Probably not a popular opinion, but anyone who wants to homeschool can homeschool. No one is trapped by their zip code or their mortgage. Single parents, working parents, poor parents…..plenty in these categories have made the sacrifices to pull their kids from public education and homeschool. Those of us who oppose vouchers do so because they turn homeschool from an escape from public education into an extension of it. What the government funds it runs. Parents already have choice. When the government runs all forms of education, there is no more choice.
I will have to disagree there. It is not an easy option. That’s for sure. But anyone can make it work. There are single parents, working parents, low income parents already doing it. All it takes is desire and determination and sacrifice.
Don't you think that anyone who wants to do it can learn to do it well? We tell people they can do anything they put their mind to. Doesn't that include homeschool? There are so many resources out there to help people who want to homeschool. I wouldn't tell anyone they couldn't do a good job teaching their own kids. And anyone who doubted their own abilities, I would encourage to believe in themselves and find the resources they need to help them.
This requires a longer and more nuanced answer but a couple key points. First off, we lie to people when we tell them they can do anything. For some reason we've forgotten all about genes. You can't be a 5 foot 5 point guard for the NBA. No matter how much you practice, without the innate talent, you won't be a world class concert pianist. My daughter works very hard at ballet, but a curvature in her foot limits her future. Everything in life has limits. I'm a staunch believer that teaching is mix of art and science. So you can read all the books in the world and become a practitioner, but you'll never be an artist. We are chasing the artists out of teaching, to our detriment. I would certainly tell someone they wouldn't be a good teacher for their children, because some of them don't make good parents for their children. Again I can read parenting books all day, and be very smart about parenting, doesn't make me a good parent. Further more, whileI'm troubled about current trends in public schools, the value of organized schooling lies in social growth as well as academic. Its teaching the ability to interact with those who have completely different views and backgrounds. The navigating the halls is every bit as important as the navigating of the classroom, but in our quest for data we've lost sight of that. We've also overreached in the area of parent/teacher/student relations. Unfortunately we don't do nuance very well. There is also the financial component. Lot of money is made off of public education. Follow the money and you'll find that it most of it comes down to protecting one set of millionaires money from another. Only a small sliver goes to teachers and families. Maybe I'll write whole piece about it, because all of it is very nuanced.
I can agree on the point about nuance. Nothing in life is black and white, and everything deserves careful consideration. And I agree that bad parents would make bad homeschool teachers. (Although I doubt truly bad parents care about their kids education enough to try it). Is homeschool for everyone? No. Can everyone homeschool? Absolutely. While I wholeheartedly disagree with your point on public school being the best avenue of socialization, my initial comment was not to debate the pros and cons of homeschooling. It was simply to say, it is disingenuous for anyone to say they are trapped in their public school. Everyone has a choice. For instance, I have friends who sold their house and moved into an apartment to get their daughter in their preferred public school bc they couldn’t buy a house in that zone. They made a choice not to stay somewhere they were not happy with. It’s an uncomfortable choice for them. A hard choice. But a choice nonetheless. And that is the only point I wanted to make. No one is truly trapped. Everyone can choose. Sometimes it’s to homeschool. Sometimes it’s to move. Sometimes the choice is to stay in their assigned public school, and that outweighs all the other options. But it doesn’t mean they were trapped. It means they chose it above the alternatives. I can imagine that any parent determined to get their kids out of a certain public school could figure something out. I believe the government’s responsibility is to make public education better, and to stay out of private education. I fear that vouchers would only give the government more of a say over our kids education, disguised as choice, when we already have choice.
Also, completely agree about following the money. Somebody is making a quick buck off this for sure, on both sides of the argument. That’s why I believe these conversations, among us common folk are so important. Bc we are the ones affected by these master chess players who don’t actually care about the kids or the families. We who have real skin in the game, but no real dog in the fight. Time to get a dog! LOL
Probably not a popular opinion, but anyone who wants to homeschool can homeschool. No one is trapped by their zip code or their mortgage. Single parents, working parents, poor parents…..plenty in these categories have made the sacrifices to pull their kids from public education and homeschool. Those of us who oppose vouchers do so because they turn homeschool from an escape from public education into an extension of it. What the government funds it runs. Parents already have choice. When the government runs all forms of education, there is no more choice.
While I agree with most of what you say, for most it is not a viable option.
I will have to disagree there. It is not an easy option. That’s for sure. But anyone can make it work. There are single parents, working parents, low income parents already doing it. All it takes is desire and determination and sacrifice.
yes anyone can do it. But not everyone can do it well. Thats the difference.
Don't you think that anyone who wants to do it can learn to do it well? We tell people they can do anything they put their mind to. Doesn't that include homeschool? There are so many resources out there to help people who want to homeschool. I wouldn't tell anyone they couldn't do a good job teaching their own kids. And anyone who doubted their own abilities, I would encourage to believe in themselves and find the resources they need to help them.
This requires a longer and more nuanced answer but a couple key points. First off, we lie to people when we tell them they can do anything. For some reason we've forgotten all about genes. You can't be a 5 foot 5 point guard for the NBA. No matter how much you practice, without the innate talent, you won't be a world class concert pianist. My daughter works very hard at ballet, but a curvature in her foot limits her future. Everything in life has limits. I'm a staunch believer that teaching is mix of art and science. So you can read all the books in the world and become a practitioner, but you'll never be an artist. We are chasing the artists out of teaching, to our detriment. I would certainly tell someone they wouldn't be a good teacher for their children, because some of them don't make good parents for their children. Again I can read parenting books all day, and be very smart about parenting, doesn't make me a good parent. Further more, whileI'm troubled about current trends in public schools, the value of organized schooling lies in social growth as well as academic. Its teaching the ability to interact with those who have completely different views and backgrounds. The navigating the halls is every bit as important as the navigating of the classroom, but in our quest for data we've lost sight of that. We've also overreached in the area of parent/teacher/student relations. Unfortunately we don't do nuance very well. There is also the financial component. Lot of money is made off of public education. Follow the money and you'll find that it most of it comes down to protecting one set of millionaires money from another. Only a small sliver goes to teachers and families. Maybe I'll write whole piece about it, because all of it is very nuanced.
I can agree on the point about nuance. Nothing in life is black and white, and everything deserves careful consideration. And I agree that bad parents would make bad homeschool teachers. (Although I doubt truly bad parents care about their kids education enough to try it). Is homeschool for everyone? No. Can everyone homeschool? Absolutely. While I wholeheartedly disagree with your point on public school being the best avenue of socialization, my initial comment was not to debate the pros and cons of homeschooling. It was simply to say, it is disingenuous for anyone to say they are trapped in their public school. Everyone has a choice. For instance, I have friends who sold their house and moved into an apartment to get their daughter in their preferred public school bc they couldn’t buy a house in that zone. They made a choice not to stay somewhere they were not happy with. It’s an uncomfortable choice for them. A hard choice. But a choice nonetheless. And that is the only point I wanted to make. No one is truly trapped. Everyone can choose. Sometimes it’s to homeschool. Sometimes it’s to move. Sometimes the choice is to stay in their assigned public school, and that outweighs all the other options. But it doesn’t mean they were trapped. It means they chose it above the alternatives. I can imagine that any parent determined to get their kids out of a certain public school could figure something out. I believe the government’s responsibility is to make public education better, and to stay out of private education. I fear that vouchers would only give the government more of a say over our kids education, disguised as choice, when we already have choice.
Also, completely agree about following the money. Somebody is making a quick buck off this for sure, on both sides of the argument. That’s why I believe these conversations, among us common folk are so important. Bc we are the ones affected by these master chess players who don’t actually care about the kids or the families. We who have real skin in the game, but no real dog in the fight. Time to get a dog! LOL