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Taking High School Classes, Online?
AtariDatacenter asks: "I have a teenage family member who has left the formal education system and we're wanting to enroll him into an accredited online high school curriculum. Happily, this is his wish as well. There seems to be a few services available online, but it is hard to tell very much about them from the outside. What should we be looking for? Are there any good deals (as far as quality or cost) out there?"
I know two people who have done this, one was socially inept and the other was 'normal' for a geek. The socially inept one was not a very nice person IMO, and treated other people with contempt and was generally apathetic towards others. The online schooling sure did not help this as he only got worst (I hung out with the individuals in an IRC channel) with time. The other guy is fine and is currently going to a university.
I definitely see your point and agree with it, but it depends largely upon the person involved, whether they have the mental maturity to get something out of it. Even though I hated HS and most of the people in it, it has helped me deal with people in college (who, guess what, come from HS, its the same deal), and thus the real world. If this is being use as an emotional shield, that is unhealthy and could screw you in the long run, regardless of educational benefits. The best way to deal with the 'real world' is to experience it as soon as possible and realize how it works. Those who jump in after a life of non-interaction usually end up screwed in some way, whether it be drug binging or in general just not being able to make any friends.
"What can a thoughtful man hope for mankind on Earth, given the experience of the past million years? Nothing." -Bokonon
I know that some of you are going to give useless answers such as:
Shouldn't you kid get the social experiences of High School?
Don't do that, get your kid back in High School.
Teach him yourself, don't use online stuff
etc...
This is the worst thing that I can see about Slashdot. People think that those asking questions want life advice, instead of a simple answer. But really, they just want a simple answer. Too often I see questions of "How can I implement this in my school" or something liek that, and people go and just try to convince them that it's not a good idea, instead of answering the question that they asked. If they wanna use Linux in elemetary schools, let them- if they wanna have their kid go through High School online, let them; and give them good advice on how to do it- let them device whether it's the best thing to do. They didn't ask your opinion whether they should...
I am sure that everyone here knows what I am talking about...
Tibbon
tibbon.com
You're welcome to your opinion, TibbonZero, but I strongly disagree. I am one of those posters that apparently aggrevates you and I plan to continue to post my opinions on these AskSlashdot forums.
This is the worst thing that I can see about Slashdot.
Well, apparently you and I have very different ideas about what this forum is good for. Yes, slashdot is a place where technically competant people hang out. But these people are (for the most part) very thoughtful and intelligent as well. And they have opinions that are worth listening to. Some of them may even have experience with these sorts of problems and would like to share the lessons they learned.
People think that those asking questions want life advice, instead of a simple answer. But really, they just want a simple answer.
Tough bananas. Sometimes these people need to be forced to think about the larger issues. Let's say someone here has already gone this path with their child and found out the hard way that the whole idea is horribly flawed (in their opinion, of course). Are you saying that this person doesn't have a right to share their experiences if they stray away from a simple answer like what software to use?
Slashdot is a forum where highly intelligent and very opinionated people gather to trade points of view with each other. We aren't a friggin' tech support line! ANYONE who posts to AskSlashdot is inviting a critique of their overall approach and philosophy. If they aren't willing to listen to that sort of stuff they can (a) choose to ignore the non-technical comments they get or (b) go ask their questions on a different forum (online or offline) or, god forbid, (c) do a Google search.
GMD
watch this
It seems that this tired argument is raised every time some heretic has the nerve to suggest that the public schools might not be right for their children. For some people the public school environment is great, for others it isn't. Deciding which is the case for a given child is a job for parents not bureacrats.
About the only thing that home schooling lacks is physical education and sports - both of which are tough to do in a home environment, but neither of which cause "damage" if withheld.
I would argue that those things are what make public school worse for gaining social experience, because anyone who is slightly varied from the norm is shunned and ridiculed by the football-obsessed preps (speaking from experience).
Social experience my butt...
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