Troubled Teens Born in the Classroom
by Sam Sorbo“I could never home-school. I would probably kill my kid by Wednesday, if I had to spend the entire day with him, every day!”
Typical fare for the teenager-parent relationship? Unfortunately, yes. But ironically, the individuals making these pronouncements are often the ideal candidates for home schooling. Possibly the worst thing frustrated parents can do is send their aloof, argumentative children away (to school.) In any other setting, dropping them off somewhere, for someone else to deal with, would be deemed giving up on the relationship. (This is the way children likely perceive the slight as well – they aren’t stupid, you know.)
If the parents cannot stand to spend time with their own child, how will he ever feel loved? But parents are so blinded by school’s beacon; they shield their eyes and shove the child into the wolves’ den. (It is no wonder he returns home behaving like a wild animal.)
What children learn in school
Parents wonder where their relationship with their teen went wrong. Answer: Their influence was all but eclipsed the moment the child crossed the school threshold. It’s that simple.
Each day a young child goes to school, he learns (way too early,) that his parents don’t know everything. School reinforces this point by teaching the little ones to instruct their parents. “Tell Mommy not to pack plastic sandwich bags in your lunch – that kills the dolphins!” Mommy kills dolphins!
He makes friends with other kids whose parents also slaughter innocent animals. He joins his peers, learns to challenge authority, then comes home and asserts himself. The parent thinks, “Well, that’s probably a good thing, because he is learning to be self-confident and capable.”
But a good parent has a sneaking suspicion that it isn’t quite right.
Troubled Teens
A few years later, still on the school treadmill, the youngster becomes a surly judgmental teen and the fights get too big to try to win anymore. The parent throws his hands up and sighs. “Teenagers!” It’s inevitable: the independence, the ego, his disdain for Mom’s outdated values and his resentment that Dad somehow has maintained control of the Wii remote or his access to the car.
The experts, school authorities, say they see this type of thing every day and advise the parents to weather the storm. Other parents agree: the teen years are the pits – but completely normal and acceptable. (Shrugs and chuckles!)
By “normal” they mean that most children go through this, but most children are enrolled in school.
By “acceptable” they mean it simply must be endured; it is unavoidable. Wrong.
“I’m too lazy to take on home schooling. It’s all I can do to keep up with their homework.” “I can’t teach my kids. What would I do when they got to algebra or calculus? I don’t remember any of that stuff.”
If first grade learning is too hard, by all means, start him in school now. But let’s not fool ourselves: homework is home school (just with more pressure, later in the day, when everyone’s tired, hungry and grouchy.)
Acquaintances of mine went to a home schooling convention early on in their children’s lives and met families with polite, loving teenagers. They quickly decided, “That’s how we want our kids to behave when they are that age.” Now they successfully home school their respectful and caring teens.
Academics?
On December 6th, President Obama addressed a report that US teens continue to sink in world education rankings, calling for another “Sputnik moment.” It took only 18 years to bring our space program up to par, but we were already running second in the race. According to the Programme for International Student Assessment, in a recent study of 65 countries, US education scored lower than fourteenth on the list, well behind Japan and South Korea.
Is a mediocre education worth risking the parent-child relationship? Not when home-schooled children typically out-perform their public school counterparts by 30-37 percentile points across the board. Socializing all day (for that is truly what school has become,) is apparently not the most sensible way to nurture or instruct a child.
With so little to recommend a public education, the decision to send a child to school must be a product of societal conditioning. Responsible parents owe it to themselves and their families to investigate home schooling options.
As distressing as they are, the parents’ mundane declarations in this article articulate tremendous loss: the death tolls of those parent-child relationships. They indicate great naïveté, and yes, selfishness. Tragically, these parents have speciously placed their hope and trust in an institutionalized “education” system that gradually but resoundingly destroys the very fabric of their family life and, consequently, the future role of family in our nation.
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160 Comments
A Communist goal and clearly stated in the Communist Manifesto………..
Gladly I never had to endure public schools until college and I can state positively in the future when I have a child he or she will never go to a public school either.
The government schools have become a cesspool.
“I’m too lazy to take on home schooling. It’s all I can do to keep up with their homework.” “I can’t teach my kids. What would I do when they got to algebra or calculus? I don’t remember any of that stuff.”
You send them to someone who tutors math, science, English, and lit. No I'm not a certified teacher, but I get the job done.
All the preceding aside. Parents must get involved with the kids. And although it may be rather difficult at first, it works and the relationship with the children will improve. A bonus to home schooling is that it becomes a review and continuning education for the parents – a two for the price of one.
Wishing all you a most HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR and many, many more to come!
The sad part of our schools system is, our government is only concerned with educating them with Liberal/Marxists beliefs instead of learning history, values and life promoting ideas.
I posted this thought on another article but it applies to this article also. Since home schooled students scores on the SAT's are comparable if not better than public schools. And home schoolers are not professional educators and rely on purchased lesson plans. Are highly trained educators necessary in the public school classrooms?
Let's consider what you want your children to learn: reading, math, science, history? Ok, good choices. What about all the other things teachers need to squeeze into a day? What about the poor habits of their overtalkative, undersupervised classmates?
Either way, parents have lots of work to do to correct the social and emotional influences that hours, days, and years of school provide for their children. Knowing calculus does not qualify a teacher to be a parent to your child(ren). If you financially cannot home-school, and cannot choose a school with teachers and staff you trust, please make the effort to provide the guidance and structure your kids need to grow up into citizens of character.
So true Gary! Total overhaul is needed, and even then I'm not sure the Govt. forces will not obstruct that.
“I could never home-school. I would probably kill my kid by Wednesday, if I had to spend the entire day with him, every day!”
Man, how would you teach a teenager that now believes you have lost half your IQ because they now have reached puberty?……
Choose the right school. Stay involved. Get on the Committees and Clubs there. Sit and have talks about the schools input, while helping out with homework. Outside forces are always there to influence our children. We need to stay right in there too, every step of the way. Regular open, non judgemental communication and input from the parents with the child helps a lot to offset any toxic input. It Is frustrating, but keep it coming.
The determination and constant presence and monitoring of a parent is a great antidote to toxic input from outsiders. I also believe that it is a parent's right to evesdrop, snoop and any other unfair adjectives that are placed on concerned parents. Snoop away! It's the only way you can block bad input to your precious children!
The Govt. and the union forces will obstruct anything that would actually make things better for the kids.
When I think of Public School students I think of ,"Would you like fries with your burger".
I have always believed home schooling, while extremely effective, would be a short lived option.
It goes against everything the NEA stands for. Possibly, if parents could be unionized, it
may be looked at more favorably. I know some regulations have been put on the parents of
home schooled children in various states but it must be a fight the NEA or other socialist
groups refuse to take head on. Ever the pesimist I believe should Obama win a second term,
please God don't allow that to happen, home schooling could be restricted to death.
Absolutely right! If a parent stays engaged, public school can be at least satisfactory. For proof I offer my 13 year old son.
Straight A's save one B+ last term.
His response to Ezra Klien's take on our Constitution-
"If this guy can't understand our Constitution, shouldn't he be working at a fast food restaurant instead of a newspaper?"
Ok, my shameless plug is over……
Gee, I think spending time with my children is a blessing and not some kind of torture. My children are two of my greatest joys. I can't believe how selfish people have become. Its very sad.
I'm with you on that. I spent my senior year in a public school. It was interesting after three years in a private parochial school, but it wasn't as challenging. However, I did receive an incredible education during those three years. There wasn't a curve, and good grades were difficult baced on the raw percentage spread.
A = 94-100%
B = 87-93%
C = 81-86%
D = 76-80%
F = 75% and below.
Public school
A = 90-100%
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
D = 60-69%
F = 59% and below.
What is the high school grading today? Anyone?
We started homeschooling ten years ago when private school was no longer an option and the neighbors warned me about the teachers at the public school. So, we decided to try it "for one year only" just to see if it was possible. My kids were 7 and 9 at the time and I spent the first year just emphasizing reading. Within a few months, we were all hooked! We got mid-week ski passes and enrolled in a local co-op that offered classes in art and drama.
Today, my oldest is a sophomore in college. He was given a full 4-year scholarship at a major university. My younger son is in Running Start. They are both interesting, engaging young men and people are amazed at their abilities to carry on intelligent conversations with people of any age. They have competed in Speech and Debate, love Shakespeare and Classic Lit and can probably (I hope) tell you more about the Bill of Rights than you'd ever want to know! Most parents spend more time arguing with their kids about homework in the evening than it would take to teach them during the day. There are books and programs and co-ops and tutors available. I think that folks would be surprised at how do-able it really is!
They all pass and society gets more minimum wage workers with no education of skills or we get another batch of Democrat parasite voters.
There is nothing wrong with most "troubled teens" that a couple of years living on a ranch or farm, doing daily chores, learning what hard work is really all about wouldn't cure.
They would be too tired at the end of each day to do anything but have dinner and hit the sack.
They would wake up each morning well-rested and in gradually better physical condition.
The endorphins hard physical activity produces would gradually overcome their lousy attitudes.
When they returned to the "big city," they will find themselves bemused by the "problems" their peers think are really problems.
Self-sufficiency and self-respect can grow under such circumstances a lot more easily than they can in urban blight.
Nonsense,.nonsense,…nonsense,….
you folks have got it all wrong….!!!!
Just look at the video of the young and articulate Ezra Klein
in the previous article,………. "Witnessing the De-Klein"
"……….the interesting thing here is that the constitution is confusing,.."
A fine example of what our "great" educational system produces.
The parents of this fine young man must really be proud.
I can't wait till the likes of Ezra rewrite and un-confuse,…
our Constitution.
Santa Barbara recently went through 5 major wildfires all caused by human carelessness. Smokey the Bear used to teach children "Only you can prevent forest fires" which was a message that stayed in our brains through adulthood. Now schools teach bas science and rote global warming fraud recitation, but no longer "Only you can prevent forest fires" and our city continues to regularly burn down because no one any longer is taught personal responsibility and practical cause and effect relationship.
How perfect — mommy is killing dolphins is exactly what children get taught today in public schools when the teachers are not using them as propaganda cells for higher wages and more benefits for themselves.
Wonderful post I totally agree.
What is your point?
You are surely an inspiration for anybody thinking about it. Keep up the great work.
The best investment a society can make is investment in education, an education that is available to ALL not just the haves, but the have not's, until the US figures this out they will continue to lag behind the rest of the industrialized world!!!
Just imagine if the US could direct half of its military spending on education, where every high school graduate had an opportunity for a higher education no matter what their economic back ground!!
Gold stars for participation and A's for effort.
The astronomical number of newly minted high-school graduates who cannot even make change is scandalous. Here's an illustrative true story: Bought a fast-food meal recently that came to $5.76, and handed the young cashier $21.01 in payment. Having run a cash register in my own youth and knowing what it's like to run out of dollar bills in front of a long line and having no way to get more, I did this with the stated intention of helping to "save her singles." The correct change is, of course, a ten, a five and a quarter. This young cashier didn't even know how to hit the keys for 2, 1, 0, 1 and amount tendered, even after prompting by me. After a few uncomfortable minutes, the manager finally came over and showed her how to do it. This was someone who attended local schools that have been well equipped with desktop computers for the better part of two decades now!
I honestly never understood why someone needs a college degree to teach the things they learned in grade school.
Well done!
I am a public school teacher. My district has the same grading spread that you list, HOWEVER, it is worse in the following way: we are not allowed to give anything below a 50%. A kid turns in a page with doodles? 50%. The kids know this, and when they don't feel like doing their assignment, they don't do it. We are also required to accept any and all late work. With no late penalty. (Really.)
It is ridiculous. The teachers have argued strenuously against it, claiming that it is grade inflation, but the administration doesn't listen to us, and doesn't care.
We also almost never "fail" a kid. Social promotion is the norm. Kids get passed on who have NEVER passed a state-mandated test. Which is how we end up with seniors who cannot read or figure out a percentage.
Res Ipsa Loquitur
THANK YOU Ms Sorbo, for this wonderful piece.
I realize that Any Rand has many detractors who frequent this site, but please read her essay in
"Return of the Primitive" entitled "The Comprachico's". If this piece does not impress on you the
importance of home or alternative schooling there is no hope for you. She explains, in detail how
the current system of throwing children together, as in a pack is quite harmful to them.
Surprise, surprise, the defiant ones are the only ones with a decent chance of surviving the public
school system without significant psychological damage. The very ones whose parents are called
on the carpet to get their children under control are the children who will be least harmed. What a
screwed up world we live in.
I don't quote Rand because I know nothing other, I quote Rand because she thoroughly articulates
what I have observed. Kind of like Rush… I didn't need Rush to tell me what to think, I love Rush be-
cause he articulates MY long held beliefs and ideas. Ideas I had waaaay before I ever heard him
speak.
.
" Are highly trained educators necessary in the public school classrooms? "
My friend who's a teacher and graduated with an education degree readily admits her training wasn't in learning "to teach" rather it was all about how to MANAGE groups of children and fill up the day with activities. From this it's assumed that if you do those right the children will learn.
Read the Communist Manifesto. You can read, can't you?
Always enjoy your articles Sam! There's one for Big Education if Andrew ever does it.
On an unrelated note, I loved you and Kevin in Hercules!
I will say that a good teacher doesn't mind a 'helicopter' parent
Kids with involved parents tend to be better students. As a teacher, I am more than willing to answer emails and questions from concerned, involved parents. A poor or insecure teacher will not like it, but so what? I agree with pnipni – Snoop away! Good teachers won't mind, and great teachers will love your involvement!
Many of my neighbors home schooled. They did not need to be "well educated" to start, they needed only to know more than the child, and to study what they were supposed to teach the child.
I noticed that they tended to spend as much time doing "support work" as they did "teaching", no economy of scale from teaching 100 kids the same thing each day.
But, Ralph… you just don't understand! They used, big, confusing, archaic words when it was "written 100 years ago!"
Yes, he really said this. The Regents of the University of California should hang their heads in shame for allowing this moron to graduate from UCLA. Klein is living proof that the rot to which Ms. Sorbo refers isn't confined to public elementary and secondary schools.
''… rewrite and un-confuse ,…. our Consitution."
Yep Ralph, that one ought to be a barrel of laughs!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you and all!!!
; )
We spend billions on education now and we're not getting any return on that investment. Why throw more down the inefficient money pit? BTW, we have more student aid programs in effect for those who wish to go to college and can't afford it than any other country in the world.
It is shown day after day that something received without having been earned is not appreciated. Maybe just the opposite is needed. If all students had to work to pay for his/her education, maybe they would better appreciate it more.
http://www.suite101.com/content/dropouts-give-rea...
http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=H...
http://www.all4ed.org/files/GraduationRates_FactS...
Some of the problems are due to ineffective teachers and another is the lack of parental concern and/or involvement with the child.
Send 'um on down Prof T, we'll see to it they get an attitude adjustment within two weeks.
No Charge, of course. We'll squeeze enough work out of 'um to easily pay for their room
and eats.
.
Thank you for caring about the kids, even though the system where you work is clearly geared against professionals like you. Is there any way to "vote with your feet" by working for a charter, parochial or private school? Sounds like it'd be a real shame if you burned out and gave up altogether.
I have seen this many times. It is truly sad. Just one more example of excellence in the school system and educators.
There are no charter schools within commuting distance.
Parochial and private school teachers make a ridiculously small amount of money. Typically less than $25,000. I put myself through college on side jobs and loans; I cannot afford to teach in private school. If I quit public school (which is a distinct possibility), I will have to switch careers.
I am considering getting my administration certificate, to try to fight the system from within. I also post with regularity on this site about teachers…because while there are certainly a lot of freeloading teachers (what else do you expect in a union-run system), there are also a lot of teachers like me. Quite a few of us argue loudly and passionately for a return to basic education and a system based on student accountability, discipline, and teacher accountability.
Is that the first or second list? The first was for private high schools and the lowest was for public high schools back in the sixties. BTW, both the private and public school teachers, in those days, could and did give a big, fat "0" for incomplete, sloppy, or late work. Things have changed since then. Seems it is much worse now. Kudos for trying to be a good and responsible educator.
Well said Ms. Sorbo.
This is our 19th year of homeschooling.
A few years into it I heard about the reading scores of kids in Chicago and realized I could quit teaching my children right then and they'd still be ahead of most high school students. Sadly, in almost 20 years nothing much has changed for students in Chicago.
But in the meantime, I've raised people that other adults LIKE being around. I can't tell you how many times I've been told how delightful my kids are.
Even more important I'm raising people who can THINK.
Plus my kids WORK. Regarding the 2 that are now adults: From age 16 on they had jobs (sometimes more than one–working anywhere from 10 to 20 hours per week) and scored high on ACTs and got scholarships for college. (They also worked in college while maintaining excellent grades.)
I get less grief from people now that 2 of my kids have finished college and are off to other things (one's in grad school and the other is going to law school next year).
The funniest questions I get are –how do I know if my kids know the material? And how do they make friends? (this usually from people we know from the myriad of activities we're involved in).
I also get a lot of people who feel the need to give me an excuse as to why they don't homeschool. I honestly don't care. If that's what you want for your kid, great, just leave me alone.
Bravo for the way you're raising your son!
Appreciate the reinforcement independent76. I joined the parents club, and helped coach the tennis club at his school. As far as snooping I was actually thinking more about the way I kept tabs on his phone calls, texts, computer interactions, and friends.
I can tell you that I sabotaged some bad friends who were trying to take my kid down the wrong road.
I blocked their interactions. It was very successful. I call it "parent's rights" to guide their children's lives.
I do have friends that criticized me, and said that I had no right to "snoop" into my childs life. I ignored them, and have the great results to prove it was the right tactic. The stakes were too hight not to monitor!
I went to the teachers only when I thought the number of hours required to do his homework was excessive. I reminded them that if they each give 1/2 hour of homework X 6 classes, that it's too much. No time for his leisure sports, and family time. He was falling asleep doing homework.
My mother thought the same thing. She raised 4 kids ( living in 5 different states in 25 years and of course many different schools –part of the time was in the south when busing became the norm). She considered herself an involved parent who did all the right things. BUT out of the 4 only two went on to finish college. The other 2 wasted their years in high school and dropped out of college–drifting from job to job. One got married 3 times, spending time on welfare before finally growing up at 40. The other went into debt twice and recently took advantage of the housing bust and didn't pay his mortgage and let the bank have it and used the money he "saved" to buy a new car with cash. Those two siblings were always influenced by their peers and still are. No amount of my mother's running over to the school helping with a fundraiser or meeting with the teacher changed that.
My experience mirrors that of your friend. My college education consisted mostly of psychology courses, behavior management courses, and legal issues courses.
That said, the most difficult part of teaching (middle school, anyway) is not mastering or conveying the material, it's managing the children. We are not allowed to send middle school kids out for misbehaving (only for physical violence or bullying), so in order to teach them anything, we have to capture their attention. It sounds easy. Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is not. Remember that they don't get sent to the office for cursing, coming to class unprepared, calling out whatever thought pops into their heads, or chatting with their friends. These are all commonplace behaviors that must be "managed". A teacher considered "good" or "great" has a presence about him/her and has developed strategies to minimize (or even terminate) these behaviors, so that the teacher can spend more time actually teaching. Poor teachers are overwhelmed and unable to manage the children…so nothing gets accomplished.
Whenever anyone says they couldn't spend all day with their kids I usually say something nice like well, it's not for everyone. But what I'm thinking is I LIKE MY KIDS! I enjoy spending time with them.
As far as "helicopter" parent, I wasn't that intense. Just aware, and quietly monitoring. You do sound very secure as a teacher which is great. I did check, through homework, to see that the content was normal and nothing bizarre. I also volunteered to help the teachers with class projects when they needed it, or play the piano if they put on a play.
In general I think that parents have every right to put their ears to their kids walls, at home, and listen. That's how you stop problems before they start. It worked for me. My friends thought it was an invasion of privacy, but they had problems that I never let happen.
I had a favorite way of keeping my kid out of trouble. If I thought he was going in the wrong direction or that a friend was a bad influence, I would just sign him up for another sport! It worked! He had no time to hang out and get in trouble, but plenty of rest and relaxation. I was a quiet sentry! ~Happy New Year independent76!
I like my kids, too! We have a laugh.
All my kids friends think this "new" Smokey the Bear is a pedophile–he creeps them out.
When I was growing up Smoky was cool.
Wonderful! We've had a similar experience!
Hell D & C,…..
it all started to rot IN college.
What's happening in grade and HS is a product of that rot.
That's what I get for reading too quickly!
I say good for you. I think that you have every right to guide your children. The problem today is that parents don't want to parent their children, they want to befriend them. I call it "Buddy-Mom". Parenting isn't always easy, but some parents take the easy path.
For example: at least once every year, we have a parent allow her daughter to come to school dressed inappropriately. It takes a lot for the principal to call home, but if the underwear is actually showing, he will. Almost every time, the mom says to the daughter, "I told you that you would get in trouble." So…instead of putting her foot down for something that she KNEW was inappropriate, the mother put the responsibility onto the school. Buddy-Mom doesn't want the daughter to be angry with her…so Buddy-Mom abdicates her parenting responsibility and provides friendship instead of guidance. That is just one example. There are hundreds.
I salute you for guiding your child. Children are not ready to make adult decisions. That's your job. And it sounds to me like you are doing it fabulously.
The United States Constitution II
coming soon to an America nearest you.
In living multiculturalism.
and a Happy New Year to my favorite Texas Yellow Rose.
While challenging at times, it was actually more fun than I ever imagined! We went to Disneyland "off-season" and walked onto every ride, took mission trips to Mexico every year (my kids are more "muti-cultural" than most of their peers), went to local theatre productions and museums during the day (less than half the regular price) and did actual "field trips" around the area to learn Washinton State History.
More importantly, I learned to see my kids as very unique people, with God-given gifts and talents. I was able to adjust their learning to their interests – if they got something right away, we didn't have to keep doing it while waiting for the rest of the class to understand. If they struggled in an area, we could keep at without fear of looking stupid in front of their classmates.
(And before anyone asks – no my kids do not have ANY problems with socialization issues. They are confident in any situation and comfortable talking to people from all walks of life, unlike many of my neighborhood kids who can't look an adult in the eyes!)
Sorry for the lack of clarity, my district follows what you posted for public schools. (With the 10-pt spread.)
In my experience, that is pretty typical for public schools (and was the same spread at my state University).
Unfortunately, the "nothing lower than a 50%" is also becoming popular.
Appreciate your thoughts. I am a product of the public school system, and I attended two state schools, ASU and Binghamton.
Whenever you see a teenager being a moron. That was me many years ago. What changed me was life, and the guidance of my father. Margaret Thatcher said it best; "The facts of life are conservative."
I completely agree.
LOL, I had a HS Geometry teacher walk into the classroom in my hometown public school and
announce we would be learning Geometry together. He thought that pronouncement was quite
amusing. Being that I'm from Texas you can probably guess, he was a FLIPPIN FOOTBALL
COACH! They would have never hired a teacher/teacher with NO experience.
He was oozing confidence, NOT!!!
Needless to say, I had so much faith in his ability, I dang near flunked…
.
Hey, a most HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR and many, many more for you and yours
Same thing, except no one could get 100%. Only God. The Teacher go 99%. We only had a chance at 98% at best.
Back in my day, it was a hard rap on the knuckles with a ruler that brought one back to attention. Those Catholic Nuns and Priests didn't take kindly to distractions. Now, that's probably considered child abuse or something worse. However, it worked to the benefit of the student and the class.
I wanted to go to the private Christian school with my friend, but I had to go to public school. My Dad spent any possible tuition money on a boat and a motor home and new pickups and lots of other toys. Don't get me wrong, we had a nice house and food and clothing. He just got caught up in the "Whoever dies with the most toys wins" thinking. I see a lot of this thinking. Both parents working hard for toys and ignoring the educational/emotional needs of their children. My son goes to a private Christian school. It's tough when I pull up next to a guy at a stoplight in his new pickup. I guess I have a future orientation instead of a present orientation.
Reves,
We get a few kids each year who were homeschooled during elementary school, but enter public middle school.
I LOVE teaching the homeschooled kids. In my experience they pay attention, they ask thoughtful, intelligent questions, and they tend to be independent thinkers.
I have noticed that they do not have the same social priorities as traditional students – and that is usually considered a bad thing by many other teachers. I disagree with those teachers. The formerly homeschooled kids don't like to work in groups – I say so what? I don't like to work in groups, either!!!
Good for you for sticking to what you felt was right for your children. What did you do about the language requirement? Did you have to get tutors for some things, or were you able to come up with solutions on your own? Did you ever have trouble with the education authorities harassing you? Do you feel that activities like youth groups and team sports were sufficient for socialization, or did you do additional things?
My cousin is homeschooling her kids; she is an intelligent woman and an excellent mother – and so far it is going really well.
Thanks!
Back in the early '90s there was a bill HR6, that would have severely restricted all private education, and almost certainly "restricted to death" homeschooling. It was sponsored by George Miller (D, NEA).
The Home School Legal Defense Association got the word out to it's membership, and other private school groups.
The capitol switchboard MELTED DOWN, primarily due to home schoolers. And not just one day, it was day after day after day of protest. The bill died with something like 434 votes against it.
Homeschoolers will not gently acceed to being restricted to death. The modern day heir to the pioneer woman, baby in one arm, rifle in the other, is the homeschool mom.
Remember the book: "All I Ever Realy Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarden"? That kinda says it all.
Typically when families start homeschooling an older (late elementary to Sr. High) child, a substantial part of the first year is spent just building a parent-child relationship.
Agreed. The ladies can show more intestinal fortitude than their opposite sex when it matters the most.
…and Happy New Year to you and yours!
I think that there are lots of teachers who are insecure, and so use terms like "helicopter parent" to demean parents and keep parents out of their hair. I take the other approach, and consider the term a compliment!
I'll agree with that comment. Our administrators and teachers in the public schools need to do a far better job at their jobs. Presently I don't think they would improve no matter what amount of moneys we throw at them. Just like nearly every branch of our government they are inefficient and riddled with corrupt non caring employees. The entire system is nearing the point it just needs to be scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up, again pretty much like our entire government.
The first thing however is for teachers to be evaluated on the performance of their students and any teacher that has more than 3% of their students failing should be fired immediately. There is no excuse teachers should let things get to the point they have.
Thanks…I wish you the same!
Put your school uniform on, get your ass on the bus, sit down, shut up, and learn.
School is not the place for socializing (nor socialization, whatever the hell that is). You socialize after school, once your homework is done.
Schools need to teach academics, period.
Academics includes Math, Science, English, and History.
Academics does not include "Diversity", "Gender Studies", "Sex Education", "Environmental Studies", or any other bullshit progressive propaganda.
Someone has to cook the fries. Looks like we will have an over abundance of fast food workers. Parents don't hold their kids accountable and roll with the punches.
THANKS RALPH, and a big TEXAS (((HUUUGGG))) back to you!!!
;-D
What a dumbutt.
I noticed that if the parent was upfront with the child, that he forgot or never knew most of the material and they had to learn it together, he (or she) would trigger family cooperation instincts and the child would cooperate better than if the parent claimed infallibility. That clearly would not be the case above.
I'm an advocate for private schools. In California the available curriculim for home schoolers isn't so good. While we had our kids in private Christian schools several things happened. My youngest was diagnosed with aspergurgers and was unmanagable. To receive services (IEP) that would allow her any kind of education at all, we had to put her in a public school. Last year we ran out of funds for my oldest. BUT we found a principle and a staff at the public school that was using their imagination, and willing to use experiance from the charter schools to do great things with the school… I think it's worth checking out. Don't except that the local schools are doing everything with in their means! I don't any more.. http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/268469-eliot-e...
Now we're talking here! Teach our kids stuff to make their journey through life easier. Don't indoctrinate them with personal views and philosophies! That's why I think CC TVs should be in every classroom.
Along my circuitous careers, I taught for 7 years in University, and I could have said anything in my classroom. That's not good. Too much private time with impressionable minds! Once a semester a Director sat in on my class. Woefully inadequate monitoring. My students all passed their State Board Exams but Radical Professors do not have any monitoring so they spew their Globalism.
I should have been videoed to be sure that I was sticking to the Curriculum. Didn't happen. We wouldn't be turning out Socialists at Graduations if the professors would be forced to stick to the Curriculum.
Read his other posts. I suspect he regards following the Communist Manifesto as "a good thing".
The best education system in the world is useless if the students do not participate and learn.
The heck of it is, they are not even trying. I had one subordinate who worked at one pace, dead slow. He claimed that he was trying. I never figured out what he was "trying". To sleep on his feet, perhaps?
Congrats to you and yours, VM.
I thank God that my kids attend a top-notch school district (in the top 1% nationally), and are receiving a good education despite it being a public school system, and despite the fact that per-student spending is way, way below the national average. (We're in a very conservative, Christian part of the state).
Even so, though, kids who are home-schooled here (and there are lots of them) generally do better than their public school peers. I think it's just so much easier for the home-schooled kids, not having to deal with the drama and peer pressure that sometimes overwhelm kids in public school – or any environment in which hundreds or thousands of kids are thrown together for 6 hours a day.
Anyway, I really admire your stick-to-it-iveness and dedication to your kids.
They are surely better for it.
Did just that – found a lie immediately! Another troll.
I have found almost every homeschooled kid to be very "socialized!" In fact, they are downright civilized and when did that become a bad thing with some people???! As I told my oldest daughter when she was worrying about a friend who was going to homeschool, who do you think is going to be doing most of the teaching of social graces at a public school – the teacher or the peers? I'd rather have my kids socialized by adults!
"The best investment a society can make is investment in education, an education that is available to ALL not just the haves, but the have not's, until the US figures this out they will continue to lag behind the rest of the industrialized world!!! "
That is what this nation has had for for more than 100 years now.
"Just imagine if the US could direct half of its military spending on education, where every high school graduate had an opportunity for a higher education no matter what their economic back ground!! "
Perhaps you need to look at the spending increases in the past 4 decades for public education and the reduced levels of education our children have been getting. It is appalling. Higher education for children who now graduate high school with a literacy rate and math skills rate of less than a 1950's 8th grade education is just more failures who expect something for nothing.
Education is available for all, but parental involvement and standards are essential. There are far too many teachers who are failures and too many parents who do not engage and expect success. This is a societal failure from a permissive society who has lost values and work ethics.
To get paid money while conserving his energy for other parts of life.
I am going to have to defend public school teachers here. Although some are quite liberal, most I have known or worked with(full disclosure: I'm a retired teacher) have been moderates or conservatives. Perhaps it's because I taught in a fairly conservative part of the Midwest, but I knew very few eudcators who tried to push his/her personal politics on their students. As far as school curriculum having too much of a liberal slant, teachers are obligated to folow the curriculum approved by the local board of education. Often it's the school administrators who are pushing the 'lefty" agenda, not the classroom teachers.
Thank you for the kind words. You have a great understanding of the parent-child relationship. Your students are lucky.
I like your "Buddy-Mom" concept because it's so true. I see a lot of "Budd-Dad's too" I guess if a parent chooses that role then the other parent has the tough job of guiding the child through college. .
Enjoy tonight independent76!
Actually some parents are just a pain in the neck for all the wrong reasons, but probably with reasons. They are probably anxious or feel that they need to control the situation to the extreme to prevent something bad from happening with their child. They need extra reassurance, but even with that they are still hovering. Perfectionists?
God Bless your mother Reves. She raised 4 kids in 5 States and all those schools. Very difficult! Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men…
She did her best and that's all anyone can do. Guilt is not a healthy emotion. She did her best. That is a lot of years to worry about your kids. Also, sometimes no matter what you do, there are factors beyond ones control. She did her best.
Get your finger out of your ass.
Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
Abolition of all right of inheritance.
Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of the population over the country.
Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.[12]
I was homeschooled from 5th grade through graduation – it has been an amazing and wonderful journey! My family and I are very close, we have participated in an unbelievable array of activities and travel, and my brother and I have gotten numerous college scholarship offers. I could never say enough good things about it! I'm grateful to my parents for giving up the extra income and the time and energy it required, but we have been blessed beyond what we ever imagined by homeschooling. I realize not everyone can do it, but I actually feel sorry for young people who do not have the opportunity.
What do you mean that the available curriculum is not "so good?" Does California restrict what homeschoolers can do? We have seen so much good curriculum that we could never use all of it, even if we homeschooled for the rest of our lives!
Yes, I agree with you. There are some great teachers who are bound by rules not of their own making. On the other hand, I attended a supposedly excellent private school, where I was forced to stand at the front of the class during science, because I did not want to take off my nice sweater while doing an experiment, because I had on a very think little shirt underneath and had just hit puberty. My guidance counselor's husband was in jail for selling drugs, while she suggested I write a "nice note" to the science teacher because she was "going through a bad time" and that's why she had humiliate me so.
My very nice 4th grade teacher told our parents that they needed to teach us long division for the achievement tests, because there was no time in the schedule, due to Junior Achievement, Drama, Drug-Free education, First Aid, etc.
Teaching me math at 10 pm at the kitchen table, my parents realized they were already homeschooling, and decided to stop wasting their money!
Correction: I had on a very "thin" little shirt. Sorry! My hand automatically added a "k" there!
Also, "she had humiliated me so." Typing too fast!
Progressivism in schools is designed to break the relationship between the parent and the child and replace it with the relationship between the child and the state. It's why they brought in kindergarten and then pre-K and then day care: They keep trying to insert the wedge earlier and earlier.
I was always a big supporter of public school. It took me four children, years of arguments with teachers, counselors, and principals, not to mention ruined relationships with my children, years of grounding 'them for bad grades while at the same time agreeing that the work was pointless and boring , until I finally saw the light -after the 3rd grade nurse would not let my daughter, who had an ulcer from pressure and bullying at school, call me when she was sick.!
My last two were home schooled. The teen rebellion, arguments, sneaking out- none of these happened. Instead we talked, did things together, learned together. If I could change only one thing in my life, I would home school all of my children.
It had been a while ago, but I think the only one my wife found was Lifepac. After having them in a private school (and again, I know I was told, though all I remember is that the curriculum they used was very aggresive) Lifepac seemed to be a little backward. What we've done in the interm was introduce our children to Hooked on Phonics prior to 1st grade, started the home version of Sylvan in third, and supplimented with typing, gymnastics, music, and a second language…. They are just about as busy at home as they are at school.. (in a fun kind of way…)
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