He can still play on the basketball team, right?

[micropolitan guy]

Wherever your son attends school, make sure at some point he's familiar with the teachings of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas of Aquinas and Immanuel Kant.

 

[Buck]

Home-school kids test higher, but there's no way, that I have read, to distinguish how much of that is the result of home-schooling.
Obviously, the test scores could be the result of more individual attention.
They could also be the result of the self-selection process by which families go into home-schooling. Those same kids, because of the strong family support and parental engagement, could be very likely to score just as high had they been part of the school system, public or private.

 

[RickStain]

Home-school kids test higher, but there's no way, that I have read, to distinguish how much of that is the result of home-schooling.
Obviously, the test scores could be the result of more individual attention.
They could also be the result of the self-selection process by which families go into home-schooling. Those same kids, because of the strong family support and parental engagement, could be very likely to score just as high had they been part of the school system, public or private.

I'm reminded of the Freakanomics argument (was it just in the movie? I can't remember now if it was in the book) that said that it's impossible to tell if parenting books help, because the type of parents who would read parenting books are the type who would be good parents regardless.

 

[93Devil]

Home-school kids test higher, but there's no way, that I have read, to distinguish how much of that is the result of home-schooling.
Obviously, the test scores could be the result of more individual attention.
They could also be the result of the self-selection process by which families go into home-schooling. Those same kids, because of the strong family support and parental engagement, could be very likely to score just as high had they been part of the school system, public or private.

I'm reminded of the Freakanomics argument (was it just in the movie? I can't remember now if it was in the book) that said that it's impossible to tell if parenting books help, because the type of parents who would read parenting books are the type who would be good parents regardless.

Yep.

It's also impossible to say if a child who is home schooled and gets a health degree or a theology degree would have gotten a veterinarian degree if they go to public school.

 

[Azrael]

I guess I'd ask if you want your child's only perspective and point of reference on everything in the entire world to be yours alone.

 

[RickStain]

I guess I'd ask if you want your child's only perspective and point of reference on everything in the entire world to be yours alone.

You do realize that homeschooling doesn't mean "Lock him inside the house all day," right?

 

[JC]

2) He's socially inept by nature and homeschooling protects him from the brunt of the negative experiences until he's old enough that it doesn't matter so much (i.e. an adult).

It's going to matter for the great majority of his life. Often, it matters more as an adult. I understand wanting to protect him, but at some point, you have to send him out into the world, and doing so with no ammo, as it were, seems like you're not only forestalling the inevitable, but making the inevitable 100 times worse.

I see no connection between how kids interact with other kids and how adults interact with adults.

Really?

FWIW, I have never met a well-adjusted home schooled kid. The JC I went to had a program called "Running Start" (worst program ever) where high school kids could get two years of college done as they are also doing their last two years of HS. Most of the running start kids were home schooled and they all were just so odd.

Why would a program that allows you to do college level work at a high school level be bad?

 

[Azrael]

I guess I'd ask if you want your child's only perspective and point of reference on everything in the entire world to be yours alone.

You do realize that homeschooling doesn't mean "Lock him inside the house all day," right?

Of course.

But as a matter of pedagogy, every subject you teach him will have first been strained through your consciousness, your perceptions, your strengths, your weaknesses, your prejudices.

 

[Iron_chet]

If anything it seems that little Rick would at least always have a teacher who was passionate and engaged, at least if we believe Rick's self assessment. I think that there are pretty good lesson plans out there that guide a teacher enough that the hard skills of teaching are not that hard to learn.

I know too many teachers attracted by the fact that it meant summers off as a career to let the skills of a teacher be a determining factor if I was going to home school my kids.

 

[Azrael]

I don't doubt his skills. But he's only one person.

It would seem to me desirable to have a diversity of viewpoints available to every student.

 

[jr/shotglass]

I know too many teachers attracted by the fact that it meant summers off as a career to let the skills of a teacher be a determining factor if I was going to home school my kids.

I have heard too many teachers talking about this "job perk" for it not to be a consideration to me. I've also heard teachers get together, and all they talk about is union matters as opposed to education.

I wish I had a higher opinion of schoolteachers in general. I really do. But I guess I don't.

 

[Bob Cook]

I know too many teachers attracted by the fact that it meant summers off as a career to let the skills of a teacher be a determining factor if I was going to home school my kids.

I have heard too many teachers talking about this "job perk" for it not to be a consideration to me. I've also heard teachers get together, and all they talk about is union matters as opposed to education.

I wish I had a higher opinion of schoolteachers in general. I really do. But I guess I don't.

Every teachers isn't a saint, but think of it this way -- how many sportswriters bitched about their jobs, or pointed out something as a perk that seemed inappropriate, or talked about pay instead of writing? There are a lot of good writers who do just that on their off time. But when they're on the job, they're on the job. I think that would be true of a lot of professions.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I know too many teachers attracted by the fact that it meant summers off as a career to let the skills of a teacher be a determining factor if I was going to home school my kids.

I have heard too many teachers talking about this "job perk" for it not to be a consideration to me. I've also heard teachers get together, and all they talk about is union matters as opposed to education.

I wish I had a higher opinion of schoolteachers in general. I really do. But I guess I don't.

Every teachers isn't a saint, but think of it this way -- how many sportswriters bitched about their jobs, or pointed out something as a perk that seemed inappropriate, or talked about pay instead of writing? There are a lot of good writers who do just that on their off time. But when they're on the job, they're on the job. I think that would be true of a lot of professions.

When Playboy photographers gather after work, I'm sure they ***** that too many women are shaving down there. That's what people do. They *****.

 

[Azrael]

Teachers? I worry more about parents.

 

[jr/shotglass]

I worry about parents too. I just worry about teachers a lot, too.

 

[Bob Cook]

I worry about parents too. I just worry about teachers a lot, too.

You should worry more about the parents. Generally, every school district is the same -- you have some great teachers, you have some lousy teachers, you have a lot of good teachers, you have a few teachers collecting a paycheck. Curricula are so standardized these days that the classrooms are getting darned close to being teacher-proof.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Don't know if that is a selling point, either.

 

[Iron_chet]

I worry about parents too. I just worry about teachers a lot, too.

You should worry more about the parents. Generally, every school district is the same -- you have some great teachers, you have some lousy teachers, you have a lot of good teachers, you have a few teachers collecting a paycheck. Curricula are so standardized these days that the classrooms are getting darned close to being teacher-proof.

I think this would be a good reason to home school. At least Rick would be an engaged, passionate teacher (if his self assessment is accurate)

Personally I wold not home school my kids as I don't have the patience for it and every home school kid I know is socially inept.