IF you tolerate this, then YOUR children WILL be next.

I had a taste of private and comprehensive schooling, and found both to be a huge waste of time and in many ways an impediment to an inquisitive instinct and appetite for learning and knowledge.

I spent my formative years at a private boarding school for boys which did nothing for my social skills or self-esteem. Religion, pugilism, cold outdoor swims, bad food and petty rules enforced by a hierarchy of resentful pupils and corporal punishment were the orders of the day. As the only vegetarian in the school, my lunch consisted of one apple and a slice of white bread with margarine.

I avoided many of the unappealing "character building" activities by hiding for several hours each day, apparently without ever arousing the concern or interest of any teacher.

Only looking back after several years "in the real world" did I realize what an oddball selection of institutionalized social misfits and repressed homosexuals most of the teachers were.

When I left, I was physically, socially and academically malnourished and my parents paid handsomely for it.

Generally parents opt for home schooling to provide a nurturing, personally tailored education that even the best schools struggle to provide.

I know a city and a country dwelling home schooled family. In both cases, it involved a major parental commitment but produced highly accomplished, socially competent children with a unique perspective on life. I believe society as a whole benefits from individuals who have not been through the homogenising process of state funded education.

Certainly it's true that children must understand and adapt to the social world around them, but equally there's an argument for protecting them from being consumed by it.

State schools shunned for home education Guardian, Friday 8 February 2008

reply to post by quackers

I understand why you might feel that 'he who protesteth must be guilty' but if you read my first post on page one on the reason we rescued our daughter from school you will see that some parents have to rescue their children FROM abuse at school.
What if the law was changed and you could not rescue your child from abuse? Would that not be abusive on its own?

I have five older children who have all been through the school system successfully. But school has never been as dangerous as it is now, physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually, children are abused at school. Is that all right simply because it happens at schools and is perpetrated by their peers?

I cannot agree with you and I must and will continue to protect my daughter. Please read my first post to help you understand that there are many parents like us. It was Kidscape anti bullying service that advised us to immeadiately withdraw our daughter from school to stop the abuse against her.

I always thought home schools were weird but then I discovered otherwise. When push comes to shove you gotta do what you gotta do!!

No one should be able to stop you protecting your child!

Originally posted by Elliot
'One of the best kept secrets in the country is that home schooled children are way ahead academically to children who go to school!'!

Absolutely. We homeschooled until 5th grade. When our daughter started attending 'regular' school she ended up skipping a grade AND still getting straight A's. She's now entering high school and she's not only a year ahead, but she tested into every one of the honors classes.

MILES AHEAD!

Years ago, a small farmer had no way to win against the large businesses...then someone thought up the bright idea of starting a cooperative, making a great deal of difference in lifestyle and financial success. Think of schooling in the same light. You might not want to deal with public schools (realize that there are very good public schools and very poor ones), but are you really capable of teaching calculus and physics to your 15-year-old? Can you teach that same 15-year-old when you have several younger children also needing your attention? I think not. Many home schoolers of today are realizing these facts and have started various educational co-ops. One parent may teach a group of math students on MWF, another science, etc. This way, they have only one subject to really study up on. Other parents have their older kids attending a school one or two days a week where they take tests and get assignments and then work independently the rest of the week. These schools often offer extra-curricular activities. Even many public schools offer aid to the home-school parents in the form of video and on-line classes. My point is that home-schooling can be wildly successful. Withdrawing your child from school so that he can help baby sit (yes, I have seen this), throwing a twenty-year-old text at him (which you bought at a garage sale), and telling him to work through the book is a sure fire way to fail. Unfortunately, it is often the most clueless parents who decide they want to home school their children.

neforemore, thanks for bringing this to light.

I don't have children, likely never will. BUT I used to be one of those ignorant types, who painted all parents who choose to home-school with the same broad brush.

Recently, in the news here in the States (sorry, can't find the source) I caught a brief mention of the increasing numbers of well-to-do families choosing home schooling, and the numbers keep increasing.

It changed my mind, after I took off the blinders.

But, it certainly does say a lot about some people's opinions of the traditional Public School system, at least here.

Adding a thought: For Military families, because they are subjected to many frequent moves....is home-schooling a better option?? Because, it has been shown to be traumatic to children, having to continually integrate into new schools every few years. (Sorry if this was mentioned already, I may have missed it).

reply to post by mjfromga
What statistical evidence do you have that it is the most clueless parents who choose to homeschool their children?

I find it is the 'clueless parents' who want the free baby sitting service that school provide and then leave their children on the streets till all hours simply because they do not want to be bothered with them.

Parents who home school have to take care of their child, feed, teach, look after 24 / 7 and do not have the 'luxury' of free state baby sitting which is what too many schools are to too many parents.

Remember, that in the UK for some years there has been a Home Education Inspector checking that a child is receiving a proper education at home. This means that we home school parents are actually teaching our children otherwise they would have been back in the 'free baby sitting service' post haste!
Please provide your statistical evidence or withdraw your slander!



[edit on 14-6-2009 by Elliot]

reply to post by Elliot


In the U.S many parents remove their children due to the corporate influence on their kids and the peer pressures of unhealthy thinking and fads.

The drugs on school campuses are available to any student with lunch money.

I felt the programming inside and outside of the classroom was more dangerous than the actual piss poor curriculum.

There are vending machines in many American schools, colas, candy and at inflated prices at that.

Given the number of home schooled children in America any attempts to snoop would be costly and not worth the trip to the courts.

reply to post by mjfromga


What might you have to back your assumptions?

Witness2008 - I had heard about this 'corporate problem' in the US.

The UK schooling system is becoming very strange in its attempt to sexualise children at an early age. My older son, just finishing his A levels was astonished at being accosted by nurses dishing out free condoms and offering Chlamydia testing to all and sundry in a school of 14 - 18 year olds.
Remember, in the UK it is still illegal to have sex under the age of 16 and yet sex is pushed even in the corridors!

They cannot understand that not all children are having sex, only the ones who don't know better what the consequences of such behaviour for people with no life experience, no qualifications, no home, no money can be and restraint is NOT something that schools are teaching!

British schools are becoming a total let down in that they neither teach or protect our young people!


I remember going to see the sex education being given to our 11 year olds a few years ago and nearly fell of my chair in shock. When I expressed my opinion, all of the parents agreed and yet the teachers insisted that this is what all children are doing. The opinion of all the parents there was 'over my dead body' and some asked the teachers why they didn't supervise, look after or protect their own children.

The teachers had no answer and seemed surprised that parents might have a 'different' moral standing to their own 'let it all hang out' attitude that the government had enforced on them.

In britain there has been a lack of morality taught in schools and I do not mean this in the religious sense but simply in the 'best out come sense'. The understanding that you do not do something because it is not the best thing to do and has a bad outcome has been thrown out of the curriculum along with common sense, decency, good behaviour and respect for other people.

Britian is now a morally defunct country!

[edit on 14-6-2009 by Elliot]

Originally posted by Elliot
reply to post by mjfromga

 

What statistical evidence do you have that it is the most clueless parents who choose to homeschool their children?

I find it is the 'clueless parents' who want the free baby sitting service that school provide and then leave their children on the streets till all hours simply because they do not want to be bothered with them.

Parents who home school have to take care of their child, feed, teach, look after 24 / 7 and do not have the 'luxury' of free state baby sitting which is what too many schools are to too many parents.

Remember, that in the UK for some years there has been a Home Education Inspector checking that a child is receiving a proper education at home. This means that we home school parents are actually teaching our children otherwise they would have been back in the 'free baby sitting service' post haste!
Please provide your statistical evidence or withdraw your slander!

[edit on 14-6-2009 by Elliot]

Read my post again -- I did not say it is always the most clueless which home school. I said it is often the most clueless. I work in education and have known many families who home school. About half are great -- the other half have no business home schooling. One family shared a trailer with another family (those kids went to school). The one in the trailer didn't even bother to try to home school -- they just said they were because they didn't want to send them to school (third and fourth grade children who couldn't read). I finally had to sick the state on them for child neglect. Then there is the mother of eight, ages 1-18 who is trying to home school her children. She works with two at a time and sends the rest outside to play (including the baby), and they are unsupervised, playing in the street. The two older ones could not pass the state graduation tests. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. As I said in my post (if you bothered to read that far)...home schooling can be wildly successful if done correctly. Heaven only knows, there is more wasted time in our schools today than any parent would feel comfortable with if they knew the truth. In a proper home school environment, a child could learn at least twice as much over the course of the year as in a regular school environment. But, there needs to be checks and balances in order to ensure it is a proper educational environment. Arguing with me is preaching to the chior...I am not against home schooling.



[edit on 14-6-2009 by mjfromga]

[edit on 14-6-2009 by mjfromga]

reply to post by neformore
Our children, flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood - no longer belong to us. They all of them are citizens of "the state" and slaves of the major Corporations and Banks.

There is I believe an Alien Presence, an alien rule over all of our planet.

I know the above statement sounds absolutely crazy insane.

If I had read this statement of belief just a few short years ago, I would have dismissed the person as a lunatic and moved on.

However, after careful consideration I really believe what we preceive as "reality" has been carefully orchestrated and manipulated to control us.

We are all marked and tagged like cattle.

Food source, labor source, a galatic commodity to be traded like beans and pork bellies.

The NWO is just the proclamation of the end phase of the "Alien Agenda".

It is here and it is now.

We do not own the houses we live in, the land that we pay for nor the children that we reproduce - we simply think we do.

Like a bird kept in a beautiful gold cage, it's not aware it is being kept.



[edit on 14-6-2009 by ofhumandescent]

reply to post by Elliot


When we lived in the State of Texas there was an attempted crack down on home schooling. The State eventually backed off due the fact that Parents were publicizing their public school experiences of having their children drilled and prepared for the federal testing that would allocate the funds.

Teacher text books were instruction manuals on the test itself....children were being taught methods of cheating. The test became the most important thing...leaving children with few skills and a lot of programming.

We moved from place to place throughout the country when my kids were very young and what I found was that all schools teach the same redundant messages only varying in the overall atmosphere of authority and the availability of drugs.

Take half my paycheck, take my internet, take my car and take my home.

But touch my child, or take me away from them, because of how I choose to educate them, and I swear on my Mother's soul, I will put a bullet in your head and bury you in the yard.

It doesn't matter what any of you people think.

What a Parent decides to do with their children's education,is none of your g0d da$%ed business.

Frankly, we don't care what your views are on Home schooling whatsoever.


Try me and see how that works out for ya'


I home school my kids, public schools are utter and complete garbage, the low paying teachers are completely useless and uneducated themselves.

The Government's funding of the school system, (which is currently being cut by half) is pathetic. And the curriculum and teaching methods are 20 years out dated.

Or.......

Maybe perhaps this country isn't worth living in anymore....

Originally posted by mjfromga


Is that supposed to be an argument? Religion is not taught in schools...math, history, science, reading and language arts are. If your home-schooled kids can pass these relatively easy tests, then you are doing your job.

my 4 yr old knows all of her letters, and can already read some small 3-4 letter words

she can write her full name

she knows how to count to 100

she can do simple + and -

she knows some history, but i admit we have a long way to go there

she can not only pass your tests, but she can pass a test 3years ahead of her so called "age group"

my problem is this, why do YOU get to "test" my kids? why cant I issue an intelligence test to everyone and then start throwing the people who fail into lock up? WHY cant i do it back to you?

and science is a religion btw , the Big Bang is a perfect example of their religious incredulity

my kid will learn about the big bang and other religious creationism beliefs, but i will make it CLEAR to her that these beliefs are just mumbo jumbo and based purely on faith

reply to post by Witness2008

That is a very interesting thought, Witness2008!
It may be that the best way to handle this problem is that homeschoolers in the UK REVEAL what abuses drove them to home school their children and shame the government into retreat!

My understanding is however, that ED BALLS, the government education minister is infact a frequent visitor of the Bilderberger meetings and may be part of their big brother mind control agenda as he has voiced his anti home schooling opinion.....even though he has no children and hence no life experience in this particular issue.


[edit on 14-6-2009 by Elliot]

Originally posted by mjfromga
Remember, this might be your child, but the child doesn't belong to you -- you are his guardian.

WRONG.

The Child BELONGS to me and if you wanna dare test that out, you will regret your mistake dearly.

You must be one of those people who thinks the government owns my kids. HAH. Mr M1 Garand says that is a lie.

Why do you people have nothing better to do than terrorize innocent people? I was minding my own business but no...you gotta go out of your way to tell me my kids do not belong to me.

This is terrorizing me and my family. Back off. Im tired of being terrorized.

The line has been drawn.

ithy to post by mjfromga
Thank you for your explanation but I still can't agree with the half of home schoolers being incapable. Perhaps a small number but some of the 'incapable' are also lazy and so would happily push their children off to free state care.

Originally posted by Elliot
reply to post by neformore

 

How would I feel?
How do I / We Feel?

We feel helpless! We feel terrified! We feel threatened! We feel we cannot protect our children from harm and that harm will be forced on them....by the government!

Should a government make good law abiding people feel this way?

Only if they have an agenda up their sleeves!

Do not feel this way my friend.

DRAW THE LINE. Lock n Load.

We MUST stand our ground. Give me Liberty or give me Death!

reply to post by muzzleflash


muzzle, I was in your corner, until:

...and science is a religion btw...

PLEASE tell me you don't really think that way!!! Because if so, then you'll have to have 'religion' that the computer you are using right now to communicate with isn't based on "science"!!!

Well....**shrug**....What I was going to relate was a personal experience. Although I am a product of the Public schools, there was an important factor in my early childhood that I consider crucial. My Mother would read to me, as often as she had time. AND, encourage MY attempts at reading....well before the age of five, when we enter "Kindergarten".

I now attribute that early nurturing to my ability to read, today. AND to spell!!!!

So...was my Mother, unintentionally, exercising a bit of 'home schooling'???



Oh dear, oh dear!!! Just saw THIS:

The Child BELONGS to me and if you wanna dare test that out, you will regret your mistake dearly.

NO HUMAN BELONGS TO ANOTHER HUMAN!!!!!!!!!

YOU can be the custodian, the loving responsible caregiver, anything you wish to describe. BUT you cross the line, dear Sir, or Madam, when you start down the slippery slope of 'ownership'!!!!


You also, perhaps in jest, said "Give me Liberty, or Give me Death". Does that include the 'Death' of your children, as well????


[edit on 6/14/0909 by weedwhacker]

Originally posted by muzzleflash

Originally posted by mjfromga
Remember, this might be your child, but the child doesn't belong to you -- you are his guardian.

WRONG.

The Child BELONGS to me and if you wanna dare test that out, you will regret your mistake dearly.

You must be one of those people who thinks the government owns my kids. HAH. Mr M1 Garand says that is a lie.

Why do you people have nothing better to do than terrorize innocent people? I was minding my own business but no...you gotta go out of your way to tell me my kids do not belong to me.

This is terrorizing me and my family. Back off. Im tired of being terrorized.

The line has been drawn.

Does schizophrenia run in your family? You might try therapy...