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.

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.

Oh Brother, If It's Not the "S" Word, It's the Money

Homeschooling: Education not confined to school walls
A financial impact on school districts By Bryan Marshall



There are 365 homeschool students who would regularly attend a school in the Madison County School District, said Assistant Superintendent Paul Baker.



Based on the average daily attendance rate, the district would receive $4,435 per student if they attended school.“We’re not receiving $1,618,831,” Baker said. “That’s what homeschool costs us.”



At least he was honest enough to admit that after hiring more teachers and buying more materials they wouldn't get the full amount.



“However, I don’t know that we would receive all that money as a plus because with 365 more kids, we’d have to have another 10 or 12 teachers hired,” he said. “You have to figure that, plus you have to have more materials and things like that. Of that $1.6 million, we would gain probably $800,000.”

It really ticks me off when public school officials imply that homeschoolers are costing them money. Why not accuse couples who choose not to have any kids of costing the public schools money, it's just as logical. Homeschoolers like everyone else pay property taxes that support the public schools, without for the most part receiving any of the benefits. And why don't they ever mention how much private schoolers are costing them? Why single out homeschoolers?

Perhaps one of the biggest problems with the public schools is this feeling of entitlement. They seem to see children as nothing more then a warm body to provide state funding to the school district. And they seem to believe they are entitled to your child's warm body even if they don't do an adequate job educating the child or keeping the child safe.

Children are more then a source of state funding and their parents should be able to choose the best educational option for their child.

Bending the Twigs: Homeschooling and "The Mommy Myth"

Bending the Twigs: Homeschooling and "The Mommy Myth"

The authors' bias is obvious in their treatment of the National Center for Educational Statistics study statistic about 30% of the homeschoolers surveyed citing the desire to "provide religious or moral instruction" as their primary motivation for educating their kids at home. Now, those of us inside the homeschooling community know how broad that statement is, and how extremely diverse the group of families are who might concur with it. No one group has a monopoly on morality and people of any faith or none whatsoever might decide to homeschool in order to teach their children in accordance with their family's values.

In my inclusive homeschool group we have pagans, atheist, agnostics, Muslims and many different beliefs represented. Some of them choose to homeschool to "provide religious or moral instructions" to their children. But authors of books like "The Mommy Myth" never take these groups into consideration when writing their dribble. In fact one of the pagan parents in our group confided that she homeschooled because of the Christian bias in the public schools and that one public school teacher told her daughter that she was going to hell because she was a pagan.

Yet to Drs. Douglas & Michaels, they're all ultraconservative fundamentalists motivated by:

"an insistence that their kids never encounter the words 'evolution', 'birth control', or 'Oscar Wilde'."

Guess we aren't real homeschoolers then because I teach evolution, which included having my students read Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, not only have I taught my children about 'birth control' I am pro-choice and we enjoy Oscar Wilde.

Please stop by Bending the Twigs to read her whole post.

Thoughts on the Independents Article on Homeschooling

First why do they always showcase Fundamentalist Christian Homeschooling Families and their Bible Studies? There are plenty of secular homeschoolers who do not start the day with Bible Studies. It would be nice IF articles on homeschoolers showcased the wide diversity amongst homeschooling families instead of making it sound like only Fundamentalist Christians Homeschool.

For some reason the reporter felt in necessary to mention anti-homeschooling Rob Reich's criticisms of homeschoolers.

For the few independent researchers looking at homeschooling, Reich points out, there's simply no good data. Most discussion centers around what Reich calls the "glorified anecdote." Kids have won national spelling competitions and aced the SATs based on what they learned at the kitchen table. Some take these examples and conclude homeschooling must work.

But, Reich asks, "What's the average homeschool? The answer is, "We have no idea.'"

Answer there is no average homeschool. Each homeschooler is FREE to tailor their methods to suit their child's individual learning style. Some methods homeschoolers chose to use; the Charlotte Mason Method, Classical Education, Eclectic Homeschooling, Enki Education Method, Montessori Homeschooling, Unit Studies, and the Waldorf Method. That's the beauty of homeschooling being able to use what works best for your child. There is absolutely no reason homeschoolers should have to use the same methods as failing public schools and submit to regulations and testing just so educators like Reich can have the data they want. Public Schools which are regulated regularly fail the students they are suppose to be educating even though they provide the Reichs of this world with plenty of data.

At least the reporter did mention why homeschooling is so popular today.

It wasn't until the 1960s and '70s that John Holt and other educators started making a case that schools failed many children. Holt's notion that kids learn best when allowed to pursue their own interests lies at the heart of the modern "unschooling" movement.

And Lane at least mentioned that all homeschoolers are not Fundamentalist Christians.

Yet it's not fair to say all homeschool families believe the same things or are motivated by a religious worldview. In a 1999 federal survey, religious reasons were the second most common explanation given for homeschooling, at around 38 percent; 49 percent responded they believed they could do a better job at home.

Unfortunately he didn't choose to elaborate on what a wonderfully diverse bunch homeschoolers really are. In fact ANTHONY LANE seems to be completely unaware that there are atheist, liberal and Democrat homeschoolers. He apparently buys into the malarkey spread by Michael Apple that the majority of homeschooling is done by Christians wishing to brainwash their children.

Lane then finds it necessary to bring up the Murray tragedy.

Several homeschooling families intersected Dec. 9 when Matthew Murray ended his murderous rampage at New Life Church. Having killed two people at a missionary school in Arvada, the 24-year-old shot his way across the New Life parking lot as Sunday services let out, killing Rachel and Stephanie Works, teenage sisters who were homeschooled. Their father was also injured. Judy Purcell, administrator of the High Country Home Educators enrichment program that meets at New Life, was shot in the shoulder as she and her family prepared to leave that day.

Murray, who raged in multiple Web postings against his homeschooled upbringing in a strict Christian family, killed himself after he was shot by a New Life security guard.

We all know about Columbine, we have all read about children who have killed themselves after being bullied in public schools, but nobody blames public schooling for these tragedies. Why when tragedy befalls a homechooling family does the media rush to blame it on homeschooling?

Kerry Kantor sums up nicely why regulation of homeschool families is unnecessary.

Kerry Kantor, with the Colorado Academy of Independent Learners, says regulations are unnecessary to ensure most homeschooled kids get a good education.

"Parents really do have their best interests at heart," she says.