This. This. This. Oh, and this. Not to mention this.
First of all, I'm not sending my kids to public school. Period. I won't send them to a left-leaning private institution that costs more than the university I teach at, either.
I won't send them to school before I've taught them what can and cannot be done with and to them, by either their peer group or their teachers, and how to recognize a predator's BS. Probably not before they've had enough martial arts classes to be able to get away from someone trying to force the issue.
I won't send them to a school that will not hold itself accountable for what's taught in the classroom. I am not a socialist, despite my upbringing. I will not let a teacher, and the school protecting the teacher, to brainwash my kids into it.
I absolutely will not trust anyone to teach my kids the basics of reading and writing, math, geography, history, and civics. I am a college teacher, and I've seen the products of public "education."
Not for my kids. I'm raising future adults, not future idiot special snowflakes.
26 minutes ago
Good for you! Wish more parents looked at it like you did.
ReplyDeleteMe, too. I've got to teach the little bastards, after they've gotten all the way into quasi-adulthood with that attitude intact.
ReplyDeleteGood for you little sister. My kids were homeschooled also. In fact I will do a post about it soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Duke. There will be a point at which I'm almost going to have to send them off to someone else--I don't think I can teach them any higher math, since I barely scraped through the requirements. But before that, I'm going to be making sure my kids have what they need to succeed in any level of education.
ReplyDeleteMuad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It's shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. Muad'Dib knew that every experience carries its lesson.
ReplyDeletefrom The Humanity of Muad'Dib by the Princess Irulan
Well said, dear. And yeah--that's what we've already started teaching them.
ReplyDeleteAMEN!!
ReplyDeleteKhan Academy (via YouTube or his Web site) can help with math. I used some of his videos to help grasp basic Statistics so I could graduate. (Oh, and it's free, but donations are cheerfully accepted.)
ReplyDeleteLiving in the future is so, so awesome. I wish YouTube and this guy had been around when I was a teenager struggling with junior-high-level math. Heh.
Good for you. My Little Bit is in private school because her step-mother was too lazy to home school...btw, you've been given a blog award. Details should post on my blog around three p.m. today.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sarah--here's hoping it's still around in eight to ten years: my oldest is three.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephen--I'll go take a look then.
ReplyDeleteAs a recent graduate of public schools, and current freshman at a credited university, I hate to admit that the final link is an accurate description of the education system within this country. However, I do believe that students get out of it, what they put in. I knew that in order to achieve the goals I had set for myself, I would need to accomplish all of the set requirements, and actually retain that information. Doing so in a competitive environment just made it that much more enjoyable. Yes, it is the educator's job to teach the child, but it is also the parent's job to teach the child respect and that those teachers have an authority. Yes, the first links are a glimpse into the corrupted minds of sick individuals, who shouldn't be allowed to associate with people in general. It is a sad description of society and its pending collapse, when we can't even trust the educators. I do think that private education is more beneficial for grades up to high school. Personally, coming from a small school with low funding, high school taught me how to locate the "bad" individuals, how to stand out as a leader, and rounded out the values and morals that my parents had instilled in me at a very young age. Now I might be singing a different tune if I ever have children, but this just happens to be my personal opinion.
ReplyDeleteBlueEyedBaby, you do have a point about figuring out who's in the "avoid" group. I was already planning on high school being in private school--I will not inflict public school on my kids, nor on my family.
ReplyDelete(I think it's now a state law in Missouri that for X number of days missed, with or without doctors' notes, child illfare will be informed, and will be checking up on the family. Happened to one of my students last fall when her son came down with pneumonia--she blogged about it. Thank you, no.)
WHY I HOMESCHOOLED MY KID:
ReplyDeleteepisode # 56,167,316,783,198,490
http://www.mrctv.org/videos/what-we-get-our-education-dollars
HH, in addition to Khan, you might be able to, sometime in the future, find another homeschooling parent with the advanced-math chops, and trade off with them.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine little homeschool-exchange programs cropping up, where people with knowledge in one area trade it for having their kids taught in another area. (Heck, I'd be willing to chip in and teach biology or basic stats or something, and accept garden produce or something in return (since I don't have kids)).
I've had a few homeschooled kids in my college classes and they've always been excellent - well-prepared, eager to learn, and respectful of others.
Thanks for commenting, A'Esquecida.
ReplyDeleteRicki, I know there's a home schooling association around here, but I don't know if that's what they do, or if they do something else to help and support each other. I really like my home schooled students' preparation for class, too, and I want my kids to be that well prepared as much for their future professors' sakes as for their own. God knows how frustrated I get with some of my public schooled students who won't bother to read the chapter and ask questions, then say "I didn't understand the assignment, so I didn't do it."
Harsh.
ReplyDeleteGlad my kids were mostly DoD schools and British public schools.
They both spent the last few years of HS in our public school system, and they were kinda amazed at how easy it was.
Harsh, maybe, but accurate, M Sgt B. I am a product of public schools, from fifteen years ago. It was really poor quality when I was in school, and it certainly hasn't improved. I see significant drops in preparedness every four years or so. I don't know who's at fault, don't know how to even begin to fix it, but won't permit the system to ruin my children.
ReplyDeleteDoD schools are far better, but even those are sinking in quality. Brit schools have become, according to the statistics I've seen, about on par with inner city American schools. Glad your kids are out, now.
Simply amazing!
ReplyDeleteIt would appear that 100% of the public education system sucks.
I find that hard to believe.
I just did a post on Home School and linked you.
ReplyDeleteGood for you & good for your children. Don't worry about the math - as stated Kahn Academy is excellent for helping and there are quite a few 'kits' like Saxon math that have all the stuff you need including the teachers' manual & answer keys. Next year we venture into hs math with the oldest child.
ReplyDeleteOCM--I'm sure there are excellent school systems (the school district I live in was one, but is starting to slide. Current pop culture, the zero tolerance policies toward children that get bored in class (drug them 'til they behave!!!), current state law about absences, and a whole lot of other social and legal minefields has me throwing up my hands and unwilling to submit my family to the BS involved.
ReplyDeleteDuke--thanks, man.
hobo--I was actually planning on looking into the Saxon math. From what I've read about it, it's one of the best programs out there, along with Singapore math.