Posted on 02/16/2006 3:05:19 PM PST by Ronaldus Magnus
Meet My Teachers: Mom And Dad
A growing number of affluent parents think they can do better than any school
No longer the bailiwick of religious fundamentalists or neo-hippies looking to go off the cultural grid, homeschooling is a growing trend among the educated elite. More parents believe that even the best-endowed schools are in an Old Economy death grip in which kids are learning passively when they should be learning actively, especially if they want an edge in the global knowledge economy. "A lot of families are looking at what's happening in public or private school and saying, 'You know what? I could do better, and I'd like to be a bigger part of my kid's life,"' says University of Illinois education professor Christopher Lubienski.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessweek.com ...
Exactly - just keep in mind that, sometimes, even the best of parents are not cut out for teaching all day, week after week. Don't get me wrong - you don't have to be couped (sp?) up teaching since we get out a lot and experience history and other subjects - you just have to have the right temperment.
It will be hard work either way - but it is encouraging that they have an entire Web page devoted to homeschool applicants now.
I mean those types who won't let their children associate with non-Christians, those whose children's only activity is Awana, etc. those who require even their math books to be 'Biblical', whatever that means.
What ever that means.
Listen, I've asked you before to not ping me.
It was friendly advice from someone who is homeschooling - sorry I even bothered - I don't remember you "asking me not to ping you".
Schooling in isolation could threaten civic cohesion and diversity of thought, says Stanford University education professor Rob Reich. Reich favors stricter homeschooling regulations to supplant the current patchwork of state laws so that children can be assured of exposure to more than just what their parents sanction.
Apparently he believes that parents don't have the final say in the upbringing of children, but that the state should play a role.
And while it's possible that civic cohesion could suffer if everyone were homeschooled...not proven, mind you, but worthy of investigation...it's not "diversity of thought" that stands to suffer at the hands of homeschooling parents; rather, it's conformity of thought that would face decline.
And that's what Robby really fears; that the American state will lose the capacity to forge a homogeneous worldview among the electorate.
You won't be sorry! I was homeschooled from day one, along with my siblings. I'm in graduate school now, planning for a batch of my own to homeschool one of these days. I bet you'll see even more improvement in your kids' academics and in the way they enjoy being around each other and you, too.
Please put me on the homeschooling ping....Thanks!
DaveLoneRanger and Tired of Taxes own the Homeschool ping list
Ping
For anyone who hasn't read this one yet.
You certainly make a valid point, but I don't think you need to worry. Although more and more secular parents are indeed starting to homeschool, the demographics are clearly with the religions families. In my experience, most of these secular homeschooling families have only one or two children while the religious homeschoolers I have met tend to average around six. Since homeschooling children tend to become homeschooling parents at a much greater rate than the general population, I doubt that the numbers of secular homeschoolers will ever become significant.
And thank you for adding me to your ping list.
Look, children! Hug this tree! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain stealing you blind with FICA and "property" taxes!
Well said.
We recently decided to start homeschooling our youngest son again. He'd homeschool from the 6th through the 8th grade, then we put him in the private high school our older sons attended. It's a good school, but we have just gotten tired of schools in general, and he's watched his older sister take cool courses at the local Community college, so he wants to do that too! So, come June 7th, we'll be FREE again!
You can read the materials you get for them and learn with your kids!
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