10 Reasons NOT to Homeschool

[Theocrat]

This is hilarious. Thanks to Jim Muncy.

Why send your kids to public schools rather than homeschool. Here are ten good reasons:

10. Skill development: Government schools do a great job of teaching children to sit down and shut up while the teacher engages in crowd control and mindless administrative duties. The ability to put one's mind on hold, sit there and do nothing is a skill that will be in high demand in the competitive marketplace of the future.

9. Lack of ability: I couldn't teach my own child - I don't know how. After all, anything meaningful in life can only be taught by those properly trained and certified to do so.

8. Financial aspects: We can't financially afford to homeschool. Without the school based health clinics, how could we afford to keep our children supplied with condoms and birth control.

7. Goals 2000: I want my children to learn all the correct stuff. Given how fast history changes, I want to be sure they are up on the most recent version.

6. Scheduling benefits: Staying on the same schedule as everybody else has its benefits. That way, when we go to Orlando, we can make sure that we spend our time waiting in lines rather than wasting it on all those rides and attractions.

5. Close friendships: I like the fact that my children are spending so much of their time with people not in their family. I would much rather my children's closest friendships be outside the family rather than within.

4. Separation of church and state: As long as we keep church and state separate, then the more time I can keep my kids under the control of the state, the less time they can possible be under the harmful influence of the church.

3. Socialization: What possible better way could there be to give your children the social skills they will need as adults than to stick them with children their own age all day. Besides, the best influence on your child is the one randomly assigned to the seat behind him or her in home room.

2. Class size: Learning can't occur in groups of less than twenty students. There is nothing quite like being lock-stepped through material with thirty other students to really develop within a person that true love for learning.

1. Class pace: I want my child to know how to learn at the proper pace. If a child can't keep up with the class, then it serves that child right to be left behind in the dust. If the child is learning too fast, then he or she needs to learn to slow down. And besides, what gives any child the right to assume that he or she can learn things he or she wants to learn rather than what the Federal Government decides should be taught for any given grade level. Anything learned at the wrong time might just as well be left unlearned.

[Sola_Fide]

LoL

[heavenlyboy34]

lol! Awesome find

[reillym]

Hahaha. Not one good argument in there. I can switch all of them very easily. (proof of a piss poor argument)


10. Skill development: A mother or father does a great job of teaching a child, even if he or she has now knowledge of the subject matter. It's works like magic. One person can do the teaching that hundreds of skilled teachers can do in the 12 years of pre college.

9. Lack of ability: I couldn't teach my own child - I don't know how. After all, anything meaningful in life can only be taught by those properly trained and certified to do so. (Didnt change this, it's true)

8. Financial aspects: We can't financially afford to homeschool. Without the school based health clinics, how could we afford to keep our children supplied with condoms and birth control. (Didn't change this either, birth control is necessary, ask any smart person)

5. Close friendships: Who needs friends? Homeschool gives you two friends, and thats enough for anyone.

4. Separation of church and state: As long as we keep church and state separate, then the more time I can keep my kids under the control of the state, the less time they can possible be under the harmful influence of the church. Yup.

3. Socialization: Homeschooling lets you stay at home all day! Explore the world and meet people.. as long as they are in your home.

1. Class pace: Your kid can't do well enough on a test? No problem! with homeschooling, we can just give you the answers. (seen it happen)

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

Hahaha. Not one good argument in there. I can switch all of them very easily. (proof of a piss poor argument)


10. Skill development: A mother or father does a great job of teaching a child, even if he or she has now knowledge of the subject matter. It's works like magic. One person can do the teaching that hundreds of skilled teachers can do in the 12 years of pre college.

9. Lack of ability: I couldn't teach my own child - I don't know how. After all, anything meaningful in life can only be taught by those properly trained and certified to do so. (Didnt change this, it's true)

8. Financial aspects: We can't financially afford to homeschool. Without the school based health clinics, how could we afford to keep our children supplied with condoms and birth control. (Didn't change this either, birth control is necessary, ask any smart person)

5. Close friendships: Who needs friends? Homeschool gives you two friends, and thats enough for anyone.

4. Separation of church and state: As long as we keep church and state separate, then the more time I can keep my kids under the control of the state, the less time they can possible be under the harmful influence of the church. Yup.

3. Socialization: Homeschooling lets you stay at home all day! Explore the world and meet people.. as long as they are in your home.

1. Class pace: Your kid can't do well enough on a test? No problem! with homeschooling, we can just give you the answers. (seen it happen)

Is this sarcasm?

[realtonygoodwin]

Hahaha. Not one good argument in there. I can switch all of them very easily. (proof of a piss poor argument)


10. Skill development: A mother or father does a great job of teaching a child, even if he or she has now knowledge of the subject matter. It's works like magic. One person can do the teaching that hundreds of skilled teachers can do in the 12 years of pre college.

9. Lack of ability: I couldn't teach my own child - I don't know how. After all, anything meaningful in life can only be taught by those properly trained and certified to do so. (Didnt change this, it's true)

8. Financial aspects: We can't financially afford to homeschool. Without the school based health clinics, how could we afford to keep our children supplied with condoms and birth control. (Didn't change this either, birth control is necessary, ask any smart person)

5. Close friendships: Who needs friends? Homeschool gives you two friends, and thats enough for anyone.

4. Separation of church and state: As long as we keep church and state separate, then the more time I can keep my kids under the control of the state, the less time they can possible be under the harmful influence of the church. Yup.

3. Socialization: Homeschooling lets you stay at home all day! Explore the world and meet people.. as long as they are in your home.

1. Class pace: Your kid can't do well enough on a test? No problem! with homeschooling, we can just give you the answers. (seen it happen)

I am a smart person, and I say birth control isn't necessary. It's convenient and helpful, sure, but not necessary.

[army_officer]

Hahhahahaha... I love seeing these articles. I was home schooled and I must say my parents did an awful job of it because they ran their own medical practice for the most part, so I ended up teaching myself. However, I graduated early when I was 16, moved out and traveled the world, became an Army Engineer Officer, and at the same time a successful entrepreneur. So, I don't attribute this to home school as the reason I am a success, but that I was not under the guidance of the State and of paid babysitters. I had the freedom to roam in intellectual pursuits and I explored the world. I don't recommend my version of schooling to anyone but I do think we need to rethink our entire educational system and give more support to those who do want to teach their own children. I always wondered why my parents paid taxes that went towards the school system when their kid did not even attend...???

[Lymeade-Lady]

10. Skill development: A mother or father does a great job of teaching a child, even if he or she has now knowledge of the subject matter. It's works like magic. One person can do the teaching that hundreds of skilled teachers can do in the 12 years of pre college.

This is true! I'm a certified, trained teacher and married to a teacher. But when my dh went back to learn teaching, what I shared with him was almost all what I learned while homeschooling and not the worthless junk I learned at college. The best method of education I found (Charlotte Mason's) is one never mentioned at most universities. And when parents don't feel skilled in a subject like math or English, they just hire a tutor like myself. The reason it works is this great invention called books. The expert writes them and the parent or the student reads them. You don't have to hear the expert with your ears--your eyes work just as well for learning. And we choose writers that are much more expert than any teacher I ever had in a public school. Teachers only become skilled after years of practice, and well, our education system is so difficult to work in, many teachers don't make it that long!

[Sola_Fide]

Hahaha. Not one good argument in there. I can switch all of them very easily. (proof of a piss poor argument)


10. Skill development: A mother or father does a great job of teaching a child, even if he or she has now knowledge of the subject matter. It's works like magic. One person can do the teaching that hundreds of skilled teachers can do in the 12 years of pre college.

9. Lack of ability: I couldn't teach my own child - I don't know how. After all, anything meaningful in life can only be taught by those properly trained and certified to do so. (Didnt change this, it's true)

8. Financial aspects: We can't financially afford to homeschool. Without the school based health clinics, how could we afford to keep our children supplied with condoms and birth control. (Didn't change this either, birth control is necessary, ask any smart person)

5. Close friendships: Who needs friends? Homeschool gives you two friends, and thats enough for anyone.

4. Separation of church and state: As long as we keep church and state separate, then the more time I can keep my kids under the control of the state, the less time they can possible be under the harmful influence of the church. Yup.

3. Socialization: Homeschooling lets you stay at home all day! Explore the world and meet people.. as long as they are in your home.

1. Class pace: Your kid can't do well enough on a test? No problem! with homeschooling, we can just give you the answers. (seen it happen)

^^^Quite possibly the worst post on RPF.....ever.

[heavenlyboy34]

^^^Quite possibly the worst post on RPF.....ever.

Yep. Right up there with that disturbing pic brandon posted of his man-boobs.

[Sola_Fide]

Yep. Right up there with that disturbing pic brandon posted of his man-boobs.

Link?

[heavenlyboy34]

Link?

it got taken down shortly after he posted it, last I checked. I'll look around for you.

[acptulsa]

Hahaha. Not one good argument in there. I can switch all of them very easily. (proof of a piss poor argument)


10. Skill development: A mother or father does a great job of teaching a child, even if he or she has now knowledge of the subject matter. It's works like magic. One person can do the teaching that hundreds of skilled teachers can do in the 12 years of pre college.

9. Lack of ability: I couldn't teach my own child - I don't know how. After all, anything meaningful in life can only be taught by those properly trained and certified to do so. (Didnt change this, it's true)

8. Financial aspects: We can't financially afford to homeschool. Without the school based health clinics, how could we afford to keep our children supplied with condoms and birth control. (Didn't change this either, birth control is necessary, ask any smart person)

5. Close friendships: Who needs friends? Homeschool gives you two friends, and thats enough for anyone.

4. Separation of church and state: As long as we keep church and state separate, then the more time I can keep my kids under the control of the state, the less time they can possible be under the harmful influence of the church. Yup.

3. Socialization: Homeschooling lets you stay at home all day! Explore the world and meet people.. as long as they are in your home.

1. Class pace: Your kid can't do well enough on a test? No problem! with homeschooling, we can just give you the answers. (seen it happen)

College may be necessary to learn the latest brainwashing techniques, and to ensure that a person is 'on the right page' (has shoved anything but the Approved Curriculum out of their head). But it isn't necessary to teach multiplication to a fifth grader.

Some parents are more able than others. Why would you restrict the freedoms of those who are?

If birth control is necessary for your fifteen year old, you gave that child some issues.

Better to have two close friends than a couple of dozen hateful bullies jealous of your brainpower. And no homeschooled child is limited to two. They just learn to base friendships on shared interests, like Little League, rather than convenience and mutual self-protection.

Are you saying that, if you homeschooled a child, that child would receive religious indoctrination, or that you think parents should be prevented from sharing religious beliefs with their offspring? Because the former would be interference you would resent, and the latter tyranny.

Family field trips tend to be less like herding cattle, and more like exploration. And it's easier to park the van than a big yellow bus.

Most states issue standardized tests to homeschooled children. And the parents aren't in the room.

You've switched them, but to what? Nothing that will stand examination. Care to try to rectify your fail? Because if the best you can come up with is that some homeschoolers are better than others, well, I'll be happy to dig up some disparate performance ratings for schools...

[Fermli]

Besides, the best influence on your child is the one randomly assigned to the seat behind him or her in home room.

lol this is the best line.

[reillym]

College may be necessary to learn the latest brainwashing techniques, and to ensure that a person is 'on the right page' (has shoved anything but the Approved Curriculum out of their head). But it isn't necessary to teach multiplication to a fifth grader.

Some parents are more able than others. Why would you restrict the freedoms of those who are?

If birth control is necessary for your fifteen year old, you gave that child some issues.

Better to have two close friends than a couple of dozen hateful bullies jealous of your brainpower. And no homeschooled child is limited to two. They just learn to base friendships on shared interests, like Little League, rather than convenience and mutual self-protection.

Are you saying that, if you homeschooled a child, that child would receive religious indoctrination, or that you think parents should be prevented from sharing religious beliefs with their offspring? Because the former would be interference you would resent, and the latter tyranny.

Family field trips tend to be less like herding cattle, and more like exploration. And it's easier to park the van than a big yellow bus.

Most states issue standardized tests to homeschooled children. And the parents aren't in the room.

You've switched them, but to what? Nothing that will stand examination. Care to try to rectify your fail? Because if the best you can come up with is that some homeschoolers are better than others, well, I'll be happy to dig up some disparate performance ratings for schools...

Again with the "college = brainwashing" crap... give it a break. If you don't think education is necessary, fine. Just admit it.

You say I shouldn't restrict the freedom of those parents, and then ON THE VERY NEXT LINE say that young girls shouldn't have birth control. Hmmm....

(and I never said to not do any of the stuff you said I did... I was just making an argument)

And my post was simply pointing out the weakness of the original argument. Easier to park a van than a bus? If that's a pro-homeschool argument, you may want to try again.

The original argument DOES NOT stand to examination, thus my post. That was the point. School isn't filled with "bullies", no matter who much you wish it were. Homeschooling, by definition, is more selective and closed-off than public. Hence... their names...

[reillym]

Hahhahahaha... I love seeing these articles. I was home schooled and I must say my parents did an awful job of it because they ran their own medical practice for the most part, so I ended up teaching myself. However, I graduated early when I was 16, moved out and traveled the world, became an Army Engineer Officer, and at the same time a successful entrepreneur. So, I don't attribute this to home school as the reason I am a success, but that I was not under the guidance of the State and of paid babysitters. I had the freedom to roam in intellectual pursuits and I explored the world. I don't recommend my version of schooling to anyone but I do think we need to rethink our entire educational system and give more support to those who do want to teach their own children. I always wondered why my parents paid taxes that went towards the school system when their kid did not even attend...???

Why pay taxes? So you'd rather have a bunch of uneducated people roaming the country?

[reillym]

I am a smart person, and I say birth control isn't necessary. It's convenient and helpful, sure, but not necessary.

Again, I was contrasting the original, weak, and stupid arguments that were in the first post.

[reillym]

Just so some of you remedial thinkers understand what I was posting...

The original post was nothing but pro-homeschool BS, nothing founded in fact or even rational thinking. I flipped all the points to present a pro-public stance. It was sarcasm, but the view of public school that the post is deriving its attacks on DOES NOT EXIST. End of story, you all can end your fairy tale in which public school is a state-run propaganda machine in which bullies run free and no teaching takes place. It is not true, and deep down, you all know it. You all are unfairly taking your hate of the "state" and directing it towards something you have a little bit of power over: education. It's childish to act this way.

[heavenlyboy34]

Just so some of you remedial thinkers understand what I was posting...

The original post was nothing but pro-homeschool BS, nothing founded in fact or even rational thinking. I flipped all the points to present a pro-public stance. It was sarcasm, but the view of public school that the post is deriving its attacks on DOES NOT EXIST. End of story, you all can end your fairy tale in which public school is a state-run propaganda machine in which bullies run free and no teaching takes place. It is not true, and deep down, you all know it. You all are unfairly taking your hate of the "state" and directing it towards something you have a little bit of power over: education. It's childish to act this way.

Incorrect. See John Taylor Gatto. (though you are correct that the points in the OP were poorly worded and not very solid arguments)

[heavenlyboy34]

Again with the "college = brainwashing" crap... give it a break. If you don't think education is necessary, fine. Just admit it.

You say I shouldn't restrict the freedom of those parents, and then ON THE VERY NEXT LINE say that young girls shouldn't have birth control. Hmmm....

(and I never said to not do any of the stuff you said I did... I was just making an argument)

And my post was simply pointing out the weakness of the original argument. Easier to park a van than a bus? If that's a pro-homeschool argument, you may want to try again.

The original argument DOES NOT stand to examination, thus my post. That was the point. School isn't filled with "bullies", no matter who much you wish it were. Homeschooling, by definition, is more selective and closed-off than public. Hence... their names...

Public schools are closed off too. They are fenced on all sides, they are segregated by age rather than ability. It's a training ground for conformity, not education(though there are a few schools that produce quality education, as Stossel noted in his show about education).

ETA: he's right that college is a form of brainwashing. I'll quote Dr North for brevity:

The first university, Bologna, was begun in 1088. It was a law school. It taught the newly rediscovered system of Roman civil law, as interpreted by Justinian in the sixth century. Then came the University of Paris in the mid-twelfth century and Oxford in the early thirteenth. They offered young men a chance at getting lifetime jobs in law, the church, or the state. In other words, they sold security.
The curriculum was formal: grammar, logic, and rhetoric to get in, plus arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. If you survived four years, you got to study theology and philosophy. Was any of this useful academically? Only if you planned to become a bureaucrat or other functionary.

The college system was created mainly for political and social control. It gave the church and the state a formal way to screen candidates for the highest levels of the enforcement system. The university was about power most of all.
The faculties had their own goals. They wanted independence. They got it. That is why graduation ceremonies involve caps and gowns. The robes symbolize authority. The universities were a separate legal jurisdiction. The faculty members could not be removed at will by higher authorities. There was a layer of protective legality and bureaucracy in between them and the source of their funding.
This was the sweetest of all deals. The faculties screened access by their own rules. They did not have to raise their funding. They had control over the curriculum. They had control over the students. They could not be fired easily. It was the bureaucrat's dream: control without economic responsibility.
Today, it's called academic freedom. It culminates in tenure: career immunity from everything except the worst kind of moral infraction. What is a worst-case moral infraction? Anything on the six o'clock local TV news that leads to an investigation by the legislature (state university) or the board of trustees, where large donors dominate (private university). To quote the legendary Lakers announcer, Chick Hearn, "No harm, no foul," with harm being defined as the threat of budget cuts.
The faculties have the sweetest career deal on earth: comfortable income, little work (once tenured), complete control in the classroom, graduate students who teach freshmen and do research that can be appropriated by senior professors, four months of paid vacation, a paid sabbatical year one year in seven, and free faculty parking lots. They get paid to read.

[libertybrewcity]

i wish i was homeschooled growing up all the way through high school. I could have excelled and gone at the fast pace that I needed. I would have entered college earlier and graduated earlier too.

[heavenlyboy34]

i wish i was homeschooled growing up all the way through high school. I could have excelled and gone at the fast pace that I needed. I would have entered college earlier and graduated earlier too.

+1

[Sola_Fide]

Just so some of you remedial thinkers understand what I was posting...

The original post was nothing but pro-homeschool BS, nothing founded in fact or even rational thinking. I flipped all the points to present a pro-public stance. It was sarcasm, but the view of public school that the post is deriving its attacks on DOES NOT EXIST. End of story, you all can end your fairy tale in which public school is a state-run propaganda machine in which bullies run free and no teaching takes place. It is not true, and deep down, you all know it.

I think you know deep down that the state-educators exist to socialize a forcibly captive audience into darwinistic thinking.

And you are so religiously committed to Darwinism that you will accept the socialization. But because of your religious commitment, you can't understand how destructive the entire idea of state-education is to a child's dignity and a child's creativity.

You all are unfairly taking your hate of the "state" and directing it towards something you have a little bit of power over: education. It's childish to act this way.

Children belong to their parents and not to the government. The idea that children belong to the government goes back to Greeks, whose entire culture was engulfed in war worship and empire.

Connect the dots. Militarism begins with state-education. We have this entire empire-based thinking right now because of compulsory state-education.

[heavenlyboy34]

I think you know deep down that the state-educators exist to socialize a forcibly captive audience into darwinistic thinking.

And you are so religiously committed to Darwinism that you will accept the socialization. But because of your religious commitment, you can't understand how destructive the entire idea of state-education is to a child's dignity and a child's creativity.





Children belong to their parents and not to the government. The idea that children belong to the government goes back to Greeks, whose entire culture was engulfed in war worship and empire.

Connect the dots. Militarism begins with state-education. We have this entire empire-based thinking right now because of compulsory state-education.

+100000000000000000. Well done, brother. I'm out of +rep or I'd give you some.

[dannno]

Kids who receive abstinence only education are more likely to end up pregnant before marriage or get an std.

I can certainly understand why people wouldn't to send their kids to public school, though.

[acptulsa]

Again with the "college = brainwashing" crap... give it a break. If you don't think education is necessary, fine. Just admit it.

That was a hell of a leap. Do you not see the difference between teaching a person what to think and teaching a person how to think? Do you not see that teaching a person how to think for themselves is easier one-on-one because you're not attempting to take a herd through logical steps and hoping they all keep up as you go?

Put words in someone else's mouth.

You say I shouldn't restrict the freedom of those parents, and then ON THE VERY NEXT LINE say that young girls shouldn't have birth control. Hmmm....

Putting words in my mouth again. I said if a young girl need birth control, someone did something wrong while attempting to bring her up.

(and I never said to not do any of the stuff you said I did... I was just making an argument)

And I was just pointing out that this argument was weaker than that of the OP.

And my post was simply pointing out the weakness of the original argument. Easier to park a van than a bus? If that's a pro-homeschool argument, you may want to try again.

Oh, someone around here had enough sense of humor to chuckle at it.

The original argument DOES NOT stand to examination, thus my post. That was the point. School isn't filled with "bullies", no matter who much you wish it were. Homeschooling, by definition, is more selective and closed-off than public. Hence... their names...

Make up your mind. Bullies exist and they're somewhere. Are they in a public school or in your living room? Or do you dispute that there is any such thing? And how do you figure that schools are the only places where children can interact with the wider world? This is like saying only the antisocial prefer their own living rooms to a prison, because as much as you'd like to make your kneejerk reaction to this statement stick, schools are compulsory, have closed campuses, are authoritarian, and are no more effective (according to many studies) at education than prisons are at rehabilitation. Deal with it.

Talk about an argument that doesn't stand up.

[Paulatized]

I was home schooled and I must say my parents did an awful job of it because they ran their own medical practice for the most part, so I ended up teaching myself.

You were, imo, given a great gift in that you learned to educate yourself. Today's parents give that responsibility to the school and students sit there and wait for the teacher to teach them something, their responsibility in the process is largely forgone. Education of any kind is much more successful if the student takes the initiative as you did. Many students in public schools actually fight learning instead of having a desire to learn. The state sponsored system has for the most part removed that desire and replaced it "here learn this so you can pass the state test."

[acptulsa]

The state sponsored system has for the most part removed that desire and replaced it "here learn this so you can pass the state test."

Especially now that the fedgov is involved. No child left behind without getting his whole school--and maybe his whole school district--left behind.

Jump through the federal hoops or you won't get your own taxpayers' money back. Charmed.

[Sam I am]

1. Public schools give your children a good environment to socialize.

2. Teachers have more experience teaching than the average American.

3. IF you work 40 hours/week, and you teach your children, 20 hours/week, then the OPPORTUNITY COST of homeschooling alone is comparable a 50% income tax.

4. You do not remember everything that you were taught in school, and you did not take every class that was available to you in high school.

5. If your child is younger, the school will look after your child during the day, so you don't have to hire a baby sitter during that time.

[heavenlyboy34]

LOL!!

1. Public schools give your children a good environment to socialize.

There are numerous other ways to socialize (clubs, sports, band, etc). I found school a terrible socialization experience. School isn't even designed for socialization, so that's a poor argument to start with.

2. Teachers have more experience teaching than the average American.

Yet they get below average results most of the time. Not a great argument.

3. IF you work 40 hours/week, and you teach your children, 20 hours/week, then the OPPORTUNITY COST of homeschooling alone is comparable a 50% income tax.

So? Having kids naturally entails a high opportunity cost.

4. You do not remember everything that you were taught in school, and you did not take every class that was available to you in high school.

Nobody takes every class available in high school. I only took what I had to. Home schoolers have numerous opportunities for extra-cirricular activities available.

5. If your child is younger, the school will look after your child during the day, so you don't have to hire a baby sitter during that time.

But a babysitter is cheaper. The US average per pupil cost is $8,701/year. Awful high for a babysitter ~5 days a week, 6 hours a day, roughly 9 months per year.