Posted on 03/24/2008 1:10:27 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
During a break in a high school debate tournament not long ago, my 17-year-old son struck up a conversation with a student on the rival team from a New Jersey public school. "Where's your school?" asked the boy. When my son replied that he was home-schooled, the student probed.
"How do you socialize when you're at home all the time?" he asked.
"Well, for one thing, I'm here, right?" my son laughed.
My children have gotten used to most of the standard questions from their conventionally schooled peers: Are you super-religious? Do you stay at home in your pajamas and watch TV all day? Is your mom a teacher?
Adults, on the other hand, can be surprising. Like the professor at the community college where one of our sons was taking a course, who went out of her way to pull him aside, sit him down and tell him, "You home-schoolers think you can change the world. But you can't. Nobody can."
It's hard to generalize about home-schoolers, but if there's one thing we know, it's that we are changing the world, or at least the world of education choices. Others, though, see us as either misguided or threatening -- and probably cheered last month's California appeals court ruling that all children in the state must be taught by credentialed teachers. At least 166,000 California children are home-schooled. And most home-schooling parents don't have teaching credentials, so the ruling is worrisome, even though Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called it "outrageous." The decision will probably be appealed, but the teachers' unions are applauding in the meantime.
Nonetheless, home-schooling is booming. In 2003, the National Center for Education Statistics estimated that the home-schooled population nationwide was 1.1 million.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Ping!
Proud Home Schooling dad of 6.
bttt
The money quote.
***Like the professor at the community college where one of our sons was taking a course, who went out of her way to pull him aside, sit him down and tell him, “You home-schoolers think you can change the world. But you can’t. Nobody can.”***
I work at a community college. Not all of us are kooks, as this “professor” seems to be. Many CC employees you encounter are fiscal conservatives, freedom lovers & anti-Democrat-party.
But I’m not going to lie, — CCs are pretty much like “the Post Office with a library.”
A lot of collectivists, a lot of socialists — like any college...
“How do you socialize?”
Oh, in order to get the “public school experience”, my dad takes me in the bathroom, beats me up and takes my allowance money.
And for my sisters, my mother ostracizes them for not wearing the right designer clothes and for being virgins at 13.
We got it covered.
Look how intolerant they are about people choosing how they want their kids schooled. The adult techincally assaults the kid to chastise him for being home schooled.
“IF YOU DON’T GIVE YOUR KIDS TO US TO INDOCTRINATE, YOU THINK YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD?????? DON’T EVEN TRY TO BOY!!! HOW CAN YOU HAVE ANY PUDDING IF YOU DON’T EAT YOUR MEAT!?”
The libs loved “Pink Floyd - The Wall” but none of them realize that THEY have become the ‘thought controllers.’
HEY YOU FRIGGIN liberal union teacher, leave the kids alone!
Friggin intolerant, think-they-know-it-all liberal idiots.
LOL.....I am considering homeschooling our 5 year old, and possibly our 13 year old, next year. Great quotes for the extended family.
LOL.....I am considering homeschooling our 5 year old, and possibly our 13 year old, next year. Great quotes for the extended family.
Does your dad turn black and get all pimped out to rap before beating the crap out of you, to make it even more realistic? /semi-sarc
Homeschooling (we do it too): a school with clean bathrooms! And if they aren’t, a container of Clorox wipes in hand, the students can clean them themselves!
We are right now planting our seedlings we’ve been growing, into the garden. One of the students is making lemonade from the trees’ limes and lemons, to go with this record-breaking heat wave here in SoCal.
One of my sons is in a strenuous competitive sport, and works out 3 hours a day. He is also entering the tween years, in which it is impossible biologically for him to fall asleep much before 9:30 pm. Yet he needs about 12 hours of sleep at night. How would this even be possible if he had to wake up at 7 to get to a public school?
They grow up so fast. Every moment with my guys is such a treat. I am glad they are with an adult who feels that way about them for their school days.
FOUND IT! I was looking for this this morning:
Preparing Sons to Provide for a Single-Income Family
http://www.titus2.com/ecommerce/products/prod_listing.php/1130
You have boys...
Nice post. I do know by reading a few articles that many homeschooling parents will team up here and there for various activities—so the kids do socialize. The reaction to the author’s son’s experience with the professor seemed unsurprising. Home schooling parents are THE ENEMY and must be treated as such. How are the academes going to absorb kids into “the collective” if more and more parents opt to home school? I know a few folks from all side of the political spectrum. One outrageously liberal family has been homeschooling their kids for a long time. Now I really don’t care for the politics of these folks—but they are decent people who have a right to say how they want their kids to be educated and how they want their kids ethically taught as well. Others are more conservatively religious and do it because of what they don’t want their kids exposed to. With this California decision, I think the fight is on.
I have seen the full spectrum: the superb home-school experience in which parents are educated and take full advantage of community resources AND the pathetic parents who give in to their lazy kids, keep them home, and call it home-schooling.
Not hard to tell the difference.
I saw the headline for this and thought of some old neighbors of ours.
We live in California, and our old neighbors and us have been deciding where to send our sons for high school.
We’ve picked a private Christian high school that is not the most pretigious of the private schools but has good enough academics, lots of electives, and religious beliefs close to our own. I think the school will supplement the lessons my son will learn at home.
Our old neighbors have decided to send their son and their older daughter across the country to a private boarding school (Andover). It’s the same school that President Bush went to.
When I heard they were sending their kids to a boarding school, I just felt like that the kids will now be raised by someone else. I can’t even imagine that. For them, home will be where school is.
I understand homeschooling a lot better than sending a child to boarding school. At least with homeschooling, you get to teach your child your own value system.
Boarding school, to me, is for parents who don’t like their children once they can talk back.
Probably the type that would have had a nanny take care of them as babies, too.
I have seen a continental godwanaland shift (sp. appologies) over how home schoolers are percieved. 40-30 years ago it was ridicule and only the bumpkins in the middle of nowhere who were “self taught” (the old name for home school),
THEN
They were ridiculed as nut job religious fanatics who did not want their children to know about sex or evolution.
NOW
They are seen as excessivly “book smart” and having an unfair advantage which puts them too far ahead of publicly funded schools.
My daughter is special needs. A few years ago, she had to have a series of neuropsychological tests and learning assessments. The neuropsychologist had wonderful things to say about homeschooling special needs kids. She told me that it was something I should consider. She told me not to worry about social skills because she knew we were active in scouts, church, and other outside activities. She told me that we would probably have more opportunities for after social activities because my daughter wouldn’t be exhausted.
My daughter was till in public school, and all the public school teachers and officials were telling me how horrible it would be to homeschool her, especially for her social skills.
We ended up sending our daughters to a small private school, but I’ve left the option to homeschool open for the future.
“How do you socialize?”
Oh, in order to get the “public school experience”, my dad takes me in the bathroom, beats me up and takes my allowance money.
And for my sisters, my mother ostracizes them for not wearing the right designer clothes and for being virgins at 13.
We got it covered.”
Post of the month and a candidate for post of the year.
Well done.
The mom is a stay-at-home mom, so I really can’t figure it out.
We live in San Jose, and if you want a pretigious high school then there is Harker Academy. Tons of their grads go on to Standford or Berkeley. Their list of classes looks like a college, and it’s cheaper than boarding school.
We did a lot of home schooling at such places as the Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, Brookfield Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo, Museum of Science and Industry.
It kinda' puts a "hands on" approach to educating.
Search out a good support group. They can prove to be invaluable!
Search out a good support group. They can prove to be invaluable!
Right.
You mean like the homeschoolers around here are REALLY “tolerant” of those of us who choose public school for our children?
“YOU’RE CHILD ABUSERS!!!!!!! YOU DON’T *REALLY* LOVE YOUR CHILDREN!! YOU’RE LYING WHEN YOU SAY YOU HAVE A GOOD SCHOOL!!! PUBLIC SCHOOLTEACHERS ARE ALL EVIL AND VICIOUS!!!”
I teach in a homeschool enrichment program sponsored by one of the larger churches in town. We have 750 K-12’ers, from 50 different churches (and some unchurched), taking 150 classes two days a week. Great program!
I took my SATs at Harker. :)
I spent 1 year with my 15 year old and will do the same for my 14 year old boy next year. We are concentrating on stewardship,character,writing,world history and golf his favorite. Taking his clubs, visiting Grandpa with the books and we will spend some time with a WWII vet and Eagle scout, find out about life when he was a kid and the differences now. Even politics then and now. You have your child write out questions to ask, and do a compare and contrast paper. Learning is so much fun and spending time with Gramps...Grumpus they call him is even better. Priceless. Home schooling is awesome if even only for a year.
And yes I do take attendance.
How do you socialize?
I reply, “I’m sorry, but I’m not raising my kids to be socialists.”
I you can you should if even for 1 year. Look into Home school co-ops. Usually meet 2 times a week, Master teachers usually teach or tutor classes and they should be free it is usually a ministry. There are several websites. It is good to be connected if it is your first time.
I was not sent to boarding school (in the 70s), but easily could have been, because it was acceptable then. In fact, my private Christian prep school took boarding students from all over the SE at that time. They don't take boarders any more. Possibly because more high quality schools are available across the South now, even in the small towns and rural areas, but more probably because boarding school has gone out of fashion everywhere but in the Northeast and Virginia -- except for military academies and schools for kids with serious learning/behavioral problems.
But plenty of my friends went to boarding school, at least for high school, and it doesn't seem to have done them any harm.
I did send my children to boarding summer camp (and my parents sent me), to let the kids learn to live in a group outside the family. Needless to say, it was to a summer camp that we knew quite well (my parents sent me to the same camp I sent my daughter, and I sent my son to the "brother camp" run by the same people.)
That way, college or the Army is not such a shock.
You mean like the homeschoolers around here are REALLY “tolerant” of those of us who choose public school for our children?
“YOU’RE CHILD ABUSERS!!!!!!! YOU DON’T *REALLY* LOVE YOUR CHILDREN!! YOU’RE LYING WHEN YOU SAY YOU HAVE A GOOD SCHOOL!!! PUBLIC SCHOOLTEACHERS ARE ALL EVIL AND VICIOUS!!!”
I missed that post. Where is it?
Our Boy Scout troop is homeschooled. It is common to have study time by lantern at night. The boys are amazingly self directing in their schoolwork.
First, get the broomstick out of your butt. I was talking about this teacher and those teachers that are afraid of homeschooling and the fact it threatens their unions and control over your kids. Are you a public school teacher, BTW?
Actually I have heard a lot of the things you say they’ve said to you, thrown back at them.
You haven’t had child protective services launched at you for having your kids in public schools, have you? Homeschoolers have. Child neglect, trumped up truancy charges.
They have been slandered by school officials as being negligent and deficient to teach their own kids.
And finally, I don’t discount you may have a decent public school, or several decent teachers. Not everyone’s public school is a downtown Chicago/Detroit war zone. But they all have NEA/AFT unions and the teachers’ unions are only interested in getting good things done for the teachers’ unions, not the children. From their union leaders’ own mouth.
So take your straw dog arguments and tell them to someone who cares. Read up on what crap is going on in the California schools, and what that means to the textbooks every other school can buy. The presence of the LGBT clubs in public schools, yet they hypocritically deny “Good News” clubs to meet after school like any other group. The anti-Christian mentality being fostered there.
My daughter in law was the latter. My grandsons have suffered greatly because they were home schooled. One quit school, one is getting a certificate instead of a diploma and will have to get a GED before finding a decent job, and the other is doing pretty well in a community college but complained about not learning how to study and do homework. No discipline. Some people should NEVER homeschool.
There are LEAH groups that are helpful for homeschoolers.
My SIL lives in CA, she sent her 9th grader (my nephew) to a Lutheran boarding school rather than send him to the local public high school. I believe my niece will be joining him in 2 years. She’s sad he is gone, but thrilled he is getting a Lutheran education.
You gotta be kidding - I have 70 pages of links all along that line
It needs to be defined and agreed by you and your family.
It is a serious job, for serious people. I have to say, if the effort is sincere and well planned, you will see your child grow and mature.
Encourage and speak confidence into their lives, they are still young, they will figure it all out, heck some of us are old and still trying to figure out what we want to be!!!
LOVE THEM, LOVE THEM, LOVE THEM.
One of my son’s friends described her community college experience as high school with ashtrays. We opted for early entry at the state university instead even though the CC was free for homeschoolers and we had to pay for university.
I substituted and did teacher training in California schools. I know exactly what is taught there, and my children would never set foot in a California public school.
And not all schools have teacher’s unions, and not all teacher’s unions are liberal.
I used to be very supportive of and enthusiastic about homeschooling. The homeschooling zealots around here have sure changed that.
I knew you’d have that post covered. :p
I’m a packrat for documentation :)
It is typical around here to carry fights from OTHER threads and ignore that no such thing has happened on THIS thread. I’ve seen that go on here for years. And I have some threads bookmarked that are VERY old. Five years old and more. Don’t let them bully you. It was a very clear question that pointed out the lie. Thank you.
My son has been in the California public schools for the past 6 years. We’ve had good years and bad years. Last year was horrible, but this year he has Christian teachers and it’s been wonderful.
So far, the curriculum has not been very liberal. However, I think all of that changes in high school. I’ve looked at the recommended reading list for our local high school, and I am appalled at how liberal it is.
My son is into drama, so we thought it would be a good idea to check out the high school’s drama show. When I saw the play’s title, I was skeptical. However, an article said it had been sanitized to make it PG-13. It was One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest. I never saw the movie, but I knew it was about a mental institution. Well, the school’s play had every cuss word but the F-word. It was full of sexual themes. My son started sinking down in his seat during the show. At intermission, I asked if he was ready to leave, and he was. Afterward, he said that he had a good reason to go to Christian school.
ping
Public school parents can get CPS called in if they pull out their kids out of school for a few days.
My niece is getting married in Texas (we’re in California). My daughters are going to science camp, so they can’t go to the wedding. However, I thought about taking my son with me. If I pull him out, we’ll get a truancy notice even though he has had perfect attendance for something like 3 of the past 4 years.
By the way, we have a Christian club that meets at my son’s public school. In fact, Campus Life is in lots of the public schools in the San Jose area.
Interesting, thanks for the link!
I would imagine they would if you do not formally make them aware you are either sending them to private school or are going to home school them. You do have to notify them if they are currently in the public school system.
AS for the good news clubs, yes, of course there is no legal reason for public schools NOT to let them in. The Equal Access laws require them to. But that does not stop public schools/principals from not allowing it to occur unless legal action is threatened or actually has to go to court to get them to follow the law.
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