Messages By: tinkerbell123

Quote From: alasandra2003

Yeah my life is so much better because of the 4th grade teacher that told me I was stupid, retarded, and would never learn math, and kept me in from recess in order to scream at me. Not only did she verbally abuse me, but she encouraged my classmates to bully me, and turned a blind eye when they got violent. I wound up with a broken finger.

 

My 7th grade Science teacher was a real peach too. She was an atheist and spent her time telling her Christian students that they were dumb to believe in God. Exactly why she felt it necessary to bring religion into a public school science classroom in beyond me.

 

10th grade English class was FUN, can't say I learned anything other then how to manipulate a rubik's cube. My honors English teacher quit after the 1st week of school (military transfer of husband) and instead of hiring a new teacher we were all shifted to other classes. 5 Honors English students wound up in a special ed class. The teacher was nice though he let us sit at a table in his office and do whatever we wanted as long as we didn't disrupt his special ed students. We even got to order pizza and watch TV.

 

Don't get me wrong I had some good teachers and made some good friends. But homeschooling offers my children so much more then the public schools ever offered me.

Quote From: terrafay

Actually, if you read back in history "public schools" started during the war when all of the men were deployed overseas and the women had to go to work in the factories.  Society had to decide what to do with the younger children.  So "public school" was a daycare with learning because the mothers (teachers) HAD to go to work.  And also the children were not segregated by age then either.  Which leads me to another point.  Where in REAL LIFE do adults only "socialize" with others of the same age?  I have found that, for the most part, homeschool children do better socially than their public school counter parts.  My children can have an intelligent conversation with an adult, interact with children their age, and have a blast playing with others older and younger than themselves.  It is also said that children whose parents are more involved in their education are higher achievers, more willing to learn and do better all together academically.  Now I ask you, how much more involved can a parent be in their child's education than taking it into their own hands and homeschooling?  Did you know that colleges actually seek out homeschoolers?  They WANT them in their schools because they are generally motivated learners.  Please don't think that I'm bashing parents who send their children to public or private schools.  It is a very personal family choice and certainly NOT for everybody.  There are SO many other points that I could make but I'll let it go for now.  Thanks for reading.

Quote From: emieloo

I'm sorry, but I won't sacrifice my children's education/welfare/lifestyle/christianity for someone else's child.  I have volunteered in the public school and would still do so if it was allowed (it's not because my children don't go there).  However, I won't lay my children on the altar of public school to save others.  That's just ridiculous.  My responsibility IS my children.  I have to worry about my own children first and foremost.  To say that I should lump my kids (that they Lord gave ME to raise) in with other children (that they Lord gave to THEIR parents) is absurd. 

Quote From: arturio

Hello, new poster here.  While watching the Unschooling/Homeschooling show yesterday I recall one person in the audience claim that keeping children home to protect them from violence in schools is rediculous because of all the dangers we face in ordinary life.  The person then claimed that 3 million people a year are killed in auto accidents every year.  I thought to myself, wow there are only 300 million people in the US and 1% of them die in auto accidents every year?  Well I did some checking and the real statistic is between 30,000 and 40,000 a year in the US traffic fatalities.  The statistic on the show was only inflated by a factor of 100.

 

Here is the URL where I found the numbe I qouted:

 

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/

Quote From: ponder

 Yes, homeschooled children will grow up and be the business and government leaders of tomorrow.  I would much rather have kids who got a true education from rich curricula chosen specifically for them by the one who wants their success the most running tomorrow's world.  The kids at our local high school (It is considered one of the best in the region.  They have to go to great lengths to provide for the future growth of this district because it is in such demand) will scare you to death to picture them in charge in a few years.  Should I try to tell their parents how to educate them, since they will someday run the world I live in?  Everyone's parenting skills will affect everyone else's future.  Does that remove the issue of family choice?  Does that mean that I have the right to force you to homeschool your kids so you will know how much they are really learning?
Furthermore, when a child is treated like a freak by their contemporaries (not their 'peers') for caring about morality, will they grow up with the "socialization" to resist temptation to steal from their company's pension plan?  If a child grows up treating elderly people with respect because it was a part of their "curriculum" to get to know them, won't they likely care more for our aging population?  Most public school kids treat anyone of an age that isn't "cool" or enamored with teenagers as aliens not worthy of their attention.  I see it all the time when I am volunteering and working at our local school.

Quote From: sneakers145

I know how much my children have learned.  I sat everyday after school for twenty five years helping my children, with homework, answering questions about "cliques" and first loves, helping them make choices about a plethora of topics.  I

 

I understand your point.  I really do.

 

My thinking is that if I spend all of that time AFTER school doing these things, then why send them to school in the first place?  School is just getting in the way of living life joyfully with my children.  Who cares more about what my kids are learning than I, as an involved parent, do?

 

The school isn't a system that can be changed overnight, or even in a year or two, by more dedicated, caring parents.  I'm not complaining about the people IN the system doing the best they can with what they have.  The system itself is flawed and light years away from how kids truly learn.  I care about my kids and their learning right now, rather than a system that cannot be fixed right now or in the forseeable future.

Quote From: sneakers145

As Dr. Phil said on his show, history tends to repeat itself.  For most of humanity there were not public schools, and we seemed to do just fine without them in the past.  Since they are a recent development and have not doubt served their purpose (and continue to do so for the majority of society), I doubt that they will cease to exist anytime in the near future.

 

I do think my children learn more by being out and about where life is being lived can teach them more than a classroom.  Problem is, is that the school system is a behemoth and very difficult to change.  I doubt that my efforts or even those combined with other homeschooling parents could affect change soon enough to have any effect on my own children.

 

Notice I'm not blaming teachers or schools for society's ills.  I'm not.  But I speak with parents of other public school children here in town (my kids have many schooled friends) and the stuff their kids are exposed to at a young age is atrocious.

 

Before I'm accused of sheltering my children from the big bad world -- far from it.  We regularly discuss sex, drugs, pot, gays, gay marriage, nudity, porn, etc.  The thing about it is that at home, they're free to discuss it and get an ADULT's input.  On the bus, on the playground, many of these conversations take place OUT OF EARSHOT and without adult input.

Quote From: emieloo

Jesus Christ died on the cross for all mankind...who CHOOSE to get saved and become Christians. This is when we become HIS children.  Those who aren't saved are not His children and will not inherit the Kingdom of God...however, that is a totally different topic and way off of the true issue here.

 

I have a neice and 2 nephews who are sent to public school.  I can assure you that although they have been brought up in a Christian home, it is not these children who have pulled up the rest, but instead have been pulled down by others. 

 

 In a post I wrote earlier, I clearly stated that other children (and adults) are not good sources of influence and teaching for the correct standards that we insist our children uphold.  Other families have other beliefs, which is their right.  It is NOT their right, however, to infringe those beliefs upon my family.

 

Here is a question for you:  If there were a worldwide spread of a deadly disease and your child was the only person on earth whose body carried the antibody for this disease, yet he would have to die in order for them to extract it, would you let them kill your son?  To save millions? 

 

Most of us wouldn't.  I know I couldn't do it.  My children are God-given blessings.  God loved and trusted me enough to entrust me with something so precious and special.  I don't take that responsibility lightly...and I won't do ANYTHING that will harm them...no matter how good it may be for others.

 

BTW..."One for all and all for one" is the slogan of the Three Musketeers...it really has nothing to with God, public education, or the government. 

 

Quote From: maureenkj

Its clear that this subject brings out the deepest passion in all of us! I have the deepest respect for ANY schooling choices that are made with clarity and purpose of goals. While the choice to homeschool/unschool is gaining popularity and respect in this country, those who choose it must understand that the fact of public education makes this available to you. Public education provides the community service of attending to our children in a structured way that keeps our community civilized.One of the guests was very concerned about the violence her girls might endure if they go to public school, and her safety feature is to keep her girls at home (BTW, the violence and death in public school is not any greater in recent years than it has always been, we simply live in a news-saturated environment right now). If it weren't for the public school 'housing' everyone else for her, she would have no choice but to expose her girls to everyone else on a much more regular basis, as they'd have no school to go to!The first couple, in their unschooling zeal, are very close to anarchy. It sounds silly if you think of one family making this decision, but consider a whole community? If everyone unschooled as they do and ALL children got to make the decisions of the day, then the world they use as their learning environment just got incredibly chaotic. This style of learning would look quite different if you were managing every day of every year like summer vacation! My point is this: homeschool and unschool are valid, respectable choices. Those who choose it must understand that they depend on the rest of us sending our kids to public school to create the civic structure that enables you to make this choice.