Topic : 11/24 Great School Debate

I am so happy that you love your job.  Well I love mine too, I am a homeschooling mom of 2 boys, and 2 that are not yet in school.  Do you give your students a zero if that is the grade they deserve?  Well so do I, I also use a curriculum, Christian based, and on DVD's. (home school parents probably know what it is I use!) And when it is wrong, it is wrong. Take the grade you got and try harder next time.

 

Yes, I have seen parents fail there children when it comes to homeschooling, but I have seen it work, and it works for us.  Unschooling, well I think that can be touchy also.  If a parent takes it serious and it works for them that is great.  Does seem a bit risky.  My kids day are well planned, and they know what we need to accomplish in a day.  It helps if the parent is disciplined.  But remember, the easy thing for a parent to do is get there child up, and put them on the bus and spend your day knowing your kids at school.  It takes work to actually "home school".  I take what some would call the easy road by having my kids classes on DVD's, but this way my little two don't suffer and neither do my older two.  We love it!    I am not saying my kids will never go to public school but for now this is what works. 

 

I hope your school district in San Antonio is great, it is not that way across the nation, or even Texas (Suburb of Houston).  Do for your kids what you can live with.  As parents we will second guess everything and blame yourself for everything, just follow through.  Do your kids right.

 

And on the morals and values.....Some of us do teach them to our kids.  GIVE ME A BREAK!  Schools cant and wont discipline kids because those rights have been taken from them.  The era of parents who wanted to "be there kids friend", and "my kid does no wrong", ruined a generation, and that  we all have to live with. 

Do you even know how curriculum is chosen for your school?  Do you realize that it's just like politics and that money and favors have a lot to do with the curriculum choice a schoolboard makes?  This is one of my biggest complaints with the system - that teachers are not the ones to choose curriculum and often it is picked by the board or by administrators that don't even teach or have little teaching experience.  I know it's not that way in all states, but unless you are out there looking for the best curriculum, you don't really have a clue.

 

Many children struggle with phonics, it is not the best method for all learning styles.  There is a proven method of teaching a child to read that does not require sounding-out words or learning phonics.  Why does the public school pick the phonics method over a method that is proven to work for ALL learning styles?  Because the phonics method is quicker and schools have to deal with parents who may  demand that all kids must learn to read by age 6.  The other method produces a better reader and a better speller at age 7 or 8 but it cannot even be considered because of those all-mighty guidelines.

 

I have used both methods and I can tell you this:  Kid "A" who learned the phonics way will be reading choppy and still sounding-out words at age 9.  Kid "B" who learns the other method may not be reading until he's 7 but when he does start reading, it's more fluid, less choppy.  Kid B at age 9 can read the Bible, Shakespear and other great literature with ease.  Kid A is still struggling with the phonics rules that only work 30% of the time and is still trying to sound-out words that are literally impossible to sound-out because the phonics rules no longer apply.

 

Why does the school pick the phonics method when it is proven to only work with a percentage of learning styles?  To please the public, the parents and the guidelines set-forth by those who don't even teach.

 

And let's take math...is it really necessary to make a kid compute 3+4=7 and 4+3=7 and 7-3=4 and 7-4=3 over a hundred times within two years?  Once the kid has got it, he's got it...why make him do it over and over and over as in Saxon Math.  We use the very same program to teach Math as was used in the days of Thomas Edison - it works for all, not just the ones who are good at memorizing.  The school would be bashed for using that same program.  Why?  Because the program makes the kid concentrate instead of memorizing.  Why is memorizing better in the eyes of public school administrators?  Well, because it's quicker that way and it insures that most of the kids will pass the almighty state test.  The other kids who are of different learning styles just get left out in the cold.  Forget a curriculum that works with all learning styles, it will only be considered if a publisher has a hand in the pockets of the people who make the decisions.

 

I could go on...I am currently researching History Curriculums and what I am learning makes me very sad.  Kids in the system do not have a chance at a well-versed History curriculum because of political correctness. 

 

If I have typo's (I'm sure I do), it's because I do consider this relaxed and I do not have time to worry about perfection on a message board.  That does not mean that I don't expect perfection from a paper that my child produces.  My teaching style does not allow us to move forward until the material is learned...that convenience is not offered to the public school teacher.  In most states, the teacher has very little input regarding curriculum and I feel that it is a great disservice to the students.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do know that the belief systems taught in public schools - yes, forced on the students in the form of curriculum - are not my beliefs.  When my child is not allowed to learn my beliefs, your beliefs ARE being forced on him.  So I should be forced to accept your or others' standards for curriculum taught to my children?  The theory of evolution being taught as fact does infringe on my and my children's beliefs.  If children should be given the opportunity to examine other belief systems and decide for themselves, why is it that intelligent design isn't allowed to be taught in most public schools.  And the fact that you demand I not call "sin" "sin" infringes on my beliefs. 

Why is abstinence considered religious?  It is the one and only fireproof way to ensure teens do not contract STDs or get pregnant.  If I told you the only fireproof way to ensure you don't fall out of a tree is to stay out of a tree, would that be considered religious?  As for liberals not having a problem with teaching abstainance to teens, where have you been?  Abstinence education - not abstinence-only ed as purported - is attacked by Planned Parenthood - the largest contributor to sex ed in public schools.  (Do a google search.)  The only reason it is necessary to teach any sex ed in schools is that parents don't step up and educate their children themselves.  It is easier to expect the government to get involved in and control yet one more aspect of a person's life.  If your child needs to know about STDs or contraceptives, why can't you teach them?  You certainly seem to be educated and able to communicate your beliefs very clearly. 

I would have to totally disagree - most, I am sure not all, liberals do not seem to have a code - whatever feels good or offers immediate gratification is tolerated and I am automatically wrong because I disagree.  So because I adhere to Scriptural principles - not laws - "I" am intolerant.  The laws of logic apparently don't apply universally anymore.  Your intolerance of my difference in beliefs is acceptable - this is simply a non sequitur.  Intolerance works both ways; however, it is only the conservatives or "religious" who are attacked for it.

If anyone cares to actually read the documents written by the founding fathers, Scripture is quoted repeatedly.  And BTW, we do not even live in a true democracy - we live in a democratic republic.

Many people choose to  pay for education.  Paying for private school is no different than paying for a private college, which many people/students choose to do for a variety of reasons. Many people also pay to attend a vocational school to get a better job. What about the  people who "pick"  which public school to send their child too.  Many parents request inter-district transfers and go as far as lying about their residency and/or place of employment  to get their child into a "better" public school. What are these parents teaching their kids? That it's OK to lie to get what you want?  Yeah that's a great role model.

OK .. so I am a committed convinced and proud home schooler (so is my husband, which makes all the difference) we talked about it before even having kids ... I have been a teacher myself for a few years and now am  a full time, happy mother that practices attachment parenting. I breastfed both my boys till they were two (they are now almost 5 and 2 1/2) this is the first year we started with our older son to home school ... and it has been sheer joy. Homeschooling works for us and our life style .. as well as our family values (we don't home school for religious purposes though).

My older son was diagnosed with a large number of life threatening food allergies, therefore it would restrict him and the schools if he were to go to public schools .. we have heard of kids "giving" kids with allergies, foods (hiding a peanut in the sandwich) just to prove that the allergy is not serious and then seeing an anaphalactic shock occur right before their eyes ... so that to me is very scary.

My husband is a Psychiatrist and is self employed, he travels a lot to offer his services to small towns as well as attends conferences all over the US - we own a motor-home (and yes like the family in the movie RV!!!) we enjoy to travel with him every time and every where and see the country and teach our kids about history, geography ...etc first hand. They have been to dozens of museums at their young age, they have been to tons of historic monuments (including Graceland!!!) and know MORE than most kids their age. My older son can read, write, and is an expert on many topics including dinosaurs, animals, music, art ..etc. Things that most kids his age are not. He and his younger brother  knew their colors, shapes, numbers and letters by age 18 months .. I did not push them to learn this - but they had a natural curiosity ... we have never deprived them from the exposure. They are both in dance classes, yoga, gymnastics, music and art .. my older son has also done baseball and is soon starting skiing lessons and violin. We go to our public library every week where there are tons of kids and programs .. as well as our local children's museum where they experience many things hands on. In many setting I have noticed that my kids are a lot more confident, and have a Good sense of self and self esteem in comparison to most other kids .. they answer when asked a question - with confidence and don't shy away and hide. They feel like they are little people with opinions and thoughts, and they are not shy to share them when asked. They are polite, they refer to adults as Mr. and Ms. and ask to be excused when they want to ask something, and always start and end with please and Thank you. They believe they are part of this world and life - and not secondary citizens just because they are children - and that to me is by far the greatest lesson and self worth and development.

I don't see how home schooled kids can be at a disadvantage when so much is being offered to them, plus more than the average schooled child .. I don't support or promote unschooling - although some of the principles are good - a child needs structure and guidance .. but no one in this world can do a better job than the parent with that ... nature calls that children learn from their parents and their family .... just look at the animal kingdom .. every bear, cat, lion, bird ..etc, has learned what it needed in order to live a normal life from it's parents ... and our children will get all that from us until they become adults and seek their destiny. My husband and I talk to our kids about their education as if it were a for sure thing - they both know they will go to collage, and graduate school - there is no if about it .. but when. And they are very proud and excited about it.

I do commend those of you who go through the years it takes and puts in the effort to become a teacher, but it takes more than that to be a GOOD teacher. My children have been in the public and private school system before I began homeschooling. They were in public school for about 6 weeks when I withdrew them and put them in private. In the two years that they were in private school, the most important things were overlooked just to get them passed to the next grade level. Their writing was horrendous, one of my childrens writing actually looked like egyptian hyroglyphs, spelling was just as bad..(and these were teachers that had masters and did their furthering education) They were more interested in just getting the weekly test over with than getting the children to learn. The set up basically was to introduce something and get them to learn it quick so they can test on it and move to the next thing. They didn't absorb anything. There were no extra curricular things to reinforce what they had learned etc. I volunteered in this classroom on a daily basis as well and even voiced my concerns but to no avail as I was only a parent, how dare I question someone that had the education and masters behind them.  I also have a daughter that went through public school and graduated from high school. You can barely read her writing, she can't spell, she can't make change, and ask her anything that she learned in english at school and she can't even tell you what a verb or a noun are.  Had I known or been made known the issues she was having in school and I could and would have stepped in and done something more drastic but I was never once contacted, every parent teacher conference was very positive, there was never any negative feedback from any of her teachers.  And this school system is supposed to be the best in our state.

Now as far as them being safer in public school than at home, tell that to my sister who was dragged into the boys bathroom when she was 15 and brutally raped by 3 highschool seniors. Tell that to the parents who's children were shot and killed by classmates, tell that to the kids that are bullied and terrorized on a daily basis, tell that to the ones who are constantly being barraged by drugs and alcohol and sex on a daily basis by classmates. You think a child learns right from wrong by going to school, being surrounded by children of the same age that do not have the same values and are constantly pressuring them from every side to try this or try that, to be made to feel like an outsider and be treated as one because they won't smoke a cigarette or something worst. These kids are just as lost and know just as much about socialization. It's like the blind leading the blind.

 

I am sorry but when I gave birth to my children, I made a promise not only to them but to God that I would do my best as their mother to love them, protect them, and teach them. It is MY job to make sure that they grow up to be responsible, viable adults and are productive in society. It is not my job to raise them till they are old enough to be stuck in an institutional setting to learn from other children the same age and are in the same boat.

 

And as far as your example goes, do you honestly think that drugs and pregnancy happens only in homeschooled families, do you realize that the statistics for pregnancy, drug use, alcoholism, violent crimes, and suicide are to the point of being endemic in our public schools?  I don't think anyone is saying that everyperson that homeschools or is homeschooled is perfect, (and no, I believe that not everyone is suited to homeschool or be homeschooled) we all make mistakes, we are only human and that goes for public schoolers too. You are correct, our children must be given the tools to be able to deal with life, and as a parent, if you don't do that, you are the one that has failed. But for me it is not an option to send my child into a room with 35 other children that are on the same socialization level and only one adult to supervise. For me it is not a option to send my child into a situation where other children and some adults do not have the same virtues or values as we do. For me it is not a option to send my child to an institution to be raised by someone else.

This is a summary of my experiences with both homeschooling and traditional schooling: 

 

   I was homeschooled up until 3rd grade.  I learned how to read very quickly and formed a strong bond with my mom.  I then transfered to a Christian school because my mom got very sick.  I had a blast at the school and was at the top of my class.  Since that school only went through 6th grade, we faced the decision of traditional school or homeschooling for middle school. My mom and I talked about it and decided to go with homeschooling again.  That doesn't mean that I wasn't involved in anything though.  I took piano lessons, did karate, and took a highschool-level Anatomy and Physiology class (in 8th grade) that was taught by a professor at a nearby college.  I also started swimming on a competitive team and even made it to the Junior Olympics.  So, I did not miss out on anything, and in fact was more active than many other kids in junior high.

    After 8th grade, my mom and I had another talk about homeschooling.  We both agreed that I should get the 'highschool experience'.  So, I started my freshmen year at a very small school (less than 200 kids in highschool).  I easily blended in with the other girls, however, and soon made many friends.  I made the volleyball team and met even more people.  This school was a good fit for me and I liked it.

 

    I am currently in the 10th grade and am still happy with the schools that I have gone to.  I don't regret any of the homeschooling (in fact I loved it!), but I am glad that I decided to go to a traditional school for highschool.  Of course, I don't enjoy doing all the homework and stuff, but I do enjoy the social part.

    My feelings on this whole debate of 'to homeschool or not to homeschool' are this:  While homeschooling was great for me and really prepared me educationally for regular school, I think that it really depends on the person.  Homeschooling doesn't work for everyone.  Different personalities will react differently to a school experience.  For me, being with my mom allowed her to know what was going on in my life and also gave me better character.  Also, while I am totally for homeschooling, I think that the parents should let their kids go to a highschool because even if it is hard work, it is a great experience!

 

 

 

 

I realize that you've put a great deal of time and effort into learning about how to teach, and I commend your for that, but you're making some assumptions about homeschooling parents that are crippling your ability to think clearly about how children learn, and who is best able to help them along the way. (My browser will not let me do paragraphs, so I am going to try using spaces to indicate a new paragraph.) We are an unschooling family. By the time that my first child was old enough to attend kindergarten (though he never went to kindergarten - we didn't see any point in that), I, as his "untrained" parent had OVER 25,000 HOURS of experience helping him learn. In that time, he had learned how to babble, roll over, crawl, talk, walk, run, relate to other people, recognize all the things in his environment, empathize, solve problems, read, write, count, add, subtract, multiply, keep track of his own things, cook bread and some other basic foods, help with household chores, make friends, swim, use a computer, speak a small amount of several different languages, read a simple map, use the library's computer catalog, and a zillion other things I couldn't possibly list here. He is 15 years old now, enrolled in college, and excelling there, despite never having been schooled before. So, you do the math. At this point, I have over 15 YEARS of direct, hands-on experience helping my children learn. I am not am amateur, neither am I uneducated or unskilled in the field of education. I started researching homeschooling 20 years ago. I have read hundreds of books about education, psychology, communication, neuroscience, learning styles, disabilities, behavioral and pedagogical approaches, etc. I have attended dozens of conferences, and hundreds of workshops. I am also not the least bit unusual among home educators. How do I know? I also TEACH workshops. I see many thousands of homeschooling parents each year, continuing their educations, evaluating curricular materials, adapting to the learning styles of their children, and being very successful at helping them learn and grow. I have seen parents with bad spelling, poor grammar, and virtually no math skills, drop-outs and rise-outs, products of dismal public school systems - many hundreds of them - help their children become well-prepared for college level work. I admit, there was a time when I would not have believed it could happen, but it does, and I can tell you after all these years that it is the norm, not the exception. People can and do learn outside of school, fortunately. And perhaps you are not aware of the latest research? http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg?articleid=168927 "There seems to be little difference in teacher effectiveness among certified teachers, the uncertified and those who enter the profession under the new “alternative” (often midcareer) certification schemes, according to a major study of nearly 52,000 teachers in New York City. These results are a heavy blow to decades of conventional wisdom promulgated by the education establishment. "

..................................And nothing like this happens with kids in the school system........... whatever.      Kids from all walks of life messes up, parents from all walks of life messes up. But overall, when the kids are top priority and parents have sought out the best for their kids and following through and taking part in their education, then chances are that child is going to grow up just fine and be just as successful as the other and 10 years  down the line, no one is gonna know if that child was homeschooled or not. It is the parents responsibilty to provide what is best for the child and that includes making sure that education is top priority and that child receives the best. 

And what I do not understand is why do people think that homeschool kids can't experience or know what's going on in the real world? Out of all the kids I know who have and are being homeschooled,they are doing awesome, even those who have graduated college. I live in a big homeschooling area, and it isn't unusal to know or to run into a homeschooler and seriously, I have only ran into one kid who isn't doing all that great but his siblings are doing great, they defintely have great people skills and talent. Two kids I know (siblings) chose to go to the little country public school after being homeschooled the first 8 years and they are both at the top of their classes involved in activites, in school as well as out of school, they have lost absolutely nothing.

I think people are just intimidated by the fact that parents are taking control of their kids educational needs and not just handing them over to the system, I don't care how much a  system tries, they cannot meet every childs needs, there are too many needs, too many kids for one teacher to handle, kids have different needs, learn different ways, and the parents need to be the ones to acknowledge these things in their own kids and decide what is best for them and be  allowed to this without being criticized and they need to follow through with their decissions.

Parents who's heart and desires are in the right place can do awesome for their kids. My 5 year old is in kindergarten in a private Christian school and doing great but I am the one who had her sounding out words, reading, writing, and she is very social, sometimes I must admit, I am a little baffled about how social she is and she is active as  any kid could be, she loves having friends and doing fun things, and she is very involved in community already as we are an active family who doesn't sit around the house all day watching tv, and I am still keeping her a step ahead of the class, no I do not have a teaching degree but I have taken it up on myself to teach and guide her, and am doing the same thing with my youngest, and if this school for some reason fails, we will homeschool. She is there because she wanted to go to school and we discussed it and she understands what homeschooling is, sometimes she even talks about it herself but I am teaching her that when you make a  decission, you need to follow through unless there are some major issues that cannot be resolved, therefore she will stay in this school til the end of the year and then we will go from there.

I say kudos to all the parents who put their kids first and know their kids well enough to do what is best for them.  Hope you all have a great holiday season and enjoy those little ones, they grow up way too fast.

I live in Nevada in the Clark county school district and I have had one problem after another in Public school. My daughter is 9 and we have lived in Nevada for 7 years and she has been to 12 schools/placements. She has been abused by teachers that believe in corp. punishment, aides and students. This school district has made my daughter afraid of school and she has a phobia of kids.

 

I believe that every child has a right to an education. I also believe that every child has the right to learn in a safe environment. This has not been our case but I do believe that not all schools and states are alike.

 

I feel that my daughter would thrive in a home school situation but is it what is best for her? I don't think so. She is on homebound right now and is being taught by teachers and therapists but I don't want to keep her at home when she is well enough to go back to school. She misses her friends and specials. 

 

If your child is special needs I believe in unschooling or homeschooling but if your child has a future, in a school district with good schools, safe schools then I think that they should go. I don't think that the family on this show listing is right but we all make discussions and have to live by them. I hope that they make it through the teenage years with their no discipline attitude.