Posted on 04/20/2011 1:19:13 PM PDT by RJR_fan
In 1992, I earned my "15 minutes of fame" with an MS thesis about "Social Maturity of Home School Children." I've decided to make it more widely available, starting with this extract (CLICK HERE to open the .pdf document).
FReepers, this is my gift to you. I formatted it into a dozen or so attractive pages to read on screen, or to print out and give to worried friends and family.
I found it interesting to cull trenchant observations on the state of public education from a variety of sources: Ayn Rand, the atheist capitalist. Ivan Illych, the Marxist Jesuit. R. J. Rushdoony, the ArmEnian Calvinist. Decades before John Taylor Gatto burst onto the scene, these antagonistic pundits agreed on one thing: public education is bad for children and other living things.
Hey, memom! If you could forward this to the home school ping list, I'd appreciate it!
I love turning the question around when questioned about home schooling and socialization. People express concern that the kids will lack social skills.
Taking a look at their kids, my question is, So, you want my kids to be rebellious, sloppy, trampy, phone-texting, illiterate, without self-control, immoral, amoral, druggy, ritalin-chewing, selfish, peer-compliant, lazy, silly, trivial, churlish, and devoid of a meaningful future like your kid?
I had my doubts about the socialization aspect until I met the home schooled son of a friend. The brightest, friendliest, most empathetic, sociable child I’ve ever met. A joy to be around.
Excellent. Thanks for sharing this.The process of moving the public school student from grade to grade, classroom to classroom, and school to school further disrupts the continuity of the maturing process, and the development of communication skills. Very few adults still have best friendships tracing back to first grade. Most adults still have continuing relationships with their families. Long term relationships allow the best opportunity for the leisurely flowering of empathy and understanding, the cultivation of deep rather than superficial connections.
In the public school system, children are socialized horizontally, and temporarily, into conformity to their immediate peers.
Home educators seek to socialize their children vertically, towards responsibility, service, and adulthood, with an eye on eternity.
Socialization of Public School Children: A Law of the Jungle Approach
His dad said...he knows what pi is....and the kid spit off 3.14159.
But what is pi I asked the kid. He said nothing and left the room.
So wow...he memorized 6 numbers...the equivalent of a word with 6 letters. I'm sure the father is not happy with me but I hope he sees the problem.
That reminds me of a statement a lady made to me. She said her neighbors homeschool and those poor children are so socially stunted that they talk to her. LOL! She didn’t think it normal for children to talk to adults.
Very good!
Socialization in government schools truthfully should be called peer-pressure. Don’t want it and don’t need it.
The sooner Americans remove their children from that rat’s nest and propaganda factory, the sooner will see improvements in our children as a whole.
I agree with your assessment, but I doubt a 7 year old public or private schooled kid would know, either.
So the only thing bad about your anecdote was, a boastful dad.
In the year 1988, my wife said she’d done some reading on home schooling, and that she wanted to home school our kids. I told her I thought that was the dumbest thing I’d ever heard, but I said on one condition... that if it looked like we were screwing up our kids education, we’d put them in a “real school” environment. This spring, we are graduating our two youngest from college... One in dance and the other in Bible, whew! Both are among the most thoughtful and friendliest you’ll see on any campus, of course my wife gets all the credit. If you can, homeschool... best life you can give a kid.
“But what is pi I asked the kid. He said nothing and left the room.”
Ask my 7 year old, home schooled daughter. Had you asked her, you wouldn’t have had such a snarky comment to post here.
Employers should actively seek out homeschooled children when hiring...
So what is it? You don’t support home schooling do you?
Ask a 7 yo from a public school and they’d probably tell you apple.
This ping list is for articles of interest to homeschoolers. I hold both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping List. Please freepmail me to let me know if you would like to be added or removed from either list, or both.
The keyword for the FREE REPUBLIC HOMESCHOOLERS’ FORUM is frhf.
Thank you!!!!!
That's certainly worth a ping.
There is an emphasis on service and responsibility that turns differences into opportunities for compassion.
This is so important.
>>So wow...he memorized 6 numbers...the equivalent of a word with 6 letters. I’m sure the father is not happy with me but I hope he sees the problem. <<
Wow, you showed up a 7 year old. Bet you’re proud.
Now, let’s get realistic on this. I homeschool my kids and I’m a crossing guard for the local elementary school. Both my kids are on par with the the “Gifted and Talented” of that school, because they have been tested.
Ya know what they don’t know that the other girls do? Trees are good, cars are bad. If you don’t recycle, you are evil. Obama is wonderful. The white man should be strung up for all the bad things he did to everyone else. Christ should not be mentioned and it’s great to give up meat on Monday to save the planet but not on Friday for Lent.
Keep it. I’ll educate my own kids.
The eco nuts have it so backwards.
They don't eat the cows that produce the greenhouse gases, and eat the plants which correct global warming.
And you expect anything else from the public school?
Oh, and perhaps you should look up 6th grade math.
Pi is TAUGHT in 6th grade, the kid may not have gotten to it yet.
I hope you understand now.
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