Educrat thugs despise homeschooling.
Posted on 11/20/2002 8:50:54 PM PST by Sir Gawain
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[Meet five homeschoolers — four from Massachusetts and one from Oklahoma — who are among the growing number of American teenagers who have exchanged the dog-eat-dog world of high school and middle school to pursue academic excellence, entrepreneurial endeavors, travel, quality time with their families, and their dreams.] Eighteen-year-old Naomi Haqq of Belchertown, Massachusetts is the kind of young woman that would make many parents proud. She has strong moral convictions, is employed as a hotel front-desk clerk, and is following in her mother's footsteps by studying nursing. At age 16, she was accepted into the University of Massachusetts' (Amherst) dual-enrollment program and has done well enough with her college- level courses to earn a 3.69 grade point average. Naomi's work ethic and faith were cultivated during the time she and her three younger siblings were schooled at home by her parents. While she holds to a philosophy that "homeschooling isn't for lazy people," she agrees that one of the advantages of this educational choice is that it offers individuals the flexibility to make their own schedule. That flexibility, in fact, has tremendous appeal to Wid, my number two son, who is seventeen. Last school year, for instance, Wid spent his mornings studying biology, grammar, Algebra II, and American literature. He often devoted his afternoons to snowboarding, motocross, ice hockey, or paintball. Some of his other extra-curricular experiences, however, have thrust him into the work world — pumping gas at a service station and laboring on a roofing crew. Twice he has driven cross-country with his dad visiting places such as Niagara Falls, the UP of Michigan, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Recently, he worked security for the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona-Kailua, Hawaii. Naomi Haqq's learning experiences have had an international bent. As she did at age 14, she accompanied her father (Emmanuel Haqq) on a trip to India this summer, where he engaged college-aged students in debates about science and Christianity. The endeavor fits his background; Dr. Haqq, a pastor, is a native of India with a doctorate in high energy physics from the University of Minnesota. On this trip, father and daughter also vacationed in Italy for a week. During her high school years, Naomi attended youth group meetings, worked at a college dining hall, and played piano, but she didn't dance at a prom. Does she feel that she missed out on an adolescent rite of passage? Not really. "I went through a time when I wished I had more friends," Naomi admits. "But I played on a (public school) soccer team during my sophomore year and found the kids to be snobby and cliquish, even though I had been playing with many of them since seventh grade. Everybody seems to be the same in high school." Wid wouldn't disagree with that statement. This academic year, he has the opportunity to simultaneously participate on two sports teams in Bozeman, Montana. He plays on a high school ice hockey team of which all his teammates attend public school, and he also joined a high school basketball team of which all his teammates are homeschooled. Of the compare-and-contrast experience he has this to say: "I like hockey more because I am better at it, and my teammates are appreciative of my skills. But I prefer being with the basketball people, because I have more in common with them. They have cleaner language and more trustworthy behavior. The basketball team never had to apologize to any hotel staff." (This last statement is a reference to an episode in which several of his fellow skaters, attending an away game, threw plastic containers of cream into a hotel's swimming pool.) Miriam Anzovin, 17, is a self-motivated homeschooled student who also has a strong opinion about the negative encounters that pass as "socialization" in most modern schools. She has been a homeschooler for three years and previously attended both private and public schools. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. "The mindless self-interest of some teenagers I've met, who attend high school, certainly does not make me want to go back. I found that when I was in school the cliques and social hierarchy bring out the worst in people. When I left school, it was as if somebody had yelled 'wake up already' at me. The things that get in the way of getting an education, like dating and parent bashing, were gone," notes Miriam. Miriam is the middle child in a close-knit Jewish family. Her older brother, Raf Anzovin, who was also homeschooled, founded a computer animation studio during his teen years and counts Apple Computer among his clients. In addition to applying herself to traditional high school subjects like biology and literature, Miriam is a serious student of Hebrew and Judaic studies. "Homeschooling also allowed me to practice my religion unimpeded by school rules and ignorant faculty members," she says. She is learning Filipino martial arts and American kenpo karate, and plans to begin training in Krav Maga, the Israeli system of self-defense. Miriam would like to become Hollywood's first "Orthodox Jewish fight choreographer." She directed, edited, and starred in "Sisters of Fury," a short action film in which two warriors battle for a priceless artifact. Bonnie MacDonald, 15, is a member of the MacDonald Family Singers, a homeschooling family with eight children, ages 3 to 18, who perform bluegrass, gospel, and classical music. The ten MacDonalds live in Orange, Massachusetts. Concerts typically take place at churches, malls, birthday parties, and nursing homes. Bonnie, an alto, fingers the the trumpet, saxophone, harmonica, piano, and flute. She divides her free time between being a webmistress, volunteering at a community clothing center, and playing in local orchestras. She enjoys a close relationship with her older sister, Carol, and her mother, Laurie. The MacDonald's homeschooling style falls between unschooling and highly structured, so, in addition to academics, the family enjoys crafts and fixing things like tree houses, soda machines, car transmissions, and appliances. Bonnie appreciates the get-up-and-go attitude that homeschooling has given her. "Homeschooling teaches you to teach yourself," says Bonnie. "I can also concentrate on the areas I don't do well in." Like the other girls, Naomi and Miriam, she is unimpressed by the behavior of most government school students. "Most of the kids I see from public school don't know how to talk. They aren't trained to think and have no sense of who they are or where they're going," she observes. Kyle Williams, age 14, resides in Guthrie, Oklahoma. He is a political columnist for WorldNetDaily, an Internet news site. His weekly commentary is titled "Veritas." He has written about the issue of socialization and made this pointed observation: "Maybe if public schools learned from homeschoolers and focused less on socializing in class and focused more on learning, the average test score for public school students might be greater than 50 percent." Kyle is the third of three children and is taught by his mother, Debbie Williams. Typically, he begins his lessons around 8:30 a.m. and studies subjects like constitutional law, economics, algebra, and composition. His afternoons are spent playing sports, going to church activities, and catching up on current events. "I was dying to get published in print or on a popular web site. I emailed my stuff to (editor) Joseph Farah with no expectations of being a columnist. But we talked for several days, and then I talked with the commentary editor. The rest is history," explains Kyle of how he became the site's youngest writer. In addition to penning opinions, Kyle is writing a book for Thomas Nelson Publishers. His topic? The culture wars. Kyle, who traveled to Washington, D.C. to deliver a speech before the National Press Club, thinks that homeschooling has broadened him as a person. "I'm able to communicate better with adults and children, learn necessary life skills, and become closer to my family." He says that apart from the responsibility of "having to cook my own lunch," he is content to learn at home. His future goals include attending law school after he earns a degree in journalism. No doubt about it. These homeschooled teens are enthusiastic about their lifestyle. They are also preparing themselves, early in life, for adulthood. As Miriam puts it, "I think that high school just puts off the inevitable in terms of organizing your life, being responsible, and learning how to be self-directed." Isabel Lyman, author of The Homeschooling Revolution, can be reached at ilyman7449@aol.com. She lives in western Massachusetts. |
Wasn't this kiddo a FReeper? Until you know what happened....I think he was rightfully critical of Bush.
Educrat thugs despise homeschooling.
About the same curriculum my daughter uses, except that instead of American Lit she just got done with Herodotus and is now working on selected readings in Thucidides.
She just turned ten.
Please don't throw bricks, but the "socialization" issue *is* a big deal for us - I'm not saying it is for everyone - but if our kids homeschooled for high school they most likely would have few or no friends.
I like that quote.
Yes.
It was built on a selection of library books about the development of Mesopotamia, India, Biblical readings on the Middle East, more library books on Egypt, extensive discussions about the Phoenicians (repeat after me, cedar trees, cedar trees, cedar trees) leading to the Iliad and Odyssey, thence to Herodotus. All along the way were discussions of geography, economics resources (cedar trees, topsoil, rivers, quarries, mines, etc.), and technology, and how they related to success in business and war. Also discussed at length was the "fat dumb and happy" principle: how that leads to the demise and conquest of a society.
The kids LOVED they Odyssey and Herodotus, but Thucidides is proving to be a little much. Smaller bites. I don't think I'm going to dwell on the philosophy of antiquity at this time, preferring to stay with architecture, economy, political events, and technology. We'll come back to philosophy when they are more mature and the historical context is more complete.
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