Disgraceful

Why Homeschool: Update on teacher who had students vote a boy out of class

Tragedy at Holocaust Museum used to take a potshot at homeschoolers.

Apparently some people have to take a potshot at homeschooling no matter what the subject is.

One of the many reasons parents use as a reason for homeschooling is that it protects their children from the violence in public schools. In this particular situation, homeschooling would not have protected these children. This could have been a home school group instead of a group of people with common ties to a local public middle school.

Well at least Lynda Altman realizes homeschoolers do get out of the house.

Carnival of Homeschooling

Drop by Principled Discovery to check out the Field Guide Edition.

What you can learn in a homeschool

Frog Guts, Jell-o and Character by Laura Snyder is her attempt to explain what lessons she thinks your kids will not learn if they are homeschooled and why her kids are still enrolled in public schools that she finds lacking.

I’ve found that the public school system can provide certain benefits that homeschooling could not. These are not necessarily academic benefits, but they are things that all children should know.

For example, my 7th grader dissected a frog in school recently. This is something that I couldn’t do at home. Maybe some parents could, but my stomach is not equipped for gore. My son, however, had no problem describing it in detail at the dinner table. He even told me that one child was sent to the principal’s office because he was playing with his frog and making it dance. A disemboweled dancing frog was apparently too much for the teacher.

Well first off there is nothing gory about dissecting a frog. We not only dissected a frog we dissected a starfish, crayfish, fish, clam and an earthworm (dissection kit). And while no one made the frog dance, we did learn a lot. The son who would have probably happily made the frog as well as the earthworm dance was allergic to the preservative. We worked around his allergy by allowing him to watch through the glass on the garage door.

My daughter was grossed out because frog guts reminded her of the spaghetti that was served in the cafeteria for lunch that day.

Also, she said, the roll was hard, the lettuce was limp, the tomato was rotten, the chocolate milk was warm and her straw had a hole in it, which is why she had a chocolate stain on her new shirt.

Not eating her lunch was probably the reason she ate all of her dinner before my son got to his frog story. Another benefit to public school: Nothing builds character like cafeteria food.

One of the benefits of homeschooling is being able to serve healthy nutritious meals to your children. You can also teach them how to prepare healthy nutritious meals for themselves, create a shopping list and select the best priced item at the grocery store. Real life skills they will need when they are on their own.

“Sucking Jell-o through a straw is okay, but your teacher gets mad if you blow it out!”

Well, that is something I never knew. He certainly wouldn’t have learned that while homeschooling, that’s for sure.

Well my kids managed to learn that while being homeschooled, although it was Mom who got mad when they blew it out. They also learned about mixing a lot of beverages together to make unique drinks and other "kid things".

Those Safe Public Schools?

Hillsborough County prosecutors allege the four boys raped the 13-year-old victim multiple times over two months with a broomstick and hockey stick.

The prosecutor said the victim's screams could be heard outside the boys' locker room at Walker Middle School, in southern Tampa, where the allegedly assaults took place.

Multiple people witnessed the attacks, but no one reported the incidents, including the victim, Hindman said.

HT: HERP&ES

Great Homeschooling Post

Drop by 52 Churches and read

208: It’s True. I Only Homeschool to Piss Off Other People, Part I

Who does the brainwashing parents or public school teachers?

JESSE SCACCIA seems to think homeschool parents brainwash their children, these are what he feels are the risk of homeschooling and my rebuttal.

1. The “Othering” of Public School Students

Apparently it's OK for Jesse Scaccia to criticize homeschooling, homeschool parents and homeschool students but how dare we turn the tables and criticize the public schools and public school students. Apparently it never dawns on Scaccia that he is guilty of the very thing he is accusing homeschoolers of, intolerance. That said the majority of kids who attend public schools are nice kids, unfortunately it is the the trouble makers that make the headlines. Just as homeschoolers are stereotyped at geeky public school students have been stereotyped as troublemakers, sex crazed and drug users. Stereotypes that are not fair to either homeschoolers or public school students.

2. Too Much Control From One (Or Highly Limited) Information Sources

The problem with homeschooling is that the parents construct the learning environment. By so doing, they hand choose what elements of society their child is exposed to. If you don’t think this is dangerous, I don’t know what to say to you. A child taught by parents– even a group of parents– is being made privy to a paucity of the viewpoints and perspectives out there. Given that the homeschooler is likely to choose like-minded suplementary teachers (morally, ethically), this leaves the child, basically, in a position of being brainwashed.

Homeschooling isn't about control and our information sources are not limited. Just like public school students homeschoolers use the Internet, they watch TV, listen to the radio, download MP3's and chat with friends. We do not live in a vacuum.

3. It Takes A Myriad of Worldviews To Build A True Educational Environment

Even more importantly, we all agree that accepting others with different viewpoints is paramount to being a good, well-rounded person. Well, how can a child learn to accept and appreciate others if they aren’t around them?

Apparently it's impossible for Scaccia as he appears to be incapable of accepting homeschoolers, even though he is a product of the enlightened and tolerant public schools. As hard as it for Scaccia to grasp we do get out of the house. We meet people in our neighborhoods, in our community, at the grocery and at various other places.

The goal of education should be to teach one to think for themselves. Not as Scaccia believes to ram beliefs down a student's throat. Scaccia's real problem with homeschooling seems to be that he will miss the opportunity to "brainwash" some students who are lucky enough not to wind up in his classroom because they were homeschooled.

The Case for Homeschooling

Public school teachers must be really worried about their job security if they have to stoop to writing post criticizing homeschooling The case against homeschooling By JESSE SCACCIA. HT: Principled Discovery Do homeschoolers care too much?

Here are my (JESSE SCACCIA) top ten reasons why homeschooling parents are doing the wrong thing:

10. “You were totally home schooled” is an insult college kids use when mocking the geeky kid in the dorm (whether or not the offender was home schooled or not). And… say what you will… but it doesn’t feel nice to be considered an outsider, a natural outcropping of being homeschooled.

This reeks of desperation. I mean ADULTS are suppose to make educational choices for their children based on insults college kids use. Am I to infer that Jesse Scaccia would advocate removing children from public schools if college kids were to start using the phrase "You were totally public schooled" as an insult. And while Jesse Scaccia may view homeschoolers as "outsiders" others do not.

9. Call me old-fashioned, but a students’ classroom shouldn’t also be where they eat Fruit Loops and meat loaf (not at the same time I hope). It also shouldn’t be where the family gathers to watch American Idol or to play Wii. Students–from little ones to teens–deserve a learning-focused place to study. In modern society, we call them schools.

I like to think the world is our classroom.

8. Homeschooling is selfish. According to this article in USA Today, students who get homeschooled are increasingly from wealthy and well-educated families. To take these (I’m assuming) high achieving students out of our schools is a disservice to our less fortunate public school kids. Poorer students with less literate parents are more reliant on peer support and motivation, and they greatly benefit from the focus and commitment of their richer and higher achieving classmates.

As a parent I am responsible for making sure MY CHLDREN get the best education possible. No one has a problem with wealthy parents sending their children to the best colleges or the best private schools, so why are homeschoolers accused of being selfish for providing their children with the best education available to them. Jesse Scaccia argument smacks of socialism. I suppose Scaccia thinks we should all live in public housing because not everyone can afford a nice house.

7. God hates homeschooling. The study, done by the National Center for Education Statistics, notes that the most common reason parents gave as the most important was a desire to provide religious or moral instruction. To the homeschooling Believers out there, didn’t God say “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”? Didn’t he command, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me”? From my side, to take your faithful children out of schools is to miss an opportunity to spread the grace, power and beauty of the Lord to the common people. (Personally I’m agnostic, but I’m just saying…)

Well personally I could care less how God feels about homeschooling, apparently Jesse Scaccia is one of those people who believe those stupid homeschool stereotypes. Memo: ALL HOMESCHOOLERS ARE NOT CHRISTIAN FUNDEMENTALIST. In fact there are agnostic homeschoolers.

6. Homeschooling parent/teachers are arrogant to the point of lunacy. For real! My qualifications to teach English include a double major in English and education, two master’s degrees (education and journalism), a student teaching semester and multiple internship terms, real world experience as a writer, and years in the classroom dealing with different learning styles. So, first of all, homeschooling parent, you think you can teach English as well as me? Well, maybe you can. I’ll give you that. But there’s no way that you can teach English as well as me, and biology as well as a trained professional, and history… and Spanish… and art… and counsel for college as well as a school’s guidance counselor… and… and…

And we all know ALL public school teachers are as well educated as Jesse Scaccia (LOL). The beauty of homeschooling is PARENTS DO NOT HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING THEMSELVES. We join homeschool co-ops where parents teach classes that they are proficient in, we hire tutors, we enroll our children in college classes for dual credit, we take advantage of classes offered by museums for homeschool students. The list of resources available to homeschoolers is endless.

5. As a teacher, homeschooling kind of pisses me off. (That’s good enough for
#5.)

As a homeschooler Jesse Scaccia attitude toward homeschooling pisses me off. # 5 is a poor reason on Jesse Scaccia's part, apparently Scaccia was grasping at straws to find a #5. I know many public school teachers who are supportive of homeschooling. In fact I know some public school teachers who have "retired" in order to homeschool their own children.

4. Homeschooling could breed intolerance, and maybe even racism. Unless the student is being homeschooled at the MTV Real World house, there’s probably only one race/sexuality/background in the room. How can a young person learn to appreciate other cultures if he or she doesn’t live among them?

Jesse Scaccia displays a remarkable lack of tolerance for homeschoolers. Could it be because he is a product of PUBLIC SCHOOLS????? This criticism is so OUTDATED. Scaccia please keep up with the times, homeschoolers are a diverse bunch (more on homeschool diversity here) and there are INCLUSIVE Homeschool Groups.

3. And don’t give me this “they still participate in activities with public school kids” garbage. Socialization in our grand multi-cultural experiment we call America is a process that takes more than an hour a day, a few times a week. Homeschooling, undoubtedly, leaves the child unprepared socially.

Really that explains why the "Soccer Mom" didn't realize there were four homeschooled kids on her sons soccer team, see my post But They Are So Normal.

2. Homeschooling parents are arrogant, Part 2. According to Henry Cate, who runs the Why Homeschool blog, many highly educated, high-income parents are “probably people who are a little bit more comfortable in taking risks” in choosing a college or line of work. “The attributes that facilitate that might also facilitate them being more comfortable with home-schooling.

”More comfortable taking risks with their child’s education? Gamble on, I don’t know, the Superbowl, not your child’s future.

I don't think homeschooling is gambling with your child's future. It was very rewarding for us. My eldest son started college at 16. This is his senior year and he will graduate with a BS Degree in Computer Science. My youngest son starts college this fall.

1. And finally… have you met someone homeschooled? Not to hate, but
they do tend to be pretty geeky***.

Nice if you can't come up with a good reason insult them. I attended public school there were "geeky kids" , "weird kids" and other "social misfits" in my public school classrooms. Even though they had attended public school their whole life they never really fit in. If you attend public school be honest; you know some too.

Public School Teacher shoots live in companion

A Moss Point High teacher has posted a $25,000 bond and been released in a criminal charge alleging she shot her live-in companion, said Police Sgt. Joycelyn Craig.

The Carnival of Homeschooling - the Baby Bop edition

The Cate's welcome their son into the family with Why Homeschool: The Carnival of Homeschooling - the Baby Bop edition

Professional Public School Teacher Arrested for Theft From the PTA

A former Pascagoula elementary school teacher has been arrested in Mobile and charged with the theft of $20,000 from a Mobile elementary school PTA before she came to work in Pascagoula.

Jacqueline Johnson-Paige of Mobile is accused of using the Craighead Elementary School PTA debit card to book about a dozen hotel rooms and to rent a storage facility while employed at the Mobile school and acting as the teacher and PTA treasurer from January 2004 to August 2006, according to the Mobile County District Attorney’s office.

Reflections on Homeschooling Part II ~The Annoyance Factor

Amy Platon's ranting about a Home School Epidemic? on her blog Scribble Ink Cafe and in the Orlando Sentinel My Word: Amy Platon: Home-schoolers, don't quit system is a prime example of those annoying people homeschoolers will have to deal with. ( See Dana Hanley's charming rebuttal Should homeschoolers stick with the system? at Principled Discovery). She's typical of those who know nothing about homeschooling but feel their ill formed opinion about homeschooling is worthy of broadcasting, thus perpetrating those infuriating homeschool stereotypes (more of my post on homeschool stereotypes can be found here).

As an involved parent, I have elected the public school route. I could never home school my child because I personally don’t think it’s fair to him. He would have to put up with me all day, and as much as we love each other, that would be too much of a good thing. Also, I don’t think I’m qualified. I pay professionals to do lots of things in my life, and when we are talking about my child’s education, I feel I’m better as a support. Then there is the social factor. I know my boy would never forgive me if I told him he couldn’t go to school. He’s made too many great friends there.

There in nothing unfair about choosing to homeschool your child. I would never question another parents decision to send their child to public school and find it highly offensive that Ms. Platon chooses to question my decision to homeschool. I am not sure what planet Ms. Platon lives on but the majority of homeschool parents do not stay home alone all day "putting up with their kids". We join homeschool co-ops, homeschool groups, go on field trips and sign our children up for recreational sports leagues, Boy/Girl Scouts and a whole host of other activities.

Some people choose to engage professionals for a host of things that other individuals choose to tackle on their own. I have been blessed with a husband who can do a multitude of task; plumbing, wiring, fixing computers, laying tile, painting, building greenhouses and working on our vehicles that others choose to pay professionals to do. Just because you choose to engage a professional doesn't mean that another family should have too.

Then Ms. Platon brings up the socialization issue (more post on socialization here). Did her son not have friends until he started school? Homeschooled children play with the children in their neighborhood, with other homeschooled children at park days and other homeschool get togethers, and the children who participate in the various other activities they participate in. As they grow older they keep in touch with their friends via cell phones and the Internet. Socialization is so not a issue.

The part of this growing home-school trend that worries me, is that we will end up with adults who have learned that if the system is not good enough, then leave it. If the work’s not good enough, do it yourself. If you fear it, quit.

Does she really expect parents to keep their children in an inferior system if there is something better available just because it's what the majority of parents choose to do? Would she really put up with a shoddy job by a professional IF she could do it better? And does she really think parents should put their children in harms way?

Ms. Platon's attitude is indicative of the morass that has lead to the economic woes Americans are currently embroiled in. Our grandparents generation and to some extent our parents generation had a "can do" attitude that is sadly lacking in most of today's generation. Once most people performed most of their own home and automotive maintenance, a man/woman who was handy around the house was admired. Today being able to "hire someone" to do the work is viewed as a mark of success and the handy man is held in disdain by the Ms. Platon's of the world.

Home-schooled children are kept all to themselves, and others like them, unable to influence the kids who really need it. If you are a good parent, then be a good parent and send your child out into the world so he can make a difference. I will speak for my son, we (the future society) need you to be check in with the rest of us. We need to grow together. We need to learn from each other.

Oh please, homeschoolers are a very diverse group (more post on homeschool diversity here), and homeschooled children are NOT kept all to themselves. Why is it that non-homeschoolers believe homeschoolers live in some sort of bubble? Homeschoolers are involved in their communities and are involved in volunteer work, believe me homeschoolers do make a difference and we don't need the sanctimonious public school Mom Amy Platon to tell us the importance of being engaged involved citizens.

So that said, I’ll tell you how I settle my personal fears, with the public school what-ifs. I volunteer in my child’s class. I help the teacher where she needs it, and I get to know the other kids in the class. I encourage play dates with his classmates, so I can get to know other parents. I go to all the birthday parties we are invited to.

Her naivety is amusing I wonder what she is going to do when her child is older and she is no longer welcome in the classroom.

I help my child with areas where he needs improvement at home. I help him excel in key areas at home and over the summer.

Jeez I wonder if she realizes how contradictory that statement is, she does not think she is qualified to homeschool but works with her child in key areas after school and over the summer.

And finally, I've turned off the news! I Avoid it at all costs!

Well there is an intelligent attitude ignore the news, yep I am sure that if she ignores all the bad things that happen in her child's public school and the rest of the world they will just go away.

If this post reaches even one parent confused about this issue, I hope I have inspired you to stay involved in your community by participating in the public school system.

You don't have to participate in the public school system to be involved in your community. Unfortunately if some confused parent did read her post all they came away with was erroneous homeschool stereotypes and misinformation.

Written by a former homeschool parent whose children are now in college.

The Carnival of Homeschooling ............

can be found at The Common Room this week.

Reflections on Homeschooling Part 1 ~ Getting Started

We never intended to be a homeschooling family. When our eldest reached school age we happily sent him off to Kindergarten. When my youngest started school I became a substitute teacher at their schools. Then some snobby woman with connections to the school board decided that her taste in clothing should be inflicted on all the students who were unfortunate enough to attend the same school as her child and the mandatory public school uniform policy was born. A policy we opposed, click here and here to see why.

After we lost the court case ( Brody v. The Jackson County School Board) we examined our options. The only private schools in our area are religious and mostly Catholic. We didn't feel comfortable sending our children to a school that had religious beliefs different then our own. So we researched homeschooling on the Internet. The most difficult part of getting started was finding secular textbooks. After we finally found textbooks we were happy with we started looking for Homeschooling Support Groups. At that time the only groups in our area were Christian Groups who required a statement of faith to join. Now thankfully there is an INCLUSIVE group called PEAK that we belong to.

So with our secular textbooks and our inclusive group we were ready to get started on our homeschooling journey.............

Part II

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Homeschool Dad is hosting this weeks Carnival of Homeschooling.

Homeschool Injustice, Homeschool Discrimination or Just Angry Women Getting A Divorce?

I am probably going to make a lot of enemies with this post, but I am very trouble by the way some bloggers are attempting to manipulate homeschoolers. We have the blogs Homeschool Injustice and Homeschool Discrimination, which given their names one would think dealt with homeschooling issues. But they don't they are both blogs about women who are in the midst of messy divorces. Both women are angry that the courts have ordered their children into public or private schools. Both feel that their parental rights are being violated and both feel the Father shouldn't have any rights, and in both instances the Father has requested that his children be sent to public or private school. I think it's a moot point that in the past the Father was OK with homeschooling, people including Father's are allowed to change their minds about what is in the best interest of their children.

Neither case is a homeschooling issue and as we are not privy to the personal details that may lead a judge to rule in favor of the Father's request to send the children to public school we should stay out of it.

Judges are ruling in favour of homeschooling in divorce cases, we do not need to march, protest, or rally the troops in those instances when judges decide public school is in the children's best interest.

From Court Monitor
Staub V Staub
This decision thereby recognized that home schooling is equivalent in merit to public schooling. While the Court left the ultimate power in the hands of family court to decide the educational fate of children after divorce, this ruling sets an important precedent by placing home schooling on footing equal to public schooling.
Staub v. Staub, 2008 PA Super 251 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2008). http://www.superior.court.state.pa.us/opinions/A13018_08.PDF.

The key to the judges ruling in Staub v. Staub seems to be the Mother's attitude toward the Father and his ability to participate in the homeschooling if he choose.

If homeschooling is on an equal footing with public schooling then homeschoolers aren't being discriminated against and there is no injustice involved. As they should the courts will look at the cases on an individual basis and make the decision they feel is best for the children. The children may not be thrilled with the decision (especially if the parent who loses bleats on and on about how awful the decision is), the parent who loses won't be happy but there is no injustice or discrimination involved.

It's official

85% of the voters want Alasandra's Homeschool Blog Awards to continue. I'll need a nifty badge/button for 2009. So feel free to put on your thinking caps and submit one. Badges/Buttons can be submitted anytime before August 1st. During August the badges/buttons will be voted on and one will be chosen. In September I'll ask for nominees.

Fundamentalist bloggers spreading misinformation again

Courtroom injustices are all the rage on fundamentalist homeschooling blogs and Wing (er I mean World) Net Daily. Of course they never bother to get their facts straight.

This is what really happened courtesy of Right Juris.Com

Now back to the story. There are clear warnings posted at the Courthouse to turn off your cell phones and not to use them in the Courtroom. She is being held for warning her husband about the actions that the opposing party were taking to collect the debt. I am sure this sounds pretty innocent, but think about what would happen if this type of behavior were allowed to go unpunished. Parties would simply have text messages sent out from the Courtroom instructing third parties to hide or dispose of assets if a hearing did not look favorable. It’s the content of the text that really got her into trouble with the Judge. I know I’m going to sound like the crotchety old man here, but people these days have no sense of manners when it comes to text messaging. Text messages in church, class, driving, and other equally inappropriate places is a huge problem. This type of behavior needs to be dealt with.

Mrs. Henwood was released from jail today after talking to the judge and having him explain why he put her in jail.

Not this Woman gets 30 days in jail for texting in court

Perhaps the fundamentalist bloggers should get more savvy and rely on something other the Wing Nut Daily for their information.

Homeschooling in nothing like creationism

I always enjoy the thoughtful post at Principled Discovery, Homeschooling as a protest movement is such a post.

This lead me to read Objections to evolution arise from incorrect interpretation of the facts Posted by Lawrence Kapture. I agree with a lot of his post, but I am infuriated by his assumption that all homeschoolers are anti-evolution idiots. Many homeschoolers BELIVE IN EVOLUTION and teach the theory of evolution to our children.

Homeschooling is essentially a protest movement. Regardless of motivation, homeschoolers believe public schools are unable to prepare their children to live in the world.

There is nothing inherently wrong with protesting. Many important reforms (Civil Rights to name one) have been enacted due to people protesting behavior they believed to be wrong. I proudly admit that my family left the Jackson County Public Schools in PROTEST of the mandatory public school uniform policy and it's socialist overtones. But we choose homeschooling because of the many opportunities and benefits it offered to my family.

Unfortunately, what homeschooling can do is isolate children from the market of ideas, especially when it comes to biological science. There is a large amount of fringe literature published by religious groups that support the claims of creationists while providing no real information about the vast field of evolutionary biology.

Homeschooling does not isolate children from "ideas" anymore then the public schools do. In fact many homeschooling parents understand the difference in a scientific theory like evolution and Aunt Betty's theory of who shot JR. We embrace the field of evolutionary biology and make sure our children are well educated in science.

Homeschooling allows families to isolate their children from good information by providing them only with information that is comfortable with their own biases.

Homeschoolers have a wealth of information at their fingertips. Homeschooled children are just as capable of navigating the Internet as public school students are. Frankly I am amazed at the ignorant people who assume homeschoolers are isolated from the world.

Like homeschooling is a protest against public schools, creationism is a protest against anything that opposes a literal interpretation of the Bible. When it comes to the origins of life, creationism is not a scientifically educated movement.

Homeschooling is nothing like creationism. Creationism is a religious belief. It has nothing to do with science and does not belong in a science classroom. Homeschooling is an educational choice, just like sending your child to public school or private school is an educational choice.

A good reason for homeschoolers to protest

Actually this is a good reason for all Americans to be up in arms not just homeschoolers, that is IF it was TRUE.