The Truth About Homeschoolers
Why do people feel the need to bash homeschooling. I respect wrekehavoc's right to send her children to public school, why doesn't she respect my right to homeschool? Her post home(school) is anywhere you hang your head is full of BS.
First she saysthere’s something very isolationist and elitist about homeschooling
What??? It's not like we stay home all day. In fact as I type this my youngest son is at a Team Fusion 364 meeting. one of the most important skills i think kids need to learn is how to make decisions — smart ones —on their own.
I agree. But homeschooled children are just as capable of making decisions on their own as public school children are.why would anyone want to be with anyone 24/7?
Jeez, did I mention that my youngest son is at a Team Fusion 364 meeting and I am here blogging away to my hearts content. Homeschoolers do not spend 24 hours a day 7 days a week with their kids.do the parents make conscious and deliberate attempts to ensure their kids meet other kids from different racial, religious, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds?
Why wouldn't our children meet kids from other backgrounds? Homeschoolers come in all different races, religions, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. We belong to an INCLUSIVE Homeschool Group that has allowed us to befriend homeschoolers of many varied backgrounds.what i want to know is what happens when these kids go to college and subsequently enter the real world.
The same thing that happens when a public school student goes to college.what happens when they don’t understand any of the cultural references of their peers?
Why wouldn't they understand the cultural references of their peers? We watch the same TV shows, we have Internet access, we play video games. In short my kids do the same things public school students do in their free time.
Did I mention my oldest son, who is 18, is in his third year of a Computer Science degree and loves college. Homeschooling allowed him him to move at an advanced pace instead of being held back by his public school peers. Homeschooling allowed him to spread his wings and soar instead of having his wings clipped by a school system that insist that all children must learn at the same rate.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
16 Witty Replies:
What does she have against proper capitalization and punctuation? She's not exactly going to convince anybody of the merits of government-run schooling with the way she writes...
I noticed that too.
But then as a product of the public schools, maybe she doesn't know any better (snark).
*shrug*
Suppose I don't have an agenda to multi-culturalize my children? Suppose I like staying home most of the time? Suppose I'm a little elitist, too?
The point being... what? I think we need to educate people out there that it really doesn't matter what YOU think about MY raising MY child unless lines of outright abuse are crossed. This is America.
Or at least I thought so.
You are so right Mrs. C.
You know the one thing I picked up from her comments is that she apparently doesn't enjoy spending time with her child and can't imagine that other parents might actually like their kids and enjoy spending time with them.
It also appears that she (or her Mother) didn't fair so well socially in the public schools from the comments she made.
I always wonder where these self-titled diversity proponents are sending their kids to school. Where we live, the public schools look a lot like the neighborhoods they sit in, which is to say they are no more or less diverse than the street any kid lives on. (And in most cities, that means schools are de facto segregated, even when kids are bussed all over town, but we don't need to go there!) If public school counts as a "conscious and deliberate attempt" at introducing kids to diversity, I think the bar is set awfully low!
I also wonder what wonderful school is encouraging such independent decision making. My daughter had timed bathroom breaks!
What I really want to know is what parents think is really going on in school all day, cuz it sure ain't independence and multicultural harmony!
My daughter commented as I read this, "I wish we were a little more isolated!" (She's a homebody.)
I feel very sorry for people who don't want to spend time with their kids. Why have them, then? I appreciate the time I have with them. Life is too short.
As Shaun commented above, the schools don't really foster diversity. There have been many racially charged incidents in schools in our area. Why? Because students gravitate toward those who are like them and form cliques. It happens early on when boys and girls decide not to play with each other. And lest we forget, the greatest form of segregation in schools involves separating them into age groups!
As usual, alasandra, great post!
Thanks jugglingpaynes
Shaun, you make a valid point. The public school my kids would have attended isn't very diverse.
Not to mention children are told not to talk in the halls, not to talk at lunch etc. because it would be too noisy. When are they actually suppose to socialize with each other? It's certainly not during the school day.
Hi, Alesandra. Good post, as usual.
I guess I agree with Mrs. C. I spend an inordinate amount of time with N., even though we have lots of outside activities, and you know what? We enjoy each other's company. In fact, I have been thinking about why most of the homeschooled kids I meet are so mannerly, and can hold such wonderful conversations, and I think it mught just be all of the adult attention they get.
As for the charge of elitism--what does that mean? How are homeschoolers elitist? And why is that bad?
And so forth.
This woman's arguments come down to: You shouldn't homeschool because I don't like it.
To which I reply: Too darn bad! It's a free country.
Hi Elisheva Hannah Levin maybe it's the fact that homeschooled children know their parents put them first and actually enjoy being with them.
I can't count the number of times I have heard a public school parent complaining because they have to spend time with their child; it's so sad. Why have children if you don't want to spend time with them.
And they grow up so fast. My darling baby boys are become fine young men in the blink of an eye.
Hmmm...well, as we all know, public schooled children are REKNOWN for their intelligent, smart decisions. LOL!!
The whole point of not being exposed to different cultures etc. all depends where you live. The public school I went to was out in the high desert and we did not have a multi-cultural student body, and I still knew how to deal in the real world. I have had some agressive people question my decision to homeschool (at church no less) and I just say this is what is best for us and our children right now. I often find that those that attack homeschooling just want to justify their schooling choices to themselves. Great post!
You have a point Angela, of the people I know it is the ones who feel guilty about leaving their children in the public school system who are most hostile to homeschooling.
I had one lady tell me that the public school system in our district sucked and that IF her family could afford to they would send their children to a private school BUT THAT SHE WOULD NEVER HOMESCHOOL BECUAUSE HOMESCHOOLED CHILDREN MISS OUT ON SO MUCH SOCIALLY AND ARE MISFITS AS A RESULT!
Boy did she get a shock when she discovered we were one of those weird homeschooling families. She kept telling me how normal my kids were like it was some sort of miracle.
Ditto the post and the comments so far. It is sad when a parent can't comprehend families enjoying each other's company. It is ignorant to assume that HSers never leave the house and don't know who Luke Skywalker is, because you know you can't get a job in America unless you are well-versed in cultural icons. [roll eyes]
I have been involved in afterschool programs in our area for the last few years, and in the local elementary schools I have seen *very few* kids of other ethnic groups.
Does it sound elitist to say I feel sorry for wrekehavoc? And can I just say that I often wonder why folks pick the usernames they do? Is that how they want to be perceived? Just a thought.
I find it odd that someone who claims to care so much for diversity would argue against it when it comes to educational diversity. You would think we homeschoolers would be one more beautiful exotic flower in the the vase of multiculturalism/diversity.
SLM
I was also wondering how all those homeschoolers managed to be isolationists since she sees tribes of them at the park.
Good point SLM
You would think we homeschoolers would be one more beautiful exotic flower in the the vase of multiculturalism/diversity.
Apparently they are only willing to tolerate the diversity and multiculturalism of a few pet groups.
sunniemom, I have always been mystified by the people that claim that homeschoolers are isolationist when they claim to see them everywhere. Apparently we have super powers that allow us to be holed up at home while appearing to be all over the place.
Post a Comment