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For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

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Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm. But why? Why do we need to have one system for everyone to make em into one acceptable mold. Why can't people pick on their own? Why is the idea that 'system is fucked so I might as well do what is best for my family' not an acceptable one?

Because that's how we got the shit we have today. Look at our healthcare system. The wealthier you are, the more you can go "fuck it, I'll buy a wing in a hospital and never have to worry" meanwhile middle america has giant chunks of population who suffer with chronic pain for decades. Obamacare was the first time that half of america was able to even go to a doctor to figure out wtf is wrong with them. The point is…

But you are complaining about what we have today. Who wants more of that? Forcing people into worse education systems will just make people find new ways to give their kids competitive advantages.

> Obamacare was the first time that half of america was able to even go to a doctor to figure out wtf is wrong with them

This is extremely hyperbolic and makes it seem like you get the majority of your “information” by skimming headlines.

Obamacare also forced my PCP and many similar doctors to fold their decades old practices and instead go work for large chain practices. Do you prefer only a small number of corporate owned medical practices to exist with no opportunity for competition from smaller groups.

Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#333

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can’t both statements be true? If I had to guess, most of the original homeschoolers did it because they had strong, fringe religious beliefs. Then in your generations more secular parents started homeschooling but it was still a pretty highly self-selective group (a stay at home parent who didn’t mind staying at home most of the day teaching their kids, a belief they could do better at educating their kids even with…

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>trying to convince children that they’re a different gender

What a ridiculous thing to say. Nobody does that.

Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#334
post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem with the setup you outlined is that the central government has no say in what is being taught to kids. So no matter how similar homeschooling will look to government-controlled schooling, people with power will never stop attacking it because of that crucial nuisance.

Why shouldn’t the government have a say in what is taught to children? Children are not their parent’s property. These are future citizens and I would prefer that society has a say in what is taught to them. In a democratic system the government represents the will of the society.

Because children are not the government's property either, and society is not being asked for their opinion, so their will is not relevant. Society does not and will never care about any specific individual. The people who are ultimately responsible for the child (and therefore hold decision making authority) are the ones who caused it to be here. Pretending "society" holds that responsibility just means abdicating it entirely.

Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#335
post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be a lot more worried about the lack of sex education. That's often when a child first realizes they are being sexually abused.

That makes sense! Has implications for the age at which some, limited, sex ed should be introduced. Wondering why I haven't seen this consideration raised before, in mainstream press. Nor read of any specific cases of abuse being exposed that way. Would be interested in references.

Here's some references I dug up. I've also read anecdotal reports about little girls and boys as young as 5 pointing at a sex education book (one that was banned in Florida) saying "my dad does this to me", here's one I was able to find: https://bookriot.com/sex-ed-books-protect-kids/ (ctrl-f This is me)

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/apr/16/sexual-abu...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6283686/

https://info.primarycare.hms.harvard.edu/review/sexual-educa...

Even China started pushing comprehensive sex education nationwide due to high rates of rural child sex abuse: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9406756/

Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#336

The reason we moved our kids from Montessori to public school is to throw our lot in with the majority of society. It’s made me active in the PTA and school library because up close it’s hard to ignore the challenges staff deal with, and with skin in the game, I don’t have the time to wait for someone else to do it. Hopefully the work we put into the shared system raises the tide for all families, so my children grow…

> socioeconomic status is a top indicator of academic success

Usually because you go to a better school, no? Smaller class sizes, better teachers, better outcome. If you intentionally go to a worse school, some of that effect should be negated.

Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#337

Home schooling is a real burden on many parents who aren't professional teachers of course and are pulled in many directions. One of the most exciting emerging trends in home schooling is to pool the resources of multiple home schooling parents. It's simply not practical for parents to commit all the hours needed for full time home schooling 9 till 3:30PM every day. So home schooling parents can team up and share the…

So you’re saying that all the parent should each contribute a little bit of money and share responsibility for actually teaching. Heck, maybe they could even, oh, I dunno, eventually hire someone to do that teaching!

Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#338
post #337

Home schooling is a real burden on many parents who aren't professional teachers of course and are pulled in many directions. One of the most exciting emerging trends in home schooling is to pool the resources of multiple home schooling parents. It's simply not practical for parents to commit all the hours needed for full time home schooling 9 till 3:30PM every day. So home schooling parents can team up and share the…

So you’re saying that all the parent should each contribute a little bit of money and share responsibility for actually teaching. Heck, maybe they could even, oh, I dunno, eventually hire someone to do that teaching!

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Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem with the setup you outlined is that the central government has no say in what is being taught to kids. So no matter how similar homeschooling will look to government-controlled schooling, people with power will never stop attacking it because of that crucial nuisance.

The “I don’t want the government perspective imposed on my children” is so funny to me as a homeschooling argument. Go to schoolboard meetings. Talk to your kids and their teachers. Understand what your kids are learning. If you feel a perspective is missing, fill in the gaps. Your kids will be better off for seeing different perspectives, understanding basic argumentation, and coming to their own conclusions. Oh thi…

This overestimates the degree to which (1) children are rational beings; and (2) parental influence determines children’s outcomes. In fact, the biggest influence comes from a child’s peers: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/a-matter-of-person...

That’s why families who can afford it send their kids to private school, where their children’s peers are carefully curated. If you can’t afford that, homeschool is a compelling alternative.

Re: For many home-schoolers, parents are no longer doing the teaching

#340

“Eventually, something horrific is going to happen in one of these situations,” said Jen Garrison Stuber, advocacy chair the Washington Homeschool Organization. “A kid’s going to get killed, a kid’s going to get seriously injured or molested, because the safeguards that you have at a private school aren’t happening.” Uhh, not that I'm a big homeschool advocate, but kids get molested and (now) killed all the time at p…

A very good point. Public and private schools for all of recorded history have countless examples of child abuse.

Kids die with alarming frequency in public schools. In 2022 there was an average of one shooting a week in US public schools.

Even if you decide that the risks are not that high of a kid actually dying, there's a very real chilling effect. There's now paranoia, stress, and an atmosphere of fear. These are not healthy things.

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