HOMESCHOOLERS EXPOSED -- BY INDIE FILMMAKER FERNANDA ROSSI

Hollywood Investigator ^ | February 20, 2003 | Thomas M. Sipos

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Way to go!

[TxBec]

bump!

[Trickyguy]

The only "social skill" I learned in public school was how to fight. Close the public schools down and salt the ground.

[SpookBrat]

I think it's great she chose a Jewish family to work with. Critics paint an image of homeschoolers as being mostly Christian fundamentalists (and we're an evil bunch aren't we)? Not just Christians homeschool and many homeschoolers aren't homeschooling for religious reasons. We are a very "religious" and conservative family, but religion wasn't our main reason for pulling our kids out. Missing my kids was the biggest reason.

"Homeschooling critics worry that homeschooled children don't learn the social skills to be had from interacting with other children."

Can I just say something? There are three homeschooling families in my little pocket neighborhood here. We are all pretty close. Our kids do their school work in the morning, do some chores and they are GONE for the rest of the day, outside playing....where they should be! Kids don't have enough time to play anymore. This social skills argument is a crock. In fact, it's a real struggle to get my kids to quit working on their social skills and get some work done!!!

[Dark Wing]

ping

[condi2008]

Just read a fascinating book called "Queen Bees and Wannabes" about that wicked social structure within Middle- and High-Schools. I read about the normal, day-to-day dramas that play out in the emotional lives of kids in schools and thanked God that my children are being spared this.

[He Rides A White Horse]

Homeschooling criticsNEA communists worry that homeschooled children don't learn the socialism skills to be had from interacting with other indoctrinated children.

[biblewonk]

The only "social skill" I learned in public school was how to fight. Close the public schools down and salt the ground.

Home school bump.

In Junior High I invented a game called "name that drug". We'd stand around and try to figure out what people were on. I also learned wolf pack social skills like how to be an alpha wolf so that the others wouldn't pick you to pieces. The lesson started then I got spit on and threatened by an older kid in elementary school.

[mountaineer]

The supposed social skills learned by attending public schools are considerably overrated, including cliques, bullying, snobbery, fighting and other forms of abuse. I'm thankful my home-schooled nieces won't have to experience that.

[g'nad]

The only "social skill" I learned in public school was how to fight

Ditto... how to fight... how to treat others like crap... y'know... the stuff you need to know to succeed in this life...

[ladylib]

What socialization? Kids in public schools today don't even have time for recess anymore. They have to devote their time to studying for their "high stakes" tests -- you know, the tests that will ensure that fat cat school superintendents and teachers will keep their jobs, not to mention property values not plunging. Some schools even make kids stay after during the week or come to school on Saturdays to be coached on these tests. Then of course there are several hours of homework each night.

That's a big burden to put on kids. One wonders if homeschooling will increase because parents are not happy with unhappy, stressed out children. My guess is that it will.

[2Jedismom]

Ping!

[BibChr]

LOL!

[BibChr]

SOCIALIZATION!!

Here are my two favorite replies to that old one:

Favorite Reply One: you know, you're right. My HSed kids attend a group Art class, are on a baseball team, are active in their church youth groups and in Boy Scouts... maybe they do get too much socialization!

Favorite Reply Two: yeah, I got to feeling really guilty about what my boy was missing out in terms of socialization, by not attending government school. So now, at least once a week, I swear at him, show him dirty pictures, offer him drugs, beat him up and steal his lunch money — just so he doesn't miss out.

(That last one was from a FReeper, I have a guess but forget who.)

Dan

[He Rides A White Horse]

You know how they are........

[He Rides A White Horse]

......every alternative method is opposed by this group. They have 'social workers' harrass homeschooling families; they fight reformation measures, they oppose standardized testing. They'll say that tests don't and can't measure 'intangible' aspects of public school teaching (ie propaganda), they only thing they favor is having no competition.

[Boxsford]

Good morning SpookBrat! Thanks for the ping.

"John Taylor Gatto [author, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling] is a supporter of my film. So is Helen Heneger, of Home Education Magazine -- and many others that I wish I had time to list.

Impressive support.

"But homeschooling remains what it has always been: a method. And people can use it to achieve different goals."

Can't agree with this. Homeschooling has become a lifestyle for many who choose to keep their children at home. This author misses the mark on the importance of family.

[Aquinasfan]

The only "social skill" I learned in public school was how to fight. Close the public schools down and salt the ground.

LOL! I hear you.

My proudest public school moment: fighting off three kids in elementary school who were mercilessly teasing (daily) a mildly retarded boy, and getting a bloody nose in the process.

My most shameful moment was watching the same kid being mercilessly teased and having his books kicked down the hall in junior high, and being too frightened to help him.

That's what government school is all about, Charlie Brown.

[Aquinasfan]

Kids don't have enough time to play anymore.

Absolutely.