NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 9, 2012 12:57:22 GMT -5
With the whole sex and drugs think unless the kids are being watched 24/7 they happen outside of school too. That's why it's my business as a parent to know who my kid's friends are, including online friends.
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dancinmama
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Post by dancinmama on Feb 9, 2012 12:58:32 GMT -5
I don't think all states require that you have to take exams or follow any type of state approved ciriculum in order to homeschool, but don't quote me on that. In CA any "requirements" that they had were a joke. When we made the decision, I was amazed at how little was required by the state and county to do it. DS took the SAT-9 regularly, but it was not required by the state. There were no stipulations for who could/could not teach their children.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Feb 9, 2012 12:59:08 GMT -5
True enough but it goes to waste because it isn't emphasized at home that learning is important.
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reasonfreedom
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Post by reasonfreedom on Feb 9, 2012 13:01:04 GMT -5
We have just decided to pull our remaining 3 children out of the public education system, our oldest has been attending school overseas since 3rd grade. We have a number of reasons, the to us low academic standard is only one (and we are in one of the highest rated districts in CA, the schools our children currently attend have a close to 900 API score and our kiddos are A with a couple of B's sprinkled in students testing above proficient in all categories). Compared to what our oldest is doing, the younger three are far behind but there are only so many hours in the day for us to play catch up. More important than that though is the atmosphere and the rules of the schools. Children can be searched at any time for no reason at all for "safety". Our youngest son was told by his principal that it is his responsibility to not let anybody bully him. Someone wrote a hate message to our daughter on the bathroom wall. Wasn't informed about that by the school, the school also did not inform me that our son lost consciousness during class but did remember our phone number to tell us that our daughter has not yet "donated" the required $25 for a teacher present (there are 27 children in the class) and our son's decision to not participate in a gift swap for Valentine's Day was not acceptable. He did not have to accept the present but was still required to bring in a present valued at least $10.00. Lunch prices were raised to $4.50 to make up for loss in revenue from those on free or reduced lunch. Our children have been taking lunch this past year as we refuse to subsidize those on free and reduced lunch anymore. When I approached the school about making families on reduced lunch pay their bills I was told they can't do that. On the academic side, homeschooling allows us to access college classes for our middle schooler, art and music are taught regularly by professionals (the elementary school only offers art and music as a private program for 1 hour every other month so we have paid out of our pocket ta make sure our children receive regular art and music instruction plus being involved in sports. P.E. was paid for by the PTA for the last two years but they cannot continue to do so and thus P.E. is on the chopping block for next year). In 4th grade our youngest son did not receive a science grade as not enough hours were taught. The time was used for reading instruction to prepare for the STAR test to make sure ESL students and other subgroups would test proficient. Have so far not seen much science instruction this year for either of our kids but they already had at least four pizza parties for which parents were asked to pay for. No school offers foreign language classes (both of us are multilingual so we have been working on that for a few years). Anyways, hubby is an engineer with 4 master degrees two of which are from MIT, I have a science background and we will teach in conjunction with the local university and a charter school. I have no doubt our children will come out ahead in more ways than one. Hey, we can even teach religion (and neither my husband nor I are particularly religious but we consider knowing the basic tenets of at least the major religions part of a general education). On a side note, we have a lot of home schooled children in this area, almost 90% are white and from well off households (median income is around $130,000), of the around 20 families I know only 1 homeschools for religious reasons. The rest do it either because they consider academic standards too low and/or like us are fed up with the administrative rules in the schools. Most private schools here are either based on religion or are all girl schools. Yeah, I totally agree with your view. I think also with the growing population we are seeing administration being more overwhelmed or just not caring because it is to hard. I also think these reward programs for better test scores are going to give these teachers a less open-minded view of different ways to teach. I think they are just going to focus on test scores and answers. This will put many children that have advanced learning capabilities at a disadvantage(just like the NCLB does). Myself I have had maybe 10 teachers that I respected growing up, all of the other ones just wanted to do the memorize the material effect. That being said I though school was quite boring most of the time and I skipped most of my classes, because I passed all of my test by passing the test( 3.3 gpa through high school, plus I was in advanced math since 7th grade). Either way I learned more about how the real world works(street smarts and such) when I skipped my classes. I think they need to revamp the way they teach in school, like a lot more hands on experience that you would see in the job community. Maybe like building some sort of construction using mathematics/geometry throughout the semester, while still doing some book work for the explanation of numbers.
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reasonfreedom
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Post by reasonfreedom on Feb 9, 2012 13:04:46 GMT -5
Frankly, idiot parents breed idiot children and the school isn't going to fix that. It is more like idiot parents pass their idiot skills onto their children. Breeding might have something(I wouldn't say a whole lot) to do with their capability, but I think you can teach the majority of children to be smart.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 9, 2012 13:05:48 GMT -5
True enough but it goes to waste because it isn't emphasized at home that learning is important. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Some make it out, others don't. If we knew why some do and some don't, everyone would make it out.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 9, 2012 13:06:52 GMT -5
Frankly, idiot parents breed idiot children and the school isn't going to fix that. It is more like idiot parents pass their idiot skills onto their children. Breeding might have something(I wouldn't say a whole lot) to do with their capability, but I think you can teach the majority of children to be smart. In addition to being smart, the whole work ethic thing needs to be conveyed to the kids. Smart doesn't do anything for you unless you know how to apply it.
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gavinsnana
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Post by gavinsnana on Feb 9, 2012 13:10:33 GMT -5
Yey - if the parent has everything they need to teach their kids, computer ect. Plus she has to have discipline and organization.
No - if they don't
Former SIL did this, and did nothing to teach her kids.. The oldest grew up and could not even read.. The youngest said, I want to go to school.. she did, graduated at the top of her class, and went on to College with a full scholarship and will be graduating this May in Nursing..
IMO, Private schools are the way to go if your schools are not great..
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gavinsnana
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Post by gavinsnana on Feb 9, 2012 13:11:46 GMT -5
With the whole sex and drugs think unless the kids are being watched 24/7 they happen outside of school too. That's why it's my business as a parent to know who my kid's friends are, including online friends.
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reasonfreedom
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Post by reasonfreedom on Feb 9, 2012 13:12:28 GMT -5
Yes, but don't you know that these things are an essential part of a child's development, and any parent that doesn't want to expose their children to these things are either neglectful or religious nutcases? Yes, I do but in homeschooling you have a lot more control over the truth of these. Since I myself experienced all of the above, I know that I would rather teach my child about drugs then having any peer thinking they know how to do it. Learning about Drugs, sex and alcohol in school from peers is a biased and deadly way to go. The schools trying to do it is a pathetic attempt, I have experienced both and peer pressure will win at east 80% of the time.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Feb 9, 2012 13:13:00 GMT -5
Private schools are expensive and they are not always that good, especially if they are religious affiliated.
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formerroomate99
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Post by formerroomate99 on Feb 9, 2012 13:13:14 GMT -5
Yes, but don't you know that these things are an essential part of a child's development, and any parent that doesn't want to expose their children to these things are either neglectful or religious nutcases? But isn't learning how to say "no" an important part of development? At some point, you have to let your kids loose to navigate the world. Not that I want my preteen kids having to say no to sex and drugs.............it's a tough balancing act.............. There's a difference between giving a kid an opportunity to say NO and putting them in a situation where saying No will result in them spending most of their waking hours being systematically abused. It's not like there won't be kids ding bad things in the sports leagues, classes, and the other activities that homeschoolers have their kids involved in. As long as they are allowed to be around their peers, there plenty of opportunites to deal with peer pressure. If even half of what happened to me in elementary school happened at my job, I'd be able to sue for a hostile workplace. But for some reason, it considered good and admirable to expose small children to a level of abuse that is completetly illegal in the adult world and parents who don't choose to are somehow shortchanging their kids.
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reasonfreedom
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Post by reasonfreedom on Feb 9, 2012 13:13:50 GMT -5
It is more like idiot parents pass their idiot skills onto their children. Breeding might have something(I wouldn't say a whole lot) to do with their capability, but I think you can teach the majority of children to be smart. In addition to being smart, the whole work ethic thing needs to be conveyed to the kids. Smart doesn't do anything for you unless you know how to apply it. I agree with that, I just didn't expand any further on the statement
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 9, 2012 13:14:22 GMT -5
But isn't learning how to say "no" an important part of development? At some point, you have to let your kids loose to navigate the world. Not that I want my preteen kids having to say no to sex and drugs.............it's a tough balancing act.............. There's a difference between giving a kid an opportunity to say NO and putting them in a situation where saying No will result in them spending most of their waking hours being systematically abused. It's not like there won't be kids ding bad things in the sports leagues, classes, and the other activities that homeschoolers have their kids involved in. As long as they are allowed to be around their peers, there plenty of opportunites to deal with peer pressure. If even half of what happened to me in elementary school happened at my job, I'd be able to sue for a hostile workplace. But for some reason, it considered good and admirable to expose small children to a level of abuse that is completetly illegal in the adult world and parents who don't choose to are somehow shortchanging their kids. But not everybody had the same horrible experience in school as you did......
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gavinsnana
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Post by gavinsnana on Feb 9, 2012 13:15:42 GMT -5
Private schools are expensive and they are not always that good, especially if they are religious affiliated. Excuse me? What is wrong with the Religious affiliated ones? Most of my nieces and nephews are in Private schools that are Religious affiliated.. Its the Parents choice.. and there is nothing wrong with these schools. It certainly is better than being in a drug invested, gang invested school.. These schools cannot even teach anymore, its nothing more than a babysitting place for the parents to drop their kids off. If I had young ones today.. They would be going to a private school.
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reasonfreedom
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Post by reasonfreedom on Feb 9, 2012 13:16:20 GMT -5
With the whole sex and drugs think unless the kids are being watched 24/7 they happen outside of school too. That's why it's my business as a parent to know who my kid's friends are, including online friends. yeah, but it is easier to get drugs going to public schools than it is home schooling. Granted that both parents are clean.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 9, 2012 13:17:22 GMT -5
Private schools are expensive and they are not always that good, especially if they are religious affiliated. Excuse me? What is wrong with the Religious affiliated ones? Most of my nieces and nephews are in Private schools that are Religious affiliated.. Its the Parents choice.. and there is nothing wrong with these schools. It certainly is better than being in a drug invested, gang invested school.. These schools cannot even teach anymore, its nothing more than a babysitting place for the parents to drop their kids off. If I had young ones today.. They would be going to a private school. I have young ones. The one in school goes to a Catholic school, and the younger one will go next year. I'm not particularly religious, but I like the small atmosphere, the personalized attention, and teaching them about religion isn't a bad thing.
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reasonfreedom
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Post by reasonfreedom on Feb 9, 2012 13:20:35 GMT -5
Private schools are expensive and they are not always that good, especially if they are religious affiliated. Excuse me? What is wrong with the Religious affiliated ones? Most of my nieces and nephews are in Private schools that are Religious affiliated.. Its the Parents choice.. and there is nothing wrong with these schools. It certainly is better than being in a drug invested, gang invested school.. These schools cannot even teach anymore, its nothing more than a babysitting place for the parents to drop their kids off. If I had young ones today.. They would be going to a private school. I agree, private schools usually cost more and the parents have a more direct investment into them. The Christian private school that my GF's son goes to is strict on dress code and rules, they enforce them better too.
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formerroomate99
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Post by formerroomate99 on Feb 9, 2012 13:23:00 GMT -5
And a lot of people who didn't have the horrible experience accomplished this by bowing to peer pressure, slacking off in school, and engaging in all kinds of idiotic and risky behavior. The schools aren't failing because the kids have gotten dumber. They're failing because the kids aren't trying, and unrestricted peer pressure is a big part of this. In many schools, it is nearly impossible to excel without becoming a target for systematic abuse.
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 9, 2012 13:23:46 GMT -5
And a lot of people who didn't have the horrible experience accomplished this by bowing to peer pressure, slacking off in school, and engaging in all kinds of idiotic and risky behavior. The schools aren't failing because the kids have gotten dumber. They're failing because the kids aren't trying, and unrestricted peer pressure is a big part of this. In many schools, it is nearly impossible to excel without becoming a target for systematic abuse. That's an awfully sweeping generalization..................
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formerroomate99
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Post by formerroomate99 on Feb 9, 2012 13:26:45 GMT -5
Talk to any intelligent person who didn't do well in school, and most will tell you that being popular and avoiding abuse were a huge factor in their decision to slack off.
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reasonfreedom
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Post by reasonfreedom on Feb 9, 2012 13:27:05 GMT -5
Excuse me? What is wrong with the Religious affiliated ones? Most of my nieces and nephews are in Private schools that are Religious affiliated.. Its the Parents choice.. and there is nothing wrong with these schools. It certainly is better than being in a drug invested, gang invested school.. These schools cannot even teach anymore, its nothing more than a babysitting place for the parents to drop their kids off. If I had young ones today.. They would be going to a private school. I have young ones. The one in school goes to a Catholic school, and the younger one will go next year. I'm not particularly religious, but I like the small atmosphere, the personalized attention, and teaching them about religion isn't a bad thing. Yeah, when I went to middle school at 7th grade the catholic school kids were integrated in. I can say the majority of clean kids I knew in high school were from this group. I knew the majority of the students from the class above me and the 2 below me, personally inside and outside of school. My own class consisted of around 1100 students, so that should tell approximately the size of my statistic pool.
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gavinsnana
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Post by gavinsnana on Feb 9, 2012 13:28:10 GMT -5
Excuse me? What is wrong with the Religious affiliated ones? Most of my nieces and nephews are in Private schools that are Religious affiliated.. Its the Parents choice.. and there is nothing wrong with these schools. It certainly is better than being in a drug invested, gang invested school.. These schools cannot even teach anymore, its nothing more than a babysitting place for the parents to drop their kids off. If I had young ones today.. They would be going to a private school. I agree, private schools usually cost more and the parents have a more direct investment into them. The Christian private school that my GF's son goes to is strict on dress code and rules, they enforce them better too. Down here in Texas, most all Private Schools have a dress code. Many of the Houston schools as well, because of gangs. I think its a good idea. Saves $$$$ on wardrobes
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 9, 2012 13:28:31 GMT -5
Talk to any intelligent person who didn't do well in school, and most will tell you that avoiding abuse was a huge factor in their decision to slack off. My brother's excuse is that he's lazy. One of my friends excuses is that nobody expected at home much from him. IME, the smart people who didn't do well was because of lack of support at home.
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reasonfreedom
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Post by reasonfreedom on Feb 9, 2012 13:28:37 GMT -5
And a lot of people who didn't have the horrible experience accomplished this by bowing to peer pressure, slacking off in school, and engaging in all kinds of idiotic and risky behavior. The schools aren't failing because the kids have gotten dumber. They're failing because the kids aren't trying, and unrestricted peer pressure is a big part of this. In many schools, it is nearly impossible to excel without becoming a target for systematic abuse. That's an awfully sweeping generalization.................. It might be a generalization, but I don't think it is far off from the truth at all.
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gavinsnana
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Post by gavinsnana on Feb 9, 2012 13:29:27 GMT -5
One of the bigger reasons that I'm hearing from parents who home school is that they believe that the schools are pushing the kids too hard, to fast, causing stress and burn out. Home schooled kids don't have hours of home work in the evening and are allowed to get out, get exercise and just be kids. Of all the kids I know who are home schooled, not one is on a mind altering drug. Hey Lone, just saw your post. I agree. I think that teachers give them way too much homework. I remember my kids up late trying to get it all done. I complained, but.. to no avail.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Feb 9, 2012 13:31:36 GMT -5
yeah, but it is easier to get drugs going to public schools than it is home schooling Not if you know where to look. Some of the worst offenders in my school for all this stuff were straight A kids and band kids. It's the perfect cover, who is going to suspect such outstanding people to be smoking pot behind Subway during lunch? Meanwhile some of the most mild mannered, well behaved kids were those weirdo goth kids whose appearance suggests they aren't going anywhere. That stuff makes me think about how I need to be careful not to get too wrapped up in making sure DD is surrounded by what I consider to be the "right" crowd of people. Because when you scratch underneath the surface sometimes there is a whole lot of ugly to be found. I need to do what my parents did and assess her friends on a case by case basis. That includes on line. DH disagrees with me but I fully plan on spying on DD when she is old enough to use the computer on her own. People reveal all sorts of stupid shit on social media when they don't think others are looking. Remind me never to move wherever it is Former went to school at, Jesus Christ.
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gavinsnana
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Post by gavinsnana on Feb 9, 2012 13:32:37 GMT -5
But, I do feel for parents today.. If you are not in a good school system, your only option is Private or Home School.. In many cases it takes 2 Parents income.. and yes Private Schools are expensive.. but.. If my kids were little again.. I would work and put them in a Private School
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swasat
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Post by swasat on Feb 9, 2012 13:33:21 GMT -5
Talk to any intelligent person who didn't do well in school, and most will tell you that being popular and avoiding abuse were a huge factor in their decision to slack off. I am assuming you will be sending your boys to a private school or homeschool them?
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swamp
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Post by swamp on Feb 9, 2012 13:33:42 GMT -5
But, I do feel for parents today.. If you are not in a good school system, your only option is Private or Home School.. In many cases it takes 2 Parents income.. and yes Private Schools are expensive.. but.. If my kids were little again.. I would work and put them in a Private School Where I live, the only option for HS is public or homeschool. The closest private HS is an hour away.
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