Public Schools

At 4:31 AM 9/23/96, Lucky Green wrote:
>On Sun, 22 Sep 1996, snow wrote:
>>      I would agree that parents can do as good or better at _most_ subjects
>> thru about the 3rd or 4th grade, and I do agree that most of todays schools
>> are shit, however there is one area--social skills--that homeschooling
>> simply can't compete. Children need to learn how to interact with one another
>> in groups larger than a family unit. I don't think that homeschooling can
>> accomplish this nearly as well as the public (or private) schools could.
>
>I understand that many parents that homeschool belong to organizations
>that provide for meetings twice a week in which the children so educated
>in a certain area get together.  Homeschooling does not have to stand in
>the way of a normal socialization process.

Also--and I mean this point completely seriously!--many parents are not
altogether convinced that the "public school socialization" is all that
beneficial. Do kids really _need_ to learn to wear gang colors, smoke to be
cool, get pregnant at age 14, and so on?

An awful lot of accomplished persons grew up in isolated areas, on small
farms, and were educated in very small classrooms (or at home).

I think the "social skills" Snow talks about above are actually the _worst_
part of public schools in fin-de-Siecle America. If I had a kid, I wouldn't
want him or her in the local public schools.

(And my area is more remote than over in San Jose--San Francisco, which is
even worse. And LA is even worse.)

--Tim May

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Timothy C. May wrote:
> 
> At 4:31 AM 9/23/96, Lucky Green wrote:
> >On Sun, 22 Sep 1996, snow wrote:
> >> I would agree that parents can do as good or better at _most_ 
> >> subjects thru about the 3rd or 4th grade, and I do agree that 
> >> most of todays schools are shit, however there is one area--
> >> social skills--that homeschooling simply can't compete. 

Proponents of mass public education love to trot that one out, probably
because it sounds good and appeals to common sense.  However, I
sincerely
doubt it's true in any way.  For example, I'd like to see some actual
comparison of the social skills (and, umm, how do you measure that 
anyway?  I don't remember taking any social skills tests in school to
make sure I was acquiring that valuable stuff) of public school victims
and homeschooled people.  If it's such a problem, where are all those
social freaks who got that way due to homeschooling?

Before the Industrial Revolution, homeschooling was of course quite
common.  Many "public schools" were simply cheap boarding houses for
lower-middle class children (see Nicholas Nickelby for a colorful
example).  Those with the means hired tutors.

> >> Children need to learn how to interact with one another in groups 
> >> larger than a family unit. I don't think that homeschooling can
> >> accomplish this nearly as well as the public (or private) schools 
> >> could.

Please note that homeschooling does not imply that parents isolate their
children from contact with the world until they're at voting age.  Also,
note that the public elementary schools I attended seemed hell-bent on
*preventing* any sort of interaction with a group of peers.  I don't
recall being encouraged to do much but shut up and perform the
uninspired
textbook assignments I was given.


______c_________________________________________________________________
Mike M Nally * IBM % Tivoli * Austin TX  * How quickly we forget that
mailto:m5@tivoli.com mailto:m101@io.com  * "deer processing" and "data
http://www.io.com/~m101/                 * processing" are different!

One of the hardest things that we have to work hardest to counter-act 
with our twins, who attend PS, is the socialization they 
pick up at school.

Dan

In <Pine.OSF.3.91.960923105254.11469A-100000@francis.tenet.edu>, on 09/23/96 at 11:00
AM,
   Dan Harmon <harmon@tenet.edu> said:

> 
>One of the hardest things that we have to work hardest to counter-act 
>with our twins, who attend PS, is the socialization they 
>pick up at school.

There is an easy solution to that problem, it's called home school. :)


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On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, William H. Geiger III wrote:

>    Dan Harmon <harmon@tenet.edu> said:

> >One of the hardest things that we have to work hardest to counter-act 
> >with our twins, who attend PS, is the socialization they 
> >pick up at school.
> 
> There is an easy solution to that problem, it's called home school. :)
> 

We know several people that home school and it takes a very special 
people to do it. In our case, it may turn out to be the only option.
The twins are ADHD with possible Tourettes and/or OCD. They we diagnosed at 
four, before it became the rage, and are now ten, going on six emotionally.

We keep trying and working with them.

Dan

On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, Dan Harmon wrote:

> 
> 
> On Tue, 24 Sep 1996, William H. Geiger III wrote:
> 
> >    Dan Harmon <harmon@tenet.edu> said:
> 
> > >One of the hardest things that we have to work hardest to counter-act 
> > >with our twins, who attend PS, is the socialization they 
> > >pick up at school.
> > 
> > There is an easy solution to that problem, it's called home school. :)
> > 
> 
    Really there is no 'Correct' solution some students function better
    in Public Schools, some in private and others in home.  I know of success
    stories and failures in each.  I had a couple of friends who were in 
home school during their Freshman and Sophomore year in highschool but 
then decided to go back to public school, they were so far behind it 
wasn't funny...any ways, one droped out and then other is just now 
getting back in the "groove" of things (he is a junior).  I guess the 
choice of schools is up to the individual, personally I am a student of a 
Public school, Enloe High, and truely hate it, I would perfer being in a 
private school but, I do not have that kind of money to spend, sure I 
could go to a cheep private school and not have the advantages of the 
people in public schools which (strangely) have more money.  I could also 
do home school but my parents would drive me insane .   But I totally 
disagree with the posts saying public school students become drug 
dealers, NONE, of my friends do drugs, drink, smoke, etc...   Most 
students turn out to be functional members of society, with a few odd 
balls ruining the reputation of the public school system...

Thats just my two cents.....
  Brent