Does everyone else see the obvious satire in the following "Why public school is better than Homeschool" blog

Question

I am just curious; because I believe a well know home school basher (who claims to be a teacher) used it as "evidence" AGAINST home schooling in another question. I wonder if this person really can believe that those reasons are legit, and if so what in the world is this person doing teaching children?Very scary. Here is the wesite I found the satire:

http://www.home-schooling-online.org/News/1032523808/addPostingForm

Answer 1

I'm really thinking perhaps she was just in a good mood last night and posted it as satire.  I've seen her posts on some other forums, and they came across as quite witty.  She's generally very snide and condescending on the hs forum, but I gave her the benefit of the doubt (and even a thumbs up for the giggle) on this one.  :-)

(And rhsaund...get a dose of reality.  Homeschool kids make it into some of the best colleges in the country.  Although hs is not right for everyone, it is a completely legitimate educational choice.)

Edit:  Trinity, thank you for the well-worded and respectful, objective answer.  I have to say, my respect for you just went up about 100 points.  (I have no clue if that even matters, but I wanted to say it anyway :-) )  

I respect your views, and openly admit, yes: all of those things are potential cons of homeschooling.  It does take a lot of time, effort, and motivation on the part of the parent, and it can get expensive.  It's certainly not convenient a lot of the time, and if the parents are not diligent and the children are not motivated, it can go south, fast.

Homeschooling is not a choice that should be taken lightly, and the children should not be segregated from society.  These are all things that homeschooling families must take into account and be responsible for.  Successful homeschooling is certainly possible, and for some kids, it really is the best choice - but it should never be seen as an "easy way out."

Again, thank you.  I gave you another thumbs-up.  :-)

Answer 2

I did. I think it's hilarious!

But there are apparently as many hurdles still left to cross in the homeschool arena as there are in attaining world peace.

Stereotypes, misinformation, fallacious arguments, irrational and illogical assumptions...the list is near endless.

Here's my homeschool story (the nutshell version):

I was increasingly dissatisfied with the quality and quantity of education my children were receiving.

In 1987, I began to research the possibility of teaching my children myself. It was a new arena;  there was little information available, and less assistance. Absolutely no resources.

When I finally made the decision to homeschool, I determined to make the transition as seamless as possible, so I pretty much maintained their public school schedule. Our classes and routine were then similar to what they are today: we begin at am and wrap it up about 3 pm. 5 days a week.

It has been 20 years, amazingly enough, and I am still at it. So much for time and financial investment. You do what you have to do, no matter where your child is educated.

Just for the record, I opted for private schooling until the costs became prohibitive.

None of my children were social zombies, afraid of their own shadows because they had never seen sunlight. As I persistently reiterate, we live in a neighborhood--with people. We shop at stores--with people.

Our neighbors have children--who are people. Those children know children--who are people. Our children have cousins--who are people (and the usual assortment of aunts, uncles, etc.). Our children's cousins have friends--who are people. We live in a large city--full of people. They go to the library--more people. Church--people. Museums we visit, vacations we take--and so on, ad nauseum.

I have never really understood how anyone functioning within the confines of a rational mind could ever truly believe that anyone could be raised in a societal void.

Can you say Stepford? Little plastic children, living narrow, plastic lives...

Picture it: The sad and lonely little homeschooled child, wistfully sneaking a peek through the curtain at happy "normal" children at play, heading for school in the morning, and off to spend happy family time at the park or beach (or some such)...huge crocodile tears begin to roll down his or her unhappy little face...It's ludicrous!

I couldn't even begin to plumb the depths of my children's individual social networks. The point is, however, that even if they only know two people...they know two people.

I have yet to ever have had one of my children look at me with awe and wonder that we are not alone on this rock, the first day they saw a human being that wasn't an immediate family member.

Or that frost exists.

I will not deign to respond to anything else, such as being able to teach a child what one does not know (does my child REALLY need shop?), except to say no college has had a complaint yet.

Hope I helped. God bless you. †

Answer 3

Trinity I have to agree with you on something!

As soon as they put letters in my math it became Greek!

I don't think I have ever thought of algebra in the grocery store. Thanks for a laugh!

Edit: Since when is public school free? There are school fees, fund raisers, and don't we pay taxes as well? PTA and club fees fees for certain classes, Locker fees, Parking lot Fees and the list can keep growing. My mother spent on average during the first week of school about 100.00 per a child there were 6 of us! Not counting the school supplies and clothes so we would fit in! I think Home School is a much more economical way to educate our kids! We buy the program for the year. If you get one like Sonlight yes the investment is big but you can use it for 2 years before you need a new one and then you can use it again for younger kids so in the end you get a cheaper way to educate them!

Answer 4

No way........

I saw that posted. They didn't mean to post it as a joke!?!

I can't believe that.

That would be too pathetic.

I reject you reality and substitute my own.

EDIT:

The thing is, the fellow below me is clueless as to the many homeschooled kids who have gone on to Ivy League schools. He is another person judging before getting all the facts.

Answer 5

The thing is intended as satire, and says so.  Homeschooling is fine at elementary levels, marginal at the junior high level, and deficient above that: no one parent is proficient in all of English, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, music, shop, and so on, and you cannot teach what you do not know,

Answer 6

Actually Trinity we do go to the store and turn math into real life.  Whats the point of knowing the stuff if you cant apply it?  Guess thats what public school is for!  And if your thoughts are correct, does that mean a speech therapist should be in charge of teaching my toddler to talk, a physical therapist to teach her to walk,  maybe hire the credit card companies to teach my teen all about credit scores and finances.  They are obviously experts in their fields, lets just forget they prey on college students and burden them with a life of debt before they even have a career.

Answer 7

Wow, homeschool people have little sense of humor it seems. Try to post something silly to lighten things up and POW!

Anyway, I might add... we (teachers) don't attempt to teach all subjects because we are not qualified to do so. And, I would rather do lunch duty than teach algebra. Letters belong in language arts and numbers belong in math. Ever go to the grocery store and say: Hey honey, the laundry soap is on sale for A = ½(a + b)h, let's get a bunch of the stuff.

I don't totally agree with the idea of home school... true. Even though there are kids I wish were home schooled. Fact is, public school teaches far more than the core and elective subjects. Socialization skills, peer problem solving, survival in general. Home school doesn't provide that atmosphere, it can't. I have found that most parents will indeed send their kids to public school sooner or later. Being home schooled till 12th grade, sounds like Arnold in the movie "Twins". The 10 year class reunion would be a drag. "me... and my shadow" Just think, you finish at the top and the bottom of your class at the same time. But, finding a date to the prom is an issue too. How about the adventure of riding the school bus? Now there's a boat load of fun... Or, being a 1 person football team. Show and tell just doesn't fly in home school, "quick Ma find me a mirror, it's show & tell time again"

Up side... no hall passes required, no progress reports, no IEP's, no report cards, no nurse's office, no getting sent to the principal, no locker combination to forget, no "tardy" slips, no bells (no Pavlov response).

I did however find this interesting:

What are the disadvantages of home schooling?

Despite the many benefits of educating one's children at home, there are some disadvantages to home schooling. The most significant disadvantage is the amount of sacrifice it takes, physically, emotionally, and financially. Time is needed to prepare and teach lessons, organize outside activities and field trips, and schedule opportunities for the home schooled child to nurture his friendships and develop his interests. Home schooling parents do not have the luxury of having time for themselves while their children are at school. This almost-constant time together can at times seem suffocating, and may not work for some families.

Another disadvantage of home schooling is the cost. Parents who choose to home school, as opposed to free public schooling, are primarily responsible for purchasing the curriculum needed, which can cost, on average, approximately $400 per child each year. This includes costs for field trips, computer software, and materials for projects, as well as the many other resources available to parents. The cost is even higher for those families in which one parent has given up his or her full-time job to home school. For those families who had previously relied on two incomes, this can be a serious disadvantage.

In addition to the additional financial burden of home schooling, another disadvantage of home schooling involves the development of social skills. Most home schooling parents are glad to get their children out of the not-so-positive social environment of age-segregated classrooms, but this means that they are now responsible for the social development of their children. Social skills are learned through everyday interactions, such as trips to the supermarket, libraries, malls, parks, church, field trips, and visiting with neighbors. These ways alone are not completely sufficient for teaching a child proper social skills. All children need to learn how to have relationships with their peers, and home schoolers are sometimes at a disadvantage in this area because they do not have as many opportunities for forming friendships. This is not necessarily a problem for most families, but it takes more effort for home schooling parents to be diligent in making sure their children have ample opportunities to be with other children. Most communities today offer home school support groups within driving distance for almost all home schoolers; these groups usually schedule times weekly or monthly to get together for "park days," home school skate groups, and even gymnastics or swimming classes designed especially for home schoolers.

Many communities also offer co-ops for home schoolers, giving children the opportunity to learn from a variety of adults in addition to their parents. Sunday School, dance classes, 4-H clubs, sports teams, Scouts, and other organized activities like these offer children the time to learn side-by-side and socialize with other children. A disadvantage to this, however, is that some of these groups can be costly.

Because the majority of children attend public or private school, home schooled children might have the desire to start attending school. They may wonder what they are missing out on, especially if their parents don't take the time to make sure they are involved in outside activities. This is difficult for parents who are committed to home schooling and are convinced that this is God's plan for their family.

Anyone know how many American kids attend public school -vs- home school?

Answer 8

I do homeschooling and my parents do not help me Its all online and I have actual teachers that I can call or email and we have books and its exactly like regular high school! Except no idiotic teachers telling you your wrong. =)

Also about the fashion thing! HAH! Thats one thing that will never happen to me! You will never catch me in some high waters! ahha.

Answer 9

Yep she used in in my "Give me proof homeschool is bad" question........she actually USED IT AS REAL REASONING FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL BEING BETTER. She claims it was to lighten it up, however as I stated in my other post, she has been so hard-core anti-homeschool, it only leads me to believe she sincerely thought these were valid ideas.

Needless to say, as she was the only one to even TRY to give evidence and THIS was what she produced,  I was able to rest my case-there is NOTHING wrong with homeschool.

Answer 10

I know I am repeating myself, however as I stated before, since that post argued that public schooled parents are/were not qualified to teach their children at home, it simply admits that the public schools did/do a poor job of preparing their students.

These students are now home school parents; and if they (public schools) did/do a good job, anyone educated in, and graduated from these public schools should be more than qualified to teach their own, wouldn't you agree?

On the other hand  everyone who reads that post has just been given 10 very good reasons why they SHOULD home school their children.



rhsaunders;

Just as an FYI, many home school students finish their high school programs early, and attend college by the time they are 16, or 17 years of age.

Most importantly at the high school level, if teachers are/were so highly qualified in these subjects then such teachers should also be subject specialist in the fields that they are going to be teaching; meaning they should have had at least several years of work experience in that field rather than just passing a test on the subject.

How many teachers, teaching right now, are subject specialists, and would therefore be considered "highly qualified"?

Are most math, especially physics teachers engineers?

Is the Psychology teacher a practicing Ph.D.?

Is the Anatomy and Physiology teacher trained in the medical field, or has he/she gone to medical school?

See what I mean?

At least, unlike the home school parent, if you are going to get paid to be the expert, than you also need to be one.

No parent wants to see their child fail; that's is one of the reasons many choose to home school in the first place.

Thanks again:-)

Addition:



In response to Trinity:

Some of the points, like show, and tell I am not even going to touch on, because they are beyond ridiculous.



Second, it is no sacrifice to want, and do what is best for our children; it's a privilege.

All the activities you mention, and call a burden, are in fact fun.

I for one have plenty of time for myself, and my husband because we make time, just like any couple with two full-time jobs.

Suffocating? far from it, the close relationships between our children (siblings) and us (parents) is a blessing.



As for the cost; it's minimal.

Start up may cost a bit, but so do the Xbox, and all the other gadgets parents buy their children to make sure they stay out of their hair.

Our investment has a great dividend not found in anything else.

For those who are strapped, or need a helping hand once in a while there are organizations like The Book Samaritan http://www.booksamaritan.com/ who will provide the needed curriculum's for free, and all they ask is that you send it back to them, or pass it on for free to another family.

Then there is the Internet (+ or - $25.00 per month) 4H, (about $5.00 to $10.00 per year) Civil Air Patrol (about $60.00 per year), sports (as expensive as you want it to be).

Needing two incomes is a MYTH, it simply comes down to one thing a family's PRIORITIES.

I guess you could say we teach them life skills, and economics through resourcefulness :-)

  

Social skills, wow a parent  teaches those from the day they are born.

You are right about one thing, these are taught through every day interactions,  for which a conventional school provides little or no opportunity during the school day; ever listened to   many of those interactions; no thank you.

Trust me it does not happen in the classroom either, a room full of children of the same age does little or nothing for intellectual stimulation.

Children need to interact with people of all ages, and work along side adults so they can learn from, and by their example.

You do not learn it from reading about it in a book, or another group of children.



In many cases socialization does become a bit of a stumbling block for home school families, but not because there is too little, actually often there is too much.

I hear often that home school families are looking for ways to scale back on some of the activities.

Home school parents have to carefully choose the activities otherwise "school" could become something nice to do between the many activities.



Our children have several friends who attend conventional schools, and it is these children who tell them how lucky they are, and wished they were home schooled as well.

Our children have had no desire to go to school yet, and if they do we will talk about the plus, and minuses.



About the numbers that is not so easy; several states require no notification, or registration of a family's intend to home school, and therefore the numbers given in most statistics are under reported.

High schoolers are most often under reported because the cut of for having to register is often set at age 16, even if the young person has not yet finished their program.



I believe that the most reliable numbers for home school statistics can be found at http://www.nheri.org/