girl who went to public schools until 6th grade, then was homeschooled until graduation. She was always very shy, which was just multiplied by the fact that the only "social" interaction with peers her age was the few that belonged to her church.
The school district I live in has just voted to allow homeschoolers to join extracurricular activities, such as basketball, clubs, etc. In a way, I think this is a good idea because it allows them to make friends they might not have met before and socialize.
Like Dag, I don't have the patience to homeschool my children on a full time basis. I have been trying to work with my 5 year old on his fine motor skills for a week now and it's not going too well. I also have to help my 8 year old do the 3rd grade math book over the summer as he will be in the "challenge" program next year doing 4th grade math.
I think if you balance it well with social activities and have a set structure, it can work quite well. It's just not for everyone.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
All 4 of my kids were home schooled and they all have excellent social skills. As Dagwood said, if home school parents provide social outlets, the kids will develop the skills. Here in Vermont HS kids can participate in school programs like sports etc. We also connected with other HS families and had regular get togethers. One advantage to that was that the kids were of different ages, so the interaction was more natural that in a classroom, where all the kids are the same age +/-. As far as the education, I think its obvious that it will vary depending on the kids and parents. My oldest, now a PhD in biology teaching at San Bernadino State, is a math wizz, so at 14 she took a college course in pre calculus and went on from there. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara at 18 (not to brag or anything :D). The others developed in differant areas.
As to public schools, I agree that there is a lack of disciplin in some, and that some teachers are not properly prepared. At my college we just developed 2 programs for future teachers, one for elementary which stresses broad exposure to all the subjects they will need to teach rather than a single subject major. The other is for Social Studies teachers, and is multi-disciplinary within that field. Our first crop of grads did quite well on the Praxis tests (an interesting name, Marxist overtones - you should look it up). I also think it is critical for parents to be involved in their kids' educations, and to support the teachers.
And see 80's, no politics ;)
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
did I say liberals? No. But your automatic assumption that "political correctness" is directly associated with liberals goes without saying, and speaks volumes. ;)
End Quote
I 'automatically' assumed that because you constantly bash liberals in your posts and blame them for all of the ills infecting society. Don't deny it.....
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
i think it really depends on the kid who's being schooled. the home-schooled kids i've talked with weren't tremendously shy and they were involved with other activities so they didn't just live in a world of them, their siblings, and their parents.
personally, i think that public school is better, because if the kids aren't interested in any of the local clubs/organizations, then they'll still have interaction with their peers. there aren't a lot of out-of-school clubs in my area and the ones in-school are for students only.
i can see where parents would want to take their kids out of public schools though...we have some of the most ridiculous rules ever. the stupid ones are enforced, while the important ones aren't. two of these rules at the high school (the school i go to) is "wear your ID at all times" and "don't use your gym bag to carry your books." i've seen the hall monitors literally RUN down the halls to catch students breaking these SUPER IMPORTANT rules that WE MUST NEVER BREAK! (i've been victim of this... ::)) and if the hall is too crowded for the hall monitor, the kid just gets away, right? WRONG!! they hall monitors have walkie-talkies so they can radio ahead to other hall monitors to keep a look out for these kids. ::)
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
This may take a different perspective but why not have kids go to school and let their parents take an interest in what they are doing so that there kids can do better? ;)
End Quote
Don't be silly, Bobby...that would require effort on the parent's part. ;)
It's a sad but true fact that not enough parents in this country cannot or will not get involved in their child's education. I do my best to keep up with my daughter's schoolwork, and I thought I was doing good....
Until last week when I was informed that my daughter knew every "dirty" word in the book, and was not afraid to use them. I was a bit upset...the school claims this has been going on since before Christmas, and I am just now finding out about it..even though I talk to my daughter's guidance counselor twice a month and her classroom teacher once a month.
Apparently, according to the school, I am not "involved enough" ::) ::)
If I had the time, money, and patience, I would probably home-school my daughter. But for me it is just not an option.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
I had a guy working for me whose wife homeschooled their son. The lived in a rural area where outside activities were null or very limited and there was very little interaction with others. The son got hired at the company I worked for, I couldn't stand the little @#$*#!!!
Not only was he the most socially retarded individual I've met but he lacked good hygiene and work ethic of any value.
I also know of others that home schooled similary to Don Carlos, there was a network of people to participate in social funtions and share ideas and methods and they met with geat success.
As for my opinion of home schooling, its the same as my opinion of parenting. Some folks would do the world better by not participating.
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Quoting:
Until last week when I was informed that my daughter knew every "dirty" word in the book, and was not afraid to use them. I was a bit upset...the school claims this has been going on since before Christmas, and I am just now finding out about it..even though I talk to my daughter's guidance counselor twice a month and her classroom teacher once a month.
Apparently, according to the school, I am not "involved enough" ::) ::)
End Quote
On the other side of the coin XenaKat13, there is only so much you can do. A child quite often battles in his/her mind to side either with a parent or their peers.
Your child is trying to fit in. My girlfriend's son is trying to do the same and quite often tries to 'push the envelope' to see what he can get away with.
It irritates me a lot but I understand that, until he realises how silly he sounds, there is not much I can do about it. Especially since I have no real power to control it.
Xenacat, by the sounds of it, you do a lot more than any parents would and for that you should be proud - ignore the schools, you know you are trying to do right by your daughter. ;)
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
Maybe already mentioned, but on Southpark last night, the story was about 2 home schooled kids. The 2 kids were finally accepted by their peers when the boy and sister became badies. The kids' father was ultimately masking taped to a flagpole by all the parents. Very deep...
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
I think this isn't good or bad...I think it really depends on the kids if they want to be social...then thats bad...if they dont like being around people or are getting picked or bullied on..then it's good...also it is bad because some just dont want to do nothing while others want to but dont think that they are getting an education with some teachers at school...so I think it really depends on the kids
Subject: Re: Home Schooling. Good or Bad?
To XenaKat: If your daughter didn't learn all those "nasty" words at home, than she must have learned them at school. You will know, then, where she learned them and should act on that knowledge. Nuf said.
To Race: Absolutely - some folks shouldn't home school. Some folks should choose not to breed. But, of course, its not for me, you, or anyone else to impose those decisions.