Home Schools Run By Well-Meaning Amateurs (Barf alert!)

www.nea.org ^ | July 2005 | Dave Arnold

[Millicent_Hornswaggle]

Schools With Good Teachers Are Best-Suited to Shape Young Minds By Dave Arnold

There's nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Certain jobs are best left to the pros, such as, formal education.

There are few homeowners who can tackle every aspect of home repair. A few of us might know carpentry, plumbing and, let’s say, cementing. Others may know about electrical work, tiling and roofing. But hardly anyone can do it all.

Same goes for cars. Not many people have the skills and knowledge to perform all repairs on the family car. Even if they do, they probably don’t own the proper tools. Heck, some people have their hands full just knowing how to drive.

So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children? You would think that they might leave this -- the shaping of their children’s minds, careers, and futures -- to trained professionals. That is, to those who have worked steadily at their profession for 10, 20, 30 years! Teachers!

Experienced Pros

There’s nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Whether it is window-washing, bricklaying or designing a space station. Certain jobs are best left to the pros. Formal education is one of those jobs.

Of course there are circumstances that might make it necessary for parents to teach their children at home. For example, if the child is severely handicapped and cannot be transported safely to a school, or is bedridden with a serious disease, or lives in such a remote area that attending a public school is near impossible.

Well-Meaning Amateurs

The number of parents who could easily send their children to public school but opt for home-schooling instead is on the increase. Several organizations have popped up on the Web to serve these wannabe teachers. These organizations are even running ads on prime time television. After viewing one advertisement, I searched a home school Web site. This site contains some statements that REALLY irritate me!

* “It’s not as difficult as it looks.”

The “it” is meant to be “teaching.” Let’s face it, teaching children is difficult even for experienced professionals. Wannabes have no idea.

* “What about socialization? Forget about it!”

Forget about interacting with others? Are they nuts? Socialization is an important component of getting along in life. You cannot teach it. Children should have the opportunity to interact with others their own age. Without allowing their children to mingle, trade ideas and thoughts with others, these parents are creating social misfits.

If this Web site encouraged home-schooled children to join after-school clubs at the local school, or participate in sports or other community activities, then I might feel different. Maine state laws, for example, require local school districts to allow home-schooled students to participate in their athletic programs. For this Web site to declare, “forget about it,” is bad advice.

When I worked for Wal-Mart more than 20 years ago, Sam Walton once told me: “I can teach Wal-Mart associates how to use a computer, calculator, and how to operate like retailers. But I can’t teach them how to be a teammate when they have never been part of any team.”

* “Visit our online bookstore.”

Buying a history, science or math book does not mean an adult can automatically instruct others about the book’s content.

Gullible Parents

Another Web site asks for donations and posts newspaper articles pertaining to problems occurring in public schools.

It’s obvious to me that these organizations are in it for the money. They are involved in the education of children mostly in the hope of profiting at the hands of well-meaning but gullible parents.

This includes parents who home-school their children for reasons that may be linked to religious convictions. One Web site that I visited stated that the best way to combat our nation’s “ungodly” public schools was to remove students from them and teach them at home or at a Christian school.

I’m certainly not opposed to religious schools, or to anyone standing up for what they believe in. I admire anyone who has the strength to stand up against the majority. But in this case, pulling children out of a school is not the best way to fight the laws that govern our education system. No battle has ever been won by retreating!

No Training

Don’t most parents have a tough enough job teaching their children social, disciplinary and behavioral skills? They would be wise to help their children and themselves by leaving the responsibility of teaching math, science, art, writing, history, geography and other subjects to those who are knowledgeable, trained and motivated to do the best job possible.

(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.)

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NEA or its affiliates.

[paltz]

I thought this was a satire given how horribly argued it was.

[DoughtyOne]

That condescending attitude is what inhabits the minds of 99.999% of public school teachers in the United States.

They simply cannot fathom that anyone could do as good a job as they. They love the idea of a monopoly and aren't about to let go of that model for education in the U.S.

[kcvl]

Let’s see how good of a job our nation’s highly-trained professional educators are doing.

US History
Below Basic – 57%
At or above Basic – 43%

At or above Proficient – 11%

Reading
Below Basic – 26%
At or above Basic – 74%

At or above Proficient – 36%

Writing
Below Basic – 26%
At or above Basic – 74%

At or above Proficient – 24%

Geography
Below Basic – 29%
At or above Basic – 71%

At or above Proficient – 25%

Mathematics
Below Basic – 36%
At or above Basic – 64%

At or above Proficient – 16%


average SAT scores for people in various professions. Here’s are some verbal/math samples:

Farmer – 491/484
Visual/Performing Artist – 520/497
Military Science – 503/505
Communications (marketing, PR, etc.) – 527/497

Public School Teacher – 487/477


Meanwhile, homeschooled students consistently score, on average, 35 points higher on the SAT than their public school counterparts (and usually at a younger age as well).

[longtermmemmory]

I just laughed at the whole "socialization" myth.

This children need socialization training is a pc crap made to pacify the guilt of career women who decided to raise their children by proxy.

[luckystarmom]

I just had to laugh at this one. My kids go to public school, and I've liked their teachers. I have problems with our school district, but that's another topic.

Anyway, what makes me laugh is that an education degree is one of the easiest degrees in college.

I would think that just about anyone with a college degree would be educated enough to teach their kids.

I have a degree in engineering. I have had more science and math than my kids' teachers. My kids have learned more about math from me than from their teachers.

The only areas that I don't feel qualified are for my daughter with special needs. She gets speech therapy and sees a reading specialist. She also used to see an occupational therapist. They all have master's degrees, and lots of experience with special needs kids. They've done wonders for my daughter.

However, most kids don't need special help, and I think a well-educated parent could easily teach their children.

[thoughtomator]

The professionals in the education industry have done an absolutely awful job and whine constantly about getting more money and more priveleges. Screw 'em.

[longtermmemmory]

most social studies teachers in the USA are called "coach" with no training at all.

[sitetest]

Ping for Homeschool List!

[Kosh5]

Move along - no story here (unionized educational aristocracy criticizing a grass-roots built national movement to abandon the socialized and failing educational system).

Any questions???

[Conservativehomeschoolmama]

We are one of those "well meaning" parents.... and I am proud to say that our son's CAT5 scores just arrived.... drum roll.... 90% and 4 PHS (Post High School) scores... oh, he just finished 5th grade.

Janitor Dave needs to stick with janitorial work.

[sitetest]

Dear kcv1,

Do you have a source for those statistics?

Thanks,


sitetest

[ChildOfThe60s]

Well Dave,

We'uns poor igrant wel meening souls done the bist we culd without the hep of youse smart folk. I gis mi little gril culda done better if'n me and her ma wulda let yall edicate her.

But sinse we waz willin to settle fer a cul colliege sharlship at 16 and bakpakin thru asia at 17, our litle gril will jus hafta git by the bist she can in life. Im sorry me and the litle woman didnt listin to you none.

Oh, and BTW Dave, since the average SAT score of education majors is a little over 900, and my poor, dumb HS kid scored 1325 when she was 15, I guess we'll just have to live with our failure as teachers. MORON (head custodian judging me???)

More of the sad life of a HS loser here:

http://shelley.dingeeadvertising.com

[Rodm]

Dear Mr. Head Custodian,

Our home educated son (age 26) is a lawyer in California. He makes more in one month than you make in a year.

Best Regards,
Dopey Home School Parents

[StarCMC]

It’s obvious to me that these organizations are in it for the money.

Guess he's pissed that my local school district isn't getting money for my little skulls full of mush since I keep them at home. LOL!!

What this person fails to realize is that one of the main goals of home education for me and at least several of my friends who are homeschoolers is NOT to TEACH my children EVERYTHING, but to teach them HOW TO LEARN anything they want to know. That's what a good teacher should be doing, regardless of the setting - home, public OR private school. There are good ones AND bad ones in each vein.

[dufekin]

Well, if public educators choose their roofers, I don't want to follow suit. In all my years in public school, only one building didn't get wet whenever it rained through a leaky roof and/or missing, broken, and leaky walls and windows. From time to time, they would hire someone to "fix" some problems, but the problems never seemed to get fixed. And I remember that they fired a janitor who actually turned off the heater in the summer.

Although public schools do have many good, talented, hard-working teachers, many of their co-"workers" are lazy, incompetents who utterly fail to instruct their students. Schools seem to lack any sort of "quality control" for teachers. Once tenured, they cannot be fired; however, they may be promoted (often the only tool to eliminate a lazy incompetent).

If I wanted a new roof for my home, I wouldn't call the "city home repair hot line" to select some random person for me from all persons certified in some aspect of home repair. I might get a plumber--and a bad one who's too lazy to have done a decent job since getting "tenure" in the association in 1975.

[kcvl]

http://nces.ed.gov/

[sitetest]

Thanks!!!

[spinestein]

[They would be wise to help their children and themselves by leaving the responsibility of teaching math, science, art, writing, history, geography and other subjects to those who are knowledgeable, trained and motivated to do the best job possible.]


The idea that union teachers are "motivated to do the best job possible" is ludicrous. The teacher who starts their career full of ambition and talent and genuinely works hard to do the best job possible can see that other teachers who are mediocre, or even incompetent, are getting paid the exact same amount of money as they are, and no amount of caring or talent or hard work is going to earn them a dime more than a teacher who doesn't care, or is incompetent or lazy.

Ask yourself if you would continue to "do the best job possible" year after year under these conditions.

Only when public school teachers get paid according to their abilities and accomplishments (like in a real job) will we see better results from public schools.

[Old Professer]

Teaching is easy; learning and discipline are hard as Hell.

[Young Scholar]

So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children? You would think that they might leave this -- the shaping of their children’s minds, careers, and futures -- to trained professionals. That is, to those who have worked steadily at their profession for 10, 20, 30 years! Teachers!

Interesting--he's clearly admitting that he believes teachers aren't just there to teach, their job is to "shape" children's minds and futures (leaving just their careers to the teachers would be bad enough). Further, if this article is indicative of "teachers'" quality of reasoning, it hardly makes a compelling case for sending kids to school.

Interestingly, I was home schooled by my parents, who were not only very well-educated (PhD, Cornell, and BS, Cornell) and well-prepared to teach me and my siblings, but also competent enough at some of the other tasks Mr. Arnold describes as "best left to the pros." When I was about 13, my brother and I, with the help of my dad, built an 8x15 foot, two room house (sort of as an extracurricular project), complete with a finished interior, electricity, telephone, and a high-speed internet connection.