OK, for the billionth time, homeschooled kids do not just sit at home. Unlike public school kids who just sit in a classroom with the same people of generally the same age all day. Homeschooled kids have the liberty to be involved in a larger amount of actual real world community activities, clubs, church, sports, scouts, etc. And there are homeschool co-ops and groups which meet regularly for study halls, proms, field trips, art lessons, science experiments, and more. I don't homeschool because I want to shelter my children, quite the opposite (see my earlier comment in this thread at http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=191184&cid=157 19077 ).
And how in the world do you KNOW that they would be exposed to more at school? Public schools in my area offer very little in the way of political, ethnic, cultural, religious, economic, literary or scientific diversity.
I cannot understand how anyone would think that junior high or high school were anything remotely resembling the real world, or prepared us for it. Is this sort of like how the prison environment "rehabilitates" people?
You were fortunate enough to attend public school in a diverse area. I am in the South and diversity is one of the many reasons why I homeschool. I would like my children to interact with people from different cultures, religions and economic backgrounds, not just white protestant kids. I would also like my children to learn how to interact with people of all ages - this will help them think outside of themselves. Babies, elderly, children and adults of all ages have different needs and abilities. They won't learn that sitting all day in a room with 30 people their exact same age.
I absolutely do not want to limit my children - and neither do any of the other secular homeschoolers I know. The public schools in my area focus on the basics - reading, writing, math. There are no gifted programs, no theater, no music, no logic, no computer science, etc (unless you happen to be lucky enough to win a lottery and get into the ONE magnet school which might offer some of those things). How much of a variety of literature, religion and politics do you actually think most public school kids are exposed to? (I ask in the land where Catholic and Jewish students are pressured to convert, George Bush is loved, books are banned and creationism is touted - heaven forbid anyone be an atheist, homosexual or pagan.)
My children are not insulated from the news - far from it. They don't need to attend a violent school to know that there is violence in the world.
I could not agree with you more that the goal should be to let my children achieve their own views of perfection. You have just expressed one of the basic tenets of John Holt's deschooling philosophy. And one of the primary reasons I will not send my children to public school. At least, not in this area.
Slashdot Mirror
And how in the world do you KNOW that they would be exposed to more at school? Public schools in my area offer very little in the way of political, ethnic, cultural, religious, economic, literary or scientific diversity.
I cannot understand how anyone would think that junior high or high school were anything remotely resembling the real world, or prepared us for it. Is this sort of like how the prison environment "rehabilitates" people?
You were fortunate enough to attend public school in a diverse area. I am in the South and diversity is one of the many reasons why I homeschool. I would like my children to interact with people from different cultures, religions and economic backgrounds, not just white protestant kids. I would also like my children to learn how to interact with people of all ages - this will help them think outside of themselves. Babies, elderly, children and adults of all ages have different needs and abilities. They won't learn that sitting all day in a room with 30 people their exact same age. I absolutely do not want to limit my children - and neither do any of the other secular homeschoolers I know. The public schools in my area focus on the basics - reading, writing, math. There are no gifted programs, no theater, no music, no logic, no computer science, etc (unless you happen to be lucky enough to win a lottery and get into the ONE magnet school which might offer some of those things). How much of a variety of literature, religion and politics do you actually think most public school kids are exposed to? (I ask in the land where Catholic and Jewish students are pressured to convert, George Bush is loved, books are banned and creationism is touted - heaven forbid anyone be an atheist, homosexual or pagan.) My children are not insulated from the news - far from it. They don't need to attend a violent school to know that there is violence in the world. I could not agree with you more that the goal should be to let my children achieve their own views of perfection. You have just expressed one of the basic tenets of John Holt's deschooling philosophy. And one of the primary reasons I will not send my children to public school. At least, not in this area.