Manditory school cost effectiveness

[mjrube94]

Re: Manditory school cost effectiveness

Wow...this is certainly one of the more passionate posts I've seen on this site!

[skipper]

Re: Manditory school cost effectiveness

Iam a homeschool mom we do have to keep records and report to the board of ed. But my dd is getting a better education at home. She had to attend ps before her adoption became final (first grade) she was testing in the bottom ten percent of her grade level and they wanted her medicated and in special education classes they gave her an IEP because they knew that I was considering homeschool and thought it would deter me. It just made me madder so I withdrew her from ps and decided to homeschool upon her adoption. I have had many arguements with the board of ed. so this year I decided to let them test her. PS we had to pay $300 for the testing because she is not enrolled in a puplic school. She placed in the top 5% of the third grade in our county. Which made my decision all the more sweet. And proved to them that she was not developemental delayed as they put it. Public Schools have become a dumbing ground for children they stuff them into classrooms with 30 other children and expect one teacher to teach them enough to pass a test. My daughter gets one on one and is excelling. No matter where you live or what you believe it is your job as a parent to watch over your childs education because no one can advacate for your child more than you.
We spend about 800 a year on her education but I would pay almost that much a year in school lunch, supplies, fees and all the other things that the school does not pay for. If people thought about all the extras they pay for they would be astonished.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Manditory school cost effectiveness

I am so sorry you had so much trouble, my mother is about to adopt, she is getting a almost 2 year old, I know she will want to homeschool (she did me and DB) but I am hoping the adoption is final so she doesn't have to ever put her kid in a age based mass school.

I recently read a quote, that all children regardless of prep, suplimentation or whatever, lose knowledge when they enter formal schooling! I really want to find more proof on that one, I myself am not and never was a brainiac, so while I barely learned when I started I didn't lose much, so I have no personal experience with the idea. But it certainly does strike fear in my about my DS, (and DD) he knows so much and loves learning more and showing off, I would hate to ruin it .

[amomof4]

Re: Manditory school cost effectiveness

Yesterday, Dr. Laura gave a book recommendation that seems like it might fit here. It's called "Public Schools Public Menance". I thought some of you might be interested. I hope I can get it at the library.

[CRFSaver]

Re: Manditory school cost effectiveness

I only went to public school for kindergarten and then private schools after that. My parents would spend money on education and food (looks at my belly Ha!). I am very up in the air about home schooling, public schooling and private schooling. Here is my take on it.

You choose the schooling that is appropriate for the child. My sister and I went to very different schools. My sister went to a very large catholic school and thrived. I went to a very small intimate Country Day school and I thrived. I do better in a more intimate environment. My sister does better in large environment.

It seems the key to success in any type of learning environment is parent/guardian envolvement. The more you are involved as a parent the better off your children are. One of the concerns I do have with home schooling is missed opportunities to expand social skills. In particular team work, interaction and communication.

I know some areas of the country allow home schol students to be involved in sports and other extra-caricular (SP?) activities. A lot of it depends on the competative nature of the child. I also think they need to remove computers from the lower level classrooms. To many children rely on calculators and computers to do their job for them. None know how to research, and very few have social skills.

That is the thing that scares me the most. Children today don't seem to communicate well. It is like they have never learned. And even situations where they are given an opportunity the parents miss it. For example, every single girl scout/cub scout/sports team etc that sits outside a borders or a grocery store waiting for people to buy thier cookies or popcorn.

While it is a good fund raiser for the organization, the main purpose is to get those kids out and about. Make them interact with their community. When I was a cubscout, I used to seel wreaths. It is amazing how often I look back at that experience and see how I can communicate with a diverse group of people. And yes I also outsold everyone else in the troop (including those that sat outside a grocery store). To the point when i stopped doing cupscouts almost half the people who bought wreaths from me called my parents wondering when I was coming by so they could order their wreaths.

I dont buy fromt hose just sitting in front of the grocery store waiting for people to come to them. ( OK I will admit sometimes when the child is just to adorable to resist I will). The child that comes to my door with a clear concise reason of what he is selling and why he is there, I will buy from them. I can't stand those damn chocolate bars but I have, if only to encourage that behavior. Sorry a rant off the topic.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: Manditory school cost effectiveness

"....... One of the concerns I do have with home schooling is missed opportunities to expand social skills. In particular team work, interaction and communication.

.... To many children rely on calculators and computers to do their job for them. None know how to research, and very few have social skills.

That is the thing that scares me the most. Children today don't seem to communicate well. It is like they have never learned. And even situations where they are given an opportunity the parents miss it. For example, every single girl scout/cub scout/sports team etc that sits outside a borders or a grocery store waiting for people to buy thier cookies or popcorn."

I agree, and I think public school is part of the problem, not a solution. In a school you have a forced setting of interaction, not to much like the real world, The people are all within a year of your age, so it is likly they are all interested in the same things, if your the oddball out and not exactly interested on age level, you get left out. While being in a public school holds the assumption of interaction and social skills, I was just talking to DH tonight about how hard it was when I was in school to get much talking done in the two minutes between class, or much eating done at lunch when trying not to be a walflower (sorry teenage girls are not supposed to eat like I do!)

Ever notice when walking into a school how alike everyone looks? How all the girls have similar hair and clothes, and all the guys have their pants at the same level? It is the forced enclosure that leaves parents out of the picture, sure Teens will rebel and must hunt around to find their nitch, but by removing parents and all people other than teens from the picture (sorry generally teachers don't count, to busy trying to keep the attempts at socialization IE notes down .), anyway removing the majority of the world we leave teens with little choice but to emulate other teens!

I am not saying all the teen strife will go if we dump schools, I am just saying some of the more annoying parts of it will be lessened when parents take an active role in education, both book and social. And many of the troubles come to light better when you are around people of all ages. Preferably some toddlers so teens can see how silly they look when they throw their tempertantrums .

On the specifics of selling, I bought three things from polite kids at my door, I only recived one back, sorry I'll stick with the girl at the store, and if they pester me, yeah I would be annoyed. I grew up here in america where sellers wait patiently for me to come to them. But there are other ways to teach social skills. I was selling DT toys with my mother, I loved the toys and the only way for a teen to play is by selling or getting some kids . I also helped with mom and dads toastmasters and occasionally with some mensa thing. All of it left me very well addapted to get along with adults, and some children. But none of it prepared me for schoolage kids, they are hard to find, locked in school all day . I did fine in school, but I thought the obsession with style, and popular stars, and who likes who to be rather odd. And the poor dears didn't know what a pun was! they thought depantsing, or that chest tweaking was a joke! I honestly had lord of the flys theorys! (course I never read the book or saw the movie, not my thing)

But that is a bit off topic, Socialization and learning to live in the real world are very important, schools are not giving those skills, and cannot by there very AGE based, MASS setting nature!

[CRFSaver]

Re: Manditory school cost effectiveness

All very good points. I guess I was lucky when it came to highschool for me. I managed to get a scholarship at a Country Day school where individuality and communication were prized. Figures Public School doesnt reinforce it. LOL