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Homeschooling hits record numbers

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Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#331

Post by kylehotchkiss »

ghssds wrote: post #314
usefulcat wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are certainly tradeoffs, but it's not all negative. In my experience, what it boils down to is that home-schooled kids tend to have more experience with adults and less experience dealing with a wide variety of other kids, particularly assholes. When I was a kid in public school, there was no shortage of assholes and I definitely would have preferred to not have to deal with them. OTOH, I don't doubt that there…

What happens to asshole kids? Do they become regular adults or asshole adults? Do they become soldiers or prisonners never to be seen again by normies? Do they even reach adulthood? Are they even a stable group or were we all asshole kids to some other kids?

I think it's an important development milestone to learn that people don't want to be their friends, and the longing for human connection might be a good moderating force in their life. I was a really pessimistic teenager, which I received plenty of feedback on, and have worked against my own nature to become a more positive and cheery adult.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#332

Post by logical_proof »

jen20 wrote: post #163
logical_proof wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Judgment and sense are not earned... they are taught. Tell me how teachers demand any less than total respect from domineered children? Maybe Pink Floyd had no basis for Another Brick In The Wall? I would ask who is more qualified than their parents to instill in their children judgement and sense? You might argue that there are morally bankrupt parents but I would counter that there are morally bankrupt teachers and…

> I would ask who is more qualified than their parents to instill in their children judgement and sense? That largely depends on the parents. Many are _wildly_ unfit for this.

Absolutely agreed. There is likely a much higher proportion of unfit parents vs unfit teachers (though the latter category is a non zero number). There is also an economic element to this scenario. My spouse can stay home with the kids while I go to work, this is not at all common in our modern day and age. There are tremendous sacrifices that a family must make to do this and I think that anyone wanting to homeschool because it will be 'easier' is setting themselves up for hurt. Much like the folks who get into programming because the pay is good... It won't be what you think.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#333

Post by mmcclure »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #97
rich_sasha wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suppose there are few talented, hard working people who want to teach, and they command a premium. Education is expensive and underfunded. As a parent/carer you probably are much more motivated than an underpaid teacher who wanted to do something else anyway, and you don't have to motivate yourself with money. By extension, IME, motivated and talented teachers in any school (good or bad) can do wonders. There just…

Education is expensive and underfunded. Expensive yes. Underfunded depends on where you are. San Francisco's school district has an annual operating budget that equates to $28k per student. I've heard people in San Francisco say that schools here are underfunded. When I ask them how much we spend per student per year, their guess is usually less than half of the actual amount.

Are you saying that's a lot or a little? Tuition for most (non-religious) competitive private schools in San Francisco is easily twice that amount.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#334

Post by FireBeyond »

seneca wrote: post #304
meheleventyone wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My job isn’t the totality of my life and you have very strange ideas about how quickly disruptive people actually get fired. You get plenty of unfiltered interaction in life. If anything I’d say the sort of thing you describe sounds more like an insular cult. Although even there you get misanthropic people, abuse and so on.

> My job isn’t the totality of my life and you have very strange ideas about how quickly disruptive people actually get fired. You get plenty of unfiltered interaction in life. In what environment are you, as an adult, forced to interact with everyone who happens to show up? The only instances I can think of are other government-run institutions like the military or prison, and I don't think anyone would argue those…

> In what environment are you, as an adult, forced to interact with everyone who happens to show up?

I was a paramedic. Every single day.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#335

Post by BrenBarn »

sevensor wrote: post #259
nlavezzo wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What leads you to believe the reason parents are willing to dedicate huge amounts of their time and money to homeschool their children is racism? Maybe it's: - the terrible educational state of the school system? - the fact that device and social media addiction is a prevalent and growing problem that they don't want their kids brains rotted by? - they want to provide their kids an education based on experiential and…

I’m sure these motivations do play out in some circles. However, every single homeschooler I know personally, and I know quite a few, does so because they want their children to have a very specific kind of religious education. Often the way this plays out is that they homeschool for a while, transition to a denominational school, and then depending on the family they may stay there or make a second transition to pub…

Religion is definitely a big motivator. My perception though is other motivations have been on the increase, especially since the pandemic. One other group attracted to homeschooling is the hippie-type who thinks school is some kind of diabolical machine designed to crush kids' souls. Since the pandemic there's also been a big surge in the "I don't trust vaccines" group (which already had a good deal of overlap with the hippie group).

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#336

Post by noboostforyou »

mtrovo wrote: post #253
noboostforyou wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the parent of a small child, there is a very noticeable difference in social skills that develop immediately as a result of my child being in a daycare interacting with other children of a similar age. Compared to my friends' same age children who are mostly staying at home and babysat by a grandparent. (as a disclaimer, the daycare has very good teachers/caregivers from what I can tell so I'm sure that's part of…

Daycare quality is a spectrum, the same way as babysitting at home. My smaller one just started daycare, and we settled for one that actually does stuff with the kids (forest school style). But I can tell you, we've visited lots of places that are basically just making sure the kids are not dead by the time you pick them up. Same for babysitting with grandparents; there's the hyper-social grandpa style that's always…

Yes, I'll admit that my sample size for comparison is relatively small so I'm mostly offering anecdotal evidence. And I totally agree on the quality of daycares being a spectrum. Just like how one single, good teacher who actually cares can really change a student's school experience (even if the school itself is not that great).

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#337

Post by righthand »

jimmar wrote: post #207
righthand wrote: post #180

NY state just signed a bill to include ChatGPT in their learning and planning. Previously there were deals to bring in Google hardware for students. Of course people are fleeing public schooling when we’re selling the kids to big tech for laptops and services that require network connection to write a word document, enable cheating, and their data sold for profit without consent.

People might be fleeing public schooling because lawmakers are dictating what happens in the classroom. There are lots of good teachers who struggle with the resources given to them and the constraints imposed on them. At home, parents can be flexible. They can let their kids use AI when appropriate or discourage its use. They don't have to wait for legislators to get involved. If there is a great math book, parents…

> If there is a great math book, parents can just buy it

How do you know if the math book is great if there hasn’t been consensus about it. The problem isn’t the committee that will always be there in some form. The problem is the politics the committee is used for. If the committee were to prioritize and offload their specific requirements for review instead of requiring substantial analysis twice then the school system would be just as quick.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#338

Post by beeflet »

zdragnar wrote: post #246
gred wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I learned that the BS American value of "popularity" doesn't translate into successful futures. Popularity is not an exclusively American concept. Just as public school broadened your horizons, so will traveling (or living) abroad.

Too many CO2 emissions for that to be practical for the billions of people who don't have public transit access to another nation.

not if you send em by boat

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#339

Post by joshstrange »

rich_sasha wrote: post #52
jmathai wrote: post #3

I do think Covid forced people to ask questions they hadn’t before. We have sent our kids to private, poor quality and top rated schools. We saw a stark difference between the poor quality and higher cost options. No surprise. But the reason we are considering home schooling our younger kids was surprising. It says something about a system dedicated to teaching children when parents think they can do as well or bette…

I suppose there are few talented, hard working people who want to teach, and they command a premium. Education is expensive and underfunded. As a parent/carer you probably are much more motivated than an underpaid teacher who wanted to do something else anyway, and you don't have to motivate yourself with money. By extension, IME, motivated and talented teachers in any school (good or bad) can do wonders. There just…

> Education is expensive and underfunded.

Always makes me think of The West Wing scene:

> Education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes, we need gigantic, monumental changes. Schools should be palaces. The competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be making six-figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge to its citizens, just like national defense. That's my position. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet.

Video (sorry for the burned in subs, should be queued up): https://youtu.be/IzV09gESyh0?t=39

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#340

Post by mordnis »

noboostforyou wrote: post #198
kylehotchkiss wrote: post #147

I can't say my public school experience was great, I was bullied and didn't really click with the popular kids, but being around a cross section of actual American kids in my age group (my school district mixed middle class with lower class neighborhoods) helped me shape my worldview and learn to deal with people who didn't look or talk like me. I frequently saw fights, so I learned that you just stay away and watch…

As the parent of a small child, there is a very noticeable difference in social skills that develop immediately as a result of my child being in a daycare interacting with other children of a similar age. Compared to my friends' same age children who are mostly staying at home and babysat by a grandparent. (as a disclaimer, the daycare has very good teachers/caregivers from what I can tell so I'm sure that's part of…

In my opinion, grandparents are the worst. They completely spoil them.
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