Comments on: A Case Against Home School Athletes

By: the real cmf

the real cmf — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:08:22 +0000

Katrina, don’t tke this the wrong way, but after you said “Homeschoolers register at DoDDS – as homeschoolers – and DoDDS gets the funding. In exchange, homeschoolers are entitled to use the facilities, take classes ala carte, and participate in extracurricular activities.”I LMFAO…..the whole idea of homeschoolers as freeloaders is well documented, and it sounds like the DoDDS is perfect for them.After all, anything that is DD is sure to be an interesting ride–after all, these are the gys who helped implement project MK Ultra, right?http://www.fdrs.org/mkultra_school_children_mind_control.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MKULTRAMarriage made in heaven….

By: Katrina

Katrina — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:30:12 +0000

In contrast, the Department of Defense schools (for overseas military) seem quite happy to have homeschoolers. DoDDS receives their funding based on numbers of registered students. Homeschoolers register at DoDDS – as homeschoolers – and DoDDS gets the funding. In exchange, homeschoolers are entitled to use the facilities, take classes ala carte, and participate in extracurricular activities.It’s a good deal all-around.

By: Mike Haubrich, FCD

Mike Haubrich, FCD — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:19:37 +0000

(And I am in favor of granting access to athletics for homeschool kids.)

By: Mike Haubrich, FCD

Mike Haubrich, FCD — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:17:51 +0000

Kay -I was being flip and didn’t mean to imply that religious reasons were the only ones for which people homeschool. The schools have a very hard time dealing with pupils who have advanced learning skills. My nephew is one. It wasn’t until he was in eighth grade until my sister was able to find a good magnet school for him.The kid is thriving now, and I am glad that your son has you as a parent.Mike

By: Mike Easter

Mike Easter — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:31:14 +0000

There are a lot of homeschool-only sports leagues and teams starting up around my area and around the country for this very reason. But I still managed to play Ultimate frisbee my senior year for North Carolina’s best HS Ultimate team. Must have been because I was 6’2″ and fast…I’d say mixing homeschooled and public schooled kids on a team is an excellent way to start doing something about the “socially retarded” complaint that everybody always brings up.

By: Kay

Kay — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:09:52 +0000

“then it will give them the opportunity to learn that public schools are not the cesspools of sin and drugs that their parents claim. ” Mike HMike, the reasons for homeschooling aren’t always due to regligion. We have 5 year son with a very high IQ. He’s in kindergarten this year and his teacher told me she was concerned that he doesn’t perform at grade level. One of the things she was concerned about was science…This is a kid with whom, five days ago, I had a discussion about how viruses replicate within the cell. He has a pretty good understanding about how the immune system works and had some very insightful questions about the process.Kindergarten is excrutiatingly boring for him. When I asked him about her perception he said “I usually just look around the room thinking about all the things I want to look at then if I have to go to the bathroom I look at the teacher and raise my hand.” One time earlier in the year, He didn’t want to go to school. I asked him why. He replied sarcastically, “What are they gonna do? Teach me how to count to one?” We are considering homeschooling him because there are no resources for his developmental level. We already went through this with our oldest child.On the other hand, I am a former professional athlete. My husband and I have two athletic kids and one non-athletic kid. The five year old is very athletic. This doesn’t mean that he will be an athlete (or a great one), but if I am paying for public school, I think my child should have the same opportunity to earn a scholarship via athletics as any other kid in the public school system–especially since the public school system is failing educate my kid. After all, this isn’t about turf, this is about giving kids opportunities.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 08:12:46 +0000

In Oregon they usually allow home schooled kids to attend sports (paying the same fees other students do for uniforms etc.) and classes ala cart. In Oregon the public school is compensated by the state on a per student basis. Thus there is a lot of incentive to encourage the home schooler to attend a class.As for the comment about the school voucher thing; nice argument in theory. It completely ignores those people in the lower economic bracket who live in an area where the school sucks. You seem to be saying that their school sucks because they didn’t do anything about it. Not everyone is capable of fighting the morass of government beaurocracy. Certainly people on the lower end of the economic ladder are probably less capable of doing so. They usually lack the income necessary to do what a lot of people do which is to move into a neighborhood with good schools. Ask any real estate agent what major deciding factor people use to decide where to buy a house. Sure cost is a factor, but overwhelmingly the quality of the public schools is a major factor. (they want one where the public schools are good)That choice is removed – or at least severely attenuated – for those with less economic resources. We should allow those people a voucher to attend any school. (public or private, up to what the local school is getting) Their voting with their feet would allow their voices to be heard more clearly.There are a lot of places in Europe where they have a voucher system and it has raised the quality of education for all. We should do it here for at least those below a certain income threshold.

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:42:28 +0000

From what I have seen, private schools are generally more maniacal about their sports teams than public school in the same towns.I agree with the previous commenter that the benefits of socializing the home schooled outweigh any costs.But I wonder- if people object to school for moral reasons, how willing are they going to be to let their kids into the lockerroom?

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 22:09:12 +0000

Of course, the 6’3 220 lb (American) footballer plays. Even at the high school level, sports is a big deal. Schools also do things like accept kids out of district, or otherwise not qualified. Greg had it right – it’s to “propel the ol’ alma mater to the finals.” So what about the kids who don’t get to play because they get pushed aside by one of these outsiders? Also are we going to also let private schoolers leave their teams behind and come play on a public school team? That seems good for the private schools. They push their sports off on the public schools, and have more money for academics.I’m not too entirely sure that the parent’s want their kid on the team to socialize. I (cynically?) suggest they want their kid on the team because it’s to their benefit when the college scouts come looking.I wouldn’t mind seeing more sports and activities being community based. There are of some; for example, I think Little League has programs for older teens. Still the funding issue is moot. We all pay taxes for public services whether we need them or not, or whether we choose to replace them with something else. If you want to make that the issue, then I deserve to not pay taxes for public schools at all I have no children, and no plans for any whether they are my own, or are adopted.

By: the real cmf

the real cmf — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 21:34:59 +0000

In my days of High school ball, we had to pay extra costs for our uniforms,and other per sport fees–if the homeschoolers wanna cough that up (i.e. Ginny, taxes do not fully subsidize high school sports) then let ’em play. But make sure they leave their automatic and semi-automatic weapons and other odd ‘boundary crossing behaviors’ at home,with mom.Off topic but on analogy:As for public toilets and the homneless? Yep, Greg that does sound classist to some degree, but is an apt analogy. No one likes the smell of sweaty feet and unwashed clothes wafting by them as the brunch ( I know, because I see the looks on peoples faces as I slip past them into the bathroom to bathe in the restaurant bathroom sink), and yet this is a very important issue–> the homeless are a part of society, and deserve public facilities!!”in New York City, where public bathrooms are often padlocked and the scent in summertime is more likely to be urine than honeysuckle….”Why dose it take us so long to address this real necessity, this fundamental human right of public facilities?http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E5DB1739F933A1575BC0A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=alland another good read”Designing for the Homeless: Architecture That Works By Sam Davis”