AmericanPapist Comments
Most home-schooled kids I knew were social rejects anyways--you need to socialize with a large, diverse group of people to become a functional adult.
Crumbunist,
You aren't going to bring up that old topic, are you? With the great number of homeschoolers that there are in this country, this is not an issue anymore. Most homeschoolers I know socialize in much more diverse and stable groups of people than those who go to traditional schools.
When I became homeschooled in the middle of elementary school (fifteen years ago,, when homeschooling was a fraction of the size that it is now), I remember noticing that while in school your only friends were those in the same grade as you, homeschoolers were willing to befriend kids even several years older and younger than themselves! (Yes, homeschooling families know plenty of other homeschooling families, and do things together quite often.) Living at home, homeschoolers learn to become part of a family, and to deal with relationships that they know they will have for their entire lives in a way that those who are at school all day and only at home in the evenings do not have to deal with.
Yes, I will admit that there are some people who should not be homeschooling, the couple in the court case being a case in point. A few bad cases, however, does not mean that the whole system needs to be scrapped. If that were the case, the public school system should have been scrapped many long years ago. You can make a stronger case for public schools not turning out 'functional adults' as often as they ought to than you can for homeschooling doing the same.
Don't start the "not prepared for college" argument, either--most of the homeschoolers that I know were arguably better prepared for college than most of their peers. Many of them, myself and the author of this blog included, graduate in the top of their class and go on for graduate work.
I am sorry that the examples of homeschooling that you witnessed were not so exemplary.
Life isn't all family and friends: you have to cope with elitist groups and class structures and bullies in your work life and in any kind of urban life. This is why I advocate bullying in our primary schools! It's a necessary social immunization.
Crumbunist, you obviously never had older sisters. :) Which of your bullies did you have to hold hands with and have both of you repeat that you loved the other?
Seriously, getting family right is the most important thing for anyone to get right on this earth. Once you have that in place, you have the strength and security to conquer anything else that comes your way. The family is the school of love, and love is the foundation for all else that is right and good. Older sisters can be bossy and younger sisters can be a nuisance. Yet, you have to learn to love them and eventually discover that you can't get along without them and miss them when you live in different states. Can you love the bullies in your life?
Don't feed the troll.
It's perfectly possible to have a good family life without being home all the time. Outside of the family, in the working world for instance, you WILL encounter people who bully you and will show no remorse. It's better for kids to learn to cope with bullies early on than when they're in college.
surely not 'effectively' when a) it wouldn't stand against a US Supreme Court case and b) the Governator has sworn to do what is necessary to ensure homeschooling for those who want it.
Crumbunist is obviously an agent provocateur - well done lad.
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