Man and daughter live in Oregon national forest for 4 years.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-05-22 02:31am

What a bizarre story...

And refreshingly free of abuse and/or mental illness. It's sad and horrible, but not nearly as bad as I expected from the title.

SAMAS · Post by **SAMAS** » 2004-05-22 07:22am

It's kind a sad, but I wouldn't call it horrible. I really have to admire the guy for pulling through in a situation that probably seemed to him as hopeless, and raising a daughter so well like that.

May not have been the best option, or even a good one, but I have to applaud the man for suceeding at it.

Post by **Mr Bean** » 2004-05-22 08:11am

He pulled it of damn fine job if you ask me and not even brainwashing her

Awww

Quick let interview the guy on CNN!(Meh Slow News day

)

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2004-05-22 05:34pm

SAMAS wrote:It's kind a sad, but I wouldn't call it horrible. I really have to admire the guy for pulling through in a situation that probably seemed to him as hopeless, and raising a daughter so well like that.

May not have been the best option, or even a good one, but I have to applaud the man for suceeding at it.

I called it horrible because of their situation, and the mother being institutionalised.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2004-05-22 05:47pm

I think it's a shining example of the intelligence of humans. A 7th grader with 12th grade knowledge. I think that's the best part. It's proof, I think, that anyone can achieve staggering levels of intelligence and knowledge if they try.

The Aliens · Post by **The Aliens** » 2004-05-22 05:53pm

It's refreshing to see this sort of story without any signs of abuse- they were living fairly well for homeless people, it would seem- and the fathers aim sicceeded- his daughter hasn't bene exposed to drugs and such things, and is remarkably intelligent. Not to mention the man has a job and a home now, so it seems to be a happy ending.

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2004-05-22 05:53pm

So one guy and a bunch of encycolpeida did a better job than most American schools (from what i've heard vented on the board) ?

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-05-22 08:27pm

Does this surprise you? How about if I replace him with a full-time individual tutor? Because that's basically what he was.

Shroom Man 777 · Post by **Shroom Man 777** » 2004-05-22 08:48pm

Well, at least he isn't a fundie. And he did an excellent job, considering that they could've ended up as homeless tramps living off sustinance from beer bottles inside those brown paper bags. Now they're back to normal and striving for a better life, not stuck in some abysmal shithole alley rotting slowly each day. The girl could be successful in her life and end up rich, the guy, well, who knows? I think it's cool.

Raptor 597 · Post by **Raptor 597** » 2004-05-22 08:48pm

2000AD wrote:So one guy and a bunch of encycolpeida did a better job than most American schools (from what i've heard vented on the board) ?

It's quite true. Whenever the education system complains about something the government throws more money at it and does nothing does nothing to slve the problem. We used to be first in mathematis with much less funding while now slipping in the polls spending double or triple what we used to. (After you calculate inflation in)

Shark Bait · Post by **Shark Bait** » 2004-05-22 09:17pm

Perhaps the U.S. school system is lacking in areas but i think it also may have something to do with individual students as well. Many are just unmotivated and one of the best examples i've ever seen is my friend nick. In High School he did ok to poor in most of his classes and graduated with a 2.5 GPA and two years behind in math yet some how he mannaged a 1410 on his SATs and now in college he finished his freshman year with a perfect 4.0. In High School he was compleatly unmotivated but now he is set on becoming ironicly enough a history teacher. So sometimes the solution is more diffiult than just throwing money at schools, I think allot of it is a social issue and many students are unmotivated to do better. As for the girl in the woods her love for her father may have had something to do with a desiere to perform better for him.

Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi · Post by **Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi** » 2004-05-23 01:25am

That's one of those stories that's saddening and heartwarming at the same time. Saddening because they had to live in those conditions, and heartwarming because it only strengthened the bond between the father and the daughter.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2004-05-23 01:34am

That's fucking awsome. Like robinson curuesoe...

BlkbrryTheGreat · Post by **BlkbrryTheGreat** » 2004-05-23 01:38am

God damn... this, quite frankly, says alot about the STANDARDS of the educational system; I mean think about it.... a 12 year old educated in the middle of a forest is qualified to graduate from High School.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-05-23 01:51am

I'll say it again.

Howedar wrote:Does this surprise you? How about if I replace him with a full-time individual tutor? Because that's basically what he was.

BlkbrryTheGreat · Post by **BlkbrryTheGreat** » 2004-05-23 01:59am

Howedar wrote:I'll say it again.
Howedar wrote:Does this surprise you? How about if I replace him with a full-time individual tutor? Because that's basically what he was.

What the fuck do you think teachers are supose to be? Baby-sitters?

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-05-23 02:06am

Are you really so goddamned dense that you do not comprehend why a teacher is better when working with one student than when working with thirty? Each of those thirty students have marginally different needs to be attended to, which means not all of the time in the classroom will be as beneficial as it could be for a given student. When there is but one student, their needs are addressed all of the time, completely.

It can (but need not) have anything to do with babysitting.

BlkbrryTheGreat · Post by **BlkbrryTheGreat** » 2004-05-23 02:28am

Howedar wrote:Are you really so goddamned dense that you do not comprehend why a teacher is better when working with one student than when working with thirty? Each of those thirty students have marginally different needs to be attended to, which means not all of the time in the classroom will be as beneficial as it could be for a given student. When there is but one student, their needs are addressed all of the time, completely.

It can (but need not) have anything to do with babysitting.

These individuals are trained to be "experts" (at least thats what State liscencing is for). From what I read, the father hasn't recieved any special training in any field yet he managed to teach his daughter at a substancially faster rate then the experts... I think this obviously implies that the rate of teaching isn't fast enough and, quite frankly, if you look at the average high school you can see this reflected by the amount of time spent on bullshit activities.

Trytostaydead · Post by **Trytostaydead** » 2004-05-23 03:30am

Both of you are correct to some degree. However, it should be said that most teachers really don't give a f*ck and they really seem to give credibility to that phrase, "those who can't, teach." But yes, our standards for a general education is VERY low. I mean, maybe not as low as say the middle of the Congo, but pretty low.

The Duchess of Zeon · Post by **The Duchess of Zeon** » 2004-05-23 04:39am

I suspect this is part of why homeschoolers perform so well academically on average. They may be brainwashed into fundies while at home, but they're also actually learning. Or at least learning enough to utterly trump public school educated individuals who, apparently, learn far less by age twelve than can be gleaned from an encyclopaedia and the life experience of an adult.

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2004-05-23 05:07am

The Duchess of Zeon wrote:I suspect this is part of why homeschoolers perform so well academically on average. They may be brainwashed into fundies while at home, but they're also actually learning. Or at least learning enough to utterly trump public school educated individuals who, apparently, learn far less by age twelve than can be gleaned from an encyclopaedia and the life experience of an adult.

Keep in mind that that deals with averages. The average homeschooler may perform better on average than a public school student, but the average for public school student is skewed by the crowd of students for whom high school is system designed to keep them out of trouble for a few hours. However, a few years back and at least in Pittsburgh Public, the homeschoolers were doing better on standardized tests than the lower end of public school, but weren't doing better than middle tier students and were being utterly killed by AP students. In terms of students who actually take school a bit seriously, homeschool students tend to be strictly average.

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2004-05-23 07:14am

One issue is that she may have some problems with social development.

Worlds Spanner · Post by **Worlds Spanner** » 2004-05-23 06:51pm

I think this is awesome.

It's too bad they couldn't be left alone, although obviously the girl couldn't have stayed there forever anyway.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2004-05-23 09:48pm

Say, would you be so kind as to provide a link to that article? I didn't see any in your opening post there, and this looks like something I'd want to show to a friend of mine or two.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-05-23 09:50pm

How can you learn advanced mathematics and science from an encyclopedia?