There is a...
There is a real valid concern right now as the start of the 20-21 school year is approaching very soon. Earlier this spring the entire education system here in the USA was disrupted affecting students of all ages from preschool all the way up to post graduate degree programs at the most prestigious universities.
For someone like myself that takes pride in sharing the truth, I need to come clean right now and tell you the information in that first paragraph is half bull shit.
The entire education system wasn’t disrupted despite what the news media and the politicians have told you. Those of you who agreed with the information in the first paragraph please pay close attention, you may learn something as we continue on with this discussion.
There has been...
There has been a growing education sector that is safer than any private or public education system known as home school. The media loves to hype mass school shootings, I never seen one story on a mass home school shooting have you?
Children are definitely safer being in home school than public schools. This coming school year there will be more families opting out of the traditional public or private education systems and educating their own children at home. Not because of mass shootings but the fear of COVID 19.
The spike this...
The spike this fall with children being home schooled will be a direct result of COVID 19 and the media hype behind the virus. When the media hypes something for the wrong reasons they sometimes get themselves between a rock and hard place and they have done this with COVID19 and the schools situation.
Toward the end of this past May several news stories focused in on the school situation saying the public school students were falling behind in their education.
The public schools were trying to conduct virtual lessons over the internet and repeatedly referred to it as “home schooling”. These attempts by the media to disparage home schooling were intentional in my eyes. The media knew that this fall parents would be reluctant to send their children back to the classrooms if any chance of the virus being present existed. The news media's attempt was to plant the seed that home schooling doesn't work, which is total bull shit too.
There is a ...
There is a valid concern right now about this coming school year and that concern isn’t with the children being able to attend in person or virtually. The concern is with those parents that will opt their children out of the system to do home schooling.
Speaking from experience, I can tell you that those report cards the schools give you to keep track of how your child is doing in school bear no resemblance to what the child has learned and retained. My first bits of advice to new home school parents are DON’T PANIC.
Yes, you are...
Yes, you are going to have to back up and do some remedial education of your child.
The good news is that you will find out that home schooling education doesn’t take nearly the amount of hours that are required if it were a classroom setting. So making up that educational deficit that you didn’t know existed won’t take nearly the amount of weeks or months you might think it would.
One family that is new to home schooling this school year had no idea that their daughter who is junior in high school did not know the answer to a simple multiplication problem. The problem was 8 x 8 = ?
Not only did she not know the answer; she had no concept of what multiplication in math was. Those parents had no idea that calculators had been allowed for use in the math class.
Public school administrators...
Public school administrators will lose countless hours of sleep worrying just how vocal you will be with your neighbors in sharing how poorly your child was educated while under the school district tutelage. There is where the real valid concern is; parents who share information.
As long as your child is in the system you pose no threat to them and their little secret of doing a piss poor job of educating children. When you break free of that system it is very painful for those administrators for two reasons. They lose federal education funds (very important) and they lose the opportunity to indoctrinate your child to their way of thinking.
The dumb down...
The dumb down the children project (public education) that has worked so well for over 100 years in the USA will take a big blow this fall as more Americans elect to home school. School districts can thank the media in part for the exodus since they were the ones who whipped up the fear frenzy in parents.
Just my thoughts on the subject; what are yours?
Until next time,
Sult
If the system has worked well enough, then the populous should be just dumb enough to ignore the evidence and contradictions right in front of them and get behind a ban on homeschooling when the media starts reporting how dangerous it is and how it's failing children. Sorry, I just went all cynical there...
It is kind of funny how in order to push through one goal, they inadvertently undermine another goal.
That populous in general is dumb enough and it most likely won't be long before before before the media gets behind a ban homeschooling. Right now though their orders are to get us thru this sham pandemic / election cycle with all eyes focused on those.
Once the numbers are compiled on how many children this year alone have been opt out of the government education system it will surface on the radar screen and the attacks will begin. Up until now the home school folks never represented a big problem because in the majority of two parent households both parents worked outside the home and couldn't possibly home school.
This pandemic has changed that too, more companies are realizing that they don't need massive office space and people in those cubicles to get the work done. More people working their jobs from home means school no longer has to serve as "child care" with education provided. Parents can do both now and do it very well.
I look for late '21 and '22 for the home school attacks to ramp up across the media and legislation banning home school to be introduced.
I hope I'm wrong on those predictions of course.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment, both are very much appreciated.
Sult
I know, for an absolute fact that home schooling can work. I know lots of shining examples but the one I know best is my Goddaughter. She is bright and well read with a great understanding of a whole lot of things.
My oft mentioned friend Erv, with his PHD in Education (to go with 2 others) is a big fan. With two provisions: 1: That the parents actually GAS and give their children a chance at learning and 2: That the parents have the time and energy. Obviously 2 working parents doesn't lend itself to home school.
I don't mind that students use calculators, they are a great time saver and do simple mathematics with complete accuracy. But if they never are exposed to the fundamentals of arithmetic they end up in the world functionally stupid. Have you ever completely boggled a clerk by not giving them even change? They can't count, even.
School busses rolled today in Yuma, AZ. I saw them. FWIW.
I love to screw them up like that. Especially when the amount is like 16.47 and I give them a 20.00 then wait till they tender it and say, "oh wait a second I have some change." then give them two quarters. Blows their minds to have to figure it out.
Schools are starting here too, but online right now and some say after Labor Day they will go back to in person classes. There are several law suits pending before the courts over the back to school issue here in Texas.
I wish the homeschooling option would have been available when I was in school. I would definitely want to educate my children this way today if I had young ones.
Even back in the 1980's, except for a small handful of stellar teachers who still had a passion for teaching, the public education system in Columbus, Ohio was a steaming pile of pure crap. I was bored out of my mind more often than not. Instead of trying to tailor the lesson plans to the majority of students performing in the average category the administrators tended to dumb down the curriculum to make the worst performing students feel as though they were average "C-level" students.
Then during high school ('85-'89) the environment became outright dangerous because of gangs' influence in the school and almost no learning took place. Teachers were miserable and spent most of their time just trying to keep the kids from hurting one another. I only needed two credits my senior year to graduate and ended up cutting classes over 100 days and they still let me graduate. I wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.
I really don't know when the home schooling really started taking hold I know when we started four years ago there were plenty of people and home school groups in our area already. Blondie is way ahead in learning compared to her friends in her girl scout troop. Those other girls are constantly asking her how she's learned so much by not going to school.
It's kind of ironic that parents aren't that concerned with school shooting, drug dealing, and gang activity in schools and will send their kids like no problems exist. But a virus that can't be seen, and most likely wouldn't have a big affect on the health and welfare of the kid would have them fearing to the point of taking them out of public school and teaching them at home.
Bullet proof backpack sales are probably way down this school year. I guess they need to come up with a self contained breathing apparatus backpack that cleans and sanitizes the air for the student next, that should be a guaranteed big seller.
Sult
I remember one younger kid in the neighborhood I grew up in being homeschooled in the mid-eighties but she was the only one. I think a lot of parents were under the false assumption that the children wouldn't be properly socialized. I can't imagine one downside to homeschooling in this day and age.
The only challenge would be if both parents had to work. I wonder if it's legal for parents to take "shifts" and co-teach with 2 or 3 other families? I could envision a sort of homeschooling co-op. I'm sure someone else has thought about that.
More parents should be concerned with violence in schools. It was bad when I was in high school but is way worse now in some districts.
Yes, there are some great home school co-ops in this area. They organize both educational trips and social events and I know some that teach neighbor kids too. The other thing is even two working parents can manage it by conducting classes on the weekend and late in the evenings. Shortie does some of her best school work long after we've gone to bed.
That takes away all of the concerns for many parents, I'm sure!
My children were all homeschooled and they turned out just fine. They grew up to be independent thinkers and now homeschool the grandkids. The public education system was designed to dumb down the population, make good little followers who don't question the status quo. They wanted lemmings. Easier to control and befuddle.
We were late to the game on home schooling as we let our oldest boy make it all the way thru his 12 years of public education but we figured it out in time to get our other three out of the system.
I can't argue one bit with your assessment on public education either. Well said Ceci.