As Time Goes By ~ CoH

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Homeschoolings advantages far outweigh any preconceived shortcomings

My response to Homeschooling is a bad idea by Sylvia Biu. It's really annoying when these ignorant self opinionated people make all these idiotic statements about a subject they obviously know nothing about.

Biu says

There are notable drawbacks to homeschooling children.

Actually I am not aware of any drawbacks to homeschooling. I found homeschooling to be a very positive experience for both my children and myself. And don't you just love people like Sylvia who state their opinions as FACT.

First, unless a parent is himself a previous honor student or a genius who mastered more than just the three R’s, a child may not receive quality home education.

Well I did graduate with honors, but the majority of public school teachers were just average students who didn't graduate with honors and very few public school teachers are geniuses. Are we suppose to believe their students aren't receiving a quality education due to this? If not why would it be a drawback for homeschoolers?

Now, it (homeschooling) is mostly frowned upon for all but severely disabled children or those otherwise unable to attend school for whatever reason.

Really?????? Exactly who is frowning upon homeschooling? Don't you just love it when homeschool critics like Sylvia Biu start making stuff up.

1.1 Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2003 - July 2004, U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, NCES study - From 1999 to 2003, the number of homeschooled students in the United States increased, as did the homeschooling rate. The increase in the homeschooling rate (from 1.7 percent to 2.2 percent) represents about 0.5 percent of the 2002–03 school-age population and a 29 percent relative increase over the 4-year period.

All the current data indicates that homeschooling is on the rise.

Besides the issue of academics, there is another glaring downside for children: the socialization factor. Socialization per se is training of sorts. Children must learn to interact and get along with others beyond their immediate family members, preferably outside the home. In certain respects, homeschooling is tantamount to retarding a child by isolating him from the outside world. Social alienation may be as important a basis for opposing homeschooling as its other limits. Phobias and disorders in social settings are often salient results of homeschooling, and become most evident once a homeschooled person attempts to interact in the broader society.

OMG, another idiot that thinks homeschoolers sit home all day. News flash homeschoolers interact with the people in their community on a regular basis.

Home Schooling:From the Extreme to the Mainstream - by Patrick Basham, Cato Institute, Public Policy Sources. This paper has established that home schooling is a thriving educational movement both in Canada and the United States. It has also empirically demonstrated that the academic and socialization outcomes for the average home schooled child are superior to those experienced by the average public school student.

In addition, schools can be excellent monitors and whistleblowers for abused and neglected children. In most if not all schools in the United States, attendance records that are maintained draw attention to truants, children whose poor attendance can indicate their predicament. No such oversight occurs for homeschooled children in peril.

There are already laws that protect children from abuse and neglect. The same laws and agencies that protect preschoolers are also there for homeschooled children.

First and foremost, homeschooling and child abuse are separate issues. Attempts to link the two lack any basis in fact. While there may be homeschooling parents who abuse their children, children are not abused because they are homeschooled. There is no de facto connection between child abuse and homeschooling.

Any regulation specifically focusing on preventing child abuse among homeschoolers would ignore the fact that child abuse occurs in the general population, not just in the homeschooling population. Parents of school children and preschoolers are not singled out for special observation. Background checks, home visits, and other invasions of privacy have been suggested as forms of regulation. Singling out a subset of parents for special observation on the basis of suspicion of abuse would be discriminatory. Mere suspicion does not constitute justification for increasing regulation across the board.
From Homeschooling and Child Abuse: A Response to Recent Media Reports

Homeschooling's advantages far outweigh any preconceived shortcomings by Sylvia Biu and other homeschool critics.

My thanks to Consent Of The Governed for the links, more links and information can be found at her blog so be sure to read the post Homeschooling Statistical Studies.

Mississippi Gulf Coast:: Proposed highway route threatens homes

Mississippi Gulf Coast:: Proposed highway route threatens homes