Why I Homeschool by Mrs Ghost

I am dismayed by the number of people who criticize homeschooling. At Tomorrow is Another Day Mrs Ghost weighs in with Why I Homeschool.

Homeschooling allows children to soar above the clouds

Unschooling the Public in 25 Words or Less from Cocking a Snook.

FLY, STUDENTS, FLY by Daryl over at HE&OS.

And my humble rant..............................
I am sick and tired of hearing how public school kids have all this wonderful freedom (which obviously Al Neuharth hasn't been near a public school in awhile or he would know that most public school kids don't even have the freedom to pick out what color shirt they want to wear) while homeschoolers are tied down by their parents.

My response to this nonsense.

• Homeschooling allowed my eldest son to start college at 16.
• Homeschooling has allowed us to travel and see the world.
• Homeschooling has allowed my children to explore their interest.
• Homeschooling allows children to take flight when they are ready and soar above the clouds.

Deep Thoughts

Deep Thought asked thought provoking questions in his post Who Decides? Part II

In my introduction to education and homeschooling I discussed my conversation with Prof. Rob Reich, who is seen as an opponent by most homeschoolers, and his view that parents should not have sole control of the education of their children. His opinion was echoed in comments by Elliot, who feels that the government should determine what is taught to all children. These two people, along with many others outside homeschooling who discuss how to ‘limit’ it, or structure it, or regulate it, etc. all seem to touch on the core topic involved without quite realizing what that core topic really is. Even Prof. Reich, with a Ph.D. in Political Science, at first didn’t realize that regulation of homeschooling is about the power of the state to control or eliminate pluralism.

Of course one of the big problems is they don't see homeschoolers as diverse. According to the majority of non-homeschoolers, all homeschoolers are Christian Fundamentalist nut cases who raise their children in isolation. If you try to point out how diverse homeschoolers really are you get a grudging "maybe you are different" but............ If you dig deep enough into their hostility against homeschoolers you see they resent what they perceive to be all homeschoolers beliefs and they don't want them passed on to the next generation, as they perceive Fundamentalist Christian beliefs to be a threat to their own beliefs. They don't seem to understand that their own intolerance of beliefs differing from their own is a bigger threat then any Christian Fundamentalist or homeschooler could ever be.

How about today, when public school curricula actively promote stances that conflict directly with Catholic beliefs? If parents concerned with these issues can send their kids to Catholic schools, why not homeschool them? The Amish won a long court battle that allows them to have their own schools so that their children can be taught as their parents wish – including not following the compulsory education laws. Why are the legitimate desires of the Amish to pass on their beliefs and culture worthy of being honored, but not homeschooling parents who happen to be, say, pagans?

An excellent question.

In many ways, the desire to determine what homeschoolers can and cannot, must and must not, teach their children is just a shade of the Know Nothings and the Indian Office. It is someone determining that they know best, or at least better. It is the belief that someone, either yourself or an ‘expert’, is better/smarter/better educated/more ‘mainstream’ than a parent and that you need to intervene in how they raise their child – for the good of the children, of course! Eventually, with enough education, you can finally get the population all thinking the right things, believing the right truths, and acting in the proper manner….

I get so sick of all the anti-homeschoolers who claimed to want what is best for my children and subtly imply that I don't. They don't even know my children, so how can they presume to know what’s best for them. They certainly don't love them like I do, so why would I entrust my children's future to strangers? Then there are those who will admit that I am doing an excellent job homeschooling, that my children are thriving but still maintain that I should give it up for the "greater good", and call me selfish because I am not willing to sacrifice my children's future for someone else's child.

The issues, the hot buttons, all the things that get opponents of homeschooling frothed boil down to cultural outlook. This is why many on both sides focus on evolution/creationism. Those homeschoolers who leave public schools because of evolution clearly state that they feel the public schools are being used to subvert the beliefs and values that parents want their children to develop and support. While many who want to force all children to learn evolution claim that understanding evolution is a pre-requisite for being a functional adult.

The fact this is an argument against homeschooling is laughable if you hail from Mississippi in light of HB 625 - Introduced by Representative Mike Lott, the bill would require the teaching of creationism or intelligent design in SCIENCE classrooms if evolution is taught. One of the reasons I homeschool is so I can teach my children "pure science" especially the theory of evolution without having crackpot ideas like intelligent design introduced. Although I am rather fond of the flying spaghetti monster. But does it hurt me if another homeschooling parent chooses not to teach evolution? Of course not, and they should be free to do so.

Deep Thoughts left me with many interesting points to ponder. I hope you will go read his post in its entirety.

More Misconceptions About Homeschoolers

I visit the Dr. Phil message board from time to time when I need material or a good laugh. Honestly some of the statements the public school advocates make are sooooooooooooooo stupid they are funny. Here are some gems from Teachsmiles (who claims to be a public school teacher).

I believe parents who choose to homeschool their children are selfish and lack confidence in their parenting skills. The parents who decide to unschool are just plain uneducated, as most of us agree. I too would love to homeschool my youngest child, 8 years old, but it is absolutely for selfish reasons. I would enjoy spending more time with her and protecting her from life's difficulties.

I am so tired of hearing how homeschoolers are selfish. Since I covered this in a previous post I'll just give you the link to my post The Other S Word . Now for the uneducated part of her statement. Many of the homeschooling parents I know have Masters, Bachelors or Associates degrees. I myself have an Associates degree and my hubby has a Bachelors, so maybe Teachsmiles can explain how she could possibly consider us uneducated? Could it possibly be because my husband was Valedictorian of his public school class? Or maybe it was because I only graduated with honors from my public school?

Homeschooling & going to school are NOT the same thing done in different measures. Homeschool (as you say) may be better for some children, however, homeschooling is not good for the adult that child will become. That parent will forever be raising that child or feeling the crippling left by the child "flying the coup". I believe the child can be successful in any environment of education or be unsuccessful, IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PARENTS!

Oh PLEASE! My goal as a homeschool mother is to see my children go to college and embark on successful careers. I was thrilled when my 16 year old gained early admission to college. At 17 he is in his second year of a Computer Science Degree, he made the Dean's List and he works part time at Sicily's Pizza. His “flying the coup” certainly does not cripple me; I am enjoying the extra free time I have. And he is more then capable of taking care of himself as I raised him to be self-sufficient. Most homeschool parents I know have made "plans" for what they are going to do once their homeschooling journey ends; for some that means going back to a full time career they put on a back burner in order to homeschool, for others it means going back to working full time instead of part time and for others it means getting more involved in charity work or pursing hobbies.

Parenting is the biggest job in society and if you are too afraid to parent fully then you are not doing your job. Part of parenting is preparing children to function as contributing educated citizens of society, not parenting "willy nilly as you please". Stand up and be proud! Have the faith in how you raise your children that they will prosper and succeed in PS education. Do not be a controlling feeble minded person who fears & controls all 24 hours of their child's life. "How will they survive without you?"

I pity the students who get stuck with Teachsmiles as a teacher. Her remarks show how bigoted she is against homeschoolers. Homeschooling parents prepare their children to function as contributing educated citizens of society. We instill them with things like a work ethic, and the knowledge that punctuality is important, two things employers find very desirable. We teach them to be self-sufficient so they can survive without us. We allow them to make choices and explore the world and offer a helping hand when they ask for our guidance. What's the problem with that?

From the Blogosphere

Let's be clear public school at home isn't the same as homeschooling. If people choose to do public school at home that's fine and dandy, but they are not homeschoolers. I can only wonder if Bounds desire to scrutinize homeschoolers is due to the states need to drum up business for the Mississippi Virtual Public School.

And this is totally outrageous homeschoolers are being harrassed at public parks.

The Careys, were asked by the principal of the neighborhood public school to stop bringing their two homeschooled children to the park during school hours. The public park is being used as a playground for public schoolchildren. The Careys, who had only recently withdrawn their children from this public school, wanted their two boys to continue to have an afternoon recess following a morning of busy homeschooling.

It's a public park for crying out loud, homeschoolers have just as much right to be there as the public school students do.

Visit Motherhood is Hell...a....Cool! to read her post Why I Homeschool: By Me.

This adversarial relationship that many public schoolers have toward homeschoolers (including the propagation of stereotypes that homeschoolers are "weird" or "unsocialized") was brought about because the lack of a butt warming a seat translates into a lack of payment to the school for said butt. This was spun to mean that a homeschooling child is actually stealing funds from your child's classroom!