Posted on 08/04/2012 6:02:26 AM PDT by aberaussie
The public school year starts this month. Unfortunately, Florida isn't known for its stellar public schools. That means a lot of families are worried about their kids' educations and might even be dreading the thought of another disappointing year.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.orlandosentinel.com ...
Just as the UAW decades ago jacked up employee expenses to the point that many jobs could be more cheaply performed via robotics, the Teachers Unions are pricing themselves out of work that can largely be done via other methods.
It is the inertia of “we’ve always done it this way,” and parents appreciation of taxpayer paid babysitters that holds back serious education reform.
Public education is like any other government run enterprise. It features outrageous cost and awful results.
Sorry, but in today’s environment, public school is NOT an option.
Even private schools are dangerous, as they must meet state and federal standards that work against the parents’ authority.
Therefore, all you are left with is home school. Church and synagogue school, or even your own school cooperative, are alternatives that can be considered with people you know and trust. Even then ...
I submit that the best option is home school.
By far.
Thanks aberaussie.
What is this “not for everyone” drivel. I hear this over and over from people who still feel that they almost have to apologize for being better parents than the parents who throw their children in the sewer of government schools - especially those “wonderful” suburban schools that everyone wants to claim are so “different”.
Homeschooling is for anyone who wants to do it. That is the only qualification - just really caring enough about your children to provide them with a morally, spiritually, and academically excellent education.
There is an option called K12 and it’s basically a good and decent general education, all online. It’s very cheap and effective. Many parents could hire someone to supervise their kids doing K12, and/or alter their work schedules a bit to be home with kids from 9 to 3. Their kids would actually GET the education they need without all the distractions and stress of school.
It works and is catching on with a lot of peole, particularly ones who are in extremely dreadful and dangerous school settings.
Have you ever heard the term crack head mother....have you ever met an idiot. Some people do not have the attitude nor skills to educate anything and they are better off in the public schools!!
Red state governors need to push to encourage home schooling, and make it easier to adopt.
I saw U.S. Dept of Labor survey that showed there are full-timk stay-at-home mothers at every single level of family income in America. (Note, it was not a survey of homeschoolers, but of full-time homemakers.)
The survey suggests this: different people's decision to homeschool is often, but not always, related to the decision of being a stay-at-home mom. And this, in turn, is not determined by families having different incomes, so much as families having different values.
So weird to post this! Just moved to south Florida a month ago and after visiting the schools (and seeing the rifraf hanging around outside of them), not to mention they wanted my DAUGHTERS, ages 11, 15 and 16 to walk (my 11 year old by herself to the opposite direction) nearly 2 miles NEXT TO A HIGHWAY EXIT to school... well, Florida Virtual/Homeschool became a God send. Please pray I get everything completed to avoid these schools.
Please pray I get everything completed to avoid these schools.
&&&&
Prayers sent.
Thank you!
Crackhead mothers want crack. They don’t want to homeschool. As for the alleged importance of education levels, the homeschooled children of parents without high school degrees on average do better than private school students. Government school children on average aren’t even close.
By the way, the average government school teacher is an idiot. Worse, and idiot that has been indoctrinated in false theories or pedagogy that reender them incapabale of teaching reading or math. Worse, they are conduits for the hard left views of the people like Bill Ayres who trained them. And then there is the fact that the government schools are the biggest drug pushers on the planet.
Government schools are children abuse. You are completely out of touch.
Fox News did a story about the 10% annual increase in homeschooling this morning. I know several people who homeschool their kids. A much better alternative overall, though more expensive. But worth the expense, by testimony.
From age 3 to the 3rd grade, I used a mix of on-line programs & unschooling (not popular for some, but it worked for us). These grades are the easiest to teach; if you have graduated from high school and love your children, that's enough to be qualified, IMO.
For 4th & 5th grade, my daughter attended Catholic school, where, despite needing a short adjustment period to get accustomed to the system, she quickly became the best student in class. Unfortunately, the standards weren't as rigorous as we'd thought would be. Plus, sitting in a cell-block classroom with the same bunch of cliquish kids for 6 hours a day only prepares a student for the misery of working in an office cubicle, mindlessly following corporate demands(see the movie Office Space).
We figured spending $4500/year for private school wasn't worth it, so for 6th-8th, we used Calvert School program which was about $1000 year. They provided on-line and written academic support, a strong internet community for students & home educators, and annual assessments from certified teachers. (As I said, NY state is quite demanding in their documentation).
For high school I now plan on using Brightway Academy. Although I am not Christian, I don't mind that they are, as their academics are intense. They are a private school based in PA, and incredibly flexible with their homeschool curriculum. I can teach my daughter “the traditonal way” with books. She can be taught with on-line classes, participate in Skype-study groups with other students and has access to online tutoring. Or, we can do a combination of traditional and modern, whatever works best with our schedule. Brightway also provides accredited High School Diplomas (no GEDS) and access to AP classes and college credit.
There is even a cap & gown graduation ceremony for all home-school students. Since I live on Long Island, the drive to PA isn't so bad. Granted, it does cost $2500-$4000 depending on the program, but it's cheaper than $10,000 for private High School. Gov’t school in not an option.
Brightway is only one option; there are cheaper ones like the Benjamin Franklin school ($400/year) and numerous others. There are so many choices out there for parents who wish to provide home instruction, even if it's only for a few years. If you have the will, you can do it.
Based on my familiarity with so many government school teachers, your post is spot on. Bravo!
Exactly genius like I said home schooling is not for everyone. I'm not out of touch you just know know what you're talking about. You spout a lot of garbage that sounds like what you think things are like but that is just what it is garbage. You don't know a damn thing about the average teacher
home schooled children of parents without high school degrees on average do better than private school
Makes no sense. Do you have the proof of this or does it just sound good!!!
Oh, the “homeschooling isn’t for everyone” meme was only meant to suggest that crackheads shouldn’t homeschool? Seems as if you mentioned other alleged circumstances in your post. Now we’re down to crackheads.
Why not be honest and admit that that phrase is mainly used as an excuse by shiftless and selfish parents? Yes, there are a relatively few families who, because of court orders, or genuinely extreme circumstances, can’t homeschool (notice that that is a “can’t”, not a “shouldn’t”).
But, for the vast majority of parents, government schools - our favorite middle-class welfare entitlement - is simply a lifestyle choice that allows for more “me” time, bigger houses, newer cars, better vacations, and especially, less responsibility.
As for the average government school teacher, you really are out of touch. Schools of education are known as the intellectual slums of our universities, and the there is plenty of data to support the statement that school teachers aren’t very bright. There are exceptions, but the bright ones who survive the idiocy of ed school tend to leave the profession within 5 years because the institution is corrupt and an impossible work environment. The ones who tend to stay are the ones who can’t find indoor work with no heavy lifting anywhere else.
You just know so damn much that you are sure that mothers and fathers without high school diplomas can’t produce children who outperform our expensively institutionalized goverment school children taught by our certified “highly trained education professionals”. Here is a summary of some of the relevant bit of research comparing homeschoolers with government schooled children: http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/ray1997/07.asp
I would add that there is no study that has ever shown that private school students on average do as well as the children homeschooled by parents without high school diplomas in this study.
Here is a summary of Rudner’s large scale study, which includes a comparison of Homeschool, private, and government school achievement: http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/rudner1999/Rudner2.asp
Note that in all studies (including others) homeschool academic achievement is nearly invariant with respect to the educational and socio-economic status of parents. This is not true in any other educational model. Given homeschooling’s relative invariance for SES, it can be seen from the Rudner data that the academic performance of children homeschooled by parents with low levels of academic attainment (e.g. no school diploma, as shown by Ray (1997))is better than the average performace of private school students.
Lest you try to argue that somehow things must be different now, here is a summary of a 2009 large scale study of homeschool academic achievement: http://www.educationnews.org/articles/new-nationwide-study-confirms-homeschool-academic-achievement-.html
Please note that, contrary to what one would expect, there is no regression toward the mean. The homeschooling academic achievement advantage has actually grown despite the fact that many more children are homeschooled today.
You daughter is a heroine. She and millions of mothers like her deserve a parade and accolades. But since they won’t get that, you can at least stop with the “homeschooling isn’t for everyone” snark. We all know that the subtext is just “It’s an eccentric thing to do, and I wouldn’t want anyone else to feel uncomfortable about institutionalizing their children in government schools because I know that that is what “normal” people do.”
Government schools are a crime against children.
Regardless of education anyone there are those who can and do alot of remarkable things....to think that the majority of Americans fall into that group is simply not true. You need to remember the endless threads on FR about welfare recipients and the mindset that elects democrats. Do you really think these people would give a crap about educating their kids. Any parent who cares about homeschooling can do it if they have the knowledge to do so....I was a probation officer for short time and I can assure you some people cannot even if they wanted to!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.