Typical Homeschool Questions
Jul. 10, 2006 at 7:58 AM
Homeschooling
I've been away from the computer and haven't had time to get to these, so if anyone would like to share their thoughts go ahead. I'll add my thoughts a little later today.I found your blog through LaShawn's and I wanted to first say, I have no children, I am 23, and I was publicly educated. I consider myself myself fairly well read, and I have some things I'm curious about. Please don't interpret this as any kind of attack on your way(s) of life, just me raising some moral issues I have with home schooling.
1) I can understand that avoiding testing puts the power in your hands, but where's the line on that? Should the government ignore when some people beat the snot out of their kids? (I'm not comparing home schooling to child abuse but I am saying that without ANY government interdiction in the raising of a child, many parents would do just that)
2) Do you worry that without any outside influences you're essentially brainwashing your child? I am different from my parents in many ways including my political beliefs and religious beliefs, they respect that. I got the opportunities to think for myself from the things I learned and the people I met in public school. I have no illusions, I was fortunate and I went to school in a very good school district, but ought a child have the opportunity to think for themselves and make the decisions of where they want the differ from their parents? I ask these things because I fully intend to give my children the best education I can some day, and I think public schools are lacking in many ways, but it seems to me home schooling is in others. My parents effectively shaped me into a useful, moral member of society and managed it without having me in constant proximity. Supper, the evenings and the mornings were sufficient.
Related Tags: homeschooling, home school, home education, education, public school, parenting
5 Comments and Trackbacks
posted by Anonymous on Jul. 10, 2006 at 9:33 AM
Just a quick minute to reply here...
I'm not sure the actual statistic about this, but I'm going to venture a guess here - 99% of all children who are abused are part of the public school system. It doesn't really seem to make sense to presume that the government is going to prevent child abuse. If that were the case, most children would never be abused and the government would have done their self-appointed (or parent-appointed) job of protecting all of the children.
Also, take a look into who resides in our country's jails. Are these people publically,privately or home educated? Were they abused?
Just some early morning thoughts about the abuse issue...
Love in Christ,
Christine
posted by MistyKrasawski on Jul. 10, 2006 at 12:10 PM
And I appreciate the way they were asked.
I agree with the above response about child abuse. I'd also like to add that I really believe that if parents were expected and encouraged to educate their own children rather than expected and enouraged in abdicating that responsibility to the state, we'd develop a culture of honor toward kids and parenting that would prevent abuse in at least some cases. If kids don't need their parents; if they can be tossed to the daycare system at six weeks and not leave government sponsored daycare for the next 18 years; if the parents aren't smart enough or trustworthy enough to teach their own children (where were most of these "untrustworthy" parents educated, by the way? Food for thought . . .) then who has ANY value, in such a system?
Also, I don't at all believe parents homeschooling their own kids are "brainwashing" their children. And, tongue in cheek, I'd rather each set of parents *were* brainwashing their own children in their personal family values than the current system in place where ALL of the children are being brainwashed by one entity! At least then we'd get some diversity out of the deal . . .
It certainly makes for interesting conversation!
Misty Krasawski
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/MistyKrasawski
posted by chickadee on Jul. 10, 2006 at 12:53 PM
i appreciate that this young man is thinking about his children's education even before they get there. he has asked some of the same questions i wondered about before we made the decision to homeschool.
i agree with what the others posted before me about abuse. most of the parents who homeschool that i have met are the type of parent who deeply cares for their children. they have researched and prayed and decided that the best they can give them is to educate them themselves. their goal is not to isolate the children from the world and beat them.
however, what i see some (and i do mean only some) parents who put their kids in public school is a total lack of concern for their well-being. for some, public school, daycare... it's all a way to "get rid" of their children for as much as possible. these are the parents who are abusing/neglecting their children. i know these parents. i live in a small town where i see these parents and their sad children often.
as far as brain-washing goes, what do you think the public school system is doing? i suggests this young man spend some time reading some homeschool books, considering how he wants his child to be educated and for what purpose.
sometimes what you don't know about makes you feel that it is strange and weird. reading more about it and meeting the people who homeschool their children will open your eyes to the true purpose of education and why we giving our children the best education.
posted by Redeemed on Jul. 10, 2006 at 2:40 PM
I haven't had time to read blogs lately, and I'm just taking a few minutes to catch up on a few of my favorites. I don't have time to give all my thoughts on this young man's comments. In fact, I don't even have time to spend pondering them.
I will say this. It seems to me, he's been trained by "somebody". It sounds like having government involvement gives him a sort of security. Could this be because maybe he was "trained" to think this way by government schools? Just a thought...
posted by Anonymous on Jul. 11, 2006 at 9:29 AM
Two other thoughts here...
The entire faith issue - most likely the person posing the questions can't understand how the Lord Jesus would call us to bring up our own children in His Word and Ways. An unbeliever would not be able to understand this.
Also, www.cobranchi.com has a great quote from a psychiatrist that would be a good response to the poser of the question.
Love in Christ,
Christine