Homeschool! (and other "vintage" values)

[Flicka]

Reacting to actual cruelty is not "PC crap", it's common sense. As for banning home schooling, did you think before typing what you did? The children being cruel to your niece are the products of the STATE school system. So, state monopoly on schooling doesn't, in fact, guarantee equity, does it?

Of course it doesn't. Insofar as values are concerned, schools only have a minor influence on children compared to the influence of the parents. Anyway, I didn't really mean home schooling is a bad idea. I'm just saying there are parents who are unfit to teach their children (and plenty of people who are unfit to be parents too). So I wasn't so much really disliking homeschooling as certain parents. Or certain people, really.

Anyway, I don't think home schooling will ever be allowed here. There's just no real support for the idea. Part of it is probably that in most cases both parents work full time outside of the home so it's just rarely a practical solution, but there is also the fact that it just doesn't fit with our tradition, I suppose. Most people I know just don't support the idea (parents or not).

 

[Flicka]

Just wanted to add: I would have loved to be homeschooled. It would have been a much, much better solution in every way for me. So I am in no way opposed to homeschooling as an idea.

 

[LizzieMaine]

No, it's PC crap. Being PC is not limited to those issues you mention. In fact, insisting that such is the case is, well, PC crap....

I don't think I'd call it PC crap. I'd call it "Lawyer Crap." Most of the bizarre actions taken by modern school boards are motivated not by any kind of a political/philosophical agenda but rather by the fear of being sued. (I covered local education in my reporter days, and saw far more of this than I ever wanted to see.)

I don't think I'd disagree with a ban on hugging, either. Kids don't go to school to be hugged, they go to learn. Anything that distracts from the purpose of school doesn't belong there. One might keep in mind that schoolrooms in the Era were very very very strictly run --now spit out that gum, line your desk up straight with the floor tiles, and study your lesson.

 

[Jim Brown]

No, it's PC crap. Being PC is not limited to those issues you mention. In fact, insisting that such is the case is, well, PC crap....

from the Merriam-Webster dictionary

"conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated"

I didn't see anything about hugs listed as a definition.

And I'll let go you calling what I said crap. (that's not me being PC, it's just me being polite.)

 

[Roving_Bohemian]

No no no, I in no way intended to imply that those that went to public schools "have no values..." and I'm sorry JB if that's how it came across...

As I said in the intro, this was

to have a place on TFL where people can come to discuss resources, challenges they face, get ideas for special projects, or even just "ask an 'expert' " if they're interested in homeschooling but want more info...

My mother was a teacher, my grandfather was a teacher, my great grandfather was a teacher & regional school administrator (who, incidentally, was home-schooled by his mother, who came over on a ship in 1903...)
I have great respect for teachers, and believe that they (the majority, anyway) do what they can within the restrictions laid on them by (as Ms. Lizzie Maine so eloquently put it): "Lawyer Crap. (....Most of the bizarre actions taken by modern school boards are motivated not by any kind of a political/philosophical agenda but rather by the fear of being sued)."

I did mean it to say home-school and other "vintage" values, implying that home-school is a value & also some that are "vintage" - like freedom:

"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression: for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach unto himself." -- Thomas Paine

And while I can find you plenty of cases to back me up were I to contend the historical accuracy of home-schooling during said eras, my point was not to start a debate on whether it was "period" but rather what are some things you would incorporate that are perhaps lost in the modern educational system...

What are a few values you feel have been lost over the years that you hope to teach your kids by home-schooling, rather than going the "traditional" route?

Some things are more something that should be taught at home:
Dressing modestly for one - I'm no prude, and certainly won't force my daughter to wear turtlenecks or denim jumpers, but there is just no way I'd let her go out in a "tube-top" or "booty-shorts" (attire I have seen worn by many in my cousin's classroom). I'm sorry if it sounds like I'm trying to be antagonistic, (because I'm really not) but everyone must admit SOME values that could be rightly taught at school have been lost to "Lawyer Crap" over time - like standing up to bullies...

I'm merely asking if there are any values (taught in vintage schools or simply by their society) that have been lost that might be re-instated by homeschooling. And by values I do mean positives, not things that were considered values like discrimination...