How do you deal with 'anti home schoolers'

[TimSullivan]

Hi Brian,

I am a retired educator and I do believe that students can be home schooled successfully. Your family is living proof of that. There are situations that I have seen where the family does not provide a good education. It just doesn't get done and the kids end up coming to a public school years behind in some areas while years ahead in others. Again there are good home schooling situations and there are bad.

As for the socialization of the children that will take care of itself if the child is involved in activities with others their age. What is a concern to me is that many times these children are not exposed to the opinions of others and find it difficult to see another person's point of view. In my experience these home schooled students tend not to listen to opinions that differ from what they have been taught directly and by example. They will just shut down in a discussion and withdraw. It is not socialization that is lacking, it is an intellectual aggressiveness. I don't mean they don't argue well. They seem not want to challenge someone's position or opinion in a group situation.

My experience is at the high school level where these students have been home schooled through grade eight. When they enter the high school, they really adjust well. If the parents are willing to spend the time then the children will be successful. It takes dedication and planning to provide a good home schooling situation.

While not home schooled, our son was taught most of the basic skills by his mother. He was very ill up to the time he entered fourth grade and missed more school than he attended. In effect it was a 50% home schooling situation for him. That may well have been more difficult than doing it full time. His mother had no training or college degree but there was a drive to make sure her son did not fall behind. To this day he is a voracious reader because he and his mother would have to research information instead of a teacher just presenting the facts to him. It is strange how we discover such simple applications of learning by necessity.

Now to answer your question. Many parents are very happy to see their children head off to school. It is a good option for day care. Those parents just cannot understand why you would want to teach your children. Now let us take this a little further. There are too many parents that have no interest in teaching their children much at all. I think you may see where this is going. Education does create a lot of its own problems but the fact of the matter is that many parents are not preparing their children to be successful in school. I will make another observation that some parents do not care if their child is successful in school. It just doesn't matter to them. So their thinking is why on earth would you care so much about your child's education that you would work many, many hours each week to that end.

You both have done a wonderful job educating your children and should be congratulated.

[tlphlps]

Bless You, Haz! We have 7 children and have home schooled them exclusively!
We have recently moved and just found a church we feel led to join. We visited last evening with the pastor whose wife and daughter are involved in public school teaching. There are 3 other families in the church that home school also and those families have been there about a year. The pastor and his wife both very enthusiastically support home schooling now. Also his daughter has a young child and is now planning to home school! He said the key to their change-of-heart regarding homeschooling was seeing the results in these other families and ours. The children are well behaved, interact well with adults & children, and obviously don't have problems academically.
I find most people that object are ignorant of the results and have the idea that we are hurting rather than helping our children.
Years ago, our former church pastor said, " Our job as parents is to train our children to be adults, not children ". That is one of the best statements I have ever heard anyone make! Children will be childish, children will play, children will be "kids", no matter what - the need is for them to learn to be adults! That does not come from peer pressure in a public school setting!
Bless you all for the courage and desire to train your children academically, socially, and spiritually at home!

Terry, Holly, Taylor, Hannah, David, Mindy, Michael, Sara and Carter (and I do know their birthdays! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] )

[BrianP]

Wow tenebrous, a long and well reasoned comment!
And I agree with it. I have had bad experiences with some teachers, and good experiences with others. My wife is a fantastic teacher, and some other parents would make lousy teachers either because they don't know any better, or don't care. Judging from the level of ignorance I encounter on a day by day basis either directly or through the media I find it its astonishing to find out how little most people know about most things ranging from history to geography to science and politics. Most people don't even read books on a regular basis!
So I figure if any institutional should be held suspect it is 'formal' education, not home schooling.
In a way, I guess I've answered my own question and agreed with you: most 'anti home schollers' probably know nothing about home schooling, but they don't let that get in the way of their bias against it!

[JoeR]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
What is a concern to me is that many times these children are not exposed to the opinions of others and find it difficult to see another person's point of view.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately, there are numerous educators who will inflict their opinion upon the students. I have seen this at the University level too.

I clearly remember in high school discussing the use of the Atom Bomb during WWII. I told the teacher that I thought it was a good idea that the U.S. used the weapon to shorten the war. That was not the response the teacher wanted to hear, and she started yelling at me! While in college, one of my professors started a discussion about politics. He asked if there were any republican supporters in the room, some students raised their hands and he belittled them!

It seems that the education system has become like the media... Extremely liberal and BIASED.

Sadly, once these idiots make tenure, you can get rid of them.

Joe

[TimSullivan]

Joe, the opinions I referred to were those of other students. I do not know when you were in high school and college but I attended both in the sixties. I too had professors mostly that used their classrooms as podiums for their own political opinion.

In todays public schools, teachers should be leading the discussion without exhibiting any bias. The opinions again should come from the students and their studies. We both know that we do not live in a perfect world and some individuals will always use a position to press their own agenda.

[Pat]

tenebrous, I have to say, I read this whole thread and think the home schoolers acquitted themselves well. Also to anyone who would cast stones at all the misspellings, anyone who consistently spells a word the same way isn't misspelling it, they are employing an alternative spelling.

Maybe you will appreciate this annecdote: I was in an upper division physics class (modern thermodynamics mumbo jumbo about bosons or something) back about '68 when there was significant campus unrest, anti-war protests, picketing of DOW chemical recruitment efforts, guerilla theater with bullhorns performed by SDS (Students for Democratic Society, some kind of communist youth front) Anyway this Bozo interrupted our studies of bosons, with the instructors permission, to ask the classes permission to lecture us on socially prominent political issues of importance to the SDS. With no debate or side comments, about 3/4 of the class got up and headed for the disrupter who headed for the door. Order was restored in about 15 seconds and class resumed. Seems his BS was a hard sell on the "hard science" side of the campus. On the "social studies" Marxist Lenninist side of the campus more time was spent preparing for protests and participating than conducting legitimate studies.

Now it seems that high schools and even middle schools and grade schools are the seed beds for growing our own PC mind numbed little robots whose greatest critical thinking involves what snack food to eat. I think the greatest inquisition should not be aimed at parents who prefer to home school but at parents who are willing to "Public School", given the facts surrounding the average high school education which yields a high school graduate who has a diploma that proves little beyond attendance.

Ian Shoals is due, I gotta go.

Pat

[TimSullivan]

<font color="blue">Order was restored in about 15 seconds and class resumed. Seems his BS was a hard sell on the "hard science" side of the campus. On the "social studies" Marxist Lenninist side of the campus more time was spent preparing for protests and participating than conducting legitimate studies.

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Hi Pat,

At about the same time I had the following experience. I was a math/ physics major and was married and a little older than the average students. I had made several friends at the college that had served in South East Asia and now were continuing their education.

On one beautiful fall day one classroom building was blockaded by protesters. Our group, about fifteen vets and others who wanted to enter the building gathered a short distance away. We approached the group that was blocking the front door and three walls wearing football jackets block us from entering. One of our group just quietly said "Six months ago we were killing people, now we want to get through. The looks on the faces of the protesters were priceless. They parted and we entered the building. We were followed by over a hundred other students.

<font color="blue">I think the greatest inquisition should not be aimed at parents who prefer to home school but at parents who are willing to "Public School", given the facts surrounding the average high school education which yields a high school graduate who has a diploma that proves little beyond attendance.
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Pat, there are always the people who want to dumb down a curriculum but there are more teachers and parents who want the best education possible for their students. As far as blaming parents that home school that would be the farthest from my feelings. Anyone that is willing to spend the time necessary to educate their children at home is deserving of my help and support. Many home schoolers in my home district used materials that I prepared and used in my own classroom. I shared these because we should all be going in the same direction and educating children.

I just remember what an eighty year old neighbor told me as I was about to start my first teaching job. "The good students will do well with a poor teacher but the best teacher will not find sucess with a student that does not care. You need to make them care anyway you can." She had taught for forty-five years befroe retiring.

[Hydraman]

Just my $.02 worth. I've got a nieghbor and dear friend that has home-schooled all 8 of his children, 3 of whom are still at home. He schooled them from grades 1-12 . The eldest finished college. Went on to grad school at U. of Minn. , got a law degree, passed his bar, got a commission in the Navy; and is now a prosecutor in the naval JAG corps. His second had graduated gollege; went to a Seminary in Boston, and is now working in the mission field. No.s 3,4 &amp;5 are currently enrolled in college and doing just fine. So by this example, the home schoolers do OK. Keep it up!!!!! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Ranchman]

For anyone who is curious as to the thread that Knucklehead was referring to, here it is. Kuncklehead &amp; I went on for quite a while, so read at your own risk! (or make sure you have had plenty of rest before starting!)

Although I'd be labeled as of the "anti-home schoolers" by the vast majority of folks here, I post this link only as a "service" to help see some insight in to one of "those" people, not to enter in to the conversation per se (I'm happy with my arguments as they stand over there on TBN - and I'm smart enough to know when I'm outnumbered too! [img]/forums/images/icons/wink.gif[/img].)

Anyway, Enjoy! [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

I couldn't agree with you more on all counts Brian.