Home Schooling

Discussion in 'The Cocktail Lounge' started by Rainman, Nov 4, 2015.

  1. kgord

    kgord Senior Investor

    Joined:
    Aug 2015
    Posts:
    617
    Likes Received:
    1
    I think it is a personal choice. Some home schooled children go on to do very well. I think they do need exposure to other kids though like with sports or scouts. I think they need to participate in community activities as well. Not every parent has the patience to do home schooling, but if they do and they would like to, I think they should try it.
     
  2. L_B

    L_B Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2015
    Posts:
    356
    Likes Received:
    2
    It depends on the situation. As long as the child is getting the proper education and is given a chance to interact with other children in other ways then it shouldn't be a problem. If the person homeschooling them isn't education enough to teach them properly then it is not doing them any good and keeping them sheltered from others and life in general is not right. I know a person who home schools her daughter because she was bullied at school. Kids can be so cruel. She is doing much better in a home school environment. So I would say that it depend on each individual case and the children involved.
     
  3. abcdefghi

    abcdefghi Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2015
    Posts:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    Homeschooled kids are typically very well socialized. I would argue that most of them are better socialized than public school students.

    As homeschoolers, interaction with other students is encouraged. Most HS learning is interactive. Co-ops encourage discussion amongst peers. As a PS student you are told to sit down and shut up.

    As for interacting with children "of the same age" I ask, what difference does it make? Are all your co-workers the same age as you? My homeschooled high school aged child has groups with children of only high school age. She has groups that are all ages. She has dual enrollment classes at local colleges where she's with mostly freshman college students. She mentors the younger kids, identifies with the kids her age, and learns from the older kids. Seems like a much better deal to me...
     
  4. abcdefghi

    abcdefghi Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2015
    Posts:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    I'd argue that kids can learn to stand up for themselves and others without being bullied.

    There are plenty of community activities for homeschoolers to be involved in. The reality is that homeschoolers have more flexibility to be involved. My daughter volunteers at a local hospital, is involved in the local gay/straight alliance, works part time, and is a competitive cheerleader. She does all this while keeping up with a full course load which includes dual enrollment at a local college. I don't feel that she is at all disadvantaged when it comes time to apply to college.

    Also, as an anecdote.... there have been homeschoolers that have gone on to Ivy League schools, including Harvard.
     
  5. Penny

    Penny Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2015
    Posts:
    223
    Likes Received:
    1
    I completely disagree that what children learn is entirely up to the parents. If the parents want to withhold certain opportunities from the child, the state must prevent them from doing so. Many parents are selfish and would simply use children as labor and caretakers and leave them illiterate if they were allowed to.

    The child is a human with human rights from birth, not a "pet" kept by the parents for their own gratification. One of those rights is a well-rounded education so that they can choose their own path as an adult and not have doors slammed in their faces by ignorant or selfish parents.

    How those educational needs are met is in fact up to the parents, but they cannot provide anything less than a full curriculum including literacy, numeracy, science, social skills etc, by law. And I fully support that requirement.
     
  6. abcdefghi

    abcdefghi Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2015
    Posts:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    All of those things are already addressed by Homeschool law which requires parents to provide an education "equal in thoroughness and efficiency" to the the public schools. Also, labor laws address your issue of parents using their children as forced labor. Also, I feel bad for you that you have such a pessimistic outlook on life. I'd like to think that the majority of parents are not selfish and do want what is best for their children.
     
  7. JR Ewing

    JR Ewing Super Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 2014
    Posts:
    4,950
    Likes Received:
    39
    Yeah, and I think it's dangerous and unwise for people to believe that their children or children in general are property of the state rather than property of the parents, and that the state must know better than the parents what is best for the children.
     
  8. abcdefghi

    abcdefghi Member

    Joined:
    Nov 2015
    Posts:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    Absolutely! Of course we all want to protect children, but to me that means protecting them from neglect and abuse. It does not mean "protecting" them from differences in morals, values, or child rearing philosophies. There are plenty of things other parents do that I completely disagree with; some of them I feel very strongly about. However, I will defend any parent's right to raise their child however they see fit, despite the fact that I disagree with them.
     

Share This Page