Discussion Board

Homschooling isn't suppose to be used to remove our kids from society - in fact, we now have the time to put them into far more groups and activities than before.

The problem with the school system in our area (other than the negative influence they impose on our vegan lifestyle) is the fact that more time is spent "managing" problem kids than teaching. When speaking with our childrens teachers, they tell us that it takes over 20 minutes to get the kidsin the class settled for prayers. In my sons class, there are two kids with autism and third with developmental problems and the teacher has no help to work with these kids, so most of her time is spent on those three while the other kids are stuggling to read and write (because they aren't being taught!). This is not an education and we certainly do not have the years to wait until the system is changed.

My kids have a huge desire to learn - in reality, they should be in a Montessori, but we can't afford it. Homeschooling will provide them with hands-on activities and focused education. It's the best we can do under the circumstances and they won't have to deal with the "drama" at school when they are suppose to be learning.

I so much agree with Carroll when she says that homeschooling need not be that big a deal. For my wife and I and our 2 daughters, it was, at least in part, a matter of including our kids in our daily activities. Housecleaning, dishwashing, laundry, cooking, gardening, yard work, shopping, - you name it. The kids participated according to their emerging abilities.

Of course homeschooling does pretty much require a stay-at-home parents. For our family, I was that parent while my wife supported us.

These shared activities are so much more important than most of what kids experience as they are herded through school.
In addition, we visited museums, read many books aloud, went to playgroups with other home schooled kids, joined in kid's theater productions, and many other activities.

Our favorite museums were the Living History museums, such as Old Sturbridge Village, Plymouth Plantation, Mystic Seaport, etc. A child learns so much more from freely exploring these wonderful places than he or she could ever learn at a desk. And we still continue to go back as the girls are now in their 20's (and I am in my 70's).

The only formal teaching we did was around reading. We purchased the "Sing, Spell, Read and Write" reading curriculum which they loved.

As to the feeling that homeschooling isolates kids socially, and removes them from civic responsibilities; I would say the opposite is true. It freed them up to a wider range of contacts than I ever had in school, including much more positive interactions with children of ALL ages, and with adults.

And it freed them and us up for true civic involvement, as I became involved with local politics and the girls were able to participate in these campaigns. At an early age, for example, they joined the local Food Not Bombs group and continue this involvement to this day, wherever may be in their travels.

One big benefit is that when one of our kids became really interested in something, we had the time to allow that interest to be pursued full speed ahead.

To sum up: I view our homeschooling to look much like other families lives do on weekends. For us it was like everyday was a weekend day, free to explore and do whatever we wanted.

I don't know why this comment bugged me. Maybe I don't know what you meant exactly.

I strongly support and encourage freedom of school choice and if a parent is able and chooses to educate their own kids, the more power to them I say.

I don't know if you support that, or if you think the parent that can make changes should not be taking their kids out of the schools because then others can't be helped.

There are tons of parents who will make changes or who want to make changes in public schools, and that is awesome. But for those who are able to teach their own kids at home full time that is a huge blessing as well.

If you want to make changes in your school and aren't able to take your child out of public school, you don't need to wait for others to do it, I encourage you to step up and try to make those changes - as they say many hands make light work.



I agree with this 100%. How normal is it to be stuck in a building/campus with 300 other people your age all day long?

The comment about not taking kids out of school because it may weaken the public education system is a common objection to home schooling.

I think that it does have some merit until one realizes how much more civic involvement a family can be involved in, for everybody's good, once freed of the time of school.

While I most definitely agree that school nutritional education, and the food they provide is seriously flawed, I do want to point out that a child learning how to milk a cow is not inherently wrong. When I was a child we were taken to a farm and where allowed (not forced) to milk a cow. Many of the children were disgusted by the process, most didn't bother only a handful actually did the milking, and many did not want the milk offered at lunch. But for me, I was able to make the connection that milk actually came from the cow's body, and was able to appreciate it for something other than the white stuff in a plastic jug. I didn't drink much milk after that, then went years without. I very rarely enjoy a bit of raw milk now as I have found it seems to aid in a lot of my stomach/ digestive issues. (I know its not md approved, but sometimes its been the only thing to set my body "right" again).

It most certainly is a problem when the message I'm trying to teach my kids is that we should NOT be exploiting people or animals.

My then 5 year old son was sent some with propaganda from the Pork Board explaining why it's ok to "use" pigs for human gain . While I understand that the schools are corrupt via their financial support from the dairy and meat industries, I do not wany my kids believing that slavery of any form is OK and that is exactly what these booklets and class trips are trying to do.

I think changes to schools will finally come when we have mass exodus from them. Only then will meaningful changes come about. From the experience I have seen with home schooling I actively encourage parents to participate. As a product of the California public school system I see the deterioration of the institution over the last 40 years and that deterioration seems to be accelerating.
As a side note dairy would be my first choice to remove from the diet if I were going down this road again. I see it as probably the largest problematic food item in our western diet. It's been a part of public education for so long the drinking of milk has taken on biblical importance. That's so very sad.
f1jim

Have any of you seen this article?

http://beta.news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookou ... 7-380.html

Debbie wrote:



Never take these types of regulations too seriously until you have sought out and spoken to those who are home schooling in spite of it. Many states have some kind of regulations, but I doubt that there is a single state without a vibrant shome school community.

There are probably loopholes. Loopholes exist in order to avoid acts of meaningful civil disobediance which might occur if these regulations were strictly enforced.

This disobedience might come from the Christian home school community, and the loopholes might be there to accomodate them. But those of us who home schooled for other than religious reasons can usually take advantage as well.

No you don't need a teacher's certificate in California to home educate. You file an affidavit and teach under a private school. No certificate needed. Check out www.hslda.org for more information. You can check how to homeschool in every state.