Tell me what you really think.
Thanks for finding a kind word for homeschoolers. Most of us are just your neighbor who has made a different school choice. Like having kids, it does tend to take over -- the car, the house, the yard. 
But it is a choice that is working for us.
I wish you good luck in continuing to explore the diverse world of homeschooling.
Nance -- happily unschooling with 2 wonderful kids and DH
A couple of your recent posts remind me of a discussion I overheard at a bookstore in NE Ohio recently...
Lady A: ...
Lady B: What about [Latest release in reasonably-popular youth-fiction series]?
Lady A: I don't let my son read fiction, I figure he'll get enough of that reading the "classics" in school.
[Lady A said classics in such a way that emphasis seems appropriate]
Lady B: Really?
Lady A: Yes, I figure if he is going to spend time reading, it should be something true and educational.
...
After hearing that bombshell, I look for a wall upon which I can hit my head thereby numbing the pain caused by Lady A. This also has the convenient side-effect of not having to hear the rest of that conversation.
-BenR
Thanks for neither citing me nor mentioning a certain homeschool apologia in the form of shameless bragging! ;~)
I will speak up here to tell you, that I totally agreed with what you said about homeschooling. Limiting what you teach children will only cause trouble in the long run. Knowledge is power.
If you refuse to give your child an answer about a subject, then they will seek out those answers elsewhere. Then you will have to deal with whatever it is that comes afterward, which usually takes 10X longer, and has more possible negative effects, than the original answer would have taken to begin with.
Unfortunately, the idea that children should be uninformed or misinformed is not confined to homeschooling.
Nance
You said it. I post a rational, polite post regarding vouchers or kids running the streets in the guise of "homeschooling"-- suddenly people get all defensive, including someone who emotionally claims that I'm being emotional. You should have seen the email that weren't comments.
And apparently I'm arrogant for spelling correctly. If so-- guilty as charged! This isn't the eighteenth century.
I greatly admire people who devote endless hours schooling their children at home. But those of you who think we're all godless heathen in the public schools-- let me just say I'll pray for you. Hard.
LOL -- I don't devote endless hours to homeschooling. I devote endless hours to living with my family. And will continue to do so for as long as they need me.
But I didn't know spelling correctly was a sign of arrogance. It really gets on my nerves when I see a lot of misspellings so I guess I'm arrogant too.
That attitude does seem to fit in with the anti-learning mindset that we see in the world, though. From our anti-science President on down. . .
And, of course, most of the people displaying this attitude went to public schools.
Maybe it's not so much a matter of what sort of building you are sitting in. . .
Nance
Personally, I do not support parents who take their children out of school because of knee-jerk reactions to someone else's child using inappropriate language or behavior or parents who want to deny their children access to specific subjects or knowledge. That goes triple for parents who say they're doing it, but they really just let their kids sleep in late and run around town all day.
However, I think homeschooling is wonderful for certain types of learners. I think the stories from parents whose children have special needs and can't get the proper services are another great example of why a parent should homeschool. Overall, though, it's always the parents decision and unless they're not following state homeschooling regulations or letting their kids run around, we need to respect their decision, even if we don't agree.
But, seriously...I just can't stand the term "unschooling" for so many different reasons, the biggest being the blatant disdain and disrespect for those of us who choose to be in the public school sytem via our careers or our children. Okay, maybe I can't stand it more because it just sounds so wrong. Can you "unschool" someone? I need to look this up.
I think for some people, homeschooling is the best option. Their children are usually (a) whip-smart and would be limited by normal schools (private or public), or (b) special-needs and homeschooling allows greater personal educational opportunities.
However, I agree strongly with those commenters who decry homeschoolers who do so to limit their children's contact with the outside world/concepts outside the parents' worldview. My own sister did this, and while her kids are mostly OK now, I fear for them when they go off to college.
Homeschooling should NEVER be used to limit education, and those who do use it for that deserve all the scorn that can be heaped upon them.
WF
Great cartoons.
I have a lot of respect for people who homeschool their kids because I'm absolutely sure I couldn't homeschool mine. The mere idea terrifies me.
I do think she's getting a great education in public school, though.
Well, no schooling choice should be about limiting learning. Not imo, anyway.
Some religious people, though, choose to teach their children a particular worldview that I think of as limited. Most of those folks have their kids in one kind of private school or another, though. The homeschooling community is a tiny slice of the pie, after all.
And, otoh, a lot of the people who go to public school still end up holding views that I don't see as reality-based -- creationism, for example -- so ps doesn't seem to be any sort guarantee either.
But, otoh, I don't approve or disapprove of people who send their children to public school. Or private school.
We aren't sitting around waiting for anyone to approve of our unschooling. Why would I think they are sitting around waiting for my approval?
And, Mellow, you might be more comfortable thinking of it as "child-led learning." Or not. Either way, knee-jerk is not a good way to go about making any sort of important decision.
Nance
Now that, Nance, I like. Very nice.
RE: Abis
I think you might have been "Onioned."
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