Replies to '12/26 "I Am Right!"'
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October 14, 2005, 8:52 pm PDT
 Quote From: msi_gemini
I am a new parent-to-be and have been weighing the pro's and con's of homeschooling. So far I have found nothing good to public schooling except for the fact that the school would have my child for a few hours so I could work again part-time.
To begin with I don't even trust the school district here in Central Florida. When I was young some of my friends were molested in elementary school by a man that would frequently visit the school and play with us and his daughter that was in our class. He was even head of our Brownie Girl Troop until he was arrested. Then as I went into middle school I was sent to a Catholic school in the area, where the principal was accused of molesting the young boys in the school. Since I've left high school there has been a whole chain of child molestations in the elementary and middle schools in the area, including one school that was right down the road from me! I could never be able to leave a child at school now without fearing the worst.
Then once you hit high school here its a complete joke. At one point the school board tried to enforce a very strict dress code to all public schools in the county. I witnessed countless friends that were suspended and expelled from school because they refused to wear a polo shirt, tuck in their shirts, or wear a belt!!!! Then as I asked the Deans when the next school board meetings were, but they would never tell me. Luckily my mother had a friend in the school system so he would personally take me to the meetings about dresscode but I would geting completely dismissed by one man out of six representatives telling me I was wrong when I just made some simple valid points. Our school was at the bottom of the grading list and yet they were more concerned about whether we had a belt on that day then if we had done our homework. They even tried to convince me to take a state test a 2nd time! Not because I had failed the first one, but because I had done so well that they wanted me to take it again to bring up their school score! Of course I flat out refused.
As far as socializing goes, I already plan on afterschool activities whether it'd be dancing, sports, martial arts, music, anything. I personally believe that exposing the socializing in hobbies will make the acquantinces more important and the interest more important as well. Instead of being forced to make friends in a class, doing a hobby would give the child friends that he actually has something in common with. Plus he/she would be more focused on his studies without the class around to be disruptive or pick on the child which was my problem growing up, so I ended up skipping a lot of school as I got older. I find with friends that I have that have been homeschooled they come out very level-headed and quite closer to their family as well.
But thats just my opinion... THE PROBLEM IS FLORIDA, NOT THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS! And I hope the Florida government READS THIS COMMENT. I have relatives in Florida and HONESTLY I DO NOT let my 13 year old boy go alone into a public restroom. He comes with me into the ladies room. And I don't give a $%^& what anyone thinks. Listening to the daily news in Florida is ATROCIOUS for lack of a better word. It is outright DANGEROUS especially for kids. And the only time we ever hear the extended news is because a harmed child has a parent from another state who has custody so it becomes national news. My kids are all in public school in my farm town state. I DO NOT WORRY ABOUT MY KIDS ONE MINUTE IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. I have had 1% problems and every time I called the teacher the problem has been addressed QUICKLY within 24 hrs. My teachers reinforce my values. Unless you live in more than one place it is hard to realize how different areas are accross the US. On our News it says things like: Such n Such is teacher of the year, A new elephant was born at the zoo today, Let's take a look at what the children are doing at the grand opening of this new Science exhibit today.... some crime yes.... but NOTHING like Florida. I spent 2 weeks there and listened to the news everyday in horror to the crimes against kids. It is out of control in my opinion. |
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October 15, 2005, 7:43 pm PDT
Quote From: msi_gemini
I am a new parent-to-be and have been weighing the pro's and con's of homeschooling. So far I have found nothing good to public schooling except for the fact that the school would have my child for a few hours so I could work again part-time.
To begin with I don't even trust the school district here in Central Florida. When I was young some of my friends were molested in elementary school by a man that would frequently visit the school and play with us and his daughter that was in our class. He was even head of our Brownie Girl Troop until he was arrested. Then as I went into middle school I was sent to a Catholic school in the area, where the principal was accused of molesting the young boys in the school. Since I've left high school there has been a whole chain of child molestations in the elementary and middle schools in the area, including one school that was right down the road from me! I could never be able to leave a child at school now without fearing the worst.
Then once you hit high school here its a complete joke. At one point the school board tried to enforce a very strict dress code to all public schools in the county. I witnessed countless friends that were suspended and expelled from school because they refused to wear a polo shirt, tuck in their shirts, or wear a belt!!!! Then as I asked the Deans when the next school board meetings were, but they would never tell me. Luckily my mother had a friend in the school system so he would personally take me to the meetings about dresscode but I would geting completely dismissed by one man out of six representatives telling me I was wrong when I just made some simple valid points. Our school was at the bottom of the grading list and yet they were more concerned about whether we had a belt on that day then if we had done our homework. They even tried to convince me to take a state test a 2nd time! Not because I had failed the first one, but because I had done so well that they wanted me to take it again to bring up their school score! Of course I flat out refused.
As far as socializing goes, I already plan on afterschool activities whether it'd be dancing, sports, martial arts, music, anything. I personally believe that exposing the socializing in hobbies will make the acquantinces more important and the interest more important as well. Instead of being forced to make friends in a class, doing a hobby would give the child friends that he actually has something in common with. Plus he/she would be more focused on his studies without the class around to be disruptive or pick on the child which was my problem growing up, so I ended up skipping a lot of school as I got older. I find with friends that I have that have been homeschooled they come out very level-headed and quite closer to their family as well.
But thats just my opinion... I understand where you're coming from. We live in Georgia and put our daughter in elementary school here this year to start Kindergarten. The second week of school she was approached by a group of boys on the playground and she was attacked (given a black eye). A month into the school year, she was again approached on the playground where she was punched in the stomach. There were also incidents of boys putting their hands up girls skirts, all of this mind you, with no teacher in sight! The school hid all of these things from us (the only reason we found out was because our daughter told us and we are friends with someone who works at the school that let us know what was going on). We pulled her out and I am now homeschooling both of my older girls. There are MANY pros to homeschooling, and very few, if any cons if you do it correctly. My children get one on one learning time with me, something they can't get in a public school setting. Children have vast arrays of learning styles and when you have so many children cramped into one class, someone is bound to get left behind. I do projects and hands on things with my girls that you wouldn't see in a classroom. I take them places (such as the Science and Natural History Centers) that they wouldn't have an opportunity to go to much in the public school setting. I can also "filter out" the children she interacts with. They have "play dates" on a regular basis with other members of our church, and neighbors who hold our same morals and standards of conduct. Don't get me wrong, homeschooling is a great sacrifice and you must be consistent. It can be easy to get lazy at times, but I think the benefits are obvious. I can not only teach my children things, but give them hands on examples. For example, I was teaching my 4 year old (she just turned 4) about the special oils in our skin, and if our skin is exposed to water for too long, it washes away that special oil and our skin gets wrinkly. As a fun experiment, she got to play in the bath tub for awhile until her fingers and toes were all wrinkly. You can't do that in school!!! We also cook together which teaches them math (measurements). You also can't do that in school either. When you're at school, the teacher usually picks the books to read during circle/story time. With homeschooling, my children get a say in what they would like to read. It gives them the feeling that they are in control and my children LOVE to learn! |
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October 18, 2005, 2:25 pm PDT
Quote From: msi_gemini
I am a new parent-to-be and have been weighing the pro's and con's of homeschooling. So far I have found nothing good to public schooling except for the fact that the school would have my child for a few hours so I could work again part-time.
To begin with I don't even trust the school district here in Central Florida. When I was young some of my friends were molested in elementary school by a man that would frequently visit the school and play with us and his daughter that was in our class. He was even head of our Brownie Girl Troop until he was arrested. Then as I went into middle school I was sent to a Catholic school in the area, where the principal was accused of molesting the young boys in the school. Since I've left high school there has been a whole chain of child molestations in the elementary and middle schools in the area, including one school that was right down the road from me! I could never be able to leave a child at school now without fearing the worst.
Then once you hit high school here its a complete joke. At one point the school board tried to enforce a very strict dress code to all public schools in the county. I witnessed countless friends that were suspended and expelled from school because they refused to wear a polo shirt, tuck in their shirts, or wear a belt!!!! Then as I asked the Deans when the next school board meetings were, but they would never tell me. Luckily my mother had a friend in the school system so he would personally take me to the meetings about dresscode but I would geting completely dismissed by one man out of six representatives telling me I was wrong when I just made some simple valid points. Our school was at the bottom of the grading list and yet they were more concerned about whether we had a belt on that day then if we had done our homework. They even tried to convince me to take a state test a 2nd time! Not because I had failed the first one, but because I had done so well that they wanted me to take it again to bring up their school score! Of course I flat out refused.
As far as socializing goes, I already plan on afterschool activities whether it'd be dancing, sports, martial arts, music, anything. I personally believe that exposing the socializing in hobbies will make the acquantinces more important and the interest more important as well. Instead of being forced to make friends in a class, doing a hobby would give the child friends that he actually has something in common with. Plus he/she would be more focused on his studies without the class around to be disruptive or pick on the child which was my problem growing up, so I ended up skipping a lot of school as I got older. I find with friends that I have that have been homeschooled they come out very level-headed and quite closer to their family as well.
But thats just my opinion... I am very upset about the so called research Dr. Phil used to say homeschooling after 8th grade is harmful socially. This is ridiculous!!! I homeschool all 5 of my kids, and my oldest is 11. She is by no means socially retarded. We are part of a support group here in Wichita Kansas that is full of older kids and teens, they are all very well adjusted. At least, none of our kids are mean spirited or or material oriented. Maybe that's a measure of social acceptibility...being a bully, and material oriented or cliquish. I'd like to know where his research comes from..perhaps we should invite Dr. Phil to one of our playgroups or field trips. Anyway, I am very upset about this comment. I hope this doesn't make others who really want to homeschool their kids second guess themselves. BTW, ivy league colleges are now RECRUITING homeschool kids. THat in itself should prove the validity of this educational option. Maybe Dr. Phil should have mentioned some of these facts. Stephanie |
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