<p>100th post to this thread. the sign 99 was bugging me to death.</p>
<p>LOL you're awesome, 101...</p>
<p>Homeschooling based on religious affiliation is messed up. Its just parents wanting to keep their kids ignorant of the real scientific world. Take for instance this kid at my school; homeschooled, social retard, has a unibrow, takes every aspect of catholicism literally including evolution, wants to be a catholic writer "to beat back the sex and violence" in our world (even though this kid plays halo 5 hours a day).
Parents that partake in this type of homeschooling are perpetuating a vicious cycle of ignorance. It's one thing if there are no good schools in the area, but not just to keep your kid in a little cave. For those of you who have seen "the Village"... it seems kind of like that.</p>
<p>a homeschooled kid goes to ur school? how is that possible?</p>
<p>StephenP, I agree.</p>
<p>When you have been homeschooled, or are close friends with a homeschooler you can dis away. </p>
<p>I've been careful to only base things I ever say to dis public school (which I prefer to avoid as well) on what I hear 1ST PERSON from some good friends of mine. Such as the horrendous dising they get from teachers and fellow students for being <em>gasp</em> smart and doing those wierd, dorky AP and IB classes. Because of the area we are in, (I'm not kidding, we are smack dab in the middle of a thousand border lines) this is from no less then 5 highschools. Maybe it's just our state, but as my mother had the same thing years ago in a different state, I am inclined to think not. I don't base my comments on public opinion. I even had the option of going back for highschool, so I studied it a bit. </p>
<p>All that summed up, if you will only look at teh world through blinders, you will only have a blind experience. Please base your opinions on facts, not soley opinions. </p>
<p>And yes, how do you have a homeschooled student going to your school?</p>
<p>Also, never saw a unibrow as a result of any form of schooling.</p>
<p>Oh, side note, homeschoolers are not all religious, and those who are don't always teach from a religious aspect. I've read all of Darwin's books, encouraged by my parents, we aren't atheist, but it's encouraged to explore different facets. I would be willing to bet you haven't read all his books.</p>
<p>"When you have been homeschooled, or are close friends with a homeschooler you can dis away."
I don't think I would be "dissing" homeschoolers if I was friends with one, but...I know this kid pretty well, I've been to his house, but I'm definitely not his friend. He hates me because I'm atheist.
And actually I know two previously-homeschooled kids at my school, (neither of which have more than one or two friends).</p>
<p>"And yes, how do you have a homeschooled student going to your school?"
He was homeschooled until highschool, my mistake. </p>
<p>"Also, never saw a unibrow as a result of any form of schooling."
You'd be surprised.
But in all seriousness, it does indicate something of the character of the subject at hand. Who is too [lazy/too socially outcast as to not care] to not make one swipe of a razor between the eyes? </p>
<p>"Oh, side note, homeschoolers are not all religious"
I am well aware of this fact.</p>
<p>"and those who are don't always teach from a religious aspect."
In my previous post, I was referring to those who were "homeschooled with religious affiliations", i.e. taught from a religious aspect. </p>
<p>"base your opinions on facts, not soley opinions"
I make opinions based on the way I view a certain subject matter, not "soley" opinions. </p>
<p>"I base things...on what I hear 1ST PERSON from some good friends of mine."
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this second person, seeing as you are not exposed to the highschool environment itself? Also, this a bit hippocritical given the previous quote. Isn't what you hear through your friends their "opinions"?</p>
<p>"I've read all of Darwin's books...I would be willing to bet you haven't read all his books."
Congratulations, here's a cookie: <a href="http://www.thecookiegallery.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.thecookiegallery.com/</a></p>
<p>P.S. Try patching up your argument a bit better before sending it out into my stormy seas, or it will sink to the bottom before you can say "shiver me timbers."</p>
<p>"And actually I know two previously-homeschooled kids at my school, (neither of which have more than one or two friends)."</p>
<p>This is totally unrelated to mode of schooling. Before I was ever homeschooled, in elementary and middle school, I never had more than one friend at any one time. I was just a geek, and that's the way it is for geeks. And I was always happy with just having my one friend, too. I don't think you need an entire marching band of friends.</p>
<p>"P.S. Try patching up your argument a bit better before sending it out into my stormy seas, or it will sink to the bottom before you can say "shiver me timbers.""</p>
<p>Now I'm going to make the assumption that all public schoolers everywhere must have waaaaay over-inflated egos. I ran across one public schooler with an over-inflated ego, so it must be true of all of them.</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>I don't believe I ever made any generalizations, just said that these two people I know are not the sociable type. I don't even know why the discussion has gotten to this level, I'm not against homeschooling or homeschoolers, just religiously-affiliated homeschooling. And I don't even go to public school. </p>
<p>P.S. Try patching up your argument a bit better before sending it out into my stormy seas, or it will sink to the bottom before you can say "shiver me timbers."
P.P.S Here's a cookie: <a href="http://www.thecookiegallery.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.thecookiegallery.com/</a></p>
<p>LOL okay, so the "I bet you haven't" comment was a little snippy, sorry about that, thanks for the cookie!</p>
<p>Picture this, you are atheist you said? Okay, think of one thing (or imagine one) that religious people say all the time that irritates you to death. Imagine trying to answer the obviously blatantly uninformed answers to the same question from different people over and over, and continuing to get "well, you're wrong I'm right, I know 2 people, so there" and maybe you will understand the prickly response you get to "you're locked in a box, brainwashed and socially deprived."</p>
<p>My point about the dising people, which I may not have clarified, is I try not to base any opinions on a few people. If I only know a few people, I try not to make a bias at all. Of the friends I mentioned, 2 were homeschooled until highschool, while the rest have always been public schooled, so I get my assumptions from there.
Perhaps that is where you get your assumptions, but when a comment like "Homeschooling based on religious affiliation is messed up. Its just parents wanting to keep their kids ignorant of the real scientific world." comes around; it's straight from any media report against homeschoolers and doesn't seem to come from experience. </p>
<p>Am I not exposed to the highschool environment? I would say I am a bit, because all the kids in my classes now are straight out of highschool. The difference I would say between my sources and yours are that I've talked to mine in-depth about their school experiences, and I don't know that you have done the same.</p>
<p>I would disagree with that, I have a religion class each day and sometimes do writing and handwriting assignments on religious topics. At the same time, as I mentioned, we explore all kinds of different things. I've done courses from atheist, Muslim, Jewish, non-anything, Christian, and other points of view. I wouldn't call that in a box. </p>
<p>Unibrow...The guy next to me in Econ has one, the one 4 rows up in science has one, neither seems to be social retards. It just depends on how much you care, and I don't think it has alot to do with socialization. </p>
<p>Yeah, friends, you can have a 100 and no one to talk to. Number is irrelevant.</p>
<p>why should speck be so angry about us homeschoolers? if you don't like the idea of homeschooling, don't get homeschooled. just please try not to make us feel bad for the fun of it.</p>
<p>Are you talking about me? I'm not angry about homeschoolers - I AM a homeschooler. I support homeschooling 100%. I agreed with StephenP about religious-based homeschooling, but I don't mind calling him out on his other BS.</p>
<p>oh! i'm sorry! i meant surfed_pipeline...</p>
<p>SO sorry about that!!!</p>
<p>Oh, I see. Don't worry, it's all good :)</p>
<p>I cannot find the proper place to post, but would someone direct me? My 15 year high school freshman daughter is desperately unhappy at large private church school. (Maybe 160 in her class) She is all about musical theatre, as in she wants the 5-6 week summer intensives offered at some colleges and has never doubted her choice of musical theatre as career. I thought I was doing a great deed in making sure she NEVER had to change schools, she has attended this school since 4K! And now she wants to homeschool. She views she will have more time to practice her craft, more dance, more voice plus have relevant classes. For the first time I am also disheartend by much that I see at this school. Specifically does anyone know how homeschoolers are viewed at Conservatories? Is it a plus or minus? Or is it just the auditions and ACT/SAT scores? I never in a million years thought I would be looking into homeschooling. Socially she is not greatly connected to her classmates, but sort of "joined at the hip" with a lot of her theatre friends. Please forgive my ignorance. I would not even know where to begin for the answers. Thanks.</p>
<p>For conservatories, as I understand it, the audition is all important. Some importance is also given to her list of relevant activities, letters of recommendation from those in the field, etc. SAT scores and grades are less important.</p>
<p>My son applied, as a trumpet player, to a couple of conservatories, as well as to colleges with strong music programs. He did not get into the conservatories, but that was not due to his homeschooling, but just to the fact that he was not good enough musically. (He did get into some excellent music schools at good universities. For those, SAT scores and grades were more important, but homeschooling was still no problem.)</p>
<p>So public school teachers who go to school for years to learn how to teach and understand curriculum and how to teach to STATE and NATIONAL mandated standards have to teach to these strict (and I mean STRICT) standards, and homeschooling parents do not. It's pretty easy to make curriculum fun and entertaining when you have NO GUIDELINES. To parents that ask me about my school and if I think it would be better for them to continue to homeschool to allow more creative curriculum I say this: benefit our schools and children by writing to law makers and sitting on school boards to give teachers the support they need to make learning more fun! I do what I can to make learning fun and enlighten my students....but when the state says that the first semester of their jr year they need to learn and master understanding of predicates, it isn't always possible. </p>
<p>here is my huge beef with homeschooled kids: our schools aren't good enough for you and your family, yet our resources: speech pathology, special education, adaptive PE and ATHLETIC TEAMS AND CLUBS are. Seems funny that you do not think you can benefit from our education, yet you are right there on the first day of football tryouts or banging on the door of the resource room because your kid has a lisp and you don't want to pay to get it corrected yourself.....</p>
<p>Here is my stance: homeschooling fits the needs of many families (I agree that public and private schools are not for everyone) HOWEVER: Don't suck our resources dry in other areas!</p>
<p>Well, I am a homeschooling mother that hasn't used the public school resources, but I don't see anything wrong with those that do. See, even though I keep my kids home, not causing the schools to spend any money on my boys, the school still wants my tax dollars. And, no, I don't have a problem with that either. I'm all for our schools being improved for the kids in the community. As a matter of fact, my homeschooling has nothing to do with thinking that schools aren't 'good enough'. </p>
<p>I am an ECE major. I had my oldest in daycare, which didn't work out, and the preschool, which also didn't work out. I knew that my son wasn't right for school, not the other way around. He is on the autistic spectrum, and just can't handle school. </p>
<p>As far as speech and other therapies, a lot of familes HAVE to go through the schools. Not because they don't want to pay, but because they can't. Insurance won't cover those services, in most cases, because they are considered developmental issues. Once again, I don't use them, but it makes sense for some. Some special needs kids just can't handle school, no matter how much their parents may want them to go, and yet they still deserve to have the therapies that they need. </p>
<p>As far as going to school to teach, I am almost done with my degree and yet could have homeschooled just as well without it. Any reasonably intelligent parent can stay a step ahead of their child to teach what they need to teach. Homeschooled students consistently score higher on standardized tests than their public school counterparts (I honestly don't believe that those tests are the best way to measure what a child has learned, but what can you do? lol). I'd love for you, as a teacher, to have more freedom in the class. I hate how regimented school has become for most kids. I had such great teachers and know how much fun can be had in class, if a teacher is given the freedom to choose how to teach. </p>
<p>I guess if you believe that homeschoolers shouldn't be able to use public resources, you would believe that we (homeschoolers) shouldn't have to pay into the schools for other kids. Or that we should at least get a tax credit of some kind. Hmmmm..... on second thought.... maybe you want my money without my kids being able to receive any type of service.</p>
<p>Eagles2000, I agree with steph629, that you can't validly make the argument that homeschoolers should not use public school resources, unless you are prepared to exempt them from paying taxes toward the school system.</p>
<p>However, I would not want that to happen. As a homeschooling parent, I was happy to contribute to the school system even when my daughter did not attend, as are many other people who don't have children in the schools. </p>
<p>I believe in public schooling, but I also acknowledge that it is a flawed system as we practice it. Although every child has a right to have his or her educational needs met, I'm not going to pretend we actually meet them for every child. We. You and me, the teachers, the administrators, the homeschool parents, and everybody else together. We aren't pulling it off for all students. As long as teachers, as you mentioned, are forced to teach to the norm, there will always be students whose needs are not met.</p>
<p>Those students have the right to find alternatives and to take advantage of what the school has to offer, to the extent that it works for them. The decision to homeschool is a weighty one. It's not a simple answer for anybody involved. The notion that students homeschool because they don't think school isn't "good" enough and homeschooling is more fun, is crude and uniformed. </p>
<p>My homeschooled daughter took two classes at the local high school her senior year. Other than that she did not make use of any other services, but if she had been interested or in need of them, we certainly would have made use of them. </p>
<p>Regarding qualifications, reasonably educated parents with good relationships with their children can be extremely effective as part of the homeschooling team, even though they might be completely lost in a classroom. </p>
<p>I worked as a substitute teacher in our local elementary and high schools. At that time, no special training was required. It is now, and I'm glad, because I did not feel particularly effective in that situation without training. On the other hand, I did fine with my homeschooled child. The two situations are not comparable.</p>
<p>Just when you think this thread is dead another "veteran" of these boards has to weigh in. One post and already an expert.</p>
<p>The only benefit we received from the district were our conversations with the head of pupil personnel, who is in charge of college admissions. My son met him while taking the SAT and AP tests at our local HS which I support with my eight grand a year taxes. </p>
<p>Also my wife has a masters in early & elementary education and is now back in grad school getting a certificate in gifted ed.</p>
<p>Previously, she was the curriculum developer for a K-8 school.
A friend of ours who also home schools her kids is a prof at UPenn and has a D at Swarthmore. Her other kid plays violin with the Philadelphia Symphony.</p>
<p>In NYS there is a bill in committee which if passed will assure access to all the EC's available in local high schools. Some districts by the discretion of the superintendent allow this already.</p>