Comments on: Why Should You Home School Your Children?

By: Anne Gilbert

Anne Gilbert — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:03:15 +0000

Like Bob, I, too, have mixed feelings about homeschooling. I think in some cases, for some kids, and some parents, it may be a good idea. Whether or not to homeschool also depends on the quality of education available locally, and what sort of time and energy the parents have. It is not always possible for parents to homeschool their kids properly, and I don’t think most of these “Christian crazies” that write the kind of stuff Gred supplied us with, above, make a very good case for homeschooling at all. But then, most of the parents I know, who homeschool, are not doing it for these kinds of “religious” reasopns, but rather because their kids may not otherwise get the kind of education t hey need.

I do agree with Bob, though, about the “downsides” of homeschooling, namely the lack of interaction many homeschooled kids have with their peers. A good school, carefully monitored by astute parents, can do wonders for a child.
Anne G

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:40:35 +0000

I should clarify one thing in my comment above, the rant about not going to a “normal” school was more broadly intended to refer to the poor state of science education, especially in Texas.

I’m of a mixed opinion on homeschooling. I don’t trust the quality of the local public schools, there’s no way I’d subject my (hypothetical) kids to parochial education, and there’s no guarantee of having an affordable private secular school nearby (and don’t get me started on the whole “voucher” and “charter school” scam.) The alternatives are to homeschool or to move someplace where the public schools don’t suck (i.e. someplace buried in snow for nine months of the year…)

The other side of the coin is that kids need socialization and group activities that just aren’t available outside a larger organization. The kids need academic peers and regular interaction, more than soccer games once a week. The kids need to be away from their parents and, maybe more importantly, the parents need to be away from their kids. I can only imagine the amount of time and effort it would take on the part of parents to give their kids the same overall quality of experience you’d get in a typical school setting, even if the parents had the background in math, science, literature, humanities, physical training, industrial & home arts, etc. as well as the ability to teach.

With sensible parents, a motivated student, and individualized instruction, I have no doubt that the child can do great things, homeschooled or traditionally schooled. My impression is that those cases exist but are rare and that most homeschooling is done to protect children from anything that might challenge their parents’ dogma.

PS: Where did my umlauted “O” go? Something ate the nice Ö in “Blue Öyster Cult”…

By: Mike Easter

Mike Easter — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:10:30 +0000

I was homeschooled the whole way through to high school, but most (but not all) of the hs’ed kids I know/knew were not the crazy fundy types. To be sure, I’ve seen that sort of missive before; watered down, I think it’s one of the main reasons for people around here to homeschool. My parents certainly let religion color their decision to homeschool me and my siblings. But considering the quality of the schools around here, I’d say they made an excellent choice.

Having Christian-themed science textbooks was…interesting, especially when I got to biology in college, but by then I was more “balanced” in my views and got big laughs at the expense of other kids trying to argue against evolution in class. Simply, being homeschooled does not equate to being bad in science: on my end, it was more because I played too much Halo during the semester.

By: Chad

Chad — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:06:51 +0000

I’m another ex-homeschooler (~year and a half in elementary) who ended up in science. I remember a few social activities that my mother made me attend while being homeschooled and they were full of Christian fundies. Yes, they were nice, but they were also crazy. After two of those experiences not only did I not want to go to any more of them, but neither did my mother.

By: Chuck C

Chuck C — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 10:17:53 +0000

So it is not just fear of public schools, or fear of society in general, but fear of fellow Christians. I had no idea.

Good lord: hating other Christians is what Christians do best.

By: Becca

Becca — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:52:23 +0000

*obligatory coming out of the wordwork*
Some of us former homeschoolers are the science geeks to.
Crazy-fundamentalist-Christianity is really the motivation for homeschooling only for a (albeit vocal) minority of homeschoolers.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:48:16 +0000

Dude, I totally saw Blue Ã?yster Cult at the Colosseum back in ’82 – they were awesome!!!

Seriously though, there’s a girl in my art welding class who was homeschooled. She’s nice enough but when the instructor tried to explain very basic flame chemistry (oxygen plus stuff equals fire) to her, she was mostly lost. Note to kids taking middle-school chemistry: yes, you might actually need to remember that experiment with electrolysis, hydrogen, oxygen and the glowing wooden splint, especially if you take a welding class.

The upside is that she doesn’t argue about turning off the oxygen before turning off the acetylene. 🙂

For better or worse, I think I established myself as the science geek in the class so the instructor pokes at me to help explain capillary action “Er, it has to do with … um … surface tension, and … uh … DAMMIT, DIDN’T ANY OF YOU GO TO A NORMAL SCHOOL WHERE THEY DID THAT THING WITH THE FOOD COLORING AND THE CELERY?!? NO WONDER THIS STATE IS FULL OF RETARDS!“

By: the real cmf

the real cmf — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 23:41:34 +0000

ahhh “The Collissians”. I love them too, they so many hits….oh wait, that was the “Colliseums”