Home Schooling

[Kitsune]

I want peoples opinion on it

I have heard (from an Athiest but a really strange guy otherwise, like he is a racist) that homeschooling students win most spelling bees...That makes sense, a housewife can go through a dictionary easily enough and teach spelling...the problem is with the higher maths, higher sciences, complex histories. I think all of these subjects are beyond the abilities of 99.8% of home schooling. I also think that it creates a problem with the children not learning how to deal with a work environment because I consider school to be teaching that.

These may be secondary because I believe most (cannot give a percentage) homeschoolers are young eath creations who are afraid that the school system will lead their children astray. I also believe alot of them are worried about the school sex education system.

[thecreech]

I would also think that it would create social problems. Interaction with other kids is a big part of a child's life.

[Wicked Pilot]

Alot of parents home school their kids not to give them knowledge but to keep them from it.

And might I add that winning a spelling bee is not a good indicator of one's intelligence.

[Kitsune]

Alot of parents home school their kids not to give them knowledge but to keep them from it.

And might I add that winning a spelling bee is not a good indicator of one's intelligence.

I agree, spelling is for the most part repetition. One of my favorite high school teachers (history) was a terrible speller but could often give insight into history that the school books lacked.

[Trytostaydead]

Eh, it all depends. I know some people who are homeschooling their kids because they want to keep them out of the school systems (and I pretty much sympathize with them) and their children would probably be in the highly gifted systems anyways.

But yes, also in some regards they do want to keep them away from certain things that they don't want them to be exposed to. The ones I know that are homeschooling their kids are devout Christians and don't want their kids growing up exposed to drugs, sex, and wanton violence. They won't lack in education either.. these aren't hillbilly Christians or idiot fundies.. they are world recognized (some are considered to be the top) scientists.

If the parents have the knowledge and ability to teach.. then by all means. The only thing I worry about is when the boys discover girls and how they'll deal with that.. but considering their fathers.. I don't think they'll have a problem pimpin it.

[Hamel]

My mom tried homeschooling my brother and I during the 8th grade

Jim refused to do any work and threw fits everyday, most of which resulted in mom calling dad so he would tell the brat to straighten up

I actually put effort into it, but frankly, it hurt me badly in math, and left me totally unprepared for algebra the next year when I went back to public school.

Many people may think that most parents homeschool for sinister reasons such as racism (I don't mah boy with those wetbacks and nigras), which isn't too far off the mark, but there are legitimate homeschooling parents that do it with their child's best interest in mind. The reason why my parents tried homeschooling was because I was assaulted in school a bunch of times

[jegs2]

I want peoples opinion on it

A friend of mine, Renee, and her husband home-shooled eight kids. Renee died from cancer a couple of years ago, but she wrote a book: Home-Schooling All the Way through High School. Their oldest daughter, Donielle, is now a practicing attorney. Their second oldest recently graduated college, their third is in college, and the others are being home-schooled by Frank (their dad) and the older daughters. Their's is the only story I know, but it seems to be a success.

[Peregrin Toker]

Actually, I were home-schooled until I was 8. Then, my parents finally found a public school which I fitted into. I think this is a good thing, since my parents (if I know them well) wouldn't be able to home-school me all the way through High School!! However, I didn't take any damage from being homeschooled at kindergarten age.

And no, my family aren't creationists. Only my mother is vaguely religious - and she's one of the most liberal Christians I have met. (in fact, she barely qualifies as Christian!)

[Sir Sirius]

I know this is somewhat off topic, but what is a "spelling bee"?

EDIT: It's one of those competitions where kids try to spell long words correctly, right? I've heard that they hold those in the U.S.

[Alyeska]

Actually, I were home-schooled until I was 8. Then, my parents finally found a public school which I fitted into. I think this is a good thing, since my parents (if I know them well) wouldn't be able to home-school me all the way through High School!! However, I didn't take any damage from being homeschooled at kindergarten age.

And no, my family aren't creationists. Only my mother is vaguely religious - and she's one of the most liberal Christians I have met. (in fact, she barely qualifies as Christian!)

I can tell the english lessons didn't do much.

[jegs2]

Actually, I were home-schooled until I was 8. Then, my parents finally found a public school which I fitted into. I think this is a good thing, since my parents (if I know them well) wouldn't be able to home-school me all the way through High School!! However, I didn't take any damage from being homeschooled at kindergarten age.

And no, my family aren't creationists. Only my mother is vaguely religious - and she's one of the most liberal Christians I have met. (in fact, she barely qualifies as Christian!)

I can tell the english lessons didn't do much.

Yeesh, I seed that comin!

[Ted C]

I know this is somewhat off topic, but what is a "spelling bee"?

EDIT: It's one of those competitions where kids try to spell long words correctly, right? I've heard that they hold those in the U.S.

That's a pretty accurate description. It's a competition to decide who knows how to spell the most words, usually progressing from the fairly simple ("their") to the increasingly obscure and complicated ("triaxiality").

[Peregrin Toker]

Actually, I were home-schooled until I was 8. Then, my parents finally found a public school which I fitted into. I think this is a good thing, since my parents (if I know them well) wouldn't be able to home-school me all the way through High School!! However, I didn't take any damage from being homeschooled at kindergarten age.

And no, my family aren't creationists. Only my mother is vaguely religious - and she's one of the most liberal Christians I have met. (in fact, she barely qualifies as Christian!)

I can tell the english lessons didn't do much.

What?? How many grammatical errors were there in my post??

BTW, in Denmark, schools don't start teaching English until 4th grade, so it didn't matter that much.

[XaLEv]

Actually, I were home-schooled until I was 8. Then, my parents finally found a public school which I fitted into. I think this is a good thing, since my parents (if I know them well) wouldn't be able to home-school me all the way through High School!! However, I didn't take any damage from being homeschooled at kindergarten age.

And no, my family aren't creationists. Only my mother is vaguely religious - and she's one of the most liberal Christians I have met. (in fact, she barely qualifies as Christian!)

1: were should be was
2: which I fitted into should be where I fit in
3: be should be have been

Those are the only ones I see.

[Peregrin Toker]

Actually, I were home-schooled until I was 8. Then, my parents finally found a public school which I fitted into. I think this is a good thing, since my parents (if I know them well) wouldn't be able to home-school me all the way through High School!! However, I didn't take any damage from being homeschooled at kindergarten age.

And no, my family aren't creationists. Only my mother is vaguely religious - and she's one of the most liberal Christians I have met. (in fact, she barely qualifies as Christian!)

1: were should be was
2: which I fitted into should be where I fit in
3: be should be have been

Those are the only ones I see.

Oops.

[StarshipTitanic]

Snip excellent effort.

I can tell the english lessons didn't do much.

I really, really can't stand the people who correct non-native English speakers (who don't ask) while they cannot speak English perfectly and without flaw themselves.

A Warbird slightly outguns a standard GCS. A Warbird is shown to have a forward weapon biass whereas the GCS has weapons all over. A GCS has never truly damaged a Warbird while a Warbird can down a GCSs shields rather easily. Doing the math a Warbird has effectively twice the forward firepower of a GCS.

As to the Sovereign. Asside for the bridge shot, the Enterprise took aproximately a half dozen torpedo strikes and further disrupter strikes to its bare hull and was still combat capable. The only reason she stopped fighting after the bridge hit was because phasers were drained and torpedoes empty. Even with that gaping hole she could still have fought.

I assume I made my point. Apologies for the threadjack, but I see this far too much.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Actually, I were home-schooled until I was 8. Then, my parents finally found a public school which I fitted into. I think this is a good thing, since my parents (if I know them well) wouldn't be able to home-school me all the way through High School!! However, I didn't take any damage from being homeschooled at kindergarten age.

And no, my family aren't creationists. Only my mother is vaguely religious - and she's one of the most liberal Christians I have met. (in fact, she barely qualifies as Christian!)

1: were should be was
2: which I fitted into should be where I fit in
3: be should be have been

Those are the only ones I see.

Give him a break. He isnt a native speaker.

[jegs2]

Give him a break. He isnt a native speaker.

Roger that. I doubt many of us here can speak his native language.

[Straha]

Some homeschooling is great, my parents considered homeschooling me for a while, and my father did teach me more math when I was in 2nd grade then I learnt until maybe fifth grade at night. However some homeschooling is undeniably bad for the kid, both intellectually and socially, for example, to use the rather pervasive english grammar thread here, there was a kid in the grade below me who had been homeschooled up until that point, and he not only spoke, but wrote like one would in the ghetto. That includes off spelling, repeated words, and consistent use of double and triple negatives.

Just my thoughts.

[Crayz9000]

My parents homeschooled me from 1st grade up to 9th grade, mainly because the Los Angeles Unified School District has a very, very bad reputation.

Then when I was in 10th grade, they enrolled me in a local community college. So here I am three years later, at 18, with my Associate's degree, and transferring to a four-year university this fall as a junior. Can't say that it was such a bad experience, and I kind of caught up with the socialization in college.

[Alyeska]

I really, really can't stand the people who correct non-native English speakers (who don't ask) while they cannot speak English perfectly and without flaw themselves.

Two things.

One, I was posting that as a partial joke seeing as this thread was about education. Two, I hadn't noticed he was from a European country.

[Faram]

Roger that. I doubt many of us here can speak his native language.

Well Dane is quite impossible for someone not born there, perhaps a Norwegian can fake some but for everyone else. No way.

[Master of Ossus]

Home-schooled students tend to do phenomenally well in a couple of areas, but suffer from massive problems with other subjects. The reason is obvious: parents of home-schooled students can spend time however they want to spend it, and will almost invariably focus on a couple of areas at the expense of all others.

[XaLEv]

Give him a break. He isnt a native speaker.

I realize that, so I'm not going hard on him, just pointing out errors so that he can hopefully avoid making them in the future.

[Towlie]

It's easy for a parent to teach by rote words in a dictionary, or even for a child to study it individually. Winning a spelling bee is not that impressive. Can the kid work in a group, deal with real pressure, etc...? And there are many diverse fields of expertise that are taught in school - learning the dictionary won't help you there. Home schooling is problematic for several reasons in addition to those stated above by others:

In public schooling, in theory, there is some level of standardization in the curriculum. This means that students, regardless of personal family situation, should graduate with similar knowledge and abilities. They learn what society (through the election of politicians, school boards, etc..)believes to be important in a child's educatoin. Children are also supposed to have equal opportunity to succeed. This doesn't happen in reality, but home schooling produces even greater inequalities between children. Employers know what they can expect from high-school grads. What will they think of a home-schooled child?

Home schooling could catch on (imagine a social-spending axing GWB with ties to Christian fundies) pushing it as a way to reduce government spending (and bring more "freedom" and "choice" to families.) Public school budgets could be cut and more and more people might be forced to do home schooling. In most families these days, both parents work. So many families will be SOL. Even if home-schooling becomes more popular only under certain groups (rabid fundies where the women stay at home and take care of the kids, high-income single earner families where one member can afford to stay at home) and somehow these children get a better education (except in the case of the fundies), it screws kids whose busy parents are sending them to the presumably inferior public school.