Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education • Hacker News Board

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#621

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:00 AM UTC

kulahan wrote: post #525

kelnos wrote: post #515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was raised very Catholic (and decided by my early teens that I didn't believe in any of it), and I completely disagree with your conclusion. Organized religion (at least Christianity) absolutely is about deep fear. "Do this or you'll go to hell!" "Believe this or you'll go to hell!" Repeat ad infinitum. I won't deny that some churches (as in, specific people, not the system as a whole) can do good in the world; one…

You've misunderstood Catholicism. The entire reason Christianity is so radical is because it's the first major religion of purely love. There is no need to sacrifice anyone, you get infinite forgiveness, so long as you truly repent, and nearly every facet of Catholicism is based around the idea of love. A fine example is the incredibly important Corinthians 13:13: And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But…

[deleted]

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#622

Post by troupe » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:00 AM UTC

darigo wrote: post #285

lapetitejort wrote: post #137

I was home-schooled until high school. Long story short, it was a disaster. I bordered on having no education at all, on top of no socialization. I'm so fortunate I got at least four years of public school. I still think I suffer to this day. For parents who are thinking of home schooling your kids: best of luck to you. If you succeed, maybe your kids will be smarter. If you fail, you could be setting your kids up fo…

I mean, this cuts both ways. One of the most consistent predictors of success in public school is parental involvement. The only school I ever went to that was good for socialization was community college. Tbh, for learning too. I basically learned all of math, from arithmetic up, as an adult at community college, to compensate for learning nothing and getting pushed through all of the grade levels at public school.…

Exactly. There are involved parents whose kids are going to thrive in the public school. There are uninvolved parents whose kids are going to do poorly no matter where they are.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#623

Post by Racing0461 » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:00 AM UTC

spiderfarmer wrote: post #410

biomcgary wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you notice that the article highlights the rise of homeschooling co-ops? This is intentional on the part of the homeschooling movement. It improves both socialization and educational opportunities (e.g., shared lab equipment). Rather than pearl clutching about individual anecdotes or doubling down on government control, I think states should provide direct funding to homeschool co-ops in addition to direct fundin…

> The local public school program that he would be in is overwhelmed. Pay more taxes. Solve the problem for all people who run into it, not just the ones who can afford it.

We already pay more per student than literally any other socialist country. More so in the "bad schools". Money isn't the problem, it's "da culture".

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#624

Post by hyperbovine » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:05 AM UTC

pkulak wrote: post #611

xyzelement wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

// other aspects of homeschooling were just a fig leaf over a whole lot of religious indoctrination I was raised totally secular but I now understand that religion is about fundamentally aligning yourself to the highest aspirations ("what kind of man does G-d want me to be?") and even w/o actual faith, I am starting to think that's preferable to the current mode of "anything goes, you can be whatever you feel like an…

> anything goes, you can be whatever you feel like and there's no judgement of any of your actions Wow, what a terrible take. If anyone needs religion to live a moral life, I'm glad they have found it and hope they never lose it. I'm judged by my peers, my family, my community, and my country. But even if I wasn't, I would know what's right and what's wrong. Moreover, I guess it's good that amoral people can find eth…

For want of a better expression, amen. We're a couple million child sex abuse scandals past the point of pretending like organized religion has anything remotely resembling a monopoly on "moral" behavior.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#625

Post by ragestorm » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:06 AM UTC

pkulak wrote: post #611

xyzelement wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

// other aspects of homeschooling were just a fig leaf over a whole lot of religious indoctrination I was raised totally secular but I now understand that religion is about fundamentally aligning yourself to the highest aspirations ("what kind of man does G-d want me to be?") and even w/o actual faith, I am starting to think that's preferable to the current mode of "anything goes, you can be whatever you feel like an…

> anything goes, you can be whatever you feel like and there's no judgement of any of your actions Wow, what a terrible take. If anyone needs religion to live a moral life, I'm glad they have found it and hope they never lose it. I'm judged by my peers, my family, my community, and my country. But even if I wasn't, I would know what's right and what's wrong. Moreover, I guess it's good that amoral people can find eth…

I hate that take too. If the fear of eternal damnation is the only reason you arent out murdering people, then you are a jerk (in kinder words).

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#626

Post by lolinder » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:07 AM UTC

logicchains wrote: post #601

jawns wrote: post #150

People talk about homeschooling as if it's one single concept, but it's actually a whole bunch of very dissimilar things. There are people who homeschool because they don't agree with the government's viewpoints, people who homeschool because the public school system has failed their kids, people who homeschool because it just happens to fit their lifestyle. Those are all very different motivations. Likewise, there a…

That's missing the main reason for the massive increase in home schooling over the past 3 years: parents wanting to escape mandatory COVID measures in schools like masking.

Masking was not driving the homeschooling surge during COVID, it was driven by the sense parents had that during lockdowns they were effectively forced into homeschooling their kids with none of the agency that comes with full homeschooling. If they were going to be doing most of the teaching anyway while schools were closed, a lot of parents figured they'd ditch the poorly executed virtual lessons and just homeschool on their own terms.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#627

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:07 AM UTC

kelnos wrote: post #515

xyzelement wrote: post #329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

// other aspects of homeschooling were just a fig leaf over a whole lot of religious indoctrination I was raised totally secular but I now understand that religion is about fundamentally aligning yourself to the highest aspirations ("what kind of man does G-d want me to be?") and even w/o actual faith, I am starting to think that's preferable to the current mode of "anything goes, you can be whatever you feel like an…

I was raised very Catholic (and decided by my early teens that I didn't believe in any of it), and I completely disagree with your conclusion. Organized religion (at least Christianity) absolutely is about deep fear. "Do this or you'll go to hell!" "Believe this or you'll go to hell!" Repeat ad infinitum. I won't deny that some churches (as in, specific people, not the system as a whole) can do good in the world; one…

[deleted]

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#628

Post by rchaud » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:09 AM UTC

xyzelement wrote: post #552

jkestner wrote: post #422

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the current mode of "anything goes, you can be whatever you feel like and there's no judgement of any of your actions." That doesn't match reality. Do you have kids in public school? Of course they judge actions—especially those that harm others. Sometimes that's called social-emotional learning, one of the things that Florida politicians have tried to make a boogeyman. We're certainly willing to punish kids based…

I meant something different by "anything goes." I am ~40 and was born in Eastern Europe -- but even in the US, back then there was still a strong value that a good life a combination of having a family and raising the next generation, ability to work to support your family and contribution to society through your work. Whereas even in "my time" these values would have resonated with the tone in a public school, I am…

It may be funny to you, but consider that many Americans have encountered "men of God" who've turned out to be your garden-variety dickhead using religious fervor as a fig leaf to mask their bad actions.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#629

Post by vkou » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:11 AM UTC

spiderice wrote: post #505

vkou wrote: post #454

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since I never had tests or grades of any sort it didn't really matter. I was homeschooled to grade 3, and just because my parents didn't give me tests or grades, it absolutely mattered. I had to correctly solve, both verbally and in writing, enough questions at the end of the current chapter of the textbook, to a standard that satisfied them. For every subject of study. Every single day.

> just because my parents didn't give me tests or grades > I had to correctly solve ... to a standard that satisfied them In other words, you had tests and grades

A test is, by most people's general understanding, is a closed-book, timed, evaluation of competency.

A grade is a permanent record of a snapshot-in-time evaluation of your understanding of a material.

"Read the chapter, solve the problems in it, we'll go over your work later" is neither a test, nor a grade.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#630

Post by sparrish » Wed, Nov 01, 2023, 1:11 AM UTC

glitchc wrote: post #614

jawns wrote: post #150

People talk about homeschooling as if it's one single concept, but it's actually a whole bunch of very dissimilar things. There are people who homeschool because they don't agree with the government's viewpoints, people who homeschool because the public school system has failed their kids, people who homeschool because it just happens to fit their lifestyle. Those are all very different motivations. Likewise, there a…

I am of the firm opinion that there is no substitute for a formal education. Homeschooling is great if one or both parents are teachers or come from a teaching background. Homeschooling is a disaster if neither parent has much of a formal education, or lack teaching acumen, but still feel that they are qualified to teach their kids. Between those two extremes is a huge range of variability. Exams are going to become…

The facts don't line up with your opinion.

A 2016 study by the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI) indicates homeschoolers scored between 15 and 30 percentage points higher on standardized academic achievement tests and usually scored higher on the SAT/ACT.

https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/