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Greater Basilisk wrote:
There are a lot of schools out there now that offer these programs that try to give individual attention to each student. I guess they’re quite fine. But I still have no love for public schools – not for the curricula, not for the discipline. I know a lot of parents don’t have the patience to teach their own kids. I’m anything but patient by nature too, but I’ve decided that when I have kids, I’ll teach them myself, because I’ll know best what they need and I will want them to come out of school with a real education, knowing more than the reproductive procedure and the latest slang. Socrates and Aristotle aren’t always right, but they were great thinkers and I’ll want my kids to build on the shoulders of the great mean who went before. I will want my kids to know why Bismarck was important to world history, because those who know history won’t keep repeating it like the rest of the world. I don’t think education should concentrate on getting some stupid paper. Education is about dealing with life in every aspect, not just getting a certificate that should help you get a job.
I do agree, I could never teach him myself though, he thrives in a public situation, he needs to have other children around, and he is my only one. But at the same time as good as his elementary school is I have reservations about the junior and senior high schools here. I live in a city that school kids can make up to 15 bucks an hour at MacDonalds. They are very over-priveledged youth, I know one 17 year old that has tried more drugs that I can think of, it just isnt right. If I still live here when he hits grade 8 I am pretty sure he will be going to a private school 5 hours away. Homeschooled or not, here he would still hang out with these other kids.
SPark wrote:I think the biggest thing with homeschool is that it’s only as good as the teachers. So… it ranges from horrid to amazing. The public school system more or less evens things out.
That’s true, but you have to admit that the public school quality now is extremely low. It used to be way higher.
Ruff, it sounds like your son isn’t too badly off with his school. As long as the environment of drugs and whatnot doesn’t suck him in, at least he’ll learn what he needs to know to get a real life.Wow, I fear for Kyle. I honestly think I might be able to convince my husband to move back to Belton (my hometown) to raise our son in a year or two. It’s a small town, good teachers, talented/gifted and honors classes. I was never exposed to drugs or alcohol but that could be because of the company I kept. I don’t want Kyle raised in the Austin school district!
Small towns are much more child-friendly in every way anyway. It’s bound to be better for him, and the schools sound good. Big-city schools are the pits where gangs breed and drugs rule…
CherylKaufman wrote:Wow, I fear for Kyle. I honestly think I might be able to convince my husband to move back to Belton (my hometown) to raise our son in a year or two. It’s a small town, good teachers, talented/gifted and honors classes. I was never exposed to drugs or alcohol but that could be because of the company I kept. I don’t want Kyle raised in the Austin school district!
I went to school for a year in Austin, in middle school.
And yeah…. you probably don’t want him there. Though I don’t know, the year I spent in Kearns Utah was worse, I think.
Greater Basilisk wrote:Okay, time for a defense of homeschooling. 🙂 My parents pulled me out of public school after my first year there. I was constantly done early with work there, and so I got to wash blackboards. It was a waste of time. From there on Mom homeschooled me – and did or does the same for my four younger brothers. Now I’m about to take finals next month for the Matura (a high-school degree on a college level). Brother 1 is an apprentice in a leading electrical company, boss of his own building site after one year of work for them, and the top of his class. Brother 2 is lined up for college in the States. Brother 3 studies music at the Zurich Conservatory and is looking into an apprenticeship with an architect. And Brother 4 is only 7 so he’s still in the works, but he’ll turn out special too. Homeschooling rocks!
For several reasons: I wouldn’t learn anything beneficial if I’d hang around people who are – to be blunt – just as stupid as me all the time. Since classical education with emphasis on the great minds of history is barely existent anymore, public school is, as Ruff nicely put it, a collection of losers. Teachers have no real authority, abuse, sex, drugs and peer pressure rule. The students don’t get individual attention; bright minds are suppressed while laggards fall behind and never catch up, and system turns out nothing but mediocrity.
Personally I think the argument of asocial traits in homeschoolers to be very lame, especially coming from politicians. (We’re fighting them more or less right now.) Because I didn’t go to public school, I never learned to waste a lot of time and money on parties. I’ve never wanted to get drunk or do drugs, and now I’m strong enough to say no to all of it. I have no reason to keep up with the latest fashions – which saves me a lot of money for Windstones and weapons. 😀 Of course it’s good for kids to interact with their own – but not all the time, and especially not taking their peers as teachers. The principle that wise older folks teach the young has gone missing. People who party until they’re 25 never learned that life is really about work, and hyacinths for the soul aren’t the focus. What do they have to show after a life of partying, dragging themselves through something that supports the monthly minimal CC payment on a huge debt, not caring about what happens in the world outside even though it affects them the most? Nothing. As for dragoness’s example of the girl who couldn’t be judicial with men – that is clearly the parents’ fault. An education is only as good as the teacher, and if her parents didn’t bother to teach her about dating, its her loss and their shame. Me, I’m the other extreme. I have yet to meet my first date. But I wouldn’t say it’s because I’m not socialized. I’m just picky.
And finally, the fact that homeschoolers are constantly scoring higher than public schoolers in contests of every imaginable sort speaks for itself.
All right. Now I’ll clear the floor for the next speaker.I have to say, you guys are impressive! It was great of your parents to start you off in life so well. Also, I’m starting to think you’re quite a bit younger than I thought if you’re going for a highschool degree…? And you’re right, public schools can slow smart people down. In my case though… I require competition in order to bother with being smart. Or trying to be smart. I suspect with four brothers, competition wasn’t any problem for you… hehe.
I have never had any inclination towards drinking or drugs, or fashion– but I don’t think it’s because I’m homeschooled, I think it’s because I’m an ornery twerpface that just doesn’t care. Hehe. I reckon I’d be the same way if I went to school. I’ll have to disagree with you about parties, though, because I think they’re quite a lot of fun… and life isn’t about work, it’s about enjoying yourself. So I see it.Greater Basilisk wrote:Small towns are much more child-friendly in every way anyway. It’s bound to be better for him, and the schools sound good. Big-city schools are the pits where gangs breed and drugs rule…
That’s why I don’t go to school… The LA school district SUCKS. Every public school is year round now, too.
I think the type of schooling that is best depends a great deal on the child. Homeschooling is great for some but going to public school is better for others. Assuming of course the school is safe – I live by Plainfield, NJ and the school has barbed wire around it! I went to Catholic grade school and high school and loved it but I know people who hated having nuns. Some of my best teachers ever were Sisters of Mercy. Without getting too political I’ve talked to quite a few teachers who say: no child left behind = every child left behind.
I agree with ddvm. And Chessie, I see what you mean by competition. 😆 But I really have to disagree with you that life is about having fun. However, the reasons for my disagreement go way into politics so I shan’t post them here.
I went to 8 scools in 12 years, so I got around a bit. Public schools in Miami weren’t the best. You kind of get lost in the masses.
Private schools have smaller classes, but you end up dealing with more than a few rich kids with attitudes. I was not one of the rich kids; my mom struggled to send me to Catholic and even Military school (no I did not HAVE to go, I wanted to, then changed my mind after it was too late 😮 ).
The best experience I had was when I moved to PA and went to a small town high school for my senior year. I didn’t know a soul, but I made a few friends (students and teachers both), and I really enjoyed the individual attention I got there.
I was a troubled teen (long story), and they really seemed to care about me there compared to being invisible in Miami. Just my 2 cents.
It is really late and I should be in bed, but I am a bit wired because I am going on my first company business trip tomorrow. WOOHOO! 😀
Tired and wired, not a good combination… 😯 Better go before I say something more stupid than normal…Night all! 😀
Getting into this really late, but here’s my 2 cents…
I think that the parents, not the type of schooling or the school, are the most important factor in determining how well a kid does. If the parents encourage the kid to learn, and instill good values and a desire to succeed, the kid will do well no matter what environment he’s in. Of course I think its best for a kid to be in a good school with other motivated kids, but even in a not-so-good school such a kid would end up avoiding the bad elements and focusing on learning and doing well. At least in my area, even the not-so-good schools have gifted/honors/AP classes that the motivated kids can take. But nowadays, there’s so much information online that a motivated kid can easily learn on his own even if the teachers or classes aren’t that great.
My two brothers and I all went to public schools in a big city, and none of us were ever interested in drinking, drugs, or wild parties, and we were friends with other kids who were also motivated and interested in learning. It was a pretty natural thing for us all to be that way, because with my parents education was always the first priority. But this is also good example of the negative impact that parents can have — my parents emphasized academic success so much that for a long time my self esteem was completely dependent on my academic/professional success, and it was really difficult for me to overcome that kind of thinking. But this all just goes to show the tremendous influence that parents have on their kids.
This isn’t to say that kids with bad parents never do well, or that kids with great parents always do well, because there are plenty of examples to the contrary. But I think that in general, parents have a big role in determining how well their kids do, both in school and in life.
Mimi, that’s a great example of how important parents are to their kids – the logical conclusion being that there is really no better teacher than your own Mom or Dad. If they care, they’ll take the time to show it, either by teaching themselves or by encouraging and helping the kid to learn outside the home. But either way the parent is the first and prime example and teacher.
I totally agree. For better or for worse, the kids will pick up both the good and the bad from their parents, because the formative years are the most important for instilling behavior patterns, and those behavior patterns generally determine how well a kid does to a large extent. Trying to learn or unlearn behaviors as an adult is a lot more difficult.
I think you’re really lucky that your mom had the ability and the time to home school you and your brothers, and you guys are living proof that home schooling does work. Its a great accomplishment for her that all of you are doing so well! But realistically, I think home schooling is impractical for most people. Amongst people I know, both parents have to work because the cost of living is so high. Unless one parent is very highly paid (CEO, VP, etc.) or the parents are already well off, the quality of life would be greatly compromised if one person didn’t work. So the people with kids will pay the huge cost for a house in the best school district possible, or pay to send their kids to a good private school. I think the only downside of the schools I mentioned is that they’re extremely competitive because all of the kids are very motivated, and the kids are at risk of being under too much pressure.
Homeschooling isn’t realistic when both parents have to work to get the family by, I agree. But there the fault isn’t with homeschooling, but rather with a system that has turned against families. I don’t want to get political, but there used to be a time where every Western country had workers in family agriculture businesses, family industry businesses, and family service businesses. Now all we have are monster corporations who outsource every job and then wonder why the standard of living plummets.
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