Home school vs public school?
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I homeschool my two children, and many of the stereotypes posted here are unfair and not true. Most homeschoolers do very well in social situations. We have gone to events where they tell us that they love it when homeschoolers come because they are so well behaved. The children all play together no matter ages or special needs.
We go to co-op classes, and I was subbing for a teenage class. After all their work was completed they got in a circle to talk. Some of the children did not get in the circle, so the other kids called them into the circle and finally ALL the kids were in the circle together. They didn't want to leave anyone out.
I have also organized a block walk for our precinct and a couple homeschooled teenagers came to help. This wasn't their first time helping in politics. They were very well informed, mature, and "normal'. Everyone was shocked at how intelligent these girls were.
My oldest child is 6 and she gets plenty of time to be around kids. One thing I love about homeschooling is that she is not just around kids her own age that all happen to live in the same area, but she is around many different people. She goes to a creative arts school that is designed for children of all abilities to work together. One of her friends has spina bifida. She also socializes with homeless children when we go to the homeless shelter to pass out cookies to the kiddos.
With my daughter taking classes outside the home (co-op, creative arts, and next year a once a week school where she is there for 3 hours doing science, social studies, lunch and recess), ballet, church, Awanas, homeschool field trips, and play dates she has plenty of time to spend with kids. She has so many friends from so many different activities. All of her friends are so different, but she loves each and every single one of her. For an "unsocialized homeschooler" she sure had a HUGE amount of friends show up at her birthday party this year.
And for needing to be bullied to learn how to live in the real world, she has plenty of that from her cousins down the street and their friends. So don't worry about that.
Just wanted to add that academically she is thriving even though I have only taken about two years of college classes with no degree. She is in kindergarten and is reading at a 5th grade level (according to my school teacher friend) and is going to finish up her 1st grade math curriculum this year. It is a very challenging curriculum where she is learning to visualize numbers. We do most of our problems in our head. Not on paper. And she has learned to read and add four digit numbers. People are impressed by her, and it is all because I am able to find curriculum that fits her learning style, and she is able to go at her own pace. And no, I do not have her do more school work than one hour in a day. She gets to play most of the day.0 -
I homeschool my two children, and many of the stereotypes posted here are unfair and not true. Most homeschoolers do very well in social situations. We have gone to events where they tell us that they love it when homeschoolers come because they are so well behaved. The children all play together no matter ages or special needs.
We go to co-op classes, and I was subbing for a teenage class. After all their work was completed they got in a circle to talk. Some of the children did not get in the circle, so the other kids called them into the circle and finally ALL the kids were in the circle together. They didn't want to leave anyone out.
I have also organized a block walk for our precinct and a couple homeschooled teenagers came to help. This wasn't their first time helping in politics. They were very well informed, mature, and "normal'. Everyone was shocked at how intelligent these girls were.
My oldest child is 6 and she gets plenty of time to be around kids. One thing I love about homeschooling is that she is not just around kids her own age that all happen to live in the same area, but she is around many different people. She goes to a creative arts school that is designed for children of all abilities to work together. One of her friends has spina bifida. She also socializes with homeless children when we go to the homeless shelter to pass out cookies to the kiddos.
With my daughter taking classes outside the home (co-op, creative arts, and next year a once a week school where she is there for 3 hours doing science, social studies, lunch and recess), ballet, church, Awanas, homeschool field trips, and play dates she has plenty of time to spend with kids. She has so many friends from so many different activities. All of her friends are so different, but she loves each and every single one of her. For an "unsocialized homeschooler" she sure had a HUGE amount of friends show up at her birthday party this year.
And for needing to be bullied to learn how to live in the real world, she has plenty of that from her cousins down the street and their friends. So don't worry about that.
Just wanted to add that academically she is thriving even though I have only taken about two years of college classes with no degree. She is in kindergarten and is reading at a 5th grade level (according to my school teacher friend) and is going to finish up her 1st grade math curriculum this year. It is a very challenging curriculum where she is learning to visualize numbers. We do most of our problems in our head. Not on paper. And she has learned to read and add four digit numbers. People are impressed by her, and it is all because I am able to find curriculum that fits her learning style, and she is able to go at her own pace. And no, I do not have her do more school work than one hour in a day. She gets to play most of the day.
Just wanted to say that I like your post!0 -
I was home schooled and the only thing I have to say is tell your parents that your sister needs the social end of it!! Get her out with people even it is to the pool or park she needs other people around her!!!0
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I am the mother of four and we have used parochial, public and on-line schooling for my children based on their individual needs and desires. We are lucky to live in a time where there are so many quality options.
Good for your mom for looking at what is best for her child...education should fit the child not the other way around! :flowerforyou:0 -
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Depends on the school, the parents, and the child.
But I would talk to the school first, especially if the issue is social awkwardness and anxiety. Around 7 or 8, there's a surge of hormones, and kids act a little different for a while. Then it often calms down for a couple of years until puberty. (And sometimes there's non-school things that can be addressed, from home routine, to outside activities, sleep routines, etc).0 -
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Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.0 -
Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.
Not always. You can still get a diploma. Colleges look for ACT and SAT scores, and many colleges are now actively pursuing homeschooled and unschooled students, as they typically have better critical thinking skills and higher levels of creativity. I personally don't think I would "unschool," but studies have shown that student-led learning tends to be more in-depth, with higher rates of retention than teacher-led learning. I don't really understand all that unschooling is, but I would think that as long as the parent takes an active role in helping the child investigate what he or she is asking about, it can be quite a well-rounded education.0 -
I find it unsettling that a professional teacher has such harsh attitudes toward schooling options other than formal schooling. As I said earlier, part of the reason I support homeschooling is BECAUSE of my studies in education. Formal schooling has its place, but it's certainly not the only good option, or the best for every child and every family.0
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Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.
Honestly, I really have to wonder where some of you teachers get your information. There are thousands of success stories of unschoolers getting into and thriving in college. Here is just one:
http://lisarussell.suite101.com/grown-up-homeschoolers-and-college-admissions-a2113970 -
Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.
Not always. You can still get a diploma. Colleges look for ACT and SAT scores, and many colleges are now actively pursuing homeschooled and unschooled students, as they typically have better critical thinking skills and higher levels of creativity. I personally don't think I would "unschool," but studies have shown that student-led learning tends to be more in-depth, with higher rates of retention than teacher-led learning. I don't really understand all that unschooling is, but I would think that as long as the parent takes an active role in helping the child investigate what he or she is asking about, it can be quite a well-rounded education.
AJ, agreed. We use, as I said, the classical home schooling model, but I know of dozens of cases of unschooling that ultimately resulted in college admissions.0 -
I find it unsettling that a professional teacher has such harsh attitudes toward schooling options other than formal schooling. As I said earlier, part of the reason I support homeschooling is BECAUSE of my studies in education. Formal schooling has its place, but it's certainly not the only good option, or the best for every child and every family.
Hear! Hear!0 -
The arrogance of "real" teachers is astounding.
Wow.0 -
Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.
What's this propaganda bull *kitten* you're spewing?
I don't see why I should put my child through an education that rarely fully caters to their needs, and expects them to follow a set way of learning, when they can learn academically AND creatively at home. Children are constantly learning, and unschooling caters for that. Just an FYI, you should really open your mind and do some research before patronising me.0 -
I'd also like to point out the vast numbers of people who go through public school and suffer from "failure to launch." I personally know 3 of them. But I don't blame that on their education, because that would be stupid. I don't understand why people assume that homeschoolers/unschoolers will be antisocial, awkward, weird, and dependent, when there are plenty of those kinds of people who went through public schools their entire lives. There's absolutely no correlation, and certainly no causation. Homeschooling doesn't cause these things, any more than public school cures these things.0
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I'd also like to point out the vast numbers of people who go through public school and suffer from "failure to launch." I personally know 3 of them. But I don't blame that on their education, because that would be stupid. I don't understand why people assume that homeschoolers/unschoolers will be antisocial, awkward, weird, and dependent, when there are plenty of those kinds of people who went through public schools their entire lives. There's absolutely no correlation, and certainly no causation. Homeschooling doesn't cause these things, any more than public school cures these things.
^this
I think people either fear, or make assumptions, about things they don't understand.0 -
I'd also like to point out the vast numbers of people who go through public school and suffer from "failure to launch." I personally know 3 of them. But I don't blame that on their education, because that would be stupid. I don't understand why people assume that homeschoolers/unschoolers will be antisocial, awkward, weird, and dependent, when there are plenty of those kinds of people who went through public schools their entire lives. There's absolutely no correlation, and certainly no causation. Homeschooling doesn't cause these things, any more than public school cures these things.
You totally rock, AJWeekley!! I totally agree with your many well-reasoned and well-stated posts, including this one.0 -
I home school my daughter. She went to public school in kindergarten and I loved the school. Our decision to start homeschooling was because of health issues. She has ADHD, and after several attempts at trying to find the right meds to help it caused more harm than good. She is now a happy, Healthy lil girl
With regular play dates with friends..we are members of a local homeschool group, and we're both very busy with girl scouts.
It completely depends on the child, and the situation. 0 -
I'd also like to point out the vast numbers of people who go through public school and suffer from "failure to launch." I personally know 3 of them. But I don't blame that on their education, because that would be stupid. I don't understand why people assume that homeschoolers/unschoolers will be antisocial, awkward, weird, and dependent, when there are plenty of those kinds of people who went through public schools their entire lives. There's absolutely no correlation, and certainly no causation. Homeschooling doesn't cause these things, any more than public school cures these things.
Thank you. I couldn't have said it better myself
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Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.
Why so harsh?
Your statements make me wonder why you are so hostile to the idea of homeschooling, particularly when the methods are alternative, such as unschooling. There are many academic models, including Montessori and Waldorf, that tend to be more student-driven than traditional models. These are often offered in brick-and-mortar schools with paid teachers. Do you have such negative reactions to those, too?
I suspect you resent that parents can fly free in educating their children without radar-tracking by 'officials'. Did you ever lose a student to homeschooling and might it have made you angry? I'm just wondering.
Many years ago, the private Montessori school my children attended decided more than half of the boys in my son's class should not progress to the next grade. My son was one of those boys--the very one who entered law school years later at age 19. We strongly resisted grade retention for him. They tried many ways to strong-arm us into consenting. We finally said that we had had it with their manipulations, and stated we were withdrawing both our children to homeschool them. The teacher and administration were furious, telling us that that was 'illegal' and that they would report us to the 'authorities.' We knew the law, and knew they were grandstanding. It was hard not to laugh in their faces, but we asserted that in fact homeschooling was sanctioned by the state, and we were doing it no matter what they said.
My feeling is that ego and the need to control parents and children got in the way of this faculty and administration's ability to see things clearly. I think they saw it as a loss of their authority and will over us.0 -
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.
Why so harsh?
Your statements make me wonder why you are so hostile to the idea of homeschooling, particularly when the methods are alternative, such as unschooling. There are many academic models, including Montessori and Waldorf, that tend to be more student-driven than traditional models. These are often offered in brick-and-mortar schools with paid teachers. Do you have such negative reactions to those, too?
I suspect you resent that parents can fly free in educating their children without radar-tracking by 'officials'. Did you ever lose a student to homeschooling and might it have made you angry? I'm just wondering.
Many years ago, the private Montessori school my children attended decided more than half of the boys in my son's class should not progress to the next grade. My son was one of those boys--the very one who entered law school years later at age 19. We strongly resisted grade retention for him. They tried many ways to strong-arm us into consenting. We finally said that we had had it with their manipulations, and stated we were withdrawing both our children to homeschool them. The teacher and administration were furious, telling us that that was 'illegal' and that they would report us to the 'authorities.' We knew the law, and knew they were grandstanding. It was hard not to laugh in their faces, but we asserted that in fact homeschooling was sanctioned by the state, and we were doing it no matter what they said.
My feeling is that ego and the need to control parents and children got in the way of this faculty and administration's ability to see things clearly. I think they saw it as a loss of their authority and will over us.
THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It just must eat some of these educators alive for these maverick parents to dare to presume that we could do something for our children just as good as....if not better than..... They could.0 -
Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.
Why so harsh?
Your statements make me wonder why you are so hostile to the idea of homeschooling, particularly when the methods are alternative, such as unschooling. There are many academic models, including Montessori and Waldorf, that tend to be more student-driven than traditional models. These are often offered in brick-and-mortar schools with paid teachers. Do you have such negative reactions to those, too?
I suspect you resent that parents can fly free in educating their children without radar-tracking by 'officials'. Did you ever lose a student to homeschooling and might it have made you angry? I'm just wondering.
Many years ago, the private Montessori school my children attended decided more than half of the boys in my son's class should not progress to the next grade. My son was one of those boys--the very one who entered law school years later at age 19. We strongly resisted grade retention for him. They tried many ways to strong-arm us into consenting. We finally said that we had had it with their manipulations, and stated we were withdrawing both our children to homeschool them. The teacher and administration were furious, telling us that that was 'illegal' and that they would report us to the 'authorities.' We knew the law, and knew they were grandstanding. It was hard not to laugh in their faces, but we asserted that in fact homeschooling was sanctioned by the state, and we were doing it no matter what they said.
My feeling is that ego and the need to control parents and children got in the way of this faculty and administration's ability to see things clearly. I think they saw it as a loss of their authority and will over us.
Perhaps you need to go back and read my posts again, before you're so quick to judge ME? I am not, never ever had, saying that homeschooling is wrong. I said it must be done properly for it to be successful. "Unschooling" however, is the latest 'craze' that is ridiculous. Take your kid to ride coasters and call it physics? Sure, go right ahead. Want your kid to explore veterinary care? Take them to a shelter and let them pet puppies all day and call it "studying veterinary medicine." And get laughed right out of the college admissions office when you try to present some ridiculous "transcripts" that are filled with a bunch of crap the young child decided he or she wanted to learn all on his or her own. What a crock. Do what you want with your kid, but don't expect the doors to open up to them when it's time to face the REAL world.0 -
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Perhaps you need to go back and read my posts again, before you're so quick to judge ME? I am not, never ever had, saying that homeschooling is wrong. I said it must be done properly for it to be successful. "Unschooling" however, is the latest 'craze' that is ridiculous. Take your kid to ride coasters and call it physics? Sure, go right ahead. Want your kid to explore veterinary care? Take them to a shelter and let them pet puppies all day and call it "studying veterinary medicine." And get laughed right out of the college admissions office when you try to present some ridiculous "transcripts" that are filled with a bunch of crap the young child decided he or she wanted to learn all on his or her own. What a crock. Do what you want with your kid, but don't expect the doors to open up to them when it's time to face the REAL world.
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Wordnerd, you are the one person on this board who continually and frequently says that everyone else here doesn't understand what you are saying. I sure hope to Hell you are not an English teacher since you seem to have a great deal of trouble expressing yourself, and I can't imagine what you would do to a classful of kids who HAD to express themselves the way you wanted.
You have not responded at all to any of the success stories that people have posted here, including our kids. You are dogmatic and for some reason believe that there is only one way to teach, which as an experienced teacher should know is garbage. I could make a good argument that government schools hold as many kids back from learning as teaches them. Government schools teach to the middle, and teachers do not understand or address the needs of brighter students. Generally. I will not be as dogmatic as you and say there are no exceptions.
You need to lighten up and start looking around. There is a whole world of options, many of which are much better than what you are doing for some populations. Saying that homeschooling only works when a certified teacher is involved and the state tells you what to do is garbage. Big Brother rarely knows best, and you are showing everyone why.0 -
Love this speech .... and an administrator had to agree with it to let it be the valedictorian speech at the graduation ceremony. (Obtained this from blog.swiftkickonline.com)
Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech
Author Note: Over the past four days, this post has received 110K+ hits and over 300+ comments. If you are interested in the education reform conversation, please follow us via RSS, Email, or Twitter.
Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system.
Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here's the speech in its entirety:
Here I stand
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States."
To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!0 -
Then plan to support your children later on in life, when they cannot get into college, or get a decent job because colleges and employers look for such things as transcripts, grades, etc. Good luck with that.
Why so harsh?
Your statements make me wonder why you are so hostile to the idea of homeschooling, particularly when the methods are alternative, such as unschooling. There are many academic models, including Montessori and Waldorf, that tend to be more student-driven than traditional models. These are often offered in brick-and-mortar schools with paid teachers. Do you have such negative reactions to those, too?
I suspect you resent that parents can fly free in educating their children without radar-tracking by 'officials'. Did you ever lose a student to homeschooling and might it have made you angry? I'm just wondering.
Many years ago, the private Montessori school my children attended decided more than half of the boys in my son's class should not progress to the next grade. My son was one of those boys--the very one who entered law school years later at age 19. We strongly resisted grade retention for him. They tried many ways to strong-arm us into consenting. We finally said that we had had it with their manipulations, and stated we were withdrawing both our children to homeschool them. The teacher and administration were furious, telling us that that was 'illegal' and that they would report us to the 'authorities.' We knew the law, and knew they were grandstanding. It was hard not to laugh in their faces, but we asserted that in fact homeschooling was sanctioned by the state, and we were doing it no matter what they said.
My feeling is that ego and the need to control parents and children got in the way of this faculty and administration's ability to see things clearly. I think they saw it as a loss of their authority and will over us.
Perhaps you need to go back and read my posts again, before you're so quick to judge ME? I am not, never ever had, saying that homeschooling is wrong. I said it must be done properly for it to be successful. "Unschooling" however, is the latest 'craze' that is ridiculous. Take your kid to ride coasters and call it physics? Sure, go right ahead. Want your kid to explore veterinary care? Take them to a shelter and let them pet puppies all day and call it "studying veterinary medicine." And get laughed right out of the college admissions office when you try to present some ridiculous "transcripts" that are filled with a bunch of crap the young child decided he or she wanted to learn all on his or her own. What a crock. Do what you want with your kid, but don't expect the doors to open up to them when it's time to face the REAL world.
Our local amusement park does 'education days' around this time of year. It's mostly public school students who take advantage of these days, but some homeschooling groups do, too. At least in the case of our amusement park, you can print off unit studies online if you like. I have seen public, as well as homeschool, students do these worksheets at the park. In my case, I never bothered. We enjoyed the days as the pure fun they were meant to be.
The curriculum we followed was adapted from the Well-Trained Mind book, which can be found on Amazon.com. It is rigorous and subject-based. I also added in some unit studies when I saw my children had more desire to study something indepth. Homeschooling gives you that flexibility.
When you say "Do what you want with your kid, but don't expect the doors to open up to them when it's time to face the REAL world", I say to you what you said to me: Read my previous posts before you JUDGE ME. My kids are already in the REAL world. Our unorthodox transcripts were well-accepted. My son earned his BA from a major university last year at age 19 and is now in law school. My daughter is graduating from community college next week and transferring to the same university my son attended in the fall. She is 16.
Do you see why I think that you are not reading for content, which is the very thing you are accusing me and others of doing here? We are not parents of young children whose reentry into the educational system is untested. You may want to acknowledge that we might know a bit about this subject. We are saying homeschooling can work, and that people need not fear it. We have our own kids' history to prove it, along with first hand knowledge of many dozens of other homeschoolers. We also read what the research has to say. This is the antidote to the sort of fear-mongering you are engaging in. Why do you want to scare parents by saying their children will never be self-supporting? And what are you basing this prediction upon?0 -
Love this speech .... and an administrator had to agree with it to let it be the valedictorian speech at the graduation ceremony.
Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech
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Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens High School. Instead of using her graduation speech to celebrate the triumph of her victory, the school, and the teachers that made it happen, she channeled her inner Ivan Illich and de-constructed the logic of a valedictorian and the whole educational system.
Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without need for editing or cutting, here's the speech in its entirety:
Here I stand
There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."
This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States."
To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!
Fabulous!!!!!!!0 -
Wow, what a great thread! I don't have anything to add, but I really enjoyed reading the different perspectives.
Right now (on a Sunday), my un-schooled children are busy re-creating the 1607 comet that heralded massive changes to the world's social structure out of tissue paper and tape.
Why? Because learning is fun.0 -
"For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades".
Just an FYI - some of us "institutionalized setting" teachers DO THIS VERY THING - we offer engaging, real life lessons that take an existing concept and explore it in great depth and detail, which makes the student come away with a new appreciation and fascination in the topic. We inspire curiosity, and creativity, and problem solving. We constantly allow our students to question, to explore, to gasp! even debate a topic until all possible outcomes are explored -- leaving the students to come to their OWN conclusions. And guess what? I hardly have opened a textbook in any of the subjects I teach ALL YEAR LONG. Or, have I given children worksheets to do instead of actual teaching.
How about some of you stop generalizing and start accepting the fact that SOME of us out there are doing a damn fine job of getting and keeping children engaged and educated, even if they are "sitting in an institutionalized setting" all day?
And if you don't believe me, you're welcome to come talk to the dad of one of my students - the dad who was a Nobel Prize finalist in science, who has come to my classroom to present to the students, a well respected pathologist and veterinarian, who told me: "You're teaching science exactly the way you should be - these kids are given plenty of amazing opportunities to learn!"
And in a SCHOOL setting - imagine that, huh?0 -
I do'nt think anybody said that formal schooling was horrible. Just that homeschooling is also a valid option.0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJHt-m3VX6o
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