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COMMENTS
Re: Homeschool Horror
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RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Leesa on 08.28.09 @ 04:14 PM
LOL. Come on, guys. This article is a fun farce on homeschooling! Enjoy the humor and relish that in 99.9 % of the time this is totally inaccurate. Have fun with it.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by ohlawdy on 08.28.09 @ 02:50 PM
I believe we're missing the point of this article. First, let me explain where I'm coming from. I was homeschooled K-8 and I hated it. I received a spectacular education; I confess that I was well-prepared for success at my challenging private, Catholic high school. However--the social acclimation was so intense that professional psychological treatment was necessary. By the end of my ordeal I was normal, but my family relationships were strained past the breaking point--and I consider myself lucky. The kids I grew up seeing at homeschool get-togethers once every two weeks have grown up; and with the exception of a few notable anomalies, most either loathe their parents or deal with their lack of exposure by exploring any and every stimulating experience that time or their physical strength will allow (strip clubs, binge drinking, narcotics, etc.). Typically, if not exposed to an expansive amount of interaction with peers on a daily basis, most deal with their loneliness/insecurities through pronounced introversion or an addiction. My last statement is rather bold, so let me clarify: My friend (We'll call him Mike) is addicted to pornography; his brother Greg (real name again withheld) is addicted to liquor he buys from one of his co-workers at the supermarket; a girl I'll call Vanessa is addicted to sex which she receives from the boys at the high school down the road from her house; and Harry (no relation to any of the above) has been hospitalized upwards of 5 times on suicide watch. Their ages are 18, 16, 17, and 15, respectively. Now bear in mind that I only speak from my community, which I will decline to name in case my family stumbles on this page. However, I think that before we bash the author about we ought to think long and hard about what goes on in our own communities and whether the isolation inherent in homeschooling produces individuals who, to the observant, seem downright weird.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by courtney on 08.19.09 @ 07:01 PM
I'm a homeschooling mom. I don't wear braids in my hair. My children are not locked up. Matter of factly, they are on their way out to a swim party with some neighborhood kids that attend one of the local churches. And guess what? I'm not a Christian! lol. I'M A JEW! I don't control my children's socialization SO much so that they aren't allowed to socialize within other groups of other well behaved children, even if those kids are not of our faith. To my knowledge, I don't appear scary to my neighbors. Our children function well within our neighborhood and society in general. I go shopping, I go to the library, I eat dinner with my kids and find out what their day has been like, because yes "Virginia, there is time apart from dear ole mom and dad." My children function well amidst the ederly, within their peer groups, within our home. People who know or don't know us say it's a great thing that we choose to homeschool and often wish they could do it themselves, but can't due to their situations and circumstances. Also, for two months while awaiting our home to be made ready after a move from Oregon to Arkansas, my oldest attended public school. She began first grade, but tested in most subjects within the third grade range. She'd been doing so since kindergarten and SHE is the one who can't wait to pack her head with even more information. She desires it, craves it. I have to be the one to slow her down a little to make sure she can handle all the material she's taking in and isn't just memorizing or skipping around. As far as your neighbor whose kids dropped out and got pregnant.. what kind of parent was she? Not one like you I'd hope. There are good groups of parents out there who teach their kids. Then there are parents out there who stumble around too bumfuzzled to know their heads from a hole in the ground and should NOT be teaching their kids and their kids probably SHOULD be in public school. I know parents who only took their kids out of school because they didn't like getting up early in the morning and weren't teaching their kids too much of anything. HOWEVER, just like with anything.. you can't heap good honest homeschooling parents in with those bad unfortunate few. It's almost like you can't confuse good loving noncustodial deadbroke fathers in with those no good noncustodial deadbeat fathers. The difference between you and me, simple education on the matter. Perhaps you might like to go and get some. Blessings to you and yours from a "crazy homeschooler" in Arkansas.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by dave-scottsman on 08.05.09 @ 09:44 AM
Your views are extremely narrow minded and prove just how uneducated you are. If you looked into home schooling you would see that if you spent 1 hour a week teaching your child, you have given them more education than an average child will ever recieve in a week at public school. Family's belong together, it is the natural order of things, sending them off to strangers to teach them is what is unnatural. An in the school system, for every good or even excellent teacher in the public schools, there are dozens of awful teachers who should not even be teaching dogs let alone our children. Just becasue you get a teaching certificate, does not mean you can teach. And with the large class sizes, and few teachers - even the great teachers can only do so much. And by the way, children are not animals, children left to socialize by themselves in schools and other enviroments tend to act like animals. Socialization in public schools is a joke. You either become a horrible bully, one who follows a bully and is no better than them, or you become victimized. If parents were teaching them, they would learn to be better people because as well as school work, you can teach socializing. Lots of homeschoolers have functions where their kids can socialize with others, in a better enviroment than a barely supervised school ground where teachers do nothing to stop bullys or even worse, are bullys themselves.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Fruity tuity on 12.31.08 @ 10:10 PM
"freedom" Look it up.
Then maybe you will understand how closely your words resemble Hitler's psychobabbling words to the German's. His twisted mind also hated freedom. Maybe one day you'll be as admired as he is today, ( that's sarcasm) Maybe you, too, can get mass numbers of weak fearful people to hate people like- homeschoolers, stay at home moms, and oh no,,,those peaceful people who believe they should raise their children to respect things like faith, family, community, country, the sick, the poor, the needy, and their own children. Maybe you can get the general population to all be afraid of families who work and play together so much so that they are as paranoid as you,, so paraniod we would just have to humiliate and create fear in innocent hardworking homeschooling children. Heck you'd probably have your own crusades led by your own faithful kingdom of dumbed down public school follow anything zealots who drink your kool aid on command. You are the total fullfillment of all that is hindering America from thriving.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by DameYankee on 11.03.08 @ 08:07 PM
Best argument I've seen in favor of home education. It's this kind of stunning ignorance that characterizes institutionalized schooling and that home educators strive to avoid.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by scpalmettomom on 11.03.08 @ 03:10 PM
I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry that you will never feel the blessing of homeschooling your children. Teaching them to read, their multiplication tables, etc. It is so rewarding. But, I feel most saddened that you harbor such judgemental views.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by kasi on 08.12.08 @ 11:37 AM
How disgustingly inaccurate. While I think you spout nothing but hate and ignorance, I will do as you do not. I will respect your rights and not think twice about it.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Wen on 12.03.07 @ 11:13 AM
Obviously, you should have been homeschooled.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Theresa on 10.18.07 @ 12:26 PM
you sound like you are carrying some guilt of your own. You sound like you are trying to justify putting your kids in daycare, preschool and every school program from the time they are 6 weeks old until they graduate. Some of us actually enjoy raising our kids - sorry you obviously cannot relate to that. You are missing SO MUCH that you can never get back.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Candy on 10.16.07 @ 03:03 PM
I can not believe that you have the nerve to write something like this. My child approached me about homeschooling! It was his choice. I love my children, I love to spend time with my children. Why would my child want to be homeschooled? Because he knows that his teacher does not love him the same as I do and that I really do care what he learns and not if he passed the lastest test so the school can receive their funding for the year! Let's face it, you know nothing about homeschooling or why parents do it... all you care about is booting your child out the door at age five so you do not have to be a mother for the rest of the day! You are proof that the we are in the last days, it says that in latter days people will be lovers of themselves! You are that! You are so selfish that you hate mothers and fathers that care for their children. In your hate you feel justified for being a no good for nothing waste of space! P.s. I don't have long hair and I love my jeans and rock t's!
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Cyn on 08.18.07 @ 10:13 PM
What an idiot. Yes, that's a harsh label, but your article was pure hate speech. What a prime example of ignorance merged with intolerance. Disgusting.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Unschooler on 06.25.07 @ 02:28 PM
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/newtopstories/a/hshorror.htm Quinn Cotton, your piece is prejudice trash. Who else do you slander in such a way?
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Lynn on 05.12.07 @ 12:24 AM
I am amazed at the prejudicial slant of this purportedly humorous rant about homeschooling. While I am an admirer of mordant humor, this article falls short of that appellation, and comes across merely as ignorant and mean-spirited. Homeschoolers, like any other subculture, are diverse and complex. To reduce homeschoolers to skirt wearing fundamentalists is decidedly unfunny as well as stereotypical. To compare that same stereotyped group to terrorists is ludicrous. I homeschooled my children until they entered college. The last time I wore a skirt was a school dance in 8th grade, and as far as being manufactured in a fundamentalist church basement, I am a member of one of the most liberal denominations in the U.S.: the Episcopal Church. In the years that I was involved in the homeschooling movement, I encountered as much variety in the methodology, motivation, and, yes, wardrobe choices of those involved as one would expect of any heterogeneous group. How did my children fare within this “terrorist training ground?” They are honors-earning college graduates who are happily married, productive members of society. Have I survived my supposed “martyrdom?” Without a doubt. My husband and I still have a great relationship with our children. I am still capable of reading literature, writing a coherent sentence, and interacting with my peers. Homeschooling remains a great alternative to public and private education.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Glen on 05.01.07 @ 04:36 PM
While this article may be a bit harsh and opinionated I agree with most of what has been said. I live in a suburban MO neighborhood that has an outstanding public school system. I know this because before relocating from NY I did extensive research to make sure I found a neighborhood with one of the top rated school districts in the nation. That being said just on my street alone we have 4 families that home school. This has nothing to do with the quality of education or the values being taught in school. Everyone of these families are obsessed Born Again Christians who want to keep their kids at home so they wont be exposed to "bad elements" These bad elements they refer to seem to be anyone who is a "Non-believer" or who is of a faith or race that differ from their own. How are children suppose to learn respect and tolerance if they're never allowed to interact with anyone who thinks differently from themselves. The only reason children should be home schooled is if they have special needs that can not be addressed by the schools or they live in a sub-standard school district. Unfortunately most of the homeschooling parents I’ve run across seem to have another agenda.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Melissa on 04.16.07 @ 07:08 AM
I gather, from your comparison of home educators to terrorists, that you are actually afraid of those who dare to go against their culture! Perhaps you should try it out before you start saying that homeschooled kids are part of terrorist families. I am 22 years old, and was homeschooled from the start. That's right-- I started homeschooling in PRESCHOOL! I was three when my parents got all the information they could on teaching their child, because their child was already reading. By the time it was time for me to go into kindergarten, I was so far ahead, that I would have not learned a THING at public school that year. So started my education. Through the years, I was active in church, dance, music, and any number of other activities. I have since finished my homeschooling. I completed grade 12 one year 'late,' because my family chose to take time to travel to Europe, and travel across Canada and the northern states. Did I lack for it? No way! I feel that I have a much better education than the majority of my institutionalized counterparts! I am now working on a Bachelor's in Christian School Education. I chose this, because I cannot see the good in sending a child to a public school. There is much too much filth there (which I was not sheltered from in my homeschooling-- we lived seven houses from the public highschool for ten years). I am also studying for this degree because I have a niece and nephew who need a good, loving, one-on-one education, and because my fiance and I have already decided that we will be homeschooling our children. And, just to refute some of your facts. The majority of homeschoolers where I grew up were NOT part of the "middle class." Yes, some were. However, most were from the lower class, and often worked hard to stay off welfare. They believed educating their child personally, instead of letting some institution they can't control do it for them. Also, the first teachers a child will ever have are its parents! There is absolutely NOTHING that says that a child should get an academic education apart from their life-long education. Children typically learn best from their parents, because their parents KNOW them. They know their children's learning style. They can tailor an education to the specific child. Case in point, I used Saxon Mathematics for grade eight through twelve. My sister used Alpha Omega. Completely different programs, completely different learning styles. We both finished with a good, solid math education, and were both accepted to post-secondary educational facilities. So, as a number of other homeschool supporters are saying, get into the homeschool world, and truly learn what it is about, instead of making a lot of glaringly incorrect accusations against a movement that is truly doing more for the *good* education of our children than any other educational method in the world! http://www.xanga.com/Following_the_Leader
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Wen on 03.23.07 @ 05:22 PM
In response to this article I would just like to say who do you think you are? I would no more write an article slamming people who chose to send their children to public school or christian school than I would go to work wearing my pajamas. Both are ignorant and disrespectful! I myself am a HM of two girls ages 9 and 13. While I believe that home educating my children is the best option for our family, I do not believe it is for everyone. The author of this article apparently has never learned that stereotyping is wrong. I am afraid that her education did not touch on the history of civilization and the terrible events surrounding stereotyping!!! If we subscribe to her beliefs that homeschoolers are odd and should be avoided, then maybe Hitler was right? I know homeschoolers who do wear the long hair and skirts, but they aren't hurting me. I also attend girls night out with some of my "weirdo" HM buddies and we have a few drinks and enjoy ourselves! So many people CHOOSE to home educate for so many different reasons. It is unfair and ignorant to lump them all into one group. If this person would check into the matter a little more closely, I believe she would find that this particular group of HM's may attend the same church or at the very least belong to the same Christian homeschool support group. If you were to see my children and myself out in public you wouldn't notice that we were any different than anyone else. (or rather that we are but in the normal respect.) I will say however, that my children would be happy, fun loving, polite, outgoing, and respectful. This is not a product of homeschooling rather a product of good parenting. I am not a martyr. I truly enjoy being with my children and they with me. There is nothing wrong with enjoying your family. as an added bonus, I am learning things I never learned in school! Instead of memorizing dates and cramming for tests, my children are soaking up knowledge, and so am I. As for whether I am educated well enough or qualified to teach my children, I put this question to you. Who else has a larger stake in my children's education than I do? Who else cares as much as I do whether they are learning and understanding what they need to know? I may not have an education degree, but I am sure that my children will be ready mentally, emotionally, and educationally to enter the real world. Ms. Cotton, please take your blinders off and realize that differences are to be celebrated. Thank God all homeschoolers are not stepford wives. While some women have convictions that their husbands are in charge and that they must submit or whatever, they are not all HM's! My husband can attest to the fact that I am not like that at all!! I have so much more that I would like to say, but right now I need to change out of my scrubs, have the oldest make a snack to take to a teen night with her friends (not a church event!), get the youngest to figure out what she would like to do and go out for the night!! Way too busy to waste any more time on this!
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by unschooler on 03.23.07 @ 04:07 PM
I love to read opinions from people who have never homeschooled. It just proves the old adage "you have to walk a mile in someone else's shoes" to understand. Not all homeschool families are robotic Bible clutching misfits. There are others! Perhaps there's something in the water where you live.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by marbol on 03.19.07 @ 11:54 PM
What exactly makes you think homeschooling has to occur in the home? And all day? What about weekends and nights? Did you ever stop learning? From your article, apparently so. Once a homeschooled kid is a teenager ready to rebel, if they've been taught well, their ready for college. Yes, some people really can learn on their own. How do you think they did it in the early ages? Just because you don't have enough brains to be an autodact doesn't mean you have the brains to judge those that can do it.
RE: Homeschool Horror
Posted by Elizabeth Conley on 03.13.07 @ 04:33 PM
That was one sick, slick bit of bigotry. My kids go to public school, but if there's a danger they'll come out as bigoted and ignorant as you are, I'm going to have to start home schooling them!