In looking through various blogs today I kept thinking to myself that a good theme for many postings was "More reasons to homeschool." If you have been wavering about should you homeschool, or should you leave your child in public school, check out some of these articles:
The Washington Post has an article Seeking A's In a Few Moree Zzzz's about how high schools which start early are forcing students to get up way early. The article starts off with a 14-year-old girl who gets up at 5:25 AM to catch a 6:20 AM bus for her 7:20 AM class. For some parents having a high school forcing their children to get early is a problem. For me the bigger issue is the half hour to 45 minute bus ride which is pretty much a waste of time. When you homeschool your children don't have to waste so much of their time. (Hat tip: O'DonnellWeb)
HomeSchoolBuzz has post linking to an article on how even more Black families are turning to homeschooling. This is a great article. I liked this quote by a home school mother: "Our ancestors answered the question of socialization – children do not go to school to socialize, they go to school to learn." Many Black families with sons seem to get hit with a double whammy, the schools are failing lots of boys, and often there's an attitude that blacks can't succeed academically. This trend seems to be popping up in the news recently; many Black families are finding that homeschooling is a great way to give their children a solid education.
A fourth grade teacher decided that the students were behind in their studies and canceled recess. The article is vague, but it seems like the teacher has canceled recess permanently. It is things like this that make it hard for many boys to succeed. Boys need the break, a chance to let loose and release some physical energy. At least one parent is very upset that her son isn't getting released. I liked the EdWonk's comment, that teachers really need the break too. With homeschooling the teacher and children can take frequent recess breaks, as both need the breaks. (Hat tip: The Education Wonks.)
We have another scary teacher story. A Spanish high school teacher in Kentucky showed an R-rated movie, “The 40-Year-OldVirgin,” to his class, some of which were freshman. The movie wasn't in Spanish, had nothing to do with his class, it was just a filler. The school is doing an "investigation" which probably means that yet another teacher will get his wrists lightly slapped and then return to teaching. (See here and here for some other scary teachers.) I have a niece in Kentucky. The teacher of one her science classes showed "The Chain Saw Massacre." The teacher was never fired. With homeschooling you can control what movies your children see. (Hat tip, again: The Education Wonks.)
6 comments:
So, help me with something.
It's certainly easy to search the media for stories of teachers that are morons and use them to justify why to homeschool kids.
We could do the same to homeschools, though. Do you think that every idiot that homeschools with subpar content knowledge and awful materials means you shouldn't be able to homeschool?
Ugh.
Anon, thank you for the comment. I realized I needed to clarify exactly what it was that bothers me about bad teachers and the current public school system. I've written a post explaining:
http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2006/01/problem-with-public-schools-not-firing.html
I've written about the recess problem here: http://biblicalparenting.blogspot.com/2006/01/raising-cain-on-pbs-show-about-boys.html
And about the movies! Good grief! don't approve of many PG-13, I can't believe a teacher would show an R IN CLASS.
I just graduated from a public high school. There are lots of bad teachers in EVERY school. You all act like no teacher has ever put on a Rated R movie in a public school before, they showed them all the time along with PG-13 movies. I think there was more t.v. watching than learning when I went to school. There are lots of crazy and ridiculous teachers and teachings, just visit your local public schools. You might be suprised by some of the scary teachers there.
The thing that bothers me the most is that the really great teachers and the really scary teachers get the same pay.
I had an "English" teacher in high school whose method of teaching was to have us watch a movie that was supposedly relevant to something we were supposed to be learning (if I didn't like the movie or I'd already seen it, I would read my book by the light of the TV screen and use the online synopsis on Wikipedia or similar to help me catch up) and then write a report. Didn't have to be a good report, words on paper were enough. And I admit to writing some bullshit reports, what was the point in putting in effort when he didn't care? For this, I got all 80's over two years. We actually read very few books. If I'd been shown a movie like Texas Chainsaw massacre, my Mom probably would have had him paying for my therapy, I can't handle scary movies like that. And I've also seen my share of filler movies (including an entire morning spent watching Star Wars or Neverending story) and been in school on days when I didn't need to be there as nothing was taught, it was just publically funded daycare. After a while, if I knew that a "daycare" day was coming up, I'd beg my Mom to let me out of it. Sometimes I'd go and do something worthwhile with my time, like volunteering at a kindergarten near my house.
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