s/o my own poll on level of education

[Heather in Neverland]

Can you spin off your own thread??? At any rate...

 

Recent conversation with colleague #1 included this statement from her: "Homeschool moms are not educated enough to teach their own"

 

Not that I am saying it REQUIRES a college degree but it is interesting that 75% + of the moms who have answered the poll so far have a bachelor's degree or more.

 

 

 

 

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

Well, from the look of WTM numbers... A LOT. :tongue_smilie: Of course I reject his idea that it is "throwing away" your degree.

 

Thank you for confirming in numbers what I knew in my heart to be true.

[AndyJoy]

Can you spin off your own thread??? At any rate...

 

Recent conversation with colleague #1 included this statement from her: "Homeschool moms are not educated enough to teach their own"

 

Not that I am saying it REQUIRES a college degree but it is interesting that 75% + of the moms who have answered the poll so far have a bachelor's degree or more.

 

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

Well, from the look of WTM numbers... A LOT. :tongue_smilie: Of course I reject his idea that it is "throwing away" your degree.

 

Thank you for confirming in numbers what I knew in my heart to be true.

 

About 2 years after I graduated with my B.S. in Business Administration w/an Accounting emphasis, I looked into going back to school to get a teaching certificate at a different school. I discovered that I had taken more general education coursework than was required for a B.S. in elementary education. All I was missing were classes on how to teach/manage a classroom of students and student teaching. Since most people I've encountered are willing to admit that teaching your own children is drastically different than teaching 25+ unrelated children, I've found this information to be fairly effective in conversations on the topic.

 

I also half-jokingly say that if my teachers thought I was qualified to teach my fellow classmates from age 6 to 18, I think I must be completely ready at 30! I was constantly seated next to struggling classmates, assigned to groups with the lowest performers, given a "buddy" whose behavior I was supposed to manage, and expected to learn nothing while teaching others. This started in Kindergarten!

 

Here's a profile of a college educated woman who would "throw away her degree" to stay home and homeschool:

 

I earned straight A's in jr./sr. high school. I graduated w/the highest GPA in my college major. I was recruited by top accounting firms. When I began college, I was a type-A personality and loved the idea of being a high-powered, snappy-dressing, well-respected accountant. Somewhere along the way, however, I fell in love with the idea of having children and being there with them more than just for a few hours a day. I love learning, and want to be there and watch the world unfold before my children. I'm probably still type-A--I just have shifted my focus from "conquering the world" to the awesome task of educating my own children. I think this will be my greatest challenge and will require every ounce of my intelligence. I'm know I will approach it with more passion and vigor than I would a career because it is more than just a job--it's my calling.

Edited November 22, 2011 by AndyJoy

[Renee in NC]

Can you spin off your own thread??? At any rate...

 

Recent conversation with colleague #1 included this statement from her: "Homeschool moms are not educated enough to teach their own"

 

Not that I am saying it REQUIRES a college degree but it is interesting that 75% + of the moms who have answered the poll so far have a bachelor's degree or more.

 

 

 

 

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

Well, from the look of WTM numbers... A LOT. :tongue_smilie: Of course I reject his idea that it is "throwing away" your degree.

 

Thank you for confirming in numbers what I knew in my heart to be true.

 

I don't think you can take the education level from this board and generalize across the homeschool spectrum, though. As a highly academic program, it is most likely going to attract more highly educated people. Not that people with college degrees won't choose other methods, but that more are going to choose a highly academic one.

 

There are 2 people in my family who have PhDs who "threw away":tongue_smilie: their degrees to stay home - one homeschools, one doesn't. The one who homeschools is on this board.;)

[creekland]

I don't think you can take the education level from this board and generalize across the homeschool spectrum, though. As a highly academic program, it is most likely going to attract more highly educated people. Not that people with college degrees won't choose other methods, but that more are going to choose a highly academic one.

 

 

 

:iagree: Out of all the homeschooling moms I know IRL, I'm the only one who visits this board. I've mentioned it a few times to others. Maybe they lurk? Maybe they're here and I just don't recognize their name? Of course, those I've mentioned it to are also well-educated themselves, so maybe I had an idea that they might like it due to the demographics?

 

I see this as a board for those who value a high level education. Not all choose to homeschool for that reason.

[RegGuheert]

 

Recent conversation with colleague #1 included this statement from her: "Homeschool moms are not educated enough to teach their own"

No offense to your colleague, but that is an uneducated opinion in itself. Some of the research I have seen indicates a higher correlation between parents' education level and student achievement in *public* school than in homeschool.

75% + of the moms who have answered the poll so far have a bachelor's degree or more.

Sorry, I think I may have ruined your poll: I voted and I am not a homeschooling mom. Sorry! ;)

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

I find it sad that any parent would consider educating your own children throwing away your degree. IMO, some people are throwing away their children by focusing too much on the career that their degree enables, but I'm sure he wouldn't want to hear that! :tongue_smilie:

I don't think you can take the education level from this board and generalize across the homeschool spectrum, though. As a highly academic program, it is most likely going to attract more highly educated people. Not that people with college degrees won't choose other methods, but that more are going to choose a highly academic one.

:iagree:

[nono]

I find it sad that any parent would consider educating your own children throwing away your degree. IMO, some people are throwing away their children by focusing too much on the career that their degree enables, but I'm sure he wouldn't want to hear that!

 

Exactly.

 

The working world is a construct of humankind. It's a GAME. I think a life is more important than a game.

[Donna]

I also think not all of us have "thrown away" our degrees. Some of us work and still homeschool. I work part time to contribute to the family and my husband stays home on the one day a week I work. I know some people who school their kids by day and work a night shift.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

I really despise it when people think that the only goal of education is to get a high paying job. That is one of many possible outcomes of education. I prefer to think that education can't be wasted-it is just used in a non-traditional manner.

 

Opinions like those expressed by your collegue are based on not only on a misunderstanding of the homeschooling community but also on a very narrow vision of the purpose of education.

 

It is almost impossible to guess (or even poll) at a national level of education for homeschooling parents. But I think that to assume a low education level for a mother who homeschools feeds into a sterotype that some people are more comfortable accepting as representative of all homeschoolers. To not fit that stereotype upsets a balance somewhere. Hence this sort of comment-"What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?" Make her fit another stereotype and all will be well and the homeschooling can seen as part of that stereotype.

[Heather in Neverland]

 

It is almost impossible to guess (or even poll) at a national level of education for homeschooling parents. But I think that to assume a low education level for a mother who homeschools feeds into a sterotype that some people are more comfortable accepting as representative of all homeschoolers. To not fit that stereotype upsets a balance somewhere. Hence this sort of comment-"What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?" Make her fit another stereotype and all will be well and the homeschooling can seen as part of that stereotype.

 

Excellent point!

[Mommyfaithe]

I also think not all of us have "thrown away" our degrees. Some of us work and still homeschool. I work part time to contribute to the family and my husband stays home on the one day a week I work. I know some people who school their kids by day and work a night shift.

 

:iagree::iagree:

I have always been working in my field. I still work everyday, but my dh is my boss, So, my schedule os somewhat flexible. I "only" have an AAS, but I have been self educating for 25 years...at least:D.....

 

Faithe

[Mrs Mungo]

Using my degree to teach other people is fine, but using it to teach my own kids is throwing it away? How does that even make sense?

[KarenNC]

Well, since I didn't technically "use" my degree when I worked for 16 years since I didn't work in that field (instead used my minor and the graduate courses I took), I guess one might say I "threw it away" well before I ever considered having a child or homeschooling.;)

[creekland]

No offense to your colleague, but that is an uneducated opinion in itself. Some of the research I have seen indicates a higher correlation between parents' education level and student achievement in *public* school than in homeschool.

 

This is true because it looks at the demographic of people sticking with mandatory public schooling. Those who care about education generally have been well-educated themselves and try to see to it that their kids follow their path. Those who don't care about education are merely sending their kids because they have to and often disparage education at home or feel their kids don't have the genetics to do well - therefore - they don't tend to encourage it.

 

Homeschoolers have opted out of the mandatory public schooling for one reason or another (or a combo of reasons). Pending their reason(s), you could get highly educated (by traditional routes) parents not emphasizing traditional education or you could get less educated (by traditional routes) parents who want to see their kids do more. Then, of course, there are all levels in between. It's far more of a mix than those who just stick with public (or private) schools. In general, homeschooling parents are more likely to think outside the box.

 

This board is self-selecting. Those who aren't educating for academic reasons (even if it's not their top reason) generally wouldn't want to stay here IMO. It doesn't surprise me at all to see most in the more highly educated (traditional route) category as that group still tends to value education more than others, but of those here who didn't check that box, I highly suspect they tend to be more highly educated than average - just not the traditional route with the piece of paper to show for it.

[Jen in PA]

Using my degree to teach other people is fine, but using it to teach my own kids is throwing it away? How does that even make sense?

 

I know there are members of my extended family who would feel much more comfortable if I went back to classroom teaching to pay for private school for my kids, even though I have explained that it would leave us with less money and leave them with a less thorough education..

[ladydusk]

Well, since I didn't technically "use" my degree when I worked for 16 years since I didn't work in that field (instead used my minor and the graduate courses I took), I guess one might say I "threw it away" well before I ever considered having a child or homeschooling.;)

 

:iagree: Only I didn't even use the coursework I took in college in any way. The market was glutted in my degree field and I found employment in Human Resources and thrived, earning my PHR certification. Does that mean my time at University was wasted? Not in the least. The skills in how to learn, how to communicate, and how to order thoughts are invaluable whether in a career field or, especially, in homemaking and homeschooling.

 

Now to go find the poll ...

[Meriwether]

Exactly.

 

The working world is a construct of humankind. It's a GAME. I think a life is more important than a game.

 

I LOVE how you worded this.

[Harriet Vane]

It's really not about whether or not the mother is educated. Far more important is the mother's willingness to put in the time and effort on a daily basis.

[happypamama]

I took a "Math for Elementary Ed" class in college. This wasn't a "how to teach" class; it was a content course. The homework was typical elementary school math problems. There was a woman there who was taking the class for the third time, and she still didn't understand the math concepts. I was pretty set on homeschooling my own children before that, but that really convinced me that I'd be perfectly well qualified to facilitate my children's educations at home.

[imagine.more]

Using my degree to teach other people is fine, but using it to teach my own kids is throwing it away? How does that even make sense?

 

This is exactly my situation. I have a teaching degree and quite frankly I would rather stay home and teach my own kids than send my kids to a stranger all day so I can teach the kids of other strangers. Seems silly.

 

I have a bachelor's degree, graduated with a 3.3 GPA while working 30 hours a week all 4 years, and I don't consider it a waste to forego a full-time career to focus on raising and educating my kids. I saw from my teaching experiences how much influence parents have in their kids' education, nothing can replace that. I'm working hard to raise several intelligent, hard-working, kind adults to send off into society. The world I see is in desperate need of a few more of those kinds of young adults. I use my degree every day because I use my mind every day.

[Tarreymere]

Educating my children is a 'waste' of my time and my own education? My children are the most important part of my life, and they know that not only by my words but through my actions. Homeschooling is a part of that and it clearly shows my children and the rest of the world what the priorities are in my life.

[Desert Rat]

That is really interesting, Heather.

FWIW, I graduated college at 22 and have never used my degree. So, I guess I "threw it away" a long time before I had kiddos.

[Element]

My great grandmother had a high school diploma and taught junior high for a few decades. At some point, the county required her to go through a short program to become "certified," but it didn't change her actual ability to educate individuals, it only changed her legal ability to teach in a public school. My mother has her masters in education and a handful of different teacher certifications but she will tell you she still strives to be as good of an educator as her grandmother.

 

I put "vocational school" because "some college" sounds like I didn't complete my education. What I do have, however, is an associates degree in history (67 credit hours), an ABA-approved paralegal post-degree certificate (40 credit hours), and years of experience as a legal researcher. I could argue that I am more competent to teach than my dh, who is working on his MS in Accountancy, because I know how to research a subject and present it (clearly and concisely) to someone who has no prior experience with that subject. (I should add: I'm pretty sure dh would agree.) It doesn't take a certificate to be a great paralegal, but it helps you get a higher paying job. Similarly, it doesn't take a certificate to make someone a great teacher!

[Parrothead]

Ah, I was wondering what prompted the poll.

[mommymilkies]

I left school with 10 credits left to my BS because we moved for my dh's job and it was too inconvenient with a baby to drive over an hour away each day. I do have multiple healthcare certifications, though. And had a wonderful and lucrative healthcare job.

[Amber in SJ]

I fall in to the "I can legally teach in a K-8 classroom, how can I not be qualified to teach my own?" category.

 

My ed classes taught me how to manage a classroom, and I used that info for 4 years.

 

I don't have to know everything to teach my children. I just have to be willing to learn.

 

Amber in SJ

[Flux]

This board is self-selecting. Those who aren't educating for academic reasons (even if it's not their top reason) generally wouldn't want to stay here IMO. It doesn't surprise me at all to see most in the more highly educated (traditional route) category as that group still tends to value education more than others, but of those here who didn't check that box, I highly suspect they tend to be more highly educated than average - just not the traditional route with the piece of paper to show for it.

 

It's really not about whether or not the mother is educated. Far more important is the mother's willingness to put in the time and effort on a daily basis.

 

I appreciate both these statements. "Outing" myself as a drop-out (especially here) was slightly unnerving. It was hard not to follow that up with a long-winded explanation of the various circumstances that ultimately led to that decision. :tongue_smilie:

[DianeW88]

I am FAR more challenged and mentally stimulated in homeschooling my kids than I ever was in "using my degree". My kiddos have thrown problems at me over the years that my superiors at work could never have dreamed up in a million years. :lol:

[AndyJoy]

I took a "Math for Elementary Ed" class in college. This wasn't a "how to teach" class; it was a content course. The homework was typical elementary school math problems. There was a woman there who was taking the class for the third time, and she still didn't understand the math concepts. I was pretty set on homeschooling my own children before that, but that really convinced me that I'd be perfectly well qualified to facilitate my children's educations at home.

 

I took a class like this too, but it was even scarier! I was at a table w/3 others and we did lots of group work. At Christmas, 2 of the 3 girls wrote me Christmas cards saying they never would have passed the class without my help!:confused: Judging from what I could see, about half of the class really struggled. The teacher and I often had long talks after class lamenting this fact. She was a bit miffed that I wasn't going to teach in a classroom "because we need teachers like you" (who understand K-6th grade math?????) but wished me luck in home schooling. I told her I'd teach math in a co-op some day.

[Susan in TN]

 

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

 

 

How many people actually end up in the career their degree prepared them for? Many do, I'm sure, but certainly not all. That could be considered "throwing away" a degree as well.

[DawnM]

I actually understand the question to some degree (no pun intended!) ;)

 

I know many women who left corporate jobs or IT jobs who say they would need a lot more education to return now because things have changed so much since they left and they are no longer up to date on their own profession or education.

 

However, many of us left jobs that we can return to without too much of a problem. I am a high school counselor as well as certified to teach secondary English, History and ESL. I keep up my credentials and I am sure that I could get a job in ESL if nothing else should I need to go back to work.

 

Dawn

[ErinE]

I earned straight A's in jr./sr. high school. I graduated w/the highest GPA in my college major. I was recruited by top accounting firms. When I began college, I was a type-A personality and loved the idea of being a high-powered, snappy-dressing, well-respected accountant. Somewhere along the way, however, I fell in love with the idea of having children and being there with them more than just for a few hours a day. I love learning, and want to be there and watch the world unfold before my children. I'm probably still type-A--I just have shifted my focus from "conquering the world" to the awesome task of educating my own children. I think this will be my greatest challenge and will require every ounce of my intelligence. I'm know I will approach it with more passion and vigor than I would a career because it is more than just a job--it's my calling.

 

Great summary of many parents on this board. My dh still quizzes me on my motivation: are you sure you want to homeschool? You don't miss the working world?

 

Sure, I sometimes miss the adult interactions from a job, but I love working with my kids.

[dangermom]

 

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

 

 

Of course I too disagree with the notion that staying home with your kids is throwing away your degree. But you might find my little anecdote funny. I went to Berkeley, and we had a small church group of LDS students. (TBH they were all more intelligent than I; my presence there was a fluke. :tongue_smilie:) Of my friends/acquaintances there, 2 other women besides me are classically homeschooling full-time. Two others have done it (also classically) for individual children on an as-needed basis.

 

I think it's sort of interesting that out of a pretty small group of women, several of us have chosen this particular method of 'throwing' our degrees away.

[Kirch]

How many people actually end up in the career their degree prepared them for? Many do, I'm sure, but certainly not all. That could be considered "throwing away" a degree as well.

 

And I'll bet that in those situations the same people who think hs moms are "throwing their degrees away" would be perfectly comfortable talking about how just having any degree prepares you in many ways, how your education helps shape you into who you are, etc. It seems to come down to two things: whether or not a person is earning an income, and not seeing nurturing and educating one's own children as a valid, valuable endeavor.

[m0mmaBuck]

I don't feel like I'm throwing away my education by teaching my children. I use my education to teach my children.

 

And I know that I can walk back in at any time and demand a wage comparible to or higher than what I was making when I left full-time work because I get job offers on a regular basis.

[FO4UR]

Can you spin off your own thread??? At any rate...

 

Recent conversation with colleague #1 included this statement from her: "Homeschool moms are not educated enough to teach their own"

 

Not that I am saying it REQUIRES a college degree but it is interesting that 75% + of the moms who have answered the poll so far have a bachelor's degree or more.

 

 

 

 

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

Well, from the look of WTM numbers... A LOT. :tongue_smilie: Of course I reject his idea that it is "throwing away" your degree.

 

Thank you for confirming in numbers what I knew in my heart to be true.

 

 

I voted in your poll. I have a BSE Music Ed, and a semester towards a Master's. My *true* education in education began the year my oldest was a cute 2yo. TWTM and For the Children's Sake were given me by a dear sweet HS vet to read during naptime. Those two books spun my little mind off into the world of REAL education, Classical education. I had never heard of Charlotte Mason in all my 4.5 years of college...I felt robbed.:tongue_smilie:

 

 

I don't think HSing requires a degree. It requires a dedicated and educated parent. The degree is no indication of education, atleast not these days.

 

 

For #2, I student taught. 'nuff said.:tongue_smilie::001_huh::lol:

 

Seriously, seeing the inner-workings of a ps first-hand is a strong advertisement for HSing.

 

Plus, I have different priorities. I can have a career at age 45 when my youngest graduates high school. I cannot buy back these years at age 45 after devoting myself to career, waking up to find I have a child who doesn't have the skills/character to thrive in this world. I can live without money. I cannot live without a peace about my children's future.

[kathymuggle]

My suspicion is that HSing parents have a slightly higher than average education level - and this graph seems to support that:

 

 

http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/library/chart-graph/homeschool-parents-and-college-degrees?library_node=25141

 

Oh, and I am not wasting my degree. My degree is in Fine Arts and I doubt I would be using it if I were in the work world full time :lol:

 

I do not buy into the idea that the only value a degree has is if it leads directly (and permanently) to a job in your line of training.

[Slojo's Homeschool]

Being in the paid workforce is not necessarily a sign that you are using your degree in a productive way. I consider all of the people responsible for crashing the economy as having "thrown away their degree," particularly those who acted out of greed. Whom did your degree serve?

 

There was a really interesting article in the NYT a few weeks ago about how tightly coupled an Ivy League degree is to the idea that one should "cash in" on that degree and work for Wall Street. I think the numbers were something like 60% of those graduates expect to work on Wall Street and about 50% do, contrasted with decades ago when there seemed to be a more balanced set of choices/aspirations from Ivy Leaguers - going into teaching, the sciences, etc...

 

I really think that it would help our society greatly if "using your degree" wasn't so tightly coupled with getting paid because we still at least indirectly link "the most money" with "the most productive," and that think that has been highly problematic and destructive in our country.

 

So I guess I don't much respect the "throwing away your degree" argument. Or at least I think that there are many, many ways to use a degree and just as many ways to "throw it away" (at least some of which is concentrated in one zip code in New York as well as other places).

[celticmom]

I really despise it when people think that the only goal of education is to get a high paying job. That is one of many possible outcomes of education. I prefer to think that education can't be wasted-it is just used in a non-traditional manner.

 

Opinions like those expressed by your collegue are based on not only on a misunderstanding of the homeschooling community but also on a very narrow vision of the purpose of education.

 

 

 

:iagree:My dh has a college degree in a lucrative field, however I am often shocked by the the gaps in his education. Just last night I learned that he had no idea that Wales even existed must less where it is located and that it was once an independent nation. This is just one minor example. My dd7 already corrects his spelling.

[SonshineLearner]

I would love to use any talents I have in a larger setting someday, but I think that what would make me the best "worker/teacher" is to remember that the class is made up of individual students. I'm really not sure if I'll be able to go back to work someday, but I hope to use all that I'm learning now... if and when I do.

I was just talking about a teacher the other day; she has the certificate, but isn't willing to "decompress her class" :) Almost like a math problem... and her problem is at the very least... the way she approaches math with her students. The little girl in her class, at 7, is going crazy with stress... because she doesn't understand numbers. She can't do these "timed tests" that the teacher has her doing, and instead of looking at the little girl and helping her understand... she insists on teaching the class the way she wants to...

With homeschooling in my pocket, so to speak, I see each of the little children as individuals. Perhaps when you start with a whole class... you can't do that.

I continually wonder what I'll do when I "grow up" ;) My son is 8 so I have between 5 and 10 yrs :)

[dirty ethel rackham]

Funny ... two of the "best" homeschooling moms I know - my idols - do not have college degrees. Studies show that level of education does not make one a better home educator, just like an education degree does little there as well.

 

I don't consider my college degree wasted. I cannot go back into my former career because the jobs are now overseas making about 1/3 of what I made 15 years ago. (Still trying to figure out what I will do after I am done homeschooling.)

[melissel]

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

This statement and its ilk always blow my mind. My mom thinks I'm so good at what I do (did) in my paid work that I should really be out there using it to help others. A colleague of DH's said the same thing to him the other day after I helped her out with something and she was extremely pleased with the results--something like, "She's so good at it, she should be out there using it!"

 

Like, the world is more deserving of my talents than my own children are? It boggles my mind every single time I hear someone say something like this about HSers or at-home moms anywhere :banghead:

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Another interesting statistic on hsers:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-05-28-homeschooling_N.htm

I was surprised to see that 6.8% of college-educated parents hs.

 

Interesting article, thanks.

 

Although I did have to point out this paragraph...(totally off topic though)

 

What else has nearly doubled? The percentage of girls who are home-schooled. They now outnumber home-schooled girls by a wide margin.

 

Anyone understand this? Without guessing?

[Mommy Grommy]

The working world is a construct of humankind. It's a GAME. I think a life is more important than a game.

 

What a wonderful perspective :)

[MamaSheep]

Can you spin off your own thread??? At any rate...

 

Recent conversation with colleague #1 included this statement from her: "Homeschool moms are not educated enough to teach their own"

 

Not that I am saying it REQUIRES a college degree but it is interesting that 75% + of the moms who have answered the poll so far have a bachelor's degree or more.

 

 

 

 

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

Well, from the look of WTM numbers... A LOT. :tongue_smilie: Of course I reject his idea that it is "throwing away" your degree.

 

Thank you for confirming in numbers what I knew in my heart to be true.

 

 

I know this is an oldish thread now, and I will admit to not having read much of it, but it came to mind today when I was going through some old blog posts deciding what to keep and toss and I came across this entry. I guess I was annoyed that day...lol.

 

September 30, 2008

 

Overeducated Suburban Housewife: A minor rant

 

“Overeducated suburban housewife.”

 

It’s a phrase I find myself stumbling across in my reading with increasing frequency. It sashays casually into texts ranging from political analyses, to neuropsychological expositions, to examinations of socio-anthropological contributions to modern warfare—not to mention popular women’s magazines and the patronizing blogs of fashionably cynical young feminists. It frequently keeps company with words like “underemployed”, “trapped”, and ”bored”. The sentiment that seems to be lurking behind this rather smug little phrase is that no woman with a semi-functional brain and even half a dram of self-respect would ever allow herself to be incarcerated in a gilded cookie-cutter cage, cut off from respectably cosmopolitan companionship, and subjugated into the humiliating bondage of unpaid domestic servitude. Furthermore, should any strong, sensible, intelligent, articulate woman with a college education actually experience the severe misfortune of waking up one day to discover herself married, jobless, and (horror of horrors!) with the final, absolute degradation of a puling, drooling infant attatched to her sagging breast, it is taken as an undeniable societal certainty that she will go rapidly and rabidly insane under the sheer, grinding weight of tedium and ennui. And why? Because prior to landing herself in the aforesaid unfortunate circumstance, she has experienced, through her education and possibly previous work experience, the extraordinarily resplendent, vastly liberating, offspring-free splendor of intellectual enlightenment that begins at the sagacious feet of institutional erudition and finds its penultimate consummation, it would seem, only through gainful employment.

 

Oh alas and alak! If only she had suppressed her mental yearnings! If only she had engaged in preparatory training more suited to her ignoble position! Had she merely posessed the perspicuity to maintain that level of blissful, benighted ignorance that is congruous with her plebeian caste, she might have been able to endure such a dismal, prosaic existence, blithely unaware of the cerebral summits to be scaled beyond the periphery of her parsimonious purview. But no! She has dared to grasp at that which is above her station; she has savored the heady, exotic nectar of scholasticism. Thus overeducated, the pitiable housewife is hopelessly doomed to languish, trapped in her tract home, manacled by her manicured postage stamp landscaping, bound by her boredom, ever envisioning the eden of employment that she might have enjoyed had she only stood sufficiently strong to shake off the shackles of societal expectation or lift the lazy lassisitude into which she has lapsed.

 

And now, lest I be tempted to indulge in any further alliterative excesses, and in the interest of my valuable time, which despite the scoffing of those who employ the phrase in question I refuse to place upon the public auction block, I shall close by merely stating that I respectfully disagree with the notion that a woman can be “overeducated”, regardless of the career she has chosen. Truth is beautiful in any environment. Knowledge is beneficial to any pursuit. One of the great advantages to a woman of being master of her own time is that she has the opportunity to improve her mind and sharpen her skills as she chooses. She can exercise her talents on behalf of her family, her community, and her country as she sees fit without having to answer to anyone but God and her own conscience. And in my opinion any “housewife” who can think of no better way to fill her time, and no greater contribution she can make than cleaning her house (which, by the way, would have to be done regardless of her employment status) suffers not from an overabundance of education, but from a deplorable lack of creativity and ambition.

[FO4UR]

I know this is an oldish thread now, and I will admit to not having read much of it, but it came to mind today when I was going through some old blog posts deciding what to keep and toss and I came across this entry. I guess I was annoyed that day...lol.

 

 

 

Thanks for posting that.:lol::lol::lol: Ya' might want to pass along a dictionary with that blog post. It's like Text Painting (musician here)...Love it!:lol:

[Kirch]

I know this is an oldish thread now, and I will admit to not having read much of it, but it came to mind today when I was going through some old blog posts deciding what to keep and toss and I came across this entry. I guess I was annoyed that day...lol.

 

September 30, 2008

 

Overeducated Suburban Housewife: A minor rant

 

“Overeducated suburban housewife.â€

 

It’s a phrase I find myself stumbling across in my reading with increasing frequency. It sashays casually into texts ranging from political analyses, to neuropsychological expositions, to examinations of socio-anthropological contributions to modern warfare—not to mention popular women’s magazines and the patronizing blogs of fashionably cynical young feminists. It frequently keeps company with words like “underemployedâ€, “trappedâ€, and â€boredâ€. The sentiment that seems to be lurking behind this rather smug little phrase is that no woman with a semi-functional brain and even half a dram of self-respect would ever allow herself to be incarcerated in a gilded cookie-cutter cage, cut off from respectably cosmopolitan companionship, and subjugated into the humiliating bondage of unpaid domestic servitude. Furthermore, should any strong, sensible, intelligent, articulate woman with a college education actually experience the severe misfortune of waking up one day to discover herself married, jobless, and (horror of horrors!) with the final, absolute degradation of a puling, drooling infant attatched to her sagging breast, it is taken as an undeniable societal certainty that she will go rapidly and rabidly insane under the sheer, grinding weight of tedium and ennui. And why? Because prior to landing herself in the aforesaid unfortunate circumstance, she has experienced, through her education and possibly previous work experience, the extraordinarily resplendent, vastly liberating, offspring-free splendor of intellectual enlightenment that begins at the sagacious feet of institutional erudition and finds its penultimate consummation, it would seem, only through gainful employment.

 

Oh alas and alak! If only she had suppressed her mental yearnings! If only she had engaged in preparatory training more suited to her ignoble position! Had she merely posessed the perspicuity to maintain that level of blissful, benighted ignorance that is congruous with her plebeian caste, she might have been able to endure such a dismal, prosaic existence, blithely unaware of the cerebral summits to be scaled beyond the periphery of her parsimonious purview. But no! She has dared to grasp at that which is above her station; she has savored the heady, exotic nectar of scholasticism. Thus overeducated, the pitiable housewife is hopelessly doomed to languish, trapped in her tract home, manacled by her manicured postage stamp landscaping, bound by her boredom, ever envisioning the eden of employment that she might have enjoyed had she only stood sufficiently strong to shake off the shackles of societal expectation or lift the lazy lassisitude into which she has lapsed.

 

And now, lest I be tempted to indulge in any further alliterative excesses, and in the interest of my valuable time, which despite the scoffing of those who employ the phrase in question I refuse to place upon the public auction block, I shall close by merely stating that I respectfully disagree with the notion that a woman can be “overeducatedâ€, regardless of the career she has chosen. Truth is beautiful in any environment. Knowledge is beneficial to any pursuit. One of the great advantages to a woman of being master of her own time is that she has the opportunity to improve her mind and sharpen her skills as she chooses. She can exercise her talents on behalf of her family, her community, and her country as she sees fit without having to answer to anyone but God and her own conscience. And in my opinion any “housewife†who can think of no better way to fill her time, and no greater contribution she can make than cleaning her house (which, by the way, would have to be done regardless of her employment status) suffers not from an overabundance of education, but from a deplorable lack of creativity and ambition.

 

Love that!!

[regentrude]

Recent conversation with colleague #2 included this statement from him: "What college educated woman would throw away her degree to stay home and homeschool?"

 

 

Homeschooling does not necessarily mean giving up a career. I teach at a university in the subject of my PhD AND homeschool my children.

There are quite a few women on these boards who work.

[acurtis75]

I find it sad that any parent would consider educating your own children throwing away your degree. IMO, some people are throwing away their children by focusing too much on the career that their degree enables, but I'm sure he wouldn't want to hear that! :tongue_smilie::iagree:

 

:iagree:

 

I also think that education level isn't the only or even the best way to determine how "educated" homeschooling parents really are. I know I might be an exception but I don't think a degree alone necessarily tells you much about a person other than they have a good work ethic. Dh and I started a business while we were in college and ended up leaving school and pursuing the professional licenses needed for our careers instead. Since then we've taken all kinds of continuing education and various college level classes but neither of us ever felt the urge to go finish our degrees. I am co-owner of a successful business, I am an excellent student & have been my entire life, I read constantly, I pursue opportunities to enrich and educate myself frequently, and I take my responsibility as a homeschooling teacher very seriously. I have many friends who have degrees who haven't read a book since college and spend their lives watching tv and reading magazines. I consider myself to be qualified to teach not only my daughter but myself. I have friends in the education field who would disagree strongly but that is their rot. In Texas where I live you can't teach with just a degree and be paid a full salary. I know a person who had a masters degree but was being paid $1100 until she finished the expensive classes for her certificate. You have to get a teaching certificate on top of your degree which requires additional time and money and is ridiculous in my opinion.