Home schooling
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My son is only 19 months old so I still have a few years to go before I have to battle the state about home schooling issues but in my personal opinion the state shouldn't be able to tell me what my child should or should not be taught. If I opt to home school should I have full control over what my child learns without "big brother" watching him and testing him by their standards every year? My wife and I talked about it and she mentioned that the state should be able to say that you must teach things like reading, writing, and math but in my thinking if they can say my child has to study those topics then why can't they say he has to study foreign religions or devil worship or any other silly thing under the sun? What are y'alls thoughts? -Richard
Richard Parsons wrote:
If I opt to home school should I have full control over what my child learns without "big brother" watching him and testing him by their standards every year?
If you do it, do it for the right reason: you want your child to get a good education. If you're doing it to shield him from the "evils of the world", you'll fail. If you're doing it to make some sort of a statement, or "stick it to the man"... well, The Man has armies, you don't. Don't put your kid through that. (not trying to guess your motives, just sayin') Depending on where you live, and your own level of education, you may not have any trouble at all. Yes, you'll probably need to submit some sort of curriculum and/or have the child tested yearly... but you may be able to administer the tests yourself, and have a fair bit of leeway in the curriculum design. Best thing to do? Get involved now. Research the local regulations, make friends with the local school administrators (if the law says they have any say in what you do, that is). Get involved in homeschooler groups online - there are a lot of resources out there, might as well get some assistance finding 'em. And if you do run up against problems with the local Gov't, you'll at least have time to sort it out before it gives your kid trouble.
Richard Parsons wrote:
in my thinking if they can say my child has to study those topics then why can't they say he has to study foreign religions or devil worship or any other silly thing under the sun?
Nominally? Because it's in our constitution. Practically? Look around: there are plenty of kids graduating highschool without even a proper understanding of algebra. The Gov't sucks as a teacher - keep a low profile, and The Powers That Be will be quite happy to shirk that responsibility.
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Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
Kyle (Pumpkin) is home schooled, and his highly odd behavior in these forums have been far different from that of a regular teenager. Using him as an example, I am not so sure homeschooling is very desirable.
Kyle's parents have clearly not bothered to teach him good social skills, and don't seem to have paid anywhere close to enough attention to his education and character. Please don't take him as a typical example of a homeschooled child. Overall, homeschoolers tend to do significantly better than average academically and socially than their conventionally-schooled counterparts. It all depends on the particular parents, but most people who homeschool take it very seriously. When they do, the advantages that homeschooling gives invariably put their children ahead. They are able to give better one-on-one attention to their kids, and tailor the learning program to each child's specific learning style and needs in each particular area. This means that the child is not left frustrated because (s)he can't grasp a subject the way the teacher chooses to present it, or because (s)he has already mastered the subject but still has to sit through the class while the teacher explains it to the students who catch on so well. There's more time left over after the standard subjects, and that time can be used to let the child explore the specific areas within each subject that (s)he is most interested in (that's how I learned programming, organic gardening, and many other interesting things). Conventional schooling too often squashes the child's natural desire to learn, whereas homeschooling cultivates a love to learn, and prepares kids for a lifetime of learning. On the social end of things, I don't think that it could be honestly said that the typical school environment is conducive to teaching kids about proper social relationships. The kids often are left largely unsupervised, and the interaction patterns that often develop are definitely not desirable. My public-schooled friends and even many of my private-schooled friends have related many different negative experiences over the years that were detrimental to their well-being and social adjustment - mocking, teasing, bullying, peer pressure to do dangerous things, trashing of their value as a person, etc. In a conventional school setting, kids are typically exposed only to children of their own or close to their own age, in an environment that is not like what they are likely to deal
Thanks Justin - that gave me a new perspective on home schooling :-) Are there professional home schooling teachers available?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New) -
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
Kyle (Pumpkin) is home schooled, and his highly odd behavior in these forums have been far different from that of a regular teenager. Using him as an example, I am not so sure homeschooling is very desirable.
Kyle's parents have clearly not bothered to teach him good social skills, and don't seem to have paid anywhere close to enough attention to his education and character. Please don't take him as a typical example of a homeschooled child. Overall, homeschoolers tend to do significantly better than average academically and socially than their conventionally-schooled counterparts. It all depends on the particular parents, but most people who homeschool take it very seriously. When they do, the advantages that homeschooling gives invariably put their children ahead. They are able to give better one-on-one attention to their kids, and tailor the learning program to each child's specific learning style and needs in each particular area. This means that the child is not left frustrated because (s)he can't grasp a subject the way the teacher chooses to present it, or because (s)he has already mastered the subject but still has to sit through the class while the teacher explains it to the students who catch on so well. There's more time left over after the standard subjects, and that time can be used to let the child explore the specific areas within each subject that (s)he is most interested in (that's how I learned programming, organic gardening, and many other interesting things). Conventional schooling too often squashes the child's natural desire to learn, whereas homeschooling cultivates a love to learn, and prepares kids for a lifetime of learning. On the social end of things, I don't think that it could be honestly said that the typical school environment is conducive to teaching kids about proper social relationships. The kids often are left largely unsupervised, and the interaction patterns that often develop are definitely not desirable. My public-schooled friends and even many of my private-schooled friends have related many different negative experiences over the years that were detrimental to their well-being and social adjustment - mocking, teasing, bullying, peer pressure to do dangerous things, trashing of their value as a person, etc. In a conventional school setting, kids are typically exposed only to children of their own or close to their own age, in an environment that is not like what they are likely to deal
I still don't see how a kid can be socialable when being at home all the time. Also, this still doesn't address the issue of the kid not being able to play sports, band, etc. that require a bunch of people. I think these are also important for development. I don't see how home schooling will allow for this. But at least with school, you can make sure a kid is learning by paying attention to what he/she is learning. There's no rule saying you don't have to be involved just because they go to school.
Jeremy Falcon A multithreaded, OpenGL-enabled application.[^]
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I still don't see how a kid can be socialable when being at home all the time. Also, this still doesn't address the issue of the kid not being able to play sports, band, etc. that require a bunch of people. I think these are also important for development. I don't see how home schooling will allow for this. But at least with school, you can make sure a kid is learning by paying attention to what he/she is learning. There's no rule saying you don't have to be involved just because they go to school.
Jeremy Falcon A multithreaded, OpenGL-enabled application.[^]
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
I still don't see how a kid can be socialable when being at home all the time.
I suppose... i mean, it's possible... that some homeschoolers might leave the house now and then. You know, to get supplies or something. And then accidentally meet someone and strike up a conversation. :rolleyes: What, are reg'lr schools basically social clubs? I was under the impression there had to be at least some studying going on... :D
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Richard Parsons wrote:
if they can say my child has to study those topics then why can't they say he has to study foreign religions or devil worship or any other silly thing under the sun? What are y'alls thoughts?
Schools should, and generally does, teach subjects which the kids may have use for in later studies, and in life. How studying religions is silly, whether you believe in a particular one or not, is beyond me. Knowledge is priceless.
Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
Knowledge is priceless.
And yet, a slacker coder like me can still make more than most teachers... :doh:
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Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
Knowledge is priceless.
And yet, a slacker coder like me can still make more than most teachers... :doh:
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Jeremy Falcon wrote:
I still don't see how a kid can be socialable when being at home all the time.
I suppose... i mean, it's possible... that some homeschoolers might leave the house now and then. You know, to get supplies or something. And then accidentally meet someone and strike up a conversation. :rolleyes: What, are reg'lr schools basically social clubs? I was under the impression there had to be at least some studying going on... :D
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Shog9 wrote:
I was under the impression there had to be at least some studying going on...
A common mis-impression of the homeschooled. :)
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Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
Yes.. prizeless
wait ... what? prizeless or priceless :~:confused::wtf:
"Alot of the people on this forum are incredibly stupid, thinking that the internet is real"
Score: 1.0 in the Soap Boxled mike
It was an attempt on a play on words.. :) Didn't work that well it seems. :-D
-- Torn from tomorrow's headlines
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My son is only 19 months old so I still have a few years to go before I have to battle the state about home schooling issues but in my personal opinion the state shouldn't be able to tell me what my child should or should not be taught. If I opt to home school should I have full control over what my child learns without "big brother" watching him and testing him by their standards every year? My wife and I talked about it and she mentioned that the state should be able to say that you must teach things like reading, writing, and math but in my thinking if they can say my child has to study those topics then why can't they say he has to study foreign religions or devil worship or any other silly thing under the sun? What are y'alls thoughts? -Richard
The home-schooled kids I've known tend toward one of two extremes. Either they are very bright and have a solid grasp of a broad variety of subjects or they are one-dimensional near-illiterates. Much depends on the teaching skills of the parents as well as their motive for wanting their child home-schooled.
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Shog9 wrote:
I was under the impression there had to be at least some studying going on...
A common mis-impression of the homeschooled. :)
:laugh:
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Thanks Justin - that gave me a new perspective on home schooling :-) Are there professional home schooling teachers available?
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New)Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
Thanks Justin - that gave me a new perspective on home schooling :)
You're welcome. :)
Nishant Sivakumar wrote:
Are there professional home schooling teachers available?
Those would be called tutors. :) Fulltime tutoring tends to be expensive as there is a higher demand than the number of tutors that exist. More often, homeschooling parents who want a bit of help with their teaching (for example, with a particular subject) will have someone in their support group who is an expert in a particular subject teach many of the kids together, hire a part-time tutor, use certified online tutoring services, or buy a video or computer course. Video courses are quite popular. They bring chemistry to life before your eyes, teach you a foreign language by listening to and imitating native speakers, and let you trace the steps of Lewis and Clark, the Pilgrims, or the Spanish Conquistadors. Computer courses can teach you keyboard step-by-step while monitoring your progress via MIDI, let you try out building simulated electronic circuits, let you explore the biomes of the world, and let you interact virtually with native speakers of a foreign language, while giving feedback on your pronunciation. Even with traditional coursework, it is usually not requisite that the parent know very much to begin with about the subject being taught - as long as the parent is willing to learn along with the student in the areas that the parent does not know as well. There is a lot of curriculum out there to choose from that thoroughly covers all the subjects. Also, as the student learns how to learn and research, he will usually get ahead of the parents in his knowledge. I did that with a host of different subjects during my homeschool education.
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I still don't see how a kid can be socialable when being at home all the time. Also, this still doesn't address the issue of the kid not being able to play sports, band, etc. that require a bunch of people. I think these are also important for development. I don't see how home schooling will allow for this. But at least with school, you can make sure a kid is learning by paying attention to what he/she is learning. There's no rule saying you don't have to be involved just because they go to school.
Jeremy Falcon A multithreaded, OpenGL-enabled application.[^]
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
Also, this still doesn't address the issue of the kid not being able to play sports, band, etc. that require a bunch of people. I think these are also important for development. I don't see how home schooling will allow for this.
There's no reason why homeschooling families can't get together to provide those things - and they do so. When there aren't other homeschooling families around, parents will often utilize community or private- or public- school programs specifically for those subjects. Also some larger families will just form their own small family band, acting club, etc.
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
But at least with school, you can make sure a kid is learning by paying attention to what he/she is learning. There's no rule saying you don't have to be involved just because they go to school.
Definitely - a parent can do quite a bit to help the child along in a conventional school situation as well. But a lot of parents who homeschool started doing so because they felt the schools were doing a lousy job, were tired of meeting up with resistance from the school when trying to take a more active role in their kids' education, and saw that the conventional school system got in the way of the child learning in the style that best fit his/her needs.
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I still don't see how a kid can be socialable when being at home all the time. Also, this still doesn't address the issue of the kid not being able to play sports, band, etc. that require a bunch of people. I think these are also important for development. I don't see how home schooling will allow for this. But at least with school, you can make sure a kid is learning by paying attention to what he/she is learning. There's no rule saying you don't have to be involved just because they go to school.
Jeremy Falcon A multithreaded, OpenGL-enabled application.[^]
Jeremy Falcon wrote:
I still don't see how a kid can be socialable when being at home all the time.
That assumes that the kids *are* at home all the time, which almost never happens. (Read the part of my post about community involvement.) Also, kids who are taught at home usually get along better with their family members, which translates into getting along better with people outside the home.
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Jörgen Sigvardsson wrote:
Knowledge is priceless.
And yet, a slacker coder like me can still make more than most teachers... :doh:
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Shog9 wrote:
And yet, a slacker coder like me can still make more than most teachers
Around here, if you factor in the 3 month vacation and their benefit package, teachers don't do that badly compared to run of the mill coders. Of course, the one opportunity they don't have is to go with a startup and juicy stock options.
The evolution of the human genome is too important to be left to chance.
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My son is only 19 months old so I still have a few years to go before I have to battle the state about home schooling issues but in my personal opinion the state shouldn't be able to tell me what my child should or should not be taught. If I opt to home school should I have full control over what my child learns without "big brother" watching him and testing him by their standards every year? My wife and I talked about it and she mentioned that the state should be able to say that you must teach things like reading, writing, and math but in my thinking if they can say my child has to study those topics then why can't they say he has to study foreign religions or devil worship or any other silly thing under the sun? What are y'alls thoughts? -Richard
White flag here, seriously curious. I`m used to a system where it`s mandatory for kids 6-16 to attend an approved school, whether public or private. Is home schooling a state or federal thing? What`s the proportion of kids having home schooling in the US vs private vs public school?
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Shog9 wrote:
And yet, a slacker coder like me can still make more than most teachers
Around here, if you factor in the 3 month vacation and their benefit package, teachers don't do that badly compared to run of the mill coders. Of course, the one opportunity they don't have is to go with a startup and juicy stock options.
The evolution of the human genome is too important to be left to chance.
Tim Craig wrote:
if you factor in the 3 month vacation
Yeah, that's a big one. Man, the things i could do with three months of vacation... (of course, i'd blow them sleeping and drinking, but... the possibilities!)
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My son is only 19 months old so I still have a few years to go before I have to battle the state about home schooling issues but in my personal opinion the state shouldn't be able to tell me what my child should or should not be taught. If I opt to home school should I have full control over what my child learns without "big brother" watching him and testing him by their standards every year? My wife and I talked about it and she mentioned that the state should be able to say that you must teach things like reading, writing, and math but in my thinking if they can say my child has to study those topics then why can't they say he has to study foreign religions or devil worship or any other silly thing under the sun? What are y'alls thoughts? -Richard
Of course they should have input if not control on what is taught. He needs to be at a certain standard at the end of each schooling year before progressing to the next. How is this to be done without tests comparing him to other students of the same standard. Also, how is the state (or anyone for that matter) to know that you are not some whack job teaching him devil worship or terrorism. Also are you or your wife qualified to teach him anything?
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash 24/04/2004
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Kyle (Pumpkin) is home schooled, and his highly odd behavior in these forums have been far different from that of a regular teenager. Using him as an example, I am not so sure homeschooling is very desirable.
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
Currently working on C++/CLI in Action for Manning Publications. Also visit the Ultimate Toolbox blog (New)Hey. I was homeschooled. Then again...I'm not so sure if I just bolstered your point... :doh:
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Hey. I was homeschooled. Then again...I'm not so sure if I just bolstered your point... :doh:
Eh, now he'll just be convinced that homeschooled kids end up being Firefox-using script coders. ;)
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