Why homeschool?

[TeachCatechism]

Why are you the arbiter of what is good and bad education? and do you fairly apply that to the illiterate children in schools?

I must say I am quite concerned about your views on children, marriage and things of the like. Are you sure working with children is a wise thing for you to do?

If a kid can’t read at 7th grade that is illiterate. Obviously I care more about the parents of these kids because I believe every child deserves a chance.

 

[EasterJoy]

I know someone who does homeschool and has qualifications (Ph.D). She thinks this is a case of abuse and neglect. Homeschool means to teach but the mom doesn’t do that. She spends all day drinking.

In that case, I’d talk with this friend about how to approach this situation. You can give him or her details that you can’t share here, you can get advice in real time about what to do, and you can get support in what is going to be a thankless task. It is entirely possible that you’re going to need to call the authorities, I’m afraid, but I can’t say with such a small amount of information. I can only say that what you’re describing is NOT a typical homeschool situation. Homeschooled children typically do better, not worse, than their peers in formal schools, even if the homeschooling parent does not have a college degree.

You ARE describing a situation that gets more worrisome with each detail you add. This is not about homeschooling, except that homeschooling adds a layer of complexity to the problem. For instance, if this child were in a public school I can almost guarantee you that a teacher would be agonizing about how to approach this situation, too. Don’t try to handle this alone. Get some help, and bless you for wanting to see these children protected.

 

[KnitNut]

Many areas have charter schools and many private schools have tuition waivers. Like I said earlier I get this if a school is bad but in my case the school is fantastic. The schools here are highly ranked.

I’m sure you’re busy responding to my previous post. But in the meantime, you mentioned seeing no reason for homeschooling when the schools are great. You might be interested in this article, covering the Boston area (arguably home to some of the country’s best secondary and post-secondary educational opportunities…indeed, world-renowned schools). bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2015/08/25/homeschooling-in-boston/

(Spoiler alert. Even the rich and the academic elite are…gasp…homeschooling here.)

 

[1990Domer]

I know someone who does homeschool and has qualifications (Ph.D). She thinks this is a case of abuse and neglect. Homeschool means to teach but the mom doesn’t do that. She spends all day drinking.

This is a one off comment and you know it. I think you are worried about your tenure and future pension.

BTW, you never mentioned your thoughts on cyber-schooling, which is much more popular than home-schooling in many states. And yes, the kids take the same standardized tests as the brick & mortar kids…without the disruptions and bullying.

Do you think cyber school parents are unfit?

 

[1990Domer]

If a kid can’t read at 7th grade that is illiterate. Obviously I care more about the parents of these kids because I believe every child deserves a chance.

Really, then go after the newspapers which write at the sixth grade level!

 

[1990Domer]

Why are you the arbiter of what is good and bad education? and do you fairly apply that to the illiterate children in schools?

I must say I am quite concerned about your views on children, marriage and things of the like. Are you sure working with children is a wise thing for you to do?

Might you be remembering the same SSA thread I was?

 

[EasterJoy]

This is a one off comment and you know it. I think you are worried about your tenure and future pension.

BTW, you never mentioned your thoughts on cyber-schooling, which is much more popular than home-schooling in many states. And yes, the kids take the same standardized tests as the brick & mortar kids…without the disruptions and bullying.

Do you think cyber school parents are unfit?

Have you been reading the OP’s posts? She is describing a chaotic household that would be problematic no matter where the children were going to school, the worst candidates possible for homeschooling. The only problem I have with her posts is that she is under the impression that this is a typical situation when someone without an advanced degree homeschools. It isn’t, but that only makes the situation worse than she thinks.

 

[1990Domer]

Well, the OP doesn’t need to be convinced. This isn’t a debate taking place within the OP’s family. It could be true that homeschooling is far better the vast majority of the time, and that doesn’t change the fact that sometimes the homeschooled student comes far short of making academic benchmarks.

The more relevant question is–what then? How do you handle it when you see that the home-schooled child of someone close to you is far short of their academic benchmarks? Obviously, you know both the student’s parent and teacher. Taking into account that you may not know if this is a child who is being homeschooled in the first place because of learning disabilities, if the parent is simply not good at what they’re doing, or even if this is a case of neglect or abuse.

So, homeschool parents, let’s say one of your homeschooling friends, loved ones, or acquaintances has a child in this position. What would you say are the "do"s, "don’t"s, and "be careful"s that are the most important for a non-homeschooler to know before getting near an expression of concern for this student?

If you are separating cyber school from home school, I would recommend the former. Heck, their curriculum is better than our district’s, and we live in the most expensive county in PA.

 

[1ke]

What I said was if a parent isn’t educated they shouldn’t be teaching.

And what the Church says is that is not your (or the state’s) decision to make.

 

[ThePCWife]

Sometimes cyber school is public school. A lot of homeschool is done through the public school systems via alternative schooling programs(including online “cyber schools”), but homeschoolers take the credit for better outcomes.

Homeschooling is often a good idea at the individual family level. It’s extrapolating from there that it’s a broad solution or always better that I tend to have disagreements about.

 

[TeachCatechism]

This is a one off comment and you know it. I think you are worried about your tenure and future pension.

BTW, you never mentioned your thoughts on cyber-schooling, which is much more popular than home-schooling in many states. And yes, the kids take the same standardized tests as the brick & mortar kids…without the disruptions and bullying.

Do you think cyber school parents are unfit?

I don’t know enough to comment except that I’m constantly taking online courses. Actually I’m not a teacher, I work in another field but do computer training (not at school).

 

[TeachCatechism]

In that case, I’d talk with this friend about how to approach this situation. You can give him or her details that you can’t share here, you can get advice in real time about what to do, and you can get support in what is going to be a thankless task. It is entirely possible that you’re going to need to call the authorities, I’m afraid, but I can’t say with such a small amount of information. I can only say that what you’re describing is NOT a typical homeschool situation. Homeschooled children typically do better, not worse, than their peers in formal schools, even if the homeschooling parent does not have a college degree.

You ARE describing a situation that gets more worrisome with each detail you add. This is not about homeschooling, except that homeschooling adds a layer of complexity to the problem. For instance, if this child were in a public school I can almost guarantee you that a teacher would be agonizing about how to approach this situation, too. Don’t try to handle this alone. Get some help, and bless you for wanting to see these children protected.

I’ve spoken to a few about it and other neighbors have called child protective services. They are angry that they aren’t as likely to do much because of it.

 

[Sarcelle]

So illiterate parents should homeschool? great, more illiterate kids.No, maybe they should send the kids to private schools.

Who said anything about illiterate parents homeschooling?

You mentioned about parents needing a college degree in order to educate. Others disagreed with you and then you seem to have jumped to the conclusion that others here think that illiterate parents should homeschool.

People who do not have college degrees are not necessarily illiterate. Frankly, I find this is insulting.

 

[pianistclare]

Wow so now people are attacking me because I oppose uneducated parents teaching kids. That shows me they know they can’t disagree with what I write so they decided to attack. I could talk about your horrible grammar but I’ll take a higher road. Thank you for proving my point! Just don’t ask me to support your illiterate children when they are too stupid to get a decent job.

Only people who say offensive things need to defend themselves.
Your lack of compassion, chief among the Gospel lessons, speaks volumes.

 

[1990Domer]

Have you been reading the OP’s posts? She is describing a chaotic household that would be problematic no matter where the children were going to school, the worst candidates possible for homeschooling. The only problem I have with her posts is that she is under the impression that this is a typical situation when someone without an advanced degree homeschools. It isn’t, but that only makes the situation worse than she thinks.

I was truly hoping she would soften in future posts and become more charitable and data producing. My balloon has been deflated.

 

[EasterJoy]

I’ve spoken to a few about it and other neighbors have called child protective services. They are angry that they aren’t as likely to do much because of it.

Are the children in public schools now? If so, I think I’d contact the principal and ask if there was anything I could do. For instance, if the children don’t come to school and I worked at home, they could contact me about where the children were. I guess I’d also call child protective services myself to ask what I could do, as a neighbor. What should I watch for? What can they act on, what can they not act on? Since you have reported a parent that drinks a lot, I think you’d do the children a favor to keep yourself in a position to intervene on their behalf at the first point when that might yield positive results. Other than that, there might not be a lot to do, other than pray for the children and be a bright spot to them when you see them.

I know I have been hard on you about our different communication styles, but I admire that you care about your neighbor’s children so much. You could make a very big difference in their lives, especially if this sad situation goes from bad to worse. You are right: their welfare is what really matters. On that, we agree completely.

 

[MomaMary8]

So illiterate parents should homeschool? great, more illiterate kids.No, maybe they should send the kids to private schools.

Is this really a viable solution to your hypothetical problem? The middle class is being driven out of private education due to the costs.

Wow so now people are attacking me because I oppose uneducated parents teaching kids. That shows me they know they can’t disagree with what I write so they decided to attack. I could talk about your horrible grammar but I’ll take a higher road. Thank you for proving my point! Just don’t ask me to support your illiterate children when they are too stupid to get a decent job.

We are pointing out that your attacks against homeschool are illogical. You painted an institution as wrong because of one neighbor. You claim the laws for homeschool should change because of the witness of this family. It sounds like you need to offer tutoring service to your neighbor 's child instead of asking the homeschool community to be more heavily regulated.

Many areas have charter schools and many private schools have tuition waivers. Like I said earlier I get this if a school is bad but in my case the school is fantastic. The schools here are highly ranked.

I sent my oldest to a “highly ranked” school once Math consisted of introducing a math word problem, discussion about this word problem all week, and then finally a group effort to find the answer of Friday! That was it. They ranked high because of "innovative " teaching methods. Please go check with current professors and ask what they think of current freshman as compared to years past. What our society is producing is extremely sad. Again, I’ll repeat, you need to dig deeper to find the problem in modern education. I’ll also add that painting all homeschoolers who do not have advanced degrees with one brush stroke is uncharitable.

So I’m bitter because someone attacked me. Grasping at straws.

I never said homeschooling was always bad. This is where reading comprehension comes it. What I said was if a parent isn’t educated they shouldn’t be teaching. High school dropouts might be geniuses but if they didn’t go through school then they aren’t qualified to teach. All kids deserve to attend college if they choose but denying them by not getting them a great education is cruel.

A degree does not make one qualified. A lack of a degree does not mean they are disqualified. I suggest you tutor at you local school to help kids attain a college education instead of advocating more laws to restrict parent’s rights.

I know someone who does homeschool and has qualifications (Ph.D). She thinks this is a case of abuse and neglect. Homeschool means to teach but the mom doesn’t do that. She spends all day drinking.

Then why the attack on homeschool? This is a sad situation. Please help the mom. She obviously needs it.

And what the Church says is that is not your (or the state’s) decision to make.