Home Schools Run By Well-Meaning Amateurs

NEA ^ | By Dave Arnold

[2banana]

Per pupil spending in NYC is $13,000 a student. With half of that money I could home school my children and run circles around the average NYC HS graduate...

[BenLurkin]

"You would think that they might leave this -- the shaping of their children’s minds, careers, and futures -- to trained professionals."

Ha!

What a crock.

[Blueflag]

One of the LAMEST statements attempting to support an argument I have ever read ...

"I’m certainly not opposed to religious schools, or to anyone standing up for what they believe in. I admire anyone who has the strength to stand up against the majority. But in this case, pulling children out of a school is not the best way to fight the laws that govern our education system. No battle has ever been won by retreating!"

'fight the laws'??? oh my ...

[ichabod1]

Where's the barf alert?

[Izzy Dunne]

to serve these wannabe teachers.

I am a homeschooling Dad - I am NOT a "wannabe teacher".

I have no desire to teach your kids.

[Aggie Mama]

It’s obvious to me that these organizations are in it for the money.

Gasp! You mean a company actually wants to make a profit? Unbelievable! Well, I guess all those teachers' unions, NEA, etc.. will stop pushing for the need for more funding.

[ichabod1]

I HAVE wondered why parents who homeschool don't automatically band together and specialize, each focusing on a different subject. It would seem that charter schools would naturally flow out of such an arrangement. I'm pretty sure it happens, but it seems like it would be a natural outcome.

[BenLurkin]

"Without allowing their children to mingle, trade ideas and thoughts with others, these parents are creating social misfits."

What a sick joke.

Send your kids to public school and they WILL be misfits.

[GrandEagle]

I see, it takes a "professional" to manage to get a child through 12 years of "education" and still manage to have him/her to be an illiterate social degenerate.

No thanks, I would rather place our nations future in the hands of these "well meaning amateurs" any day.

[Izzy Dunne]

Don’t most parents have a tough enough job teaching their children social, disciplinary and behavioral skills?

Do you ever wonder where those social, disciplinary and behavioral problems COME FROM?

[Darnright]

A Question of Quality: Paperwork and legal threats discourage teacher firings

[JLS]

Schools With Good Teachers Are Best-Suited to Shape Young Minds

One neeed not read past the first sentence or maybe this is the sub heading to this article to see what is what. This person writing in the NEA thinks their job is to SHAPE your child's mind. You probably thought their job was to teach your child to read and write and that you would shape their mind and values at home.

Their desire to shape your childs mind, against religion, toward homosexuality as normal, against America etc is probably a big reason you want to home school your child.

Then there is that false choice presented in that one line. For many the choice is bad schools with bad teacher compared to home schooling.

[AnAmericanMother]

They ask the CUSTODIAN to write this? They couldn't find a teacher?

I wish that your average public school teacher WAS an "expert". Unfortunately, if you look at the mean SAT scores, the grades, the colleges of graduation, or any other indicator of success in learning, public school teachers are far behind the curve. In fact, the mean SAT scores of education majors are the lowest of any college major (this may have changed - the last time I looked was a few years ago - but I doubt it).

It has been my experience that the best teachers are those who are (1) familiar with the subject; (2) highly motivated. In the elementary grades, almost any parent of reasonable intelligence is both of these. When you reach high school, some of the specialized subjects can be more difficult, but that's why there are homeschool co-ops. If I were still homeschooling my son, I would "trade" my skills in English composition and grammar, history, Latin, and German for lessons from somebody who knows what a differential equation is!

As for this fellow's arguments, they are straw men (take the socialization riff for example. I have never heard a homeschooler argue "forget it!" Scouts, church, and athletic activities provide ample opportunities for socialization.)

[Pyro7480]

With half of that money I could home school my children and run circles around the average NYC HS graduate

My maternal grandmother had the equivalent to a 5th or 6th grade education (she grew up in the 1920s), and I bet if she were still alive, she could also run circles around the average NYC HS graduate.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

"You would think that they might leave this -- the shaping of their children’s minds, careers, and futures -- to trained professionals government bureaucrats."

[July 4th]

Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.

[meandog]

I HAVE wondered why parents who homeschool don't automatically band together and specialize, each focusing on a different subject. It would seem that charter schools would naturally flow out of such an arrangement. I'm pretty sure it happens, but it seems like it would be a natural outcome.

Now that isn't a bad idea...however, it has been my experience that homeschooling parents have the hubris to believe they can really do it all and their arrogance wouldn't allow someone more qualified to touch their kids' brains--(consequently, when we teachers get their children back they are unprepared and over challenged).

[bd476]

"(Dave Arnold, a member of the Illinois Education Association, is
head custodian at Brownstown Elementary School in Southern Illinois.)"

Does head custodian have the same job description as it did when we were in school?

[AnAmericanMother]

The meaning of "amateur" is "somebody who does it for LOVE."

People who love their work are better workers than those who are simply punching the clock and drawing a paycheck.

I was amazed when I graduated and found that people would actually PAY me to read and write stuff all day long . . .