Independently and individually? Much of public schooling treats the child as a cog in the machine. If it does not fit the machine it must be molded, shaped and, if convenient, drugged to fit. From Calvin & Hobbes:
Posted on 01/05/2010 2:18:36 PM PST by christianhomeschoolmommaof3
While the number of people in academia who are openly critical of homeschooling are few, every now and again an article will be published in a university periodical which attacks homeschooling.
The critics in academia come from the far left of the political spectrum. One such critic, Robin L. West of the Georgetown University Law Center, recently published an article titled “The Harms of Homeschooling,” which appeared in the Summer/Fall 2009 issue of the University of Maryland’s Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly.
Before we answer the specific charges Ms. West makes against homeschooling we’d just like to give you a flavor of her perspective.
In the article she says, “Education, after all, is typically described as a core, and possibly the core, state responsibility.” We hope you’d agree that anyone who can entertain the idea that education is the core responsibility of the state (even though education is not mentioned as a state responsibility in the U.S. Constitution) and neglect to recognize that defense/national security is the core responsibility of the state is clearly out of the mainstream.
Later in the article Ms. West says, “Homeschooling is now such an entrenched practice, recriminalization is not a viable option in any event.” It appears that Ms. West is suggesting that she would not oppose regarding homeschoolers as criminals?
While Ms. West’s views are far from the mainstream, it is still important to challenge the erroneous statements made in her article.
(Excerpt) Read more at hslda.org ...
Third, public and private schools provide for many children, I suspect, although I have yet to see studies of this, a safe haven in which they are both regarded and respected independently and individually.
Family love is intense, and we need it to survive and thrive. It is also deeply contingent on the existence and nature of the family ties. Children are loved in a family because they are the children of the parents in the family.
The “unconditional love” they receive is anything but unconditional: it is conditioned on the fact that they are their parents’ children. School—either public or private—ideally provides a welcome respite.
A child is regarded and respected at school not because she is her parent’s child, but because she is a student: she is valued for traits and for a status, in other words, that are independent of her status as the parent’s genetic or adoptive offspring. The ideal teacher cares about the child as an individual, a learner, an actively curious person—she doesn’t care about the child because the child is hers.
The child is regarded with respect equally to all the children in the class. In these ways, the school classroom, ideally, and the relations within it, is a model of some core aspects of citizenship.
LOL...
Homeschooled children learn worthless things, like saying “Yes, SIR... NO, Ma’am”
National Spelling BEE Winners have been Homeschooled
Nat. Geography Bee winners have more often been Homeschooled.
HOW DARE WE turn such deprived children on Society.
Give me a Break...
/SARC
My friends grandson is being home schooled. At 16, he’s smart but no clubs, no sports, no real idea of what’s out there....
“The “unconditional love” they receive is anything but unconditional: it is conditioned on the fact that they are their parents’ children. School—either public or private—ideally provides a welcome respite”
Seriously, children need a respite from unconditional love? Unreal. The rest of Robin West’s article is filled with similar claptrap.
He has plenty of time to learn what’s out there.
“My friends grandson is being home schooled. At 16, he’s smart but no clubs, no sports, no real idea of what’s out there....”
...out where? At “Abercrombie and Fitch”? At the mall? In the alley behind the school where they sell the drugs? My daughter has a dozen friends that are home schooled. ALL of them beat the pants off of ANY public school twit in manners, grammer, politics, world view, geography, everything!
Interesting article for homeschoolers.
At 16, he’s smart but no clubs, no sports, no real idea of what’s out there....”
That would be very unusual for most homeschoolers. Even so, homeschooling is likely not the cause of that. I knew plenty of kids growing up in “normal” school who were not involved in anything, no clubs, no sports, and truly had no clue as to what is out there in the real world, or for that matter, even in the phony world of “school”.
Some individuals are going to remain clueless about the world. But at least if those clueless individuals get a good education by homeschooling, maybe they will have a reasonable chance at the brutal game of life. Your friend’s grandson is right where he needs to be.
"Their capacity for political action is palpable and admirable, although doubly constrained: it is triggered by a call for action by church leaders, and in substance, it is limited to political action the aim of which is to undermine, limit, or destroy state functions that interfere with family and parental rights. Nevertheless, and by their own accountings, these citizen-soldiers in the “homeschooling movement” and the various political campaigns in which they are enlisted have no clout in the army in which they serve. They are as effective as they are, and as successful as they are, because they engage in politics in the same way that soldiers participate in combat. They don’t question authority, and they can’t go AWOL. With little education, few if any job skills, and scant resources, their power either to influence the lines of authority within their own sphere, or to leave that sphere, is virtually nil."
"As the political philosopher and homeschool critic Robert Reich has persuasively argued, curricular review would give the state a way to ensure that the academic content is such as to protect the children’s interest in both acquiring the necessary skills for active, autonomous, and responsible citizenship in adulthood, and in being exposed to diverse and more liberal ways of life."
Translation: "You are taking our future liberal minions away from us. We want to indoctrinate your kids."
This is as clear a call as any as to why Conservatives need to get their kids out of public schools (whether they homeschool or send them to private schools.) The verminous filth blatantly admit that they want to brainwash the children to become mindnumb marxist heathens.
Independently and individually? Much of public schooling treats the child as a cog in the machine. If it does not fit the machine it must be molded, shaped and, if convenient, drugged to fit. From Calvin & Hobbes:
And when a thug assaults the little darlings?
Oops, too bad, you never learned how to deal with that from mommy.
Guess you are bleeding in the gutter there, Mr. Spelling Bee Champ.
How about spelling?
You vastly underestimate the skills that home-schooled children are taught.
I agree completely. I loved to learn but HATED school. I did something called co-op my junior and senior year and only went to school until lunch and then I went to my afternoon job. I wasn’t involved in any sports/clubs etc. I hated high school culture. I wasn’t picked on any either. I got in lots of fights, did drugs, drank alcohol and smoked. Those things I learned in school. I was largely self taught for my academics.
“How about spelling”?
...see what public school did to me?! :)
I wouldn't be too quick to say he has no idea what is out there. Most homeschooled kids are quite aware of what is going on around them and can hold their own with any age group "out there".
Oops, too bad, you never learned how to deal with that from mommy.
Guess you are bleeding in the gutter there, Mr. Spelling Bee Champ.
What is the typical public school's policy on self defense?
Try it and get suspended or expelled.
Contrast that with the majority of those homeschooled that do participate in groups. Often, moreso than those in the public schools. My kids, for example, have a much broader spectrum of activities than I ever had as a public school student.
How condescending can you get? You think they need to get beat up at school to learn to defend themselves?
I didn’t realize that they taught self defense at public school.
However, I know lots of homeschoolers that take their children to karate class, to the gun range etc. You have some preconceived notion that homeschool kids are wimps.
We homeschool our children, they both take fine art classes, in addition to classical piano. One is participating in fencing this year and the other runs cross country and track at a local high school. My chilren would never have this opportunity in a public school.
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