JP> -=> Kevin Freer was yakking to James Prior about Home School
Then, James Prior retorted with this response:
JP>Well Kevin, you are really one to be calling another a liberal.  And yes,
JP>colleges in this country are actively seeking home educated students.  I
JP>never said they weren't.  What I did say was that less than 1/10 of 1%
JP>of home educated students will qualify for college.  There is a big 
differen
JP>between seeking and qualifying....least the last time I looked there was.
(This really isn't Ken Woodard, it's Rachael Woodard...let's get that
clear, first of all...I have to use his name on the address, because
they won't allow two names on our BBS.)
Excuse me...Perhaps I'm missing someone here...but what idiot would seek
out someone who couldn't qualify? Every college I know is actively
seeking students who would be an asset to their college and/or
university, not a liability!
I would like to know the exact name of that study which you say took
place (or was released) in 1991 by the Dept. of Education which declared
that 1 in 1000 home educated students would qualify for college. Please
tell me the exact name of it. I certainly would like to have a copy of
it for my own records...
I thought for sure, since you are 52, and you have your master's degree,
that surely you must have obtained it 30 years ago, when truly only
those who were homeschooling were probably 1) weird 2) retarded or
3)majorly handicapped and unable to commute to school for some reason...
Obviously, if such was the case, I wouldn't be surprised if only 1 in
1000 students could qualify for college....That would probably be a
major accomplishment for that one student who did....but nowadays???
I did notice, however, that you excepted the military...why? What makes
those parents so much more "adept" at teaching than your regular "Jill
Blow?"
JP>..homeschooling where most of the reasons for homeschooling
JP>are because the parents, either one or both are two lazy to get up and
JP>take the kid to school.
Since when and where did you establish the "fact" that homeschooling
parents are too lazy to take their kids to school? Around here, like
other places in the nation, public school transportation is available
everywhere...Why would a parent even need to take their children
anywhere? Most kids hop on the school bus outside their house and are
transported to school almost without the parent leaving the house...In
the state of PA, where I taught for several years, public transportation
was even afforded to the private school segment.
I am a college-educated mother of four, (ages 18 months to 7) who
runs her own home business who chose to homeschool my daughter for two
years...kindergarten and first grade...Over the years of teaching, (BS
in Education, science minor), I have taught many different classes and
felt fairly successful that the students have learned what they were
supposed to learn. I have chosen to put my daughter into a regular
classroom setting this year for the first time in her life and to add my
kindergarten son to her school's enrollment as well.
Why? Not because I was "too lazy" to get up..but the
opposite...homeschooling was just about the hardest thing I have ever
done in my entire life. It takes more guts, ambition, energy and
"want-to" than anything else I've ever done...and I've certainly tackled
many things so far, and am not afraid to tackle more. You might say, I
was too lazy to continue...actually, too "burned out" to continue would
perhaps be more accurate....
Homeschooling took more energy than my home business, more energy than
"keeping house" and certainly more energy than being the very involved
pastor's wife that I am....
Am I sorry that I homeschooled for two years? Absolutely not!
I have a hard time reconciling the idea that you think one
elementary teacher (who is probably nobody other than a mother with a
college degree) with 20 or 30 kids in a classroom all day long can
possibly give more time, energy and attention than one mother with one,
two or three children around the kitchen table..
The numbers don't add up. 1:20 is a far "worse" ratio than 1:3 or,
better yet, 1:1. Why would anyone ever hire a tutor if tutoring hadn't
been proven to be successful?!!! In many instances, that is
what homeschooling is...at least for me, it was...I was giving basically
undivided attention to my daughter for anywhere from 3-5 hours per
day...HOW CAN YOU CALL THAT BAD EDUCATION?
JP>attempt to attend a school meeting.
Personally, I think you're preaching to the choir, here! You will
probably find, if you'd do the investigation, that the majority of
homeschooling parents are the ones who were the busiest in their
children's schools..
JP>days is not the teachers, but rests squarely on the shoulders of the 
parents
If this is true, why do you take offense when parents try to do
something about it? Why do you lambast us who have chosen to make a
difference in our children's lives by pulling them out of "Sodom's
school system" (as my dad always called it) and put them into the
loving, nurturing atmosphere of the home?
JP>A kid goes bad not because of what he learns in school from the book, the
JP>kid goes bad because of what he didn't learn or wasn't taught in the home.
I agree. So why are you so dead set on taking them out of the home where
they can be taught morals and be put into a "system" that has no place
trying to teach them (and shouldn't be), primarily because (IMO) most of
the people running them have none themselves...
JP>And the sooner the parents of this country realize that the teachers, for
JP>the most part are doing the best they can with what little support they
JP>get.
I agree completely. Perhaps someone (like you) should look at the way
the schools are run and write a paper about bureacracy, instead of
lambasting those parents who care so much as to completely rearrange
their lives, who learn to give of themselves in a way that is
incomprehensive to the average person, and basically cares more about
his or her daughter or son more than most....why else would they
homeschool?
JP>half educated kids that cannot tie their own shoes or write their
JP>name.
This sounds like what our public school is turning out...but
certainly not our homeschools!
After reading your vitriolic messages, I think perhaps the first bit of
"research" for your "comments" about homeschooling in your
dissertation that you need to do is spend one to two days (or even
weeks) with a couple of different homeschool families..learn what it
means to homeschool....
I think part of your problem is, you don't have a clue what it's all
about!
I eagerly await your "logical" (but to me they appear very illogical)
remarks about my note to you!
Rachael Woodard
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