Homeschool or die!

WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. ^ | October 4, 2004 | Vox Day

[Born in a Rage]

It's odd how you both like to bad-mouth anyone who homeschools their kids. I can tell plenty of stories about the parents of kids who go to public and private schools...plenty! Anyone want to hear them?

[Born in a Rage]

It's odd how you both like to bad-mouth anyone who homeschools their kids. I can tell plenty of stories about the parents of kids who go to public and private schools...plenty! Anyone want to hear them?

[RFEngineer]

"So I guess I've covered both sides"

We currently teach our kids at home AND send them to public school.......I can't believe anyone would hinder their kids future success by only doing one or the other....

;^)

[HungarianGypsy]

I guess you didn't read my post closely enough. I DO homeschool my children. In fact, for about seven years now. The only problem I have are that there are some homeschoolers who talk down to others (yes, there are some). I also complained about the public school parents who say that my life would be better if I just sent my children to public school. I thought I was pretty even handed.

[JudyinCanada]

Why, what a rather uncalled-for remark.

I don't bad-mouth people who home-school their kids. I was one of them.

I was simply acknowledging that there ARE some home-school moms who made others feel (as I said, hopefully unknowingly) inferior as parents because they weren't doing the same thing.

Perhaps things are not that way in America, but up here I met numerous moms who thought anybody who didn't home-school wasn't doing their job as a parent.

I belonged to several home-school groups. Most were not like that, but there were more than a few who were. Sorry if that offends you.

[Boazo]

Hiredhand ,Thought you might take a look here.

[Yaelle]

It's certainly not going to happen at every school, but if there were an attack at ANY school in the USA, it would cause quite a response among parents. I sure liked having my kiddos around on 9/11.

I do send my middle boy to public school, but it is a teeny little tree-covered school in a residential area. I don't think the terrorists could find it.

[hiredhand]

I heard about this the other day, but to be terribly honest with you, I didn't quite put it into perspective until I read the article. Quite strange given that we just finished cleaning guns from shooting yesterday. :-) The reason we shot yesterday is because the young men "hook" into it mentally, and it's a fantastic way to teach teamwork, and principles of spiritual warfare. It REALLY gets their attention! Yes...we're some of "those people". Leftist/liberals don't just hate us, they fear us....they avoid us like chemical spills on the highway....like a disease you REALLY don't want to have. We're their worse nightmare I suppose. Conservative, fundemental Christian, homeschoolers...and armed. :-)

Me, my two boys, my daughter, and another friend of ours ran "practical drills". I have a friend who trains air marshals, hostage rescue teams, and does some er...uh...(let's be diplomatic here :-)...subcontract work for the DoD in the way of training. :-) He knows how to make shooting fun. So there we have four people....between the ages of 9 and 40. The girl shoots quarters at 100 yards with a (slightly tricked Ruger 10/22). She was our "sharpshooter" (Lord forbid we call her a SNIPER!). Us four "cavemen" practiced coordinated fire exercises, using mainly an FN/FAL, two Yugo SKSs, and the littlest guy has an Armalite A-2 with a shorty stock. He's VERY good with it! You don't want to be on the "receiving end" inside of about 400 yards. A county social worker would have a field day with us for sure. Oh...the kid who was visiting is homeschooled too. I got his mom's permission earlier. I told her exactly what we were going to do, and that we were going to have a MANLY time! She thought it would be good for him, and he had a blast as we all did! :-). ...and yes...in case you are wondering, it IS a conspiracy! :-)

A friend of ours one day asked the kids why they just didn't have a BB gun. You should have seen them! Their eyes got big, and their jaws dropped. It was hillarious! I didn't know what to say. :-) Yes, yes. I know the law. Technically, for the record, I "own" all the hardware. But if anybody's feeling froggy, I suppose they could try to take a weapon from one of them. I wouldn't recommend it though. :-)

We homeschool the kids because we wanted to have a greater influence on them...and give them the personalized attention to education and life training that they NEED. Not this embrace diversity junk that they're liable to get exposed to in the public school system. We want our children to know absolute right from absolute WRONG, and to make correct choices when we aren't around anymore to enforce decision making. We don't practice moral relativism, and have taught the kids that it's a flat out LIE spread by the left.

But, everytime some dumb kid (or adult for that matter) shoots somebody at a public school, or beats the stuffins out of them, we take stock of what we have and thank the Lord that we made the decision. It was a TOUGH decision. My wife is a neuroscience nurse, RN/BSN and we lost that paycheck for sure. But THAT was quantifiable. What we would have lost by keeping the kids in public schools is NOT quantifiable, and that bothered me....a LOT.

I believe you become accutely aware for the battle of the minds of our young people when you take on homeschooling. I'm STILL taken back when I'm out in town with one of the kids during the week (I work from home on Mondays usually) and somebody will ask me why the child isn't in school. When I tell them that they are homeschooled, and ahead on their subjects, I almost always get the same reply.... "We would homeschool....BUT...." ...and the reasons are too numerous to list here. I believe that a majority of people are struck with guilt and feel compelled to just tell me why they aren't doing what they should be doing. They don't seem to realize that I live a much more meager life because of this, and that I get to do things like learn highschool algebra, and English grammar ALL over again...AG! They don't know what it's like when my wife has a bad week and calls me at work on a Thursday, early in the day, and she's going to explode if she doesn't get some time to herself.

This article about the Arab with the school "info" is definitely "fishy". Parents SHOULD have been notified. It only serves to prove that the people running the school systems, and law enforcement agencies out that way are probably slack and just don't want to be discovered. They would probably say they don't want to panic people, but people are already panicked in case they haven't noticed. :-)

The planet is a dangerous place right now. It seems to be getting more dangerous with time. There are strange, prophetic, and dark things happening around the globe right now, and all of us ponder what "time" this must be, how to react to it, and how to make it a better situation. For a time, I believe our nation will receive a reprieve with GWB serving a second term in office. After that, it's anybody's bet.

I will say this though....after watching the happenings in the world over the past couple of years, I think it's approaching the time for people to make a serious decision about doing what's right in the sight of God, or being counted with this world. We've got it good right now. As conservatives, we're relatively "on top of the ball". But what about when we end up on the bottom of it? Are we willing to sacrifice? Like prophets of old?....like the Apostles?....like the men who had the courage to tear America from the grasp of the British Empire?

Sure we will...at least we'll say that we will here...where it's safe. One thing is certain. We will have the opportunity to find out. We aren't against a single nation as we were during our war for independence. We're involved in a global conflict...one in which good is pitted against evil....a battle of philosophies, and for the hearts and minds of young people.

Eventually, middle eastern males between the ages of 18 and 40 will blow something up on our soil (AGAIN), or knock something down (AGAIN), or spray people with something really nasty, or nuke something. Or give us "Beslan" right here in America. From the looks of the article, they could well have been plotting just such a thing.

I guess if I had to sum it all up, I'd say trust in the Lord, get your kids out of public schools (if you are able), and keep your powder dry!

Sorry this was long! ;-)

[pray4liberty]

As a mother who has home schooled two children for 5+ years:

--Home schooling is not for everyone.
--It is hard and unrelenting work.
--It is an awesome responsibility.

Why do I do it? My local school district is !@#$%

[doblin]

b

[grellis]

My sister (unmarried, no children) thinks it's the bees knees and that my children aren't safe at school.

This is, essentially, why I posted my comment. I was recently treated to a diatribe by a fellow female conservative who, first, chastised conservative women for not having six or seven children and, second, for not homeschooling.

Said woman is childless and, therefore, has no real idea of how difficult educational choices are to make.

I seldom get the impression that homeschooling moms here on FR think that they are superior to those of us who have made different choices. I do wish, however, that I could recall the name of the FReeper whose tagline read "Sending your children to public schools is child abuse." I'll keep an eye out for it.

[agrarianlady]

It's not a good idea to homeschool your kids if you don't like being around them. I'm sure they are much better off away and at school.

I should clarify that I do love being around my kids. They are in pre-school 3 days per week. I pick them up at 2:45. It doesn't seem like a long day for them. They take a nap there because there peers are doing it but it's difficult to get them to take one at home.

It gives them a diversion over being at home 24/7. It is just me at home. No grandparents visit them. One set is too far away and one set is feeling their age and don't like to be bothered.

They are using the A Beka curriculum at pre-school. They love to learn new songs and the almost 5-year-old is reading fluently and the 3.5 year old is starting to read. The teachers there are kind and smart. It helps to have input from them.

I want my children to have more than I feel I can give them 24/7. I am all alone all week with them. It is very lonely for all of us to do that 24/7. The Dad is home at nights and on weekends, to be sure, but it is just me the bulk of the time.

Children can be exhausting. They have a lot more energy than I do and sometimes I need a short break.

Your comment is another example of the holier-than-thou attitude homeschool parents take about other parents who are not psychologically able to be isolated and shut-in with their children *all of the time*.

[netmilsmom]

I would love to be able to send my girls to school.
We would be so much better off financially if I could get a job.

Sometimes you get the cards dealt to you. I can Homeschool. Some parents see their children in failing schools and can't. THAT would suck.

[Sloth]

The man's intentions were not known, and there was no indication that schools in San Diego or any other district were targets for terrorism, according to San Diego law enforcement officials ...

What exactly would constitute an indication of such a threat? Would wearing a hand-lettered sandwich board sign saying "I INTEND TO TARGET SAN DIEGO SCHOOLS FOR A TERRORIST ATTACK" meet the threshold, or is that still too subtle?

[Sloth]

He is not opposed to homeschooling if there is no other choice, but prefers the efficiency of one scholar in a particular subject (Latin, for instance) being able to educate several at a time

Isn't that what a lot of homeschoolers do?

[agrarianlady]

Yes, they do.

[MissAmericanPie]

I homeschool here because the public school system is a famous failure. That does not mean all public school districts are the same, or that parents are evil for sending their kids to public school.

The man does have a point, recent world events would make one an idiot for not at least suspecting an attack on a public school somewhere in the nation. But there is nothing one can do about it. It's like putting your child on a plane the odds are in his favor he will survive it.

[Born in a Rage]

You are assuming that homeschooling families are "isolated" and "shut-in"....that's not true. You are the one with an attitude issue, btw. The only thing I did was agree with you. Again, if you find your children "exhausting" and you need "a short break"; then you shouldn't homeschool them.

[Born in a Rage]

The only way one can feel inferior is if they believe others are superior.

[Gone GF]

"I seldom get the impression that homeschooling moms here on FR think that they are superior to those of us who have made different choices. I do wish, however, that I could recall the name of the FReeper whose tagline read "Sending your children to public schools is child abuse." I'll keep an eye out for it."

I seldom get that impression, either, but I also remember this rude and smug tagline, and I remember being told by others that I'm bascially a worthless parent because I send my children to public school.