In Patrick Henry's footsteps (Great Read on Homeschooling!)

WorldNetDaily ^ | 4/23/05 | Kevin Swanson

[MRobert]

I am glad you and your children had a good experience with homeschooling. As I stressed, my experience has been in a structured work environment with teenagers, mainly home-schooled girls.

[Tax-chick]

3rd grade is a little young for Phyllis Whitney, isn't it? Romantic thrillers ...

[Gabz]

The way I look at those of us with children in public schools, those using private schools (religious or not) and those homeschooling is we have all made a choice as to what best suits our needs and abilities.

No education system is perfect - there are going be outstanding examples of all and horrid examples of all - but it is up to us as parents to make the best possible choice we can for our own children.

Even for those of us who have chosen public school there is a tremendous amount of "homeschooling" going on above and beyond the time our children spend in a formal classroom. A simple task such as fixing dinner is a reading class (directions/recipes), a math class (measurements), a science class (heat applicaton as well as combinations of ingredients), and a citizenship class (cleaning up your work space and working together).....all in as little as 30 minutes.

Just because our kids aren't being "homeschooled" they are being home taught.

[sdpatriot]

and it pisses me off to no end that we pay over $12,000 a year in property tax (we are ranchers - land IS our wealth) and we don't use the services - and i had to pay for all my own school supplies above and beyond that.

if you think the NEA etc isn't noticing the loss in numbers in the PS system you're mistaken. if you think parents teaching their own children in DROVES isn't a politcal message... well, i don't know what to say to you. but breaking the law does no good. ask Randy Weaver and the Branch Davidians in Waco Tx about that.

[KC_for_Freedom]

Either you raise a child to take a profession or you raise a thief.

[Gabz]

you forgot - and 'cause you're a dirty smoker.

I was trying to avoid bringing that issue into this discussion - as that is the origination of the focus on my daughter. They are cowards and attempt to attack me through the raising of our daughter, as opposed to my position on any given issue. A photo of my daughter at a FReep of kerry was what prompted that particular child abuse attack.......I believe the photo is still on my FR homepage.

Being involved is the only way changes can be made.....at any level...whether it be the school board, city council or the US Congress.........anyone that thinks teaching a child about that, even at the age of 6, is child abuse has far more serious problems than I could ever have as a "dirty smoker."

I'm hoping that by this time next year I can be telling you that my roling my own is a result of growing my own........talk about CHEAPER!!!!!!!

[latina4dubya]

I'm a father raising two kids by myself. As such, it is impossible for me to home school. I'm a professional (civil engineer), so I'm capable of providing my kids with an education, but we also need to eat and pay the bills. In other words, I need to work, which means my kids need to attend the public schools.

Home schooling is a band-aid which only families in certain situations can benefit from.

there are widowed mothers who are homeschooling their children... the man who developed the Robinson Curriculum did so when he was unexpectedly widowed... he took over the schooling of his six children... i have met some of his children at conventions... they are bright, articulate and friendly... are they like most American children their ages? no way... and that is the hope...

i do not believe in public education... i am a product of public education, and i turned out okay... but i consider it a slave's education... quite honestly, if you look at the history of public education, you would see that no, it never really worked... and where it is today is where the opponents of public education back in its infancy warned it would end up...

the idea of public school was based upon the Prussian model that aimed to control society and form a strong economic, military force... in the late 1800's German psychologists teamed with American atheists and eutopianists who wanted to engineer the ideal society by imitating the Prussian system... and who funded this? the big industrialists: Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller... why would they do that? they wanted a predictable and controllable workforce, voters and consumers...

the homeschool movement is not the band-aid... it is the cure... public school is the band-aid, and it's not able to do the job... the wound is much too severe for a mere band-aid... the wound is oozing all over the place, and the band-aid cannot contain it...

most of us are products of the conveyor-belt education... and it is hard for us to see its faults, because for the most part, it's all we know... the public school system was set up to teach 90 percent of society "what to think." the education of great men such as Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington is my model... they were taught "how to think." and that is what we aim to give our sons... and quite honestly, i wish every child could have that... but they will not get it in public schools...the only way a child attending public school might learn "how to think," is if his parents make up for it when he is home... but if all he's getting is what he gets at school, it's not going to happen...

latina4dubya--recipient of a slave's education, aiming to save western civilization two children at a time...

[Gabz]

Not the Phyllis A. Whitney of my youth..........she had a series for young readers - I remember getting my mother to order them for me through scholastic books. They were mysteries.

But yes, romantic thrillers were definitely in there and that is why I said it seemed to me the novels grew up as I did.

whitney was an author my parents didn't have a problem with me reading then - I was reading at 8th grade level and I guess they felt she was safe. That was also back in the 60s

[SuziQ]

I hestitate to even post this and I am not an opponent of homeschooling. I would urge all of you who do homeschooling to make sure your children get some sort of socialization with other children who are not homeschooled.

Most of our homeschooled daughter's friends are NOT homeschooled. She attends the Anime Club at the local high school, and most of her friends are members of that club. Her two best friends are in that club, one is homeschooled, the other is not. She actually knew both of them before we ever homeschooled. They had both been in her Girl Scout troop, and one still is.

She may be less mature than some of the high school kids, but I don't count that as a negative. The high school kids are sometimes mature beyond their years. Depends on your definition of mature, I guess.

[sdpatriot]

dirty socialists... they proove daily that they have no real concern for children, they just use them.


i tried growing my own but my season is too short i guess... they only got about a foot tall.... spindly little things..

but good luck on that!

[ZChief]

I understand the pride that any parent has in their children and I don't look for apologies. What else is there in this life, besides the Lord Himself, that could possibly provide such a deep connection. I look at my children and am always awestruck by the fact that the soul I see is of my own flesh and blood.

My wife and I could not in good conscience allow our daughter to be indoctrinated by the state, and I mean that quite sincerely. She was so precious to us when we decided to homeschool.

Our daughter who has never darkened the door of a government school was accepted a month ago into a Phd program at SUNY Buffalo with an assistantship and a fellowship - even as she completes her Masters degree this August. She turns 22 in July.

This has become one of the sweetest times in our lives as parents as she is also planning her wedding in December to another cradle-to-the-college homeschooler she met at a Christian college in Ohio (we are from Maryland, he was raised in Minnesota). He was accepted into a Masters program with an assistantship about the same time as our daughter (the Lord blessed their plans and allowed their grad schools to be only an hour apart).

We got to meet her future in-laws a couple of weeks ago at their undergrad school. It feels so otherworldly to be a part of this process of giving her away.

Fortunately we have our son, who is approaching his last year in homeschooling, still at home . He will do that at the community college as the need for a greater challenge became apparent.

I can only imagine the shortchange they would have received in the lock step, police patrolled, big government-think instituions that surround us (and their motto? "too much of your money is never enough!").


I am the one in our family who has most of the pride. Their mother is the one who has done most of the work. I am so deeply humbled by the way the Lord has blessed. All of this is from his hand.


BTW, they are regularly praised for their work ethic in their places of part time employment and the family naysayers, too, have been silenced.

[Nightshift]

ponged

[sdpatriot]

what a beautiful story. thankyou for sharing that.
it brought tears to my eyes .... God bless you and your beautiful, and soon to be enlarged, family.

it's young people like these who will hold the front lines.. and they are so few in number.. but they are on the winning side (we know that)

God bless...

[Gabz]

i do not believe in public education... i am a product of public education, and i turned out okay... but i consider it a slave's education...

While I understand your commentary and the sentiments behind it I can't accept the broad brush you are painting with.

I am not a product of public school, my husband is........we were both taught "how to think" not "what to think."

the only way a child attending public school might learn "how to think," is if his parents make up for it when he is home... but if all he's getting is what he gets at school, it's not going to happen...

Here you have hit the nail on the head - parents. In no way am I giving a pass to bureaucratic educational "professionals" or the NEA - but for pete's sake why is no one holding the PARENTS accountable as well?

When did parental participation in the school process start to wane in comparison to when the "control" by the bureaucrats started to increase? Definitely NOT in the late 1800's.

The auditorium at my daughter's public school was standing room only with parents and family members for the annual academic awards ceremony last Friday afternoon. It was at 2pm on a weekday. I live in a rural community, but there are a lot of professionals - farmers came out of their fields, professionals took off from work, etc. because they cared to see their children be recognized for achievement. Maybe so many kids received awards because so many of their parents DO pay attention, and thus the teachers and administrators are also paying attention?

[Gabz]

You are right about the socialists using the children...........My husband and I are working on proving them wrong one child at a time even if she is in public school :)

I wanted to try the grow my own last year - but the weather was totally uncooperative and I am glad I didn't add an additional crop to my failed garden.

[latina4dubya]

Here you have hit the nail on the head - parents. In no way am I giving a pass to bureaucratic educational "professionals" or the NEA - but for pete's sake why is no one holding the PARENTS accountable as well?

good for you! when i originally wrote my post, i had not included that part... but i had to include it to be fair... i know there are parents who send their children to public school, but do so much more... my parents did that for me and my brothers and sisters... from reading your posts, i gathered that you were very involved with your child's education... i wish more parents would take more responsibility for their children's education...

keep on keeping on...

[Gabz]

As I said in my post to you - I understand where you are coming from. Thank you for your understanding of those of us who choose differently.

I truly believe in homeschooling, but it is not for us, we learned that very early on - my temperament is not conducive to a good situation.

Where we used to live there was no way we would send our daughter to public school and a second job would have been necessary for me to send her to private school - instead we moved to an area that after extensive research I found to be an area where we would be happy with a good school district. That move was to a different state from where my husband grew up and I had spent my entire adult life.

The move also included me giving up the paid work I had been doing, which I willingly did.

I'm actually torn when some folks claim people just "dump" their kids in public school for paid day care so they can carry on their "life style". We moved from a 4 bedroom townhouse in a state capitol to a 2 bedroom cottage in a rural area 5 hours from the state capitol of the different state we moved to. I was a state-level lobbyist for nearly 20 years and obviously moved away from my "lifestyle" in order to find a good school for our child.

I enjoyed our brief exchange, I look forward to more - but I must a bid a good night. I'm taking my daughter to school in the morning and have meetings with several folks at school. The schools are not perfect, but they are far better than what there was before we moved - and I intend to participate in order to keep them that way.

[clee1]

Fight that fight if you want to, FRiend. As for me, if I have to spend the time to watchdog the NEA-run publik skrewl system, I'd rather expend the effort to homeschool. As for the "masses" and "larger society"; Eff 'em!

My job is to prepare MY children to be the best, brightest, and most advantaged children they can be. Your children are your problem! MY kids are not going to have to fight their way through gangs, drugs, and socialist indoctrination - just to get a barely adequate "education"! MY little girl is NOT going to grow up thinking that dressing like a $2 whore and acting like a slut is OK. My kids are NOT going to learn how to put a condom on a banana in the 3rd grade! My kids are NOT going to be put on powerful psychotropic drugs for the convenience of some poor "overworked" teacher/babysitter! My kids are NOT going to get their educational record ruined by some assinine example of "zero tolerance"! NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!!!

While you are beating your head against and entrenched, leftist bureaucracy, I'll be teaching my own kids the lessons and skills necessary to become productive leaders of society - not the mindless sheeple that come out of public schools these days.

Yes, I'm pissed that my tax dollars are WASTED in the public schools. That is why I support vouchers. In any case, I'd rather pi$$ away the money than my kids' future.

[Gabz]

As the mother of a 1st grader in a public school I find your post highly offensive. Had my husband not already gone to sleep he would be telling you the same and a few other things. A reason I never ping him to these type threads.


I seriously doubt you would accept such a broad brush about homeschoolers that you use against those using public schools based upon some isolated incidents.......your attitude against how others choose to educate their children is part of why homeschooling is being attacked.

I do not attack those that homeschool but will not sit quietly when those of us who choose not to do so are attacked.

[clee1]

I have had this debate before with you Gabz, as you seem to turn up in every thread about homeschooling - ready to take offense when people post their opposition to dealing with the public schools any longer. Frankly, I couldn't care less about how offensive you found my post, nor am I terribly worried about your husband and his 'few other things" he might tell me. If homeschooling ticks you off so badly, quit reading/posting to these threads!

For the record, I don't care how you choose to educate your children, as I am quite sure you do the very best you can for them. I also realize that not every family situation will allow for homeschooling, even if the parents wish they could. You yourself say that your temperament won't allow for it. I can respect that.

However, I WILL NOT be put down because my concern for my own children outweighs the "collective" need for "society" to stand together to make the public schools better. It is that same "society" that has allowed the school system to become the disgrace that it is. Most people just don't care - they send their kids off to be tended to by the State. Good for you if you make public education work for your family. Good for you if you can successfully supplement the education and counteract the indoctrination the public school (and it's environment)provides. Good for you if you can deal with the 95% of parents of public school students that are totally apathetic at best and actively detrimental at worst - that send their undisciplined little thugs to class and dare the teachers/administrators to do anything about it. My attitude about the public schools is not why homeschooling is being attacked; it is being attacked because the homeschool movement threatens the teacher's unions.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to try to straighten out the public school mess. I'll take care of my own kids; everyone else's kids are their responsibility.