Separate Education, Future separation

[CalicoKat]

I'm not sure if I am saying this right. But my college professor sister was "discussing" homeschooing with me this morning. :glare: Oh she supports homescholing, but only because she believes in the parent's power of choice and that schools. But that's the only reason she support homeschooling.

 

People pulling their kids from public schooling is going to cause a future problem, probably not in our lifetime, but because more children are only learning to interact with like-minded families or folks from a similar background children. They aren't learning to function with people from diverse backgrounds. Yugoslavia was one of her examples. That's the gist of her point.

 

Of course, I have nothing to say that isn't quickly swatted down.

 

Of course, her child isn't in public school. She attends a charter school.

 

Hive thoughts?

[cathmom]

I doubt that the population of Yugoslavia was homeschooled, and somehow public school didn't result in one big happy family.

[Avila]

Public school is not the only thing holding the country together. And I'm not sure there will ever be enough homeschoolers out there to break the system, even if they wanted to.

 

So what does she make of all the private schools, religious schools and charter schools?

 

IMO, public school is only one way of building community. Do we need to do that? Yes. I think we do. But we choose to do that out participating in our community, in our church, in volunteer programs, and in extracurricular activities. All of which make us just about as isolationist as the average private school or charter school family.

 

I am sure there are some of these example families she is talking about, but I don't know very many and homeschooling is just ONE way have of expressing that sentiment. I think we have always had people who isolate themselves from the larger community, whether because of language, religion, culture, whatever. But I don't think homeschooling is a symptom of that, in general, or that public schooling is automatically a solution to it.

 

She sounds a little reactionary to me if she thinks homeschooling is some conspiracy adding to the fall of America. And has she read the history of Yugoslavia? Yugoslavia started out with all the problems that led to its demise. It did not suddenly develop them.

Edited August 21, 2011 by Asenik

[Mrs Mungo]

I'm not sure if I am saying this right. But my college professor sister was "discussing" homeschooing with me this morning. :glare: Oh she supports homescholing, but only because she believes in the parent's power of choice and that schools. But that's the only reason she support homeschooling.

 

People pulling their kids from public schooling is going to cause a future problem, probably not in our lifetime, but because more children are only learning to interact with like-minded families or folks from a similar background children. They aren't learning to function with people from diverse backgrounds. Yugoslavia was one of her examples. That's the gist of her point.

 

Kids who go to public school have that exact issue for the most part. Not only do you go to school with kids from your neighborhood all of your life, but you are often sorted into social groups that can be hard to break from.

 

We are military, we have lived all over, it is a diverse population. We have homeschool friends of various races, religions and political stripes.

[kalanamak]

 

People pulling their kids from public schooling is going to cause a future problem, probably not in our lifetime, but because more children are only learning to interact with like-minded families or folks from a similar background children.

 

I grew up in white bread middle America. I now work with people from all over the world, of all different races, a score of languages from Amharic to Russian to Cambodian. (The staff is international, too.) On top of this, the patients are PSYCHOTIC. I have no idea how I can cope having not been raised among psychotics. :) Must be a miracle.

[Guest momk2000]

I'm not sure if I am saying this right. But my college professor sister was "discussing" homeschooing with me this morning. :glare: Oh she supports homescholing, but only because she believes in the parent's power of choice and that schools. But that's the only reason she support homeschooling.

 

People pulling their kids from public schooling is going to cause a future problem, probably not in our lifetime, but because more children are only learning to interact with like-minded families or folks from a similar background children. They aren't learning to function with people from diverse backgrounds. Yugoslavia was one of her examples. That's the gist of her point.

 

Of course, I have nothing to say that isn't quickly swatted down.

 

Of course, her child isn't in public school. She attends a charter school.

 

Hive thoughts?

 

Ok, I don't see how homeschooling causes my children to interact just with like-minded families and those of similar background. If anything, I find just the opposite to be true. I believe through homeschooling, my children have more opportunity to interact with a more diverse group.

[Carol in Cal.]

Well, I do know some separatist homeschoolers, but they are far from the norm, at least around here.

 

I think that having multicultural exposure and relationships is important in the US, since we are multicultural nation. Parents who agree with me will seek this out as I have, hopefully without being 'tokenists.'

 

I believe that this kind of exposure is an important civic value, and I actually think that your sister is correct, that homeschooling can prevent it. However, parental rights are a higher value than this one, and so homeschooling should still be allowed. Furthermore, these days public schools tend to divide up into groups anyway, if they are big enough to have reasonably diverse student bodies.

 

BTW, charters ARE public schools.

[Pretty in Pink]

I once had a retired PS teacher tell me that homeschooled children were at a disadvantage because, as she put it, "Children should be free to travel and interact with other cultures." :001_huh: Yeah. I guess she was referring to traveling from the school bus to the classroom to the lunchroom and back! ha ha

[regentrude]

 

People pulling their kids from public schooling is going to cause a future problem, probably not in our lifetime, but because more children are only learning to interact with like-minded families or folks from a similar background children. They aren't learning to function with people from diverse backgrounds. Yugoslavia was one of her examples. That's the gist of her point.

 

 

What a nonsense. In our homeschool group, my kids have contact with an extremely diverse group of children, coming from very different socio-economic backgrounds. There is as much diversity as there is at the local public school - the only unifying element is that we all homeschool, but we do so from very different motivations.

Yes, there are people who choose to interact only with a very tightly knit group of like minded people with the same values - but those could also send their kids to a private school with religious affiliation where everybody comes from similar families and believes the same things...

 

And where, please, does Yugoslavia come in???

[Farrar]

Oy.

 

I see what she's saying and certainly the anecdotal evidence that this sort of tribalism is a bigger issue among homeschoolers abounds. After all, how many Statement of Faith discussions have happened here? One primary purpose of those is to make sure that children associate with others like them. But that's certainly not the only way that people homeschool, not by a long shot. And it's a topic that, to my knowledge, there's no actual research on at all. So, while it's certainly not the way we homeschool and I'm sure lots of people will offer anecdotes about how their groups are religiously, racially or economically diverse while the ps are not, I personally think it's a legitimate question... but it's just that, a question that there's not an answer to. Do homeschoolers tend to associate with less diverse groups? If so, how does it affect their worldview? Who knows?

 

But even if we had the answer, homeschooling is still a marginal group of kids in the US. And you can argue that fracture lines between people are growing in ways that have zero to do with homeschooling - and much more to do with economics and political ideology. Or you can argue that we're just as diverse and healthy as society as ever. But even for people worried about the divisions in our country, do any of us really think we're in danger of suddenly ending up a society where "ethnic cleansing" goes on? I personally think that's a huge leap, and one that would take a lot more than just an upswing in homeschooling.

[Parrothead]

I think maybe if homeschooling has stayed in the realm of fundamentalist Christians it might have become something of a them vs. us. But once the hippies joined the movement all bets were off.

 

Now homeschooling crosses all socio-economic classes. Also both religious and non-religious people homeschool. The homeschool population has become so divere itself there won't be much of a them vs. us in that respect.

 

I see where it could become homeschoolers vs non-homeschoolers.

[Margo out of lurking]

People pulling their kids from public schooling is going to cause a future problem, probably not in our lifetime, but because more children are only learning to interact with like-minded families or folks from a similar background children. They aren't learning to function with people from diverse backgrounds. Yugoslavia was one of her examples. That's the gist of her point.

 

Of course, I have nothing to say that isn't quickly swatted down.

 

Of course, her child isn't in public school. She attends a charter school.

 

Hive thoughts?

 

I grew up in a school district with virtually no minorities, and my family and friends interacted with like-minded people.

 

It's quite the leap to go from not being actively diverse to genocide.

[Jean in Newcastle]

People who are separatists often flock together. Sometimes they all homeschool but I'd say just as often they will have their own school or if there is enough of them in a location, by default, they all public school together. Ironically, the homeschooling option pulls them away from their chosen community more than being in some kind of B & M setting where all the kids get exactly the same message.

 

Your sister is buying into a couple of stereotypes:

 

that all homeschoolers belong to the same separatist subgroup. She probably doesn't know the diversity of this board. (And for those who want to say that the majority of us are Christian, conservative etc. - have you seen how divisive threads that deal with the minutia of Christian or political beliefs can get?)

 

that people are not adaptable. I grew up going to a one-room schoolhouse for the first part of my schooling. I learned very quickly to swim in the wider world.

 

that homeschoolers do not live and interact with people in diverse communities - I mean actual neighborhoods.

 

that public schools in certain areas can't be homogenous because the greater community in that area is homogenous.

[mrsrevmeg]

My kids are able to interact with more diverse people now than before homeschooling. Before homeschooling they were in a school with all white kids, except for a few (like as in I could count them on my fingers). They were all from from the same socio-economic group. Now they can be around kids all backgrounds, religions, races, ages, whatever. Since homeschooling they are more likely to realize that not everyone is "like them".

[stripe]

People do need to interact. However, I question whether public school kids are mixing, and more importantly, are their parents? I think most teenagers a less racist / more openminded than their parents. Anyway my family is mixed and our neighborhood diverse so no one accuses me of this at least.

 

People say the same thing about all women's colleges too, btw.

[butterflymommy]

The whole "lack of exposure to people of diverse backgrounds" is code word for "too many whites and christians" IMO, which seems like a rather reprehensible thing to say. In fact I recently read an anti-homeschooling article that said precisely that without trying to veil it.

 

I've often wondered why more minorities don't embrace homeschooling, since public schools in minority neighborhoods tend to be troubled (I speak from experience, my kids have been in 2 such schools). I know there are some minorities who homeschool, but the majority seem to be white. We are hispanic and as far as I know, we're the only non-white homeschooling family in our immediate vicinity. :confused:

 

I make no apologies for wanting to protect my children from a lot of what goes on in school, and wanting them to have an education that includes religion. If that makes us separatists, then so be it.

[JennyD]

I have read and heard this argument many times. It would be more powerful if public schools were not so relentlessly homogenous themselves.

[Mommyfaithe]

I think maybe if homeschooling has stayed in the realm of fundamentalist Christians it might have become something of a them vs. us. But once the hippies joined the movement all bets were off.

 

Now homeschooling crosses all socio-economic classes. Also both religious and non-religious people homeschool. The homeschool population has become so divere itself there won't be much of a them vs. us in that respect.

 

I see where it could become homeschoolers vs non-homeschoolers.

 

Oh yeah...and then there are us hippies who ARE Christians! hahaha....

 

Faithe

[justasque]

children are only learning to interact with like-minded families or folks from a similar background children. They aren't learning to function with people from diverse backgrounds.

 

In my area, this describes the public schools, not the homeschooling community. We are significantly more diverse than my local public school or my neighborhood; that is one reason we hs.

[Crimson Wife]

People pulling their kids from public schooling is going to cause a future problem

 

I actually do agree with this to a certain degree. Here in CA, there are many places where if you care about education at all, you don't put your kids into the public schools. And it has become a political problem, because the demographics of those who vote in elections is very different from the demographics of the kids in the schools. Politically, it's been difficult to convince voters to fund schools perceived as educating "other people's kids" rather than one's own kids or grandkids. I talk to my neighbors and *NONE* of them have kids or grandkids in the zoned school. They are all enrolled in Catholic, Protestant Christian, Montessori, or one of the district's magnet schools (which you have to sign up for the waiting list when the child is 3!)

[celticmom]

I started attending high school at a relatively diverse school that I was zoned for. Later I volunteered to go to a new magnet school where I would be very much in the minority. There was more racial tension and separation at the school that was more diverse on paper. I felt much safer and more welcomed and respected at the school where I was a minority.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Ummmm, except homeschoolers don't necessarily keep their kids in less diversity AND public schools aren't always the height of diversity.

 

We recently moved (April). We are now in an area that isn't nearly as diverse as either our previous location OR our general life is.

 

Additionally, I typically don't believe in sacrificing one for the masses.

[Runningmom80]

I actually do agree with this to a certain degree. Here in CA, there are many places where if you care about education at all, you don't put your kids into the public schools. And it has become a political problem, because the demographics of those who vote in elections is very different from the demographics of the kids in the schools. Politically, it's been difficult to convince voters to fund schools perceived as educating "other people's kids" rather than one's own kids or grandkids. I talk to my neighbors and *NONE* of them have kids or grandkids in the zoned school. They are all enrolled in Catholic, Protestant Christian, Montessori, or one of the district's magnet schools (which you have to sign up for the waiting list when the child is 3!)

 

I agree with this. I think it will get to a point where few students are in PS. Unless of course there is a big turn around. I don't see that happening anytime soon, with this current political climate.

[Stacy in NJ]

We live in a segregated culture. High poverty/low performance schools are almost always mostly AA and Hispanic. High performance/affluent schools are almost always white and Asian.

 

Your sister as very selective reasoning abilities.

 

 

I'm not sure if I am saying this right. But my college professor sister was "discussing" homeschooing with me this morning. :glare: Oh she supports homescholing, but only because she believes in the parent's power of choice and that schools. But that's the only reason she support homeschooling.

 

People pulling their kids from public schooling is going to cause a future problem, probably not in our lifetime, but because more children are only learning to interact with like-minded families or folks from a similar background children. They aren't learning to function with people from diverse backgrounds. Yugoslavia was one of her examples. That's the gist of her point.

 

Of course, I have nothing to say that isn't quickly swatted down.

 

Of course, her child isn't in public school. She attends a charter school.

 

Hive thoughts?

[joannqn]

What about showing her that one study that showed homeschoolers grow up to be considerably more active in their communities and politics than public schoolers? Wouldn't that directly answer her complaint?

[mirth]

Then she must also have a big problem with living abroad, or the Amish, or churches in general if segregation is the problem.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Forgive me, I've only had 1/8 of my coffee quota this morning. I read this thread twice trying to "get it" but I'm lacking still.

 

My question is this..was she trying to use global sized ideas to fit the more narrow issue of compulsory education laws worldwide?

 

I personally could not quote or pretend to understand the current state of childhood formal education on a global basis, but um, I'm pretty sure with poverty stats mixed in there and a overview of all children globally...those that even get access to a single book much less a full blown home education...is a pretty drastic set of numbers.

 

I don't think home education in 50 years is at the top of the heap of priorities for children globally; nor the systems in place today change that much in 50 years. The individual problems of food, medicine and water are a bit more pressing I think...not to mention housing or a way to even earn a living however small the means and results.

 

Maybe this is one of those times you just nod your head in polite acknowledgement of her soundings, then go back home and do what you do best without regard to an opinion of someone else.

 

::sip two of coffee::

 

I dunno, something is not clicking for me in her views from the first post.

 

Can you flesh out a little more what she was driving at? I'm just not picking it up.

 

I just don't see the impact point she was concerned with on a global basis.

 

edit: sip three...

 

I would be curious to know the numbers in the following sets of styles:

 

How many children under 18 (worldwide) are statistically known to be educated via:

 

1. Homeschool

2. Public School

3. Charter School

4. Magnet School

5. Virtual School

6. No Formal School

 

Those are just the first 5 categories I can come up with.

Edited August 21, 2011 by one*mom

[Tap]

Ds16 told me 2 days ago that the people he knows who have the best social skills, are the homeschooled people he runs across. He has attended public elementary, private elementary, homeschool hybrids, public highschool for 1 year, college for 1 year. He is very, very active in his church group where half of the leadership who were either homeschooled themselves or plan to homeschool their own children.

 

He feels that there are many public schooled kids with these traits as well, but if he was just looking at majority of populations...homeschoolers are much stronger in socialization.

 

The gist of our conversation came to the conclusion, that in his opinion, homeschooled people are more willing to try new things without worrying about being the best at it. Whereas his public schooled friends worry about appearences A LOT. His homeschooled friends will try something new, and if they don't succeed right away, that the homeschoolers will lightly tease one another, but not in a mean way...just in fun. He feels that most homeschoolers are more willing to laugh at themselves and their mistakes. He says that his homeschooled friends are more confident and are better adjusted. He feels that they slip in and out of groups of people easier, because they don't cling to cliques as much.

 

These sound like people who are better at building and keeping a nation together!

[Mommy22alyns]

Kids who go to public school have that exact issue for the most part. Not only do you go to school with kids from your neighborhood all of your life, but you are often sorted into social groups that can be hard to break from.

 

 

Exactly, like there's no cliques in PS? Give me a break. :glare:

[Crimson Wife]

I agree with this. I think it will get to a point where few students are in PS. Unless of course there is a big turn around. I don't see that happening anytime soon, with this current political climate.

 

I think there will be plenty of kids in the PS, but PS will be seen by those who pay the bulk of the taxes as another government handout for the poor like Medicaid, food stamps, welfare, etc. rather than as an investment in the country's future. California's just a bit ahead of the curve because it's already happening here.

[Jennifer3141]

I could kind of see where the OP's professor is coming from if you look ONLY at the Christian (maybe there are other religious groups across the span of the US but here, it would be only Xtian) homeschool groups who have a strict SOF. However, if those kids weren't in the local Xtian co-op together, then they would be homeschooled only or they would be in a private school with people with the same ideas anyway.

 

So either way, those kids whose parents believe that influence outside of their faith is dangerous would be doing that anyway.

 

What are we going to do? Force the Amish to send their kids to PS???

 

And that argument totally ignores those of us who are homeschooling for educational reasons.

 

I'm not sure aout the Yugoslavia argument but the way I see it, homeschoolers often are taught to think outside the box more than a group of 30 or so can be allowed to go. How is that "bad" for any country??

[twoforjoy]

I don't think public schools are particularly diverse. Often districts are zoned in such a way that students are only going to school with others of their same socioeconomic status. And, many neighborhoods are very racially segregated, as well. So, it's not unusual for a student in public school to attend school with people of their same race, class, and religious background.

 

I mean, let's look at how people respond when the issue of bussing is brought up. Obviously making sure their children are only educated with students from similar backgrounds is important to many ps parents.

 

That said, if I felt that homeschooling would mean my kids were only around people who looked and thought and lived the same as us, I wouldn't do it. But we live in a large city, and that's just not an issue.

[catz]

Ok, I don't see how homeschooling causes my children to interact just with like-minded families and those of similar background. If anything, I find just the opposite to be true. I believe through homeschooling, my children have more opportunity to interact with a more diverse group.

 

This is definitely true for us. My son went to 2 years of PS. It was a very homogeneous school environment. It was a "good" school and high achieving by today's standards, but there wasn't much diversity. We live in an urban area and are surrounded by diversity but it didn't show much in this particular school. Anyway - I have found we get a wider world view homeschooling and my kids have friends of many races.

 

In particular the private or charter school system can be EXTREMELY homogeneous. I went to a private catholic school in a small town growing up. If you didn't have 100% German ancestory with many, many branches of your family tree living in the same town, you were a bit of an outcast. I also have brown hair and brown eyes, which set me apart even further from all the blondes.

[FaithManor]

Kids who go to public school have that exact issue for the most part. Not only do you go to school with kids from your neighborhood all of your life, but you are often sorted into social groups that can be hard to break from.

 

We are military, we have lived all over, it is a diverse population. We have homeschool friends of various races, religions and political stripes.

 

 

:iagree: My elementary, middle, and high school were not diverse by any stretch of the imagination!

 

I would also say that I agree with others who have expressed the sentiment that government schooling has not been the panacea to race/culture/religion/ethnic custom, etc. wars!

 

About three months ago, there was an interesting article in National Geograhic from one of their regular contributors. He and his wife feel that when he is on assignment, that as much as possible, their two children should travel because it is such an exciting opportunity for them to become children of the world and that the education they will receive from those experiences is as important as book learning. He and his wife ended up removing their children from school and homeschooling them because even one 7 day trip per year was "too much" for the principal. The school officials did not think this was important and felt that traveling to another culture is NEVER a reason to miss school. National Geographic! That's not a magazine that necessarily comes to mind when you think, "publications that may be supportive of alternative education". Yet, the gist of the article was that children, whenever possible, need to experience cultural diversity and that the government education system has such tight control over students' lives that this is difficult to achieve.

 

As homeschool parents, regardless of our income levels, we have more flexibility than the school district for providing our children with the necessary encounters, experiences, and skills to be children of an increasingly global culture.

 

Faith

[stripe]

The article Faith mentioned intrigued me so I tracked it down here it is. (Notice that the child has been" enrolled in an accredited homeschool program".)

 

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/traveler-magazine/the-insider/skipping-school/

[Bang!Zoom!]

Good article.

 

We've done exactly what the article outlines when planning travel which causes problems in the attendance laws. No problems with it here.

 

yet... :)

[In The Great White North]

The school officials did not think this was important and felt that traveling to another culture is NEVER a reason to miss school.

 

Same here.

 

One year, dd took German IV at the local high school (and French III.) The GERMAN TEACHER wouldn't approve her pass to GO TO GERMANY for three weeks because she would miss his class!

 

Because obviously, his class for 45 minutes a day, four days a week, is far more effective at teaching another language and culture than being there 24/7!

[angela in ohio]

Because spending 13 years with a group of people from the same zip code and birth year exposes you to a lot of diversity? :lol:

 

I suppose there are some who live "separate," but my dc (and many homeschoolers I know) are in activities with public school kiddos almsot every day. There's a mix of public school, homeschool, and private school kiddos, and no one seems to care much what educational method they are using.

[obsidian]

One year, dd took German IV at the local high school (and French III.) The GERMAN TEACHER wouldn't approve her pass to GO TO GERMANY for three weeks because she would miss his class!

:svengo:

[Ellie]

Of course, her child isn't in public school. She attends a charter school.

Charter schools are public schools.

 

She's entitled to her opinion, even if it's an ignorant one. :glare:

 

You can't argue with people like that. Regardless of how much information them give them that disproves their opinions, they never, ever get it.

[Bang!Zoom!]

My oldest daughter was enrolled in a charter school for four years.

 

It was a truly awesome experience.

 

As some folks would learn she was attending (it was highly controversial and political as a community topic) the charter, I would be quizzed, sometimes "informed" on it's evil status and ruin, and others made no distinction mentally on a charter vs. public vs. anything else of style.

 

I would venture to say also that the demographics of the area were upper middle class in both educational achievement and other factors such as income, etc. Yet people were not informed or did not know what a charter really consisted of. There is a huge amount of disinformation on charters and their functions, history and formation.

 

It's worth a couple of minutes of reading something general like Wikipedia just to get a taste of some of the elements involved in a charter school.

 

There are as many kinds of charters as their are people in this world. All are individual, unique. Outcomes, goals, arrangement, funding, activity, level..you name it..it differs from one to the next and from year to year even.

 

The misconception that charters are private or something other than a public school is a prevalent situation.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_school

[angela in ohio]

Most people do not spend 13 years in one community, schoolers or not.

 

I know plenty of homeschoolers who limit contact with the outside world and specifically with PS kids, so I don't think my openness to those things is the norm anymore.

 

I think this thread is setting up a false dichotomy of comparing PS kids to homeschoolers. Neither homeschooling nor PS is a perfect vehicle for learning about diversity. But the fact is there is a segment of the hsing community which seeks to isolate from "different" ideas.

 

Everyone in my hometown did. :D

 

I'm not setting up a false dichotomy. I was giving the OP arguments for her side. If she had posted from the other side, my answer would have been different.

 

And in the part of my post you didn't quote, I acknowledged that there are some who live in isolation. For her sil to assume that the majority of homeschoolers don't know how to interact with others from another background, while public school kiddos are all learning this in school, was ignorant, though.

[Bang!Zoom!]

I still struggle with the idea that someone who I assume was accustomed to fact gathering (data/reports etc.) at a university level could throw out such a strong opinion without backing the idea up with some current research...and at a global level. Gah.

 

That's like saying all blue cars get 16 mpg.

 

Really uniformed.

 

Must of been a super casual pondering or something. I can't even begin to start to think where someone could come up with that except as a hypothesis to investigate the validity of it.

[ma23peas]

I have the opposite argument...

 

If we do NOT take our children out of the schools we are allowing a 'like-minded' minority to impress their values/opinions on our children.

 

I teach an Honors Writing course, so I joined a few yahoo groups for support and to share ideas. I only belong to one non-homeschooling group (there goes that alienation your sister is talking about)....someone asked for ideas for an upcoming class...here are two (paraphrased examples)

1. This particular teacher did a play on (remind you this is AP level stuff) Goldilocks and the Three Bears for a creative writing assignment....she loved the fact that they came up with a twist on the old story of Goldilocks jumping on the water beds and smoking all the bears' pot (marijuana for those of you who are still thinking sweet Pooh bear stories)

 

2. Another teacher listed a series of books they were recommending for reading list...while I agreed the books were good selections by good authors, the themes of all of them chosen were dark/foreboding/and hopeless ones...where are the inspirational stories? where are the uplifting books....high school students will suffer if you present them with the darkest of novels out there...you must be balanced and give them hope..esp. at that age.

 

Too many people have tried to speak up to teachers like number 1 and say it's 'inappropriate' only to be slammed down for freedom of speech/ideas...so these teachers think it's perfectly fine minimize illegal substances...I don't. Another teacher had an assignment where they were to create a satire like that found on Saturday night live, the topics she included were Harry Potter, Twilight, Jersey Shore and Tea Party...sorry, but I am offended...why not put Obama or Acorn in there? Is she not putting her opinion that the Tea Party should be mocked?

 

And these are AP teachers....I prefer not to have this type of 'direction' directed at my children....I'm just fine choosing like minded on the other end of the spectrum.

[Jenny in Atl]

My oldest daughter was enrolled in a charter school for four years.

 

It was a truly awesome experience.

 

As some folks would learn she was attending (it was highly controversial and political as a community topic) the charter, I would be quizzed, sometimes "informed" on it's evil status and ruin, and others made no distinction mentally on a charter vs. public vs. anything else of style.

 

I would venture to say also that the demographics of the area were upper middle class in both educational achievement and other factors such as income, etc. Yet people were not informed or did not know what a charter really consisted of. There is a huge amount of disinformation on charters and their functions, history and formation.

 

It's worth a couple of minutes of reading something general like Wikipedia just to get a taste of some of the elements involved in a charter school.

 

There are as many kinds of charters as their are people in this world. All are individual, unique. Outcomes, goals, arrangement, funding, activity, level..you name it..it differs from one to the next and from year to year even.

 

The misconception that charters are private or something other than a public school is a prevalent situation.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_school

 

 

It's interesting the whole "charter" drama. My daughter goes to a very diverse public high school (majority black & heavily international) that is also a charter & dual magnet (math/science & visual/performing arts). Her school, along with a number of other charters in the country, are so popular that the whole county is moving towards all Fulton Co. schools becoming charters/magnets. I really think folks are beginning to see that the US has to create more educational choice, whether it be public, private, or independent.

[CalicoKat]

Forgive me, I've only had 1/8 of my coffee quota this morning. I read this thread twice trying to "get it" but I'm lacking still.

 

My question is this..was she trying to use global sized ideas to fit the more narrow issue of compulsory education laws worldwide?

 

I personally could not quote or pretend to understand the current state of childhood formal education on a global basis, but um, I'm pretty sure with poverty stats mixed in there and a overview of all children globally...those that even get access to a single book much less a full blown home education...is a pretty drastic set of numbers.

 

I don't think home education in 50 years is at the top of the heap of priorities for children globally; nor the systems in place today change that much in 50 years. The individual problems of food, medicine and water are a bit more pressing I think...not to mention housing or a way to even earn a living however small the means and results.

 

Maybe this is one of those times you just nod your head in polite acknowledgement of her soundings, then go back home and do what you do best without regard to an opinion of someone else.

 

::sip two of coffee::

 

I dunno, something is not clicking for me in her views from the first post.

 

Can you flesh out a little more what she was driving at? I'm just not picking it up.

 

I just don't see the impact point she was concerned with on a global basis.

 

edit: sip three...

 

I would be curious to know the numbers in the following sets of styles:

 

How many children under 18 (worldwide) are statistically known to be educated via:

 

1. Homeschool

2. Public School

3. Charter School

4. Magnet School

5. Virtual School

6. No Formal School

 

Those are just the first 5 categories I can come up with.

:001_smile: I don't know really what her point was. I tried asking more questions and she I think realized we could very easily be heading towards a disagreement and she said she was didn't want a fight. I appreciated that because she is my fav. sister. :D

[Audrey]

I can see her point in some cases. There are many people who homeschool to maintain an insular environment for their family and children. However, I would venture to guess that this is not the majority of homeschooling families. Honestly, the number of homeschoolers is so tiny in comparison to public and private schoolers that I hardly think it makes much, if any, impact on the social population as a whole.

[twoforjoy]

I can see her point in some cases. There are many people who homeschool to maintain an insular environment for their family and children. However, I would venture to guess that this is not the majority of homeschooling families. Honestly, the number of homeschoolers is so tiny in comparison to public and private schoolers that I hardly think it makes much, if any, impact on the social population as a whole.

 

Plus, I imagine that many of the homeschooling families who are very insular wouldn't send their children to public school. They'd use private religious schools where their children wouldn't be around anybody who held different beliefs anyway (which obviously isn't the case with all private religious schools, but they'd probably choose the ones that were like that).

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

It's interesting the whole "charter" drama. My daughter goes to a very diverse public high school (majority black & heavily international) that is also a charter & dual magnet (math/science & visual/performing arts). Her school, along with a number of other charters in the country, are so popular that the whole county is moving towards all Fulton Co. schools becoming charters/magnets. I really think folks are beginning to see that the US has to create more educational choice, whether it be public, private, or independent.

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:I also don't get how some criticize charters and vouchers by saying their testing results are the same as public schools when parents' choice of schools are usually multifactorial. To me testing results are not the only factor when choosing a school. I am more concerned about curricula, school environment, etc.