Originally Posted By wendebird I homeschooled through Modoc Charter School & also Academy of Personalized Learning. (called Apple) They both had enrollment of over 400 kids just in Shasta County. I think there are more than you think that homeschool through charter schools. We have others here in Shasta County like Stellar Charter School, Chrysalis Charter School, Redding School of the Arts, Turtle Bay School, etc who all have homeschool programs. And we're a county of only about 180K people. We did file an R-4, which allowed me to homeschool without an umbrella school, but it proved to be too costly & we went back to a charter within a year. (I had to pay for all outside classes & books) I still stand by that I know many, parents who homeschool & are NOT religious, but they do it "to stick it to the man" reasons. Crazy stuff. Religion is a reason some people homeschool, but by far not the only reason. I moved from NJ to CA in fall of 2000. In Jersey, Kindergarten was a half day. Your child would either have morning or afternoon class. Also in NJ, they start school after Labor Day. My daughter would start school the following fall in kindergarten. CA starts school in August & she would have started Kindergarten at the age of 4 & it was a full 6+ hour day. I could not see sending my 4 year old to school for over 6 hours a day. So I looked into alternatives. I didn't know what or how to do it, so I chose the charter school route. They suggested curriculum, gave me tips, etc. My daughter excelled & was reading fluently by January. I was so proud of her & myself. There's no greater feeling to teach your child to read & to be there with her when it all "clicks" & she starts reading on her own. Anyway, everything ran very smooth & I figured when it didn't work anymore, I'd send them to school. So I always made sure they took classes, just so they'd know how a class worked. (can't wear PJ's, raise your hand, permission to use restroom, among other things) I'm very glad that I homeschooled them. I feel I gave them an excellent headstart. I must say my now 13 year old is very sure of herself & is not swayed by peer pressure. She has so much self assurance & is the first one to stand up if another child is being bullied. I will also add the what Princessjenn spoke of, is what my experience has been for the majority of the homeschoolers I know. They have co-ops, park days, craft days, living history days, drama classes, etc. It really can be done right & the kids really benefit from it.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Sorry, I can't let this pass. "Gay marriage is not an equal rights matter." It sure as hell is. Please provide a detailed legal explanation to back up your incredibly discriminatory conclusion. Ignorant, prehistoric, bigoted statements like josh's borne from a freakish, religious cult-like belief system have gone beyond simply pissing me off.
Originally Posted By beamerdog thanks for posting, wendebird. Their is a large community of homeschoolers in Delaware who do this for many reasons other than religious. My son's friend was home schooled on and off and also attended a private school briefly. He was a Johns Hopkins Scholar (a distinguished middle school opportunity to study higher math). My brother was home schooled for a year due to a catastrophic injury. Although I wouldn't choose home schooling for my sons, I do support it. My son went to a Quaker school (we're not Quakers) and had meeting for worship and studied religion. Parochial schools have been accepted in the US for a long time. However, I find what was being taught in the op is personally distasteful. And don't think that this doesn't go on as an not-so-undercurrent in the public schools. A Jewish student and her family was virtually "run out of town" in a public school in lower Delaware. <<<will find the link later tonight.
Originally Posted By ecdc Say what you will about homeschooling, it's pretty clear that those parents who choose to do it are deeply concerned about their childrens' education and development. That, IMO, can be both a very good thing and a very bad thing. Homeschooling itself isn't to blame; it's who chooses to use it. Clearly a lot of parents do it to give their children better educations, more personal attention, and more diverse experiences. Many of these children end up in ivy league colleges and go on to successful lives. But it's also clear that a lot of parents use it out of a strange superstition about the world around them - be it rooted in religion or government paranoia. Their children are probably socially stunted or only associate with like-minded people. Unexposed to diversity, they grow up with a very warped, twisted perspective on life and the world we all live in.
Originally Posted By ecdc >><Individual liberties must take a back seat to the greater needs of society.> Scary stuff, that. Necessary in very, very, very limited scope, but let that get out of control, and you no longer have the Land of the Free.<< While I do disagree to a certain extent with Skinner's statement here - at least on this issue - I think it's positively rich that Josh is talking about the Land of the Free. Yes, it's the Land of the Free - unless Josh or his kind think you're a sinner. Then, [dons best soup nazi voice] "No freedom for you!" And when pressed on it, they just conveniently say that their attempts to legislate morality have nothing to do with freedom. It's not an issue of freedom at all! How convenient. Maybe the issue of being able to homeschool one's children isn't an issue of freedom. Yes, such authoritarian pronouncements really contribute to the discussion [rolls eyes].
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Their children are probably socially stunted<< BTW, I work with two brothers who were homeschooled. I have never, ever met two more socially awkward people in my life. I won't go into the details, but the sad fact is, well-educated though they are, these two men will probably never find success in life because they simply don't know how to associate with people.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Socially awkward but smart individuals can always find a job in engineering.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy << Socially awkward but smart individuals can always find a job in engineering. >> We outsource most of those socially awkward engineer jobs to Southeast Asia these days.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Sport Goofy, we need a stimulus for the nerds! USE AMERICAN NERD LABOR!!!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Funny, with my brothers, many people remark onhow socially adaptable they are. It is all down to how families support home schooling. With the right amount of socialisation exposure, these challenges are easily surmounted. The only concern I have is how they would deal with a bullying environment in the work place, for this is something they have limited experience.
Originally Posted By wendebird Dave, my dd13 can not tolerate bullying & will always be the first one to step up to the bully. I don't know if it's just her personality or the fact that she didn't have that peer pressure to conform in her early years, but she doesn't tolerate that crap. She's only 13, so I don't know what it'll be like for her in the workplace yet, but at school, she can't & won't stand for it.
Originally Posted By beamerdog excerpt from "Jewish family flees Delaware school district's aggressive Christianity" by JewsOnFirst.org, June 28, 2006 >>A state representative spoke in support of prayer and warned board members that "the people" would replace them if they faltered on the issue. Other representatives spoke against separating "god and state." A former board member suggested that Mona Dobrich might "disappear" like Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the atheist whose Supreme Court case resulted in ending organized school prayer. She disappeared in 1995 and her dismembered body was found six years later. The crowd booed an ACLU speaker and told her to "go back up north." In the days after the meeting the community poured venom on the Dobriches. Callers to the local radio station said the family they should convert or leave the area. Someone called them and said the Ku Klux Klan was nearby.<< The full article: <a href="http://www.jewsonfirst.org/06b/indianriver.html" target="_blank">http://www.jewsonfirst.org/06b...ver.html</a> This was also covered in our local paper, radio and tv. A very ugly situation.
Originally Posted By beamerdog and open discrimination which you can see by reading the rest of the article.
Originally Posted By wendebird Wow, that's some scary stuff. It sounds like my husbands experience when his parents tried to relocate to Pocatello, Idaho. Religion (Mormans) drove the whole family back to NJ. They made it impossible for the kids in school & they weren't allowed to play with my husband or his brothers after school either. Crazy.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Gay marriage is not an equal rights matter.>> Why is it that outrageous statements such as these typically come from members of groups who were discriminated against themselves! Let me put this into words you SHOULD be able to understand, Josh: <Luke 6:42 -- How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.> Mormons should be among the first to recognize and condemn discrimination against other groups given their own history of discrimination in this country and many others. The fact that the LDS church is actually PROUD of discriminating against other groups as a self-professed Christian organization is beyond the pale.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< Let me put this into words you SHOULD be able to understand, Josh: <Luke 6:42 -- How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.> >>> Keep in mind that Mormon doctrine is that the Bible is NOT the unerring word of God, but is the word of God only to the extent that it doesn't conflict with the Book of Mormon and other Mormon texts, and that only the Mormon texts are actually unerring. So, if a Mormon's belief is based on something in the Book of Mormon or other Mormon text, the fact that it's the opposite of what's taught in the Bible is irrelevant, as on that particular point, the belief is that the Bible is wrong.
