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Author Topic:   Homeschooling
Nunquam
Junior Member (Idle past 4718 days)
Posts: 8
From: New Jersey, USA
Joined: 02-10-2009


Message 1 of 51 (549945)
03-11-2010 4:51 PM


Homeschooling is a tool that many fundamentalists use to combat the perceived "sinfulness" of a public education system that teaches evolution. Since creationism won't be taught to their children in school, they take matters into their own hands and begin educating their children from home. A 1999 survey by the National Center for Education Statistics (U.S.) found the majority of people homeschooled their child(ren) because
They can give their child(ren) a better education at home
There exists a poor learning environment at school
They have an objection to what the school teaches
Religious reasons
While none of them directly state it, all these reasons can be attributed to either objection to evolution or the absence of creationism in schools.
What is your take on homeschooling, when practiced by fundamentalist parents as an objection to the teaching of evolution in public school systems? Do you feel as if these children are getting deprived of a proper education? Are they being "brainwashed"? Should homeschooling be illegal, especially when implemented in this manner?
My curiosity of your opinions is driven by the fact that I was raised under these conditions. (I somehow managed to not grow up to be a creationist.)

Replies to this message:
 Message 3 by Granny Magda, posted 03-11-2010 5:26 PM Nunquam has replied
 Message 37 by Hyroglyphx, posted 03-12-2010 9:45 PM Nunquam has not replied

  
Nunquam
Junior Member (Idle past 4718 days)
Posts: 8
From: New Jersey, USA
Joined: 02-10-2009


Message 4 of 51 (549959)
03-11-2010 5:54 PM
Reply to: Message 3 by Granny Magda
03-11-2010 5:26 PM


Re: Recent Article on Homeschooling
Hi Granny,
Thank you for the response. I agree that it should be regulated. Most parents lack teaching degrees in one subject, let alone all of them. An interesting statistic though: in spite of the parents' lack of teaching credentials, homeschoolers fair better on standardized tests than their public school counterparts do. I'm not exactly sure why.
Regarding the lack of socialization, I think that the children are learning to be closed-minded by not being surrounded by differing opinions and worldviews. An example can be found in that article you posted:
quote:
"He probably knows it better than the kids who have been taught evolution all through public school," Polly Brown said. "But that is in order for him to understand both sides of that argument because he will face it throughout his higher education."
Despite the boy's "knowledge" of evolution, with the mom claiming that he knows more about it than the other kids do, he STILL doesn't accept it.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 3 by Granny Magda, posted 03-11-2010 5:26 PM Granny Magda has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 5 by Granny Magda, posted 03-11-2010 6:45 PM Nunquam has replied
 Message 6 by Taz, posted 03-11-2010 6:45 PM Nunquam has not replied

  
Nunquam
Junior Member (Idle past 4718 days)
Posts: 8
From: New Jersey, USA
Joined: 02-10-2009


(1)
Message 8 of 51 (549971)
03-11-2010 7:17 PM
Reply to: Message 5 by Granny Magda
03-11-2010 6:45 PM


Re: Recent Article on Homeschooling
Granny Magda writes:
I think the kids' performance on standardised tests probably comes down to the extra time and attention homeschoolers get. In a regular school, a kid is lucky to get a few minutes with the tutor per class. With thirty or forty kids per class, it's gonna be tough to give them all the attention they deserve, especially in the areas they might find troublesome. I'd like to see those standardised tests on science subjects though...
That's true. Also, there're no classmates to distract them from studying.
Granny Magda writes:
Yeah, it's hard to see why creationist parents wouldn't want their kids to know about evolution. Know your enemy and all that. If they really have conviction in their beliefs, they should have nothing to fear.
Agreed. That's exactly why I proceeded to learn about it: I figured if it wasn't true, I could easily disprove it I was wrong though.
Taz writes:
Give me a break. Public schools in the US tend to do not as well compared to homeschooled kids is because public schools have to take in ALL kinds of kids, everything from geniuses to stupids to the downright retards.
You know, I've never thought of that before. There is an obvious racial disparity in test scores. This disparity is virtually non-existent among homeschooled students though.
Taz writes:
I've talked to homeschooled people before. While I cannot say this is so to all cases out there, I can say that all the cases I talked to showed a remarkable lack of interest in current events. They all seem to be clueless when it comes to terminologies like scientology and world cup. You should talk to them sometime. You will very quickly become frustrated of explaining to them even the most commonly known things out there. I know I was frustrated after a while.
Being homeschooled, I can say that I'm an exception, but I know exactly what you're talking about. They also lack knowledge of things like pop culture — something that your average student loves talking about.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 5 by Granny Magda, posted 03-11-2010 6:45 PM Granny Magda has not replied

  
Nunquam
Junior Member (Idle past 4718 days)
Posts: 8
From: New Jersey, USA
Joined: 02-10-2009


Message 10 of 51 (549979)
03-11-2010 8:06 PM
Reply to: Message 9 by DevilsAdvocate
03-11-2010 7:41 PM


DevilsAdvocate writes:
Being a homeschool child myself for the last 4 years of highschool there seems to be some misunderstanding of the homeschool movement.
While yes, a large majority of homeschoolers, homeschool due to religious reasons this is not always the case. As far as their level of aptitude, it varies almost as much as does the aptitude of public or private schooled children. As as kid I remember meeting or hearing about some pretty stellar homeschoolers whose children went on to college, even Ivy league schools, at a very young age. However, I also met some kids who were dumber than a box of rocks.
Glad to meet another homeschooler. Don't worry, I understand the misconceptions — I know that there's variety among homeschooled people and that we're not all closed-minded clones. However, the fact that the majority of people homeschool their children because of religion leads me to believe that they're doing it for the wrong reasons and they're doing them a great disservice by keeping them sheltered from mainstream science.
DevilsAdvocate writes:
#1 The aptitude of the parent(s) who schooled them. Some were college educated with undergraduate, graduate and doctorate degrees whiles others barely graduated high school or were high school dropouts.
#2 Usually (though not always), the more religiously fundamental the parents were, the fewer real sciences (not creationism) and secular studies the children were exposed too.
Don't you think this problem could be eliminated by ensuring that the parents are equipped to teach and are providing the right curriculum?
DevilsAdvocate writes:
My mother, though a Christian at the time, was not afraid to expose my brother and I to a wide variety of secular subjects and books.
It's good to hear they weren't fundies. I had to learn about evolution behind my parents' backs.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 9 by DevilsAdvocate, posted 03-11-2010 7:41 PM DevilsAdvocate has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 11 by DevilsAdvocate, posted 03-11-2010 9:14 PM Nunquam has not replied

  
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