Home Where They Belong ~ State of Education - Public Schools Today
Posted 12:30 AM, May. 14, 2008
Hi. I’m new to this blog but not to homeschooling. I started back in 1985. My oldest son graduated in 1998 and my youngest in 2003.
By my second year of homeschooling, I was headlong into helping others get started. For the past ten years, I’ve talked with about 400 new homeschoolers a year, and I can tell you the face of homeschooling is changing – and so is the face of public schooling.
Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing some of the stories and experiences I’ve had helping “newbies.”
In the early days, and even up till just five years ago, most calls came from parents with young children – people who were thinking carefully about the upbringing of their little ones before getting too far into the job.
Today, almost all my calls come from desperate parents entangled with the public school system. I always wish they’d called earlier, because once you find yourself doing battle with guidance counselors, principals and social services, you’re basically between a rock and a hard place. Getting out of the situation is not always as easy as simply not sending a child back to school and starting to homeschool.
Two weeks ago, a mom called with a two-child problem. Her ninth grade daughter had turned from a sweet girl who was close to her parents into an angry monster who screamed and swore at mom and dad and wouldn’t tell them what was wrong.
The mom finally took the girl to a therapist and the wise man told her to get her daughter out of school before she killed herself. It turned out she was being dragged into the restroom by other girls nearly every day and threatened in all manner of unrepeatable ways. The mom called me to find out how to homeschool, but the girl had already been out of school for a couple of weeks and had returned to her happy and secure self.
This mom also had a fourth grade son who had been in special-ed reading since first grade. He read well at home but not at school. Among other things, the mom was told she should not allow her son to read books about science at home because “they’re above his level and not on our reading list,” and he was chided for bringing pretend gems to school for Show & Tell from a faux archeological dig his family had gone on because the subject and some of the vocabulary necessary for telling about his experience was “above the heads of the other children.”
I’ve listened to thousands of similar stories. These are not exceptions. They happened in what is considered a good school district. It’s extremely important for homeschoolers to remain aware of what’s going on in public schools, because all too many feel tempted to use them as a solution when things get tough.
I believe we must face the fact that state schools are not an option for our children. They are increasingly centers of not only godlessness but outright abuse. We would never choose a child abuser as a sitter for our children then try to reform him even as we leave our children in his care. We would not consider it an option – period. The same goes for public schools. We must free ourselves of all mental and emotional dependence on them. Some good people may work in them, but good people work in prisons, too.
More stories next week.
Tammy Drennan has homeschooled and helped others start homeschooling for 23 years. Her web sites and blogs include: www.homeschoolstarter.com and www.educationconversation.wordpress.com.
Comments
 May. 10, 2008 - Hi
Hi I like your blog! Everything I've read defently is based on a biblical point of view and I love reading your posts. Could you please add me as a friend?
May. 12, 2008 - Thank you
for bringing this experience here before our eyes. There is a lot of fighting the HWTB team of homeschool moms on our opinions and experiences, because, well, they are just our own, and many do not deem that reputable enough.
Yours are your own, but also those of so many other parents who feel trapped, and I am thankful you are bringing it out here and leading these parents to a road and plan of freedom to educate and help their children become themselves.
A homeschool mom and I were just talking yesterday. We met on HSB and are both the parents of high school age girls who blog, and she mentioned that she was just so surprised at how blogging had changed her girls lives. They can be themselves and are blogging what they have learned, and it is opening them up to a new world of becoming who God has created them to be. The girls are so darling and talented and considerate.
There are so many opportunities for our children to grow and be blessed and be real people. Thank you for being there for so many. I pray that God blesses you greatly for it!
I also want to wish a very Happy Mother's Day to some of mostest-favoritest-moms in the whole world!! I love you all, Gena and the HWTB team!!
You are all a blessing to not just me, but our entire family, and I love you all!!
((HUGS from Indiana!!))
J
May. 12, 2008 - Thank you...
...Jacque...for your sweet, kind words. Right back at 'cha, Sweetie!! ;-)
...Tammy...for being one more voice concerning what is REALLY going on in public schools and the problems that parents share with homeschoolers. On May 20th I will wrap up 11 years as our county's homeschool coordinator and I, too, have heard all those heart-wrenching stories about what students (AND PARENTS) go through -- NOT just from other students -- BUT from teachers, "advisors," principals, superintendents and other administrators!
And, like you, I have also noticed a SHARP increase of parents taking older students out of ps, and at anytime during the year. It used to be that the bigger influx of "I want to take my kid(s) out of ps NOW!" calls came during Christmas break (or "Winter Break" in ps). NOW...they come at a fairly steady clip ALL YEAR LONG. I JUST had a mom of a 9th grader start homeschooling last week! Last year I had a mom start homeschooling with 3 weeks to go in her district and another mom called to take her son out with ONE WEEK to go in her district!!
Public schools are so far 'gone' and they will NEVER be the same. They are NOT the place for children to be - especially Christian children. DO NOT fall for the lie that Christian children need to be in the public school to evanelize...God NEVER sent children to evanalize...NEVER. SEND CHRISTIAN TEACHERS but NOT kids!! And then PRAY for those teachers.
But bring your children HOME WHERE THEY BELONG!! What about socialization? HOME is where good...REAL...socialization happens! I don't see that public school socialzation is very successful. But I CAN see that my children...and nearly every homeschooled child I've known IS successfully socialized, mannerly, polite, well educated, happy, engaged...I could go on and on. I CAN see that people such as Winston Churchill, General Patten, General McArthur; Presidents Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Truman; Ansel Adams, Charles, Dickens, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers and the Founding Fathers certainly seemed to be well educated...at home...and well socialized.
Let the proof be in the pudding. I've got all the proof I need when I see the sadness, anger and hopelessness of the public school kids walking around the malls contrasted by the happy, mentally healthy, hope-filled, motivated homeschool kids that we know. WHAT A CONTRAST!! I've got all the proof I need when I hear tearful parents calling me about how to start homeschooling NOW because their child has been beaten up in the locker room for the 4th time and the school won't do anything about it...AGAIN. It's self-expression and their child just happens to be the canvas! I don't hear about that nonsense going on with homeschoolers around here. Do you?
Oh, the stories we could tell! Bring them HOME WHERE THEY BELONG!!
Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
May. 12, 2008 - Thanks
I appreciate the comments people have shared. Like Kim, I also get calls from parents pulling children out of school with only a month or even weeks to go in the year. I've also gotten calls from teachers and from quite a few social workers -- a couple wanting to know how teens in group homes or detention centers might homeschool themselves. A significant number of calls from teens, too. There are so many sad situations out there -- so many children and families suffering. Homeschooling offers these people hope, but it also creates a challenge for the homeschooling community. The more troubled young people who enter the ranks, the more criticism we'll face -- accusations of homeschoolers in trouble with the law or exhibiting social or moral dysfunction, as well as a dilution of the test scores so many hold so dear. It's a challenge we'll have to embrace.
Tammy Drennan
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~ A Day in the Life of the Public School Student
Posted 12:22 AM, May. 7, 2008
I wonder if any of you reading this would knowingly put your child in a car with some who'd been drinking straight vodka. Would you let someone in a drunken stupor transport your child ? That's what happened in my local area, when a bus driver was caught drinking straight vodka out of a water bottle. He had a blood alcohol level nearly 3 times the legal amount. "DWI in New York is considered any BAC reading of 0.08 percent or greater." This bus driver's BAC (Blood Alcohol Level) was .23.
How'd he get caught? A child aid worker accompanied the children (good thing!), and noticed his inebriated condition, called her superiors, who in turn called the police. So it was handled, you might say. But meantime, what was at risk? Only the lives of the children. That's all. And of course, the lives of anyone else driving or walking past that bus that day.
When we put a child on the schoolbus each day, how many people have a part in that child's life before they return home to us in the afternoon? Are they drunks? Drug addicts? Pedophiles? Psychopaths? Or are they just plain mean and abusive? Some children don't take the bus, so they deal with a school crossing guard. How about the teacher aid? Who is serving up food in the school cafeteria? What has the school's custodian been up to? The gym teacher? The principal? the school nurse? The hall monitor? The math teacher? The history teacher? The science teacher?
Of course, the list could go on and on. "Not in our school." "Our town is OK. Everybody knows everybody." "We live in the Bible belt." It does not matter. It's everywhere and anywhere. And as time goes on it gets worse and worse. And this says nothing of the other students our children will brush up against every day in our public school system. Private schools as well.
“But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5
"Avoid such men [and women] as these." How else to help our children "avoid such men as these" than to keep them home where they belong? No doubt, for every person listed above who is in our school systems, there are more who are good. Many teachers, administrators, janitors, school nurses, etc., are wonderful people. They are in a sick and broken system, but they are good. It is the many who are not so good - who seek either to do your child harm, or be so self-indulgent (like the bus driver at the beginning of this post) that they put your child in harm's way. It's that one (or two or three) people in the system who could do your child damage for the rest of his life.
Let's bring/keep our children home. Let's give them a safe and loving environment to learn in. There are too many people and situations out there that seriously need to be avoided.
Deb Turner
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~Homeschooling Works!
Posted 12:55 AM, Apr. 30, 2008
Home where they belong, your children have so many options for learning. Truly, the world is their classroom.
It is always amazing to me to hear the naysayers against homeschool talk about what children miss out on if not sent to public school. Yet, out of public school, they are entirely out of a box that has limitations all around it.
Mass education - that is what public school methods are built around. The convenience is for the teachers and staff. It is not about the student. Not at all. From time to time, I have parents of public schooled children call me for advice. Somehow they get my name and number. There's this wild rumor out there that I've been homeschooling for 20 years. It's true. Word gets around, and I get these calls.
"I'm so frustrated with my daughter's school. We've been around it and around it with her guidance counselor, and the schedule just doesn't work. She needs this class, that class and the other class, but I feel like I'm beating my head against a wall. It's like they don't care. They just can't make it work."
Now, let me explain that I am in a very good school district. That is, on paper. It has a great reputation, which usually mean drop out rate, graduating and going on to collage, grade point average, etc. But the complaints don't address those things. They more address students being herded like cattle; their issues not being heard; classes being forced and others being denied due to scheduling problems. Of course, other issues like drugs and bullying find their way out of the public eye. What is not reported will not be in any documentation.
Home where they belong, all limitations can be removed. Except the ones you want in place. like, no socializing with the local drug dealer. What do you want to learn? Go for it.
Also, home where they belong, nobody is going to tell their teacher to keep his Bible out of view.
Home where they belong, they won't have to worry about another student's insane plan to kill as many classmates as possible.
Home where they belong, military kids can spend time with their dad while he's home on leave, without penalty.
Home where they belong, your children will be safe from teachers' sexual misconduct.
There's just so much to be gained in homeschooling. Nothing to lose, everything to gain. Home where they belong.
Deb Turner - Homeschooling from the Heart
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
Featured Graduates and Alumni
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~ Trail Blazers & Mentors
Posted 1:35 AM, Apr. 23, 2008
I Cor. 1:1&2 - "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you."
Have you ever stopped to take the time to thank the person(s) who first educated you on the subject of homeschooling?
Where would we (and our families) be without them and the concern they showed us by taking the time to explain this godly plan of education?
Think of all the things you would have missed in your children's lives. Wasn't it wonderful to watch that light come on in their eyes when they finally realized that the numeral 3 represented three things? Wasn't it exciting when she was so inspired by a book she had just read to sit down and write a fictional story herself?...And it was good! Wasn't it incredible when he found that cicada shell on the tree, got out his magnifying glass and really got excited about pointing out that he knew where the head, thorax and abdomen were without being asked? Wasn't it thrilling when your family went to the beach for the first time (remember, I'm from Ohio!) and your kids couldn't collect enough seashells because they finally, fully realized that God made each and every one of them and that there were no two alike? Oh, the things we would have missed if not for these faithful friends who told us that our kids could stay home for school!
Think of the relationship you have with each child that you would not have if they had spent 6-8 hours away from you each day. Aren't you grateful that you could instill your values and the teachings of Scripture to them instead of "de-programming" them every night? Or that they are not caught "between the rock and the hard place" of having to "divide allegiances"? By that I mean that they don't have to be seduced by the pressure of believing that "cool" socialist Humanities teacher or that smug, self-assured atheistic Biology teacher vs. Dad, Mom and the Bible. Think of the heartache, and possible harassment, they have been spared so that they can be nurtured in the Truth of the Gospel and taught to defend their faith in the proper time. (I can find no place in Scripture were God sent a child out to evangelize.) By the time they complete their home education, by God's grace, they will be mature and secure enough in their faith that they can defend themselves against the "cool" socialist and the smug, self-assured atheist. I must be frank and tell you that I know very few Christian kids in public schools who are secure enough in their faith that they can properly defend it. Thanks to God's faithfulness and those dear friends who told us about homeschooling, you and I have had the opportunity to instruct our children "in the way they should go." (Prov. 22:6 & Deut. 6:4-9)
Titus 2:7 says, "In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about you." Now it's our turn. If you have a year or more of homeschooling under you belt, then welcome to The Example Club! Just as those who blazed the trails ahead of us, just as those who lovingly mentored us, just as those who set that godly example for us to follow...let us not miss the chance to encourage a nervous mom full of questions, hopes and dreams. Don't be afraid to be used by God!...If God used Balaam's donkey, I KNOW He can use me...and you, too! Someone is watching and wants what YOU have, just as you watched someone else at one time.
Thank the dear ones who God used to get you on the road to homeschooling and don't be afraid for Him to use you in the same way.
Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
P.S. Thanks Sono and Gregg!!
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~ So What's Real Science?
Posted 1:39 AM, Apr. 17, 2008
Sometimes one of the HWTB team members comes across an article and we forward it to each other. The information contained therin being way to repugnant or ridiculhous to keep to ourselves. That is the case with the following article and a couple of us found that there was more to be said than just one post could hold. So we invite you to click over to the below blogs to see what more we felt compelled to expound on.
For my part I have to say that while I found the author's article about how homeschoolers should not receive a diploma unless they are taught science irritating, it also made me laugh. He claims that the only way to learn science is from an evolutionists point of view. He then goes on to give the example of Biology and trashes Apologia text books no end. The theory of evolution is only a small part of biology. I don't have to know about evolution to understand how a heart works, to understand the food chain, or how to classify plants and animals. I can understand all of that (and more) and learn it as science based on scientific prinicpals that are just as relevant to a Creationist as they are to someone who believes in evolution. Believing in God does not change HOW any of those things work. It only changes my perspective on WHY it works.
The author goes on to say that science should be taught with the same standards as history and math. As far as I know there is no other standard for math but the author is woefully ignorant if he believes there is only one standard for history. Today's history books are full of lies and propaganda as well as telling the "facts" from the unique perspective of the author's culture; the Crusades, the Civil War, whether or not the people of Columbus' day actually believed the world was flat--history is erased, forgotten, and changed in order to fit the political climate of the time. All that to say that the author backed up his science claims with a stack of red herrings.
If you haven't read the linked to article yet please do so now because that will make Deb Turner's post more fun to read. She offers her take on this article by turning the tables:
There are many, many things I find dubious about the practice of compulsory education in our public schools. I wonder how a teacher can possibly provide the individualized education in a mass student setting that a parent can give their own child at home. And I can´t help but think that these public schooled students, of whom there are several million in the United States, are being robbed of a crucial formative experience by not being taught home where they belong, by loving parents, with their options wide open for life, learning and academics. They are being robbed of a crucial formative experience by attending school with other people who are ONLY their age and being forced to interact with a diverse group of peers in a very negative social setting where bullying, drugs, violence and sexual harassment is a constant, not to mention the teachers who are lusting after their students.
You can read her full twist on the tale HERE.
Jacque Dixon also had plenty to say
In his article, Mr. Shives opens with a telling attitude about homeschooling: "There are many, many things I find dubious about the practice of parents homeschooling their children." He then proceeds to go on to prove he knows little about homeschooling and especially about the way children learn.
The entire rest of the article does not even address this 'concern' of his, so why does he say all of this? What could be so important for him to have to give this opinion about homeschoolers? Is he worried that we need to mix homeschoolers in with the other government-schooled kids as a giant science experiment to see what happens? No. I think the word "forced" is the tell-tale word here. He believes that homeschooled children should be forced to go to a government school and learn a government-based agenda. I think the word diverse is what he wants to force on homeschoolers. As in religious diversity.
Follow along as Jacque points out even more fallacies in the author's thinking HERE.
I hope you enjoyed this tag-team effort! Let us know what you think and if you post your thoughts about the article on your blog be sure to leave us a link here in the comments.
Remember, keep your children home where they belong! It's the best way to learn how to really back up what they believe with truth.
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
Comments
Apr. 14, 2008 - Ok , I Had To Say Something...:)
Here it is ... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/SimcoxHomeschool/516015/
~ Nikki
Apr. 16, 2008 - Too Funny
Hi Tia,
I just clicked on the article link, and the Google Ad on his sidebar is an advertisement for “ Expelled” the documentary film with Ben Stein about the shunning evolutionist are participating in against intelligent design/creationism.
I wonder if he is aware of the advertisement and the absolute justice of it!!
Amy in Idaho
http://cominghomewhereibelong.blogspot.com/
Apr. 16, 2008 - LOL Amy
I did the same thing the other day, and the girls and I had a hearty laugh about it!
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~ In the Face of Opposition
Posted 1:33 AM, Apr. 9, 2008
Hebrews 12:1-3 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith…Consider Him Who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Have you ever been blind-sided? Have you ever seen someone else blind-sided? You know…a person is just driving along and, BAM!, someone runs the red light and crashes right into the side of their car. Or a person is in the stands watching a baseball game and enjoying the excitement, the cheers and a dog-gone good hotdog when, BAM!, a foul ball lands right in their lap full of nachos and cheese. Disasters, every one.
Recent national news stories have blind-sided the homeschool community in much the same way. We had already been labeled everything from educational idiots to educational elitists and everything in-between. Now, it seems someone is trying to label us as dangerous. It’s so hard not to stand up and SCREAM!
We’ve all dealt with various doubts and accusations from “concerned” friends and family…and even a stranger or two. But how do we stand up to the Goliath of the national news media with an apparent ax to grind? One way has been done quite successfully, it seems, since the biased news stories aired. Due to so many complaints, at least one sponsor (as of this writing) has dropped out of the add line-up. There’s one victory! Now…how do we persevere from here?
Try this: Look around you at the homeschoolers you know. We all constitute an earthly “cloud of witnesses” and encouragement to endure! We’re not all the same…our families live in different areas, we are different colors, we are large in number, we are small in number. But we all have the same goal: to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” So…”Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.” What encouragement!
When it all comes down to what matters regarding our homeschools, what matters is the vindication that we will receive from Christ. What matters is that our children will carry forth God’s Good News to a dying world. What matters is that when this world and the bad news we hear on a nightly basis gets to be overwhelming, we can stop and “consider Him Who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Jesus knew this kind of slander all too well. This kind of thing is nothing new to Him. I once heard a pastor say that “If the devil isn’t bothering you, he must have you right where he wants you.” I don’t think any of us want to be there, but someone is always looking for ways to discredit the good. Even if they have to search high and low to do it.
It’s so easy to get mad and spout off about this, but we need to come together in a concert of prayer for our rights, our safety and for the protection of the Lord over our homes. And while we’re at it we need to remember Whom we represent…we are ambassadors of Christ. We are training our children to be ambassadors and carry the light of Christ into the next generation and into the world they will influence as adults.
We are not responsible for what other people think of us, but we are responsible to be obedient to Christ and His call. Christ is all the vindication we need.
Blessings from Ohio,
Kim Wolf<><
Comments
Apr. 2, 2008 - Untitled Comment
I can see how the elitist label got started. I know many many public schooled children who have become ambassadors for Christ. We have a church full of them now. Public schooled Christian children and their families need your prayers and support not your condemnation. Don't you think that's what Jesus would want, too?
Apr. 2, 2008 - Katherine...
Thanks so much for reading HWTB and for commenting.
I'm not saying that public schooled children and their parents don't need our prayers...for sure, they need them very much! But...what I AM saying is that homeschooling is the very best option for educating our children...particularly Christian children. And I AM saying that I understand that, unfortunately, not everyone can do it; whether because of finances (although we have very successfully homeschooled our 2 daughters for around $500 per year), or because the parents believe that both parents must work outside the home; handicaps, etc.
I AM also saying that God NEVER sent children out to evangelize. Never. Oh, I know about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, but they were captives in a pagan land. I ask that anyone who thinks that God has called you to send your children into the public school system...a system devoid and absolutely hostile to Christ and Christians personally...that you would really pray about that and consider the example God has set before you (Deut. 6:6-7, etc.)...as well as their safety, how vulnerable they may be to peer pressure, how mature they are in their faith (especially those sweet, tender grade-schoolers) and what your district's consequences are for those children who wish to speak out for the Lord, submit Christian story books for the teacher to read on days when the class is invited to bring their favorites to share; the district's views on lunch time prayer or prayer before a test, carrying their Bibles in school, handing out literature to fellow students, etc. IF you live in a district where those things are acceptable...you are blessed to live in an area where the district is actually breaking man's law so that those things may happen.
Another thing you might consider...if your church has any homeschoolers in attendence, have you ever noticed a difference in Sunday School participation between them and the public school kids? Not attendence...but PARTICIPATION. Every Sunday School teacher I know of, not just at our own church, will tell you that no matter how committed the families are to the Lord, there is a marked difference in the participation of public and homeschooled kids...from elementary to high school. When I've asked these ss teachers about this, without fail, they tell me that ps kids will sit w/their arms crossed and, if they're not being disruptive, they have the attitude of wishing they anywhere else but in ss. Where the hs kids are generally attentive and participate.
I also have so many Christian friends and relatives who tell me that they are CONSTANTLY "fighting" against the lies and revised history that their children are being taught. When you were in school, who "seemed" to be the authority figure...your parents or your teachers? These families fight the same fight. To me, it would be utterly exhausting to have to 'homeschool' my kids in the truth every night when they come home. Not to mention, the foul, crass language that they are exposed to; the potential violence in the halls and on the buses; biased teachers; tempations...whether they be to do drugs, date before they're ready (because 'everyone else' is), to have sex...to name a few concerns.
Homeschoolers do not have to deal w/this false, dangerous aspect of 'socialization' that so many in the educational industry seem to think is so necessary for our children to experience.
Yes...public school children and parents DO need our prayers. But please understand that homeschooling is the best option and I stand by that fact.
Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
Apr. 2, 2008 - No Religious Rights in Public Schools...
As if to solidify one of my points in the above post...
Fox News.com has a story about a high school boy who was given a failing grade on an art project b/c he included a cross and John 3:16 on an art project of a landscape. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,344350,00.html
Here's what his teacher said to him: "Millin [his teacher] showed the student a policy for the class that prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in artwork. The lawsuit claims Millin told the boy he had signed away his constitutional rights when he signed the policy at the beginning of the semester."
How lovely that 'religious beliefs' are equated along the same lines as 'violence, blood, sexual conntations.' And, as all homeschoolers know, a little known fact was 'let out' when the teacher told him, "he had signed away his constitutional rights when he signed the policy at the beginning of the semester."
Actaully, the students - NOR THE PARENTS - have any Constitutional rights once that students have crossed the threshold of the school building. That includes the 1st, 4th and 14th Amendments, in particular. Parents have NO SAY over what is taught to their children in public school.
Keep them Home Where They Belong!!
Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
Apr. 2, 2008 - You're in my prayers
Hi, I am currently attending college for my Invervention Specialist license and am increasingly interested in homeschooling as a point of comparison and just as an interesting issue in today's debate over educating our children.
I don't want to get into the politics of it all nor do I want to judge which way is correct or the one that God blesses. I simply want to tell you that I will include homeschoolers in my prayers and ask that you, too, pray for all of us Christian public school teachers. Together, we can make a difference.
Thanks
Carol Holley
Canton, Ohio
Apr. 3, 2008 - I would just like to say
that when I was in jr. high, I attended our church's sunday school class every sunday. I was the only homeschooled student in that class. I knew my memory verse every week and knew the lesson we had learned the week before. I paid attention to what my teacher was teaching.
Because of all the stuff I mentioned above, I was made fun of and almost chastised because of it.
My teacher would actually laugh at me because I would memorize my verse every week. When I would raise my hand when the teacher asked if anyone remembered the verse, I was asked to "let someone else try" even though they had asked at least 2 or 3 minutes before I even raised my hand. They would often times say things like, "Oh, of course Amanda knows her verse" or "Amanda would you enlighten us with the verse from last week."
If children go to public school, especially Christian children, they will pick up the bad habits of the unsaved. They will carry those into other areas of their lives.
I did not memorize my scripture because I wanted to be better than them and know it to be a show off. I did it because it was important to me to remember it and because we were told to by our Sunday school teacher. And even though the teacher actually made fun of me because I did what I was told to, I still memorized it every week.
When we left the church, one of my old elementary teachers told my mother that she would really miss us because me and my sisters were the only children in the class who would participate in the lessons. We would dialog with the teacher when she asked questions, we would memorize our scriptures.
There is a marked difference between homeschooled Christian children and public schooled Christian children!
Yes, the public schooled children and teachers need prayers, but I think that the homeschooled children and teachers need more because the public schools aren't the ones being put under the microscope, its the homeschoolers!
I mean, homeschoolers doesn't even show up as a real word on mozilla firefox! But public school sure does.
Great post, Mrs. Wolf!
Love, Prayers and Blessings!
Miss Amanda
http://superangelsblog.com
Apr. 4, 2008 - Hello Dear Angel..
Nothing like being affirmed by a homeschooler!! :-) Thanks for backing up MY experience w/YOUR expereience.
Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
Apr. 4, 2008 - :)
You are welcome! It is the truth and it needs to be heard!
I want to thank all of you on this blog who post the truth through all the fire that you are put through. You do shine through!
Love,
Miss Amanda
http://superangelsblog.com
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~ Early Kindergarten is for the Birds
Posted 1:51 AM, Apr. 2, 2008
I love it when I come across an article that helps to prove our point here on Home Where They Belong. While the author is in favor of public school, he sees the danger of early kindergarten.
The push to get children ready for the next level up is absolutely insane. You don't put your child through 5th grade just so their little head can be crammed with information they don't really need now but they'll need it in 6th grade because in 6th grade their heads will be crammed with information they will need in order to make it through 7th grade. That's part of the reason for the push for early kindergarten. Really that's just kindergarten because 1st grade is now second grade and so on. It's all about what's next instead of what's now.
Of course skills progress from grade to grade, but why not just relax and learn what you need to know now? Corrie Ten Boom's father said it best - When Corrie had asked her father what a certain word had meant and her father knew that it was something she was not ready to fully understand he asked her to pick up his traveling case. Corrie attempted to but could not.
"It's too heavy," I said.
"Yes," he said. "And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask a little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you." (From The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom.)
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
Comments
Mar. 26, 2008 - Untitled Comment
What a profound quote!!!
I couldn't imagine starting kids in school even earlier. It's one thing when *I* decide to make an effort to teach my child to read when I *know* they are ready, even if it is way before Kindergarten.... but to assume that we should start getting *every* 3yo ready for K is completely absurd! Little children do not need that much pressure! Next thing you know, the latest med issue for the under 5 set will be migraines.
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~ Ever Get the Prom Question?
Posted 12:30 AM, Mar. 26, 2008
When I first started homeschooling, my oldest was only in kindergarten. Over the course of that year, as well as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade I was asked if I planned to homeschool through high school. At that time I wasn't the die hard homeschooler that I am now and my response was usually, "We'll see when we get there." This usually brought up the next question, "What about prom?" This question always startled me, were there really that many people out there who felt that the prom was so important and the end all of the high school experience? Apparently so, because nearly everyone who asked me the first question then asked the prom question.
I myself actually attended three proms and I'm not sure what the thrill was all about. Generally the girls were starry eyed and dreamy about their ideal of a super romantic event. The boys were not so thrilled but willing to do what it would take to make their girl happy and the possibilities of what might happen after the dance. Usually the guys failed to make their girls happy. I've never seen so many angry, disillusioned, fickle females crammed into a bathroom in my life. At all three proms restroom use was practically out of the question. You had to be desperate enough to fight your way through a mass of bawling teen girls. One year a teacher was actually checking one of the male restrooms to see if it was empty for those of us who truly needed to use it. Interestingly it was almost always vacant. Around the dance floor you'd see boys standing about in bewilderment trying to figure out what they had done and why their date was hiding in the bathroom.
It's been a few years since the prom question has come up. Maybe in part because people know that there are homeschool proms or that homeschoolers generally don't care about such things, I don't know. Still, if anyone asks I like to direct them to this website. I even have a link to it from my personal blog's sidebar. It's an excellent article on how ridiculous the question is, the outrageous cost that proms were and have become, and explains so well how the prom goes against everything I believe in.
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
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Comments
Mar. 21, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Wow, what a weird question! I haven't gotten it yet, but I agree that avoiding the prom would be yet another good reason to homeschool. I was blessed enough to be home educated myself, and I never felt cheated out of a prom.
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Mar. 21, 2008 - Untitled Comment
On the other side of things, there are lots of homeschooling groups that sponsor formals (AKA, proms). Our group is having one on April. I have been tremendously impressed at the amount of time and planning that goes into this from the parents who are guiding the process and the dozen teens who are doing the planning. The girls have to sign a paper saying that they understand the dress code and then their dresses are approved by an adult leader. The music list has to be pre-approved. The formal is not just for high schoolers, but parents are invited and encouraged to come, as well. Hardly anyone has a date. For months ahead of time, the kids can take ballroom and/or line-dancing lessons as a group. Afterwards, the teens and parents go out to eat at iHop.
So there are alternatives. I happened to have wonderful memories of my own high school formals, and I'm glad that I belong to a group that sponsors such an event, in a modified, Christian environment. If my kids wish to go to a formal, there will be one in place. Perhaps another response to people who ask that question might be, "I wouldn't choose to have a my child attend a prom, but there are lots of support groups that do offer like-events."
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Mar. 21, 2008 - Prom Question...
I don't remember getting that question until the girls started getting into Jr and Sr high ages. And, I agree, it's AMAZING the importance people put on very un-important issues. Just another "concern" those who go to (went to) public school put on what homeschoolers are "missing" that DOESN'T include acadmics!
Well, I'm here to tell you that they CAN and DO survive never going to a prom...or a homecoming dance...or a sweetheart dance...or a Sadie Hawkins dance...or anything else that the school "system" devises to get hormonal teens all together in a dark room. Tia, your descriptions of the restrooms and such were hysterical! You're exacty right! :-)
We follow what we refer to as a "modified courtship" model. Right off the bat, this requires that they do not even think about "dating," or anything similar until they are old enough - and mature enough - to consider marriage. And WHEN that time comes, the young man must understand that this requires LOTS of group activities and time with family...ours and his. Very little alone time, which...if things progress to a potentially serious nature...will happen, just NOT right away.
Our oldest daughter, Jasper, has JUST started this "modified courtship" w/a young man from our church...and she is 20. Of course, there have been little crushes here and there, as any teen will have, but never anything that had potential.
When this first became "official," we had the young man out to our house and we sat down and explained exactly where our family was coming from. I'm sure, being a young man who was raised in a public school setting and who has had girlfriends in the past, that he probably thought some of this was for the birds, but...as I told Jasper...THAT is part of learning how earnest and how sincere any young man is about her, too...If he is willing or is he bulks at any limitations. We explained to him that we are required, by God, to be her guardians until she is married; she may be 20 years old and looked upon as an adult by "the world" but she is OUR daughter and we have raised her to be virtuous until marriage and the rules we have set up, and the way we have raised her is a part of that. "And IF you turn out to be 'the one,' you will appreciate that!"
We try not to get too personal or vivid in our conversation on this topic, but we are still frank concerning what we expect of both of them.
They are both very active w/our young adult group - which is how they met - and they see each other there often, and at church. They also go to a friend's home for a weekly Friday movie night (w/parents at home) w/a group of life-long homeschool friends. So, far they have only been "alone" when they have gone out to eat after church together instead of w/our family and the group we usually lunch w/on Sundays.
We're praying and working it out as we go.
Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
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Mar. 21, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Oh, I got that question. I usually said I'd deal with it if it ever came up. I had a steady boyfriend my Junior and Senior years and did not even go to my prom so prom was not on my priority list.
The homeschool support group that we associated with did not do dances, although they had a very nice formal banquet for the Seniors.
I had only boys and each of them went to at least 3 proms with girls from different public schools that went to our church. It was not a big deal. They were not boyfriend/girlfriend kind of dates. They just had fun dressing up and doing something fun. No big deal.
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~ Who's Responsible for Educational Neglect: the School or the Parents?
Posted 12:52 AM, Mar. 19, 2008
Here's a story that had me cringing on both sides of the equation. A public school had misdiagnosed a student as mentally retarded and put him in their special needs classes. They claim they did what they thought was best for this student.
The parents knew this wasn't right and began to fight it and it took them several years to do so. Meanwhile letting their son stay at the school until he left and demanding that the school be held responible for their sons years of misery and educational neglect. The court agreed and the school now has to pay for a 21 year old to go a private school to make up for his lack of proper education. Say what?
While the school was definitely in the wrong they are not the only responsible party here. I don't know why the parents didn't just pull their son out of the school and find somewhere else to educate him or to homeschool him or why they didn't take their son to their own doctor and get another diagnosis. If you are going to advocate for the best interest of your child then you need to truly be searching all avenues, not just depending on the one that has already failed you.
Tia Linschied
Senior Editor of HSB
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Comments
Mar. 12, 2008 - Untitled Comment
I know someone, in our town of 6000, who's son was in special ed. He is dyslexic. Yep, that's what they do with dyslexia, here. Anyway...the teacher's aid humiliated and physically injured him in class one day. They parents took him out and put him in a private school, where for the first time, he was excelling in academics. They sued the school district for tuition. At first, they won, the ISD appealed and won. Since they didn't win a monetary award from the school, they put him back in the school where he was physically and emotionally hurt. Talk about "huh?"
What is the matter with people?
- Home Where They Belong
Home Where They Belong ~ What In the World Is Going On with Homeschooling In California?
Posted 1:23 AM, Mar. 12, 2008
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The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
Home Where They Belong
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March 10, 2008
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"The fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the state to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only. The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations." (Pierce vs. Society of Sisters, 1922)
What In the World Is Going On In California?
By Karen Braun
By now, most homeschoolers across the country have heard about the California appellate court ruling handed down on February 28 ordering the children of Phillip and Mary Long to attend public school or a legally qualified private school. The judge's ruling surprised everyone and sparked a firestorm of concern among homeschoolers nationwide, many wondering if homeschooling had become illegal in California.
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine staff has been following the developments since World Net Daily first broke the story a week ago. In this Homeschool Minute, we would like to provide a brief summary of the events and offer links to various perspectives to help homeschoolers understand this ruling, how it impacts homeschoolers in California, and what homeschoolers across the | | | |
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