Tremendous hostility over homeschooling

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Sunnymom
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Postby Sunnymom » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:20 am


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Postby Lily » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:40 am

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist."
- M. Montessori
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Postby Sunnymom » Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:08 am

While I did quote your post, I wasn't directing my comments at you specifically- more addressing what I perceive as the inaccuracy of certain assumptions. As an HSer for many years, I have run across this idea that HSing causes certain behaviors, but this idea is not applied to PSers. Kids in PS can be shy, socially inept, bigoted, violent, etc.... but no one says that PSing causes these things. I think these are personality and parenting issues, not HSing issues, KWIM?

I think the HSing stereotype is a media-contrived stereotype, not a valid one. It is based on inaccurate assumptions, of which I have heard many thru the years. There are individual stereotypes in school- jocks, brains, princesses, etc... but how do you lump all HSers everywhere in the world into a pile, when there are a few million of them HSing for every reason from religion to family lifestyle? I mean, there are pagan HSers and gay HSers and single parent HSers....how does one squeeze a valid stereotype out of that?

Sorry I offended you with the eyeroll- I had used it earlier in the post, and thought I had deleted it, and didn't see it at the bottom of my post until I read your reply- it wasn't my intent to insult you. My apologies.

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Postby momo3boys » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:05 pm

Considering that all public school are cut from the same basic cloth it is easier to lump them up and make some more generalized thought about them, ex. the student to teacher ratio is too high, or it's too bad that many children aren't safe in schools anymore, or the children are being affected by bad government. When you talk about HSers you really can't do that at all. Every child will be affected in very different ways depending on each parent. and since every parent raises there children differently, even those with similar values, you get very different children. You definitely CAN NOT make generalities about HSers, PSers however are a little easier.
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Postby Theodore » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:51 pm

Practically speaking, there are decent public schools with good teachers, they're just rare. Most of the problems boil down to just two factors:

1) Huge centralized schools with lousy student-teacher ratios. Given 40 students to manage, it's tempting to just ignore anyone who deviates from the average, plus teachers are less likely to listen to parents if most of the parents come from a different area.

2) Teachers' unions whose focus is on liberal ideology and maximizing membership, rather than actually improving the level of education in the schools. Teachers' unions actively block any incentive-based program, for instance, since if incentives can get teachers to work harder and produce better results, that shows that all the other teachers aren't working as hard as they can. And woe betide you if you try to teach regular math and phonics in a school that's embraced New Math and Whole Language!

Given, bloated school administrations don't help either.

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Re: Tremendous hostility over homeschooling

Postby momtimesfour » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:27 pm


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Postby StellarStory » Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:53 pm


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Theodore
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Postby Theodore » Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:25 am

Well, homeschooling does sort of say that you don't have confidence in the school system to do a good job of teaching your kids, so people who are public schooling may view that as an intrinsic criticism against them. Just by being there, you're saying that they're giving their children a sub-par education by not taking the extra effort to teach them. It's just easier to attack your way of doing things than to change their own way of doing things.

Not that a lot of kids don't learn well in a school setting, assuming the school is trying to do a good job - it's the bottom and top achievers who need more personal attention. Lower class sizes and put decision-making control of the schools in the hands of the local parents, and homeschooling wouldn't be so necessary.

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Postby Sunnymom » Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:02 am


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Postby Theodore » Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:36 pm

That's hardly the same thing, though I can't quite figure out how to explain how with words :)

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Postby Sunnymom » Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:08 am

Well, Theo, I know people don't perceive it as the same thing, but IMO it is. I don't get my knickers in a twist over what brand of tools other folks prefer, so why should they get offended over what educational method I prefer?

IMO it is just more institutional thinking- PS is the way it has 'always' been done (yeah right- for the last 120 years of over 6000 years of human history :roll: ) and folks don't like it when someone threatens their status quo.

The fact is, current traditional schooling methods are ineffecient and ineffective for most students. It is the Chalk&Talk for the Sit&Git. It is shotgun education- fire into the crowd and hope you hit something. Tutoring and apprenticeship have always been the most effective methods of education and vocational training, and PS can't reproduce that on any level. Homeschooling often does use one-on-one tutoring of one form or another, as well as allowing time for apprenticeship training or other creative methods for a child to pursue their talents and interests.

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Postby Calla_Dragon » Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:50 am

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

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Postby seekingmyLord » Sat Jul 14, 2007 7:05 am


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