Homeschooling

[Guest guest]

Kari, I homeschooled for my high school years, my husband home schooled

since 2nd grade. He seems to think it's Home School all the way. I,

personally, can see the positive aspects of public school. Ideally, we

would like to send our kids to private school, but we'd want one that

is not religiously affiliated. We intend to teach our children about

God and Christ at home, where it belongs, in my opinion. So my husband

and I are definitely at a draw here... I think public school can be a

positive experience, socially, emotionally, and you stated the reasons

in your own email. Those are all things that I would love my kids to

have at their disposal! Unfortunately, my husband has been screwed up

by his psycho mother and therefore thinks that home schooling is the

only way to go. In light of the latest school shootings (meaning

farther back than Columbine), I'm kind of agreeing, but the positive

aspects of public school definitely still appeal to me. I think it

would be a great experience for my kids to attend a school with other

children, but my problem is convincing my husband to see my point of

view. Until we come to an agreement, I say " yes, home schooling " just

to keep the peace.

No hate mail from me.

~

--- kari williams <kdw909@...> wrote:

> i find it interesting that many of those who choose not to vaccinate

> are

> also those who believe in homeschooling. why is that? to decrease

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

For me, I have

decided to home school my children, because I believe I can provide a better education

than any school. There are also tons

of groups and activities to involve the children in, to insure they get the interaction

with others. It is the effort you put

in. Also, I am a college graduate,

and actually am in the process of obtaining my teaching credential for the state

of California. I plan on teaching part-time,

and home schooling the rest. Who knows,

I might even teach other home school children. I decided not to

vaccinate long before I even considered home schooling, We actually just purchased

a home in a school district that I felt was excellent, now my children won’t go

to them. Oh well. You are entitled to your choices, and if I did not feel confident

in my teaching skills, I would put my children in private or public school, to ensure

that they received the best available to them. As far as vaccinating, when I planned on my children attending

public/private school, I had already done the research to find out how to wave the

need to vaccinate when enrolling in school, so the fear of “catching” something

is not there. I believe that when you

decide to do “anything” regarding your children (vaccinations or not, home

schooling or not) it is necessary to research every aspect of every side and decide

what is best for you J Dawn

-----Original

Message-----

From: kari williams

[mailto:kdw909@...]

Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2001

10:03 AM

Vaccinations

Subject:

homeschooling

i find it interesting that many of those who choose not to

vaccinate are

also those who believe in homeschooling. why is that? to decrease exposure

to disease or totally unrelated? my teen daughters have been in both

private and public schools and really love it. (i am fortunate enough to

live in a very nice area with top rated schools...). they have made all

kinds of friends from all different backgrounds, have learned to work

cooperatively on group projects, spend lots of time on huge reports that

they then present back to the class... these seem like real-life skills

that they will need in the job market. what is the logic in denying them

those opportunities? also, they take very intense courses, trig, calculus,

neurology, foreign language... how are parents able to adequately teach

all of these courses? in their history class, they do mock trials that

they prepare an entire semester for, have very well-researched debates (go

to the law library at a local lawschool...) and etc. i am wondering how

parents can provide those experiences at home, and why they would even

want to. i know of many parents who homeschool that have no college

degree, one even has a GED... scary!!!!! also, peer relations are, IMO,

very important. how does one go off to college after being home with mama

for 18 years? ok, i am ready for very heated hate email. go for it.

~kari

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi Kari!

Thanks for asking. :->

For me, the decision not to vax is both spiritual and physical.

Regardless of one's view of the beginning of the Universe, mankind came

before doctors.

I started looking at home-schooling because the home-schooled

children I have known have without fail excelled at whatever they have

pursued in life, Be it law school or homemaking. They have a huge

capacity for learning and are incredibly flexible in their intellectual

*and* creative processes. As I began to investigate it, it occurred to

me that children don't particularly need to have good social skills

where it comes specifically to children. A human Being will ideally Be a

child for approximately ten years, a teenager for ten and an adult for

fifty or sixty or hopefully seventy years. Spending time with adults

will help them emulate adult behaviours (hopefully, depending upon the

adults), and done properly will at the same time not deprive them of the

opportunity to Be children. Children are natural learners and will

investigate anything given the opportunity, thereby learning to learn,

learning how to learn, learning the joy of learning. That's what school

is about. Teaching *things* is all well and good, but, judging by what's

happening in the majority of the current public school system, it's

failing. It's working in your community and mine because they have the

resources to offer a wide variety to the student, as does

home-schooling, but many school districts are not so fortunate and the

teaching of *things* is diverting valuable resources from the teaching

of intellectual and creative independence. I could go on, but I'm going

to AssUMe that you get the flavour of why my husband and I have made our

decision. :->

Be...

Peace.................................... :->

[Guest guest]

Kari.... I just have to reply because I used to wonder about these things

too. Vaccinations and homeschooling are unrelated. Some people don't want

to deal with schools pressuring them into vaccination but most do it

because they want a different quality of learning. You see schools feed

the children information that the government has decided children should

learn at a particular age. In MUCH research I have found that children

learn at their own pace. What is the sense of grades... basically grades

tell me how good a teacher is or how ready my child is to learn the

information. I think you are more worried about socialization though.

Believe it or not (and you definitely need to research this if you truly

wonder) homeschooled children are more socialized because they relate with

both adults and other children. Many homeschoolers have support and they

do many activities with other children. They are also involved in out of

school activities with the community, church, etc. What really does a

school prepare you for in the business world? To sit at a desk and wait to

be fed information. Homeschooled children learn to seek out information.

They learn to learn themselves. They learn to find what interests them and

experience it instead of looking at it through books. They learn to be

self sufficient. I must tell you ... I had top notch education in my early

years but they meant nothing when I started college and didn't know how to

study or to find information myself to better my knowledge. I will NOT let

my children be this helpless! I don't feel as though I am denying my

children opportunities, I feel like I am offering them far more than any

school could provide. How are non college mothers providing education for

their children.... Are you assuming because a person does not have a

college education and a piece of paper in their possession they do not know

anything or cannot learn? This is what you are telling me. Homeschooling

parents learn they know more than they think and learn to educate

themselves along with the kids. This is a wonderful growing experience.

They also have access to other who do have expertise in certain fields.

With the internet, museums, and resources today there is no excuse for

ignorance! It is a matter of looking and you can find it. You should know

this... look at your research on vaccinations...why do you look? How did

you obtain your knowledge? You wonder how parent provide experiences at

home... I wonder how teachers can possibly get children to retain

information that they cannot experience or are not interested or ready for.

Fact is they cannot and that is the reason for ritalin, and poor grades,

etc. I do think school settings can be beneficial and could serve the

purpose but my children will learn at their pace and never feel bad about

an F that they received. They will feel good about achieving to their

potential and will learn MUCH MORE than what the Government decided my

children should learn. And I don't care what grade a mother finished...

fact is, a mother know her child better than anyone else in the world. She

knows his/her ability and potential. I graduated from college but even if

I didn't, I would find a way to educate my children or help my children

educate themselves. I want quality learning in a various about of

subjects. We will learn as we go.

I send this all with love and by no means intend to put down your way of

parenting. I just want you to understand how I view my choice.

Blessings Be

Margaret White

kari williams

<kdw909@ Vaccinations

.com> cc:

Subject:

homeschooling

03/06/2001

01:02 PM

Please

respond to

Vaccinations

i find it interesting that many of those who choose not to vaccinate are

also those who believe in homeschooling. why is that? to decrease exposure

to disease or totally unrelated? my teen daughters have been in both

private and public schools and really love it. (i am fortunate enough to

live in a very nice area with top rated schools...). they have made all

kinds of friends from all different backgrounds, have learned to work

cooperatively on group projects, spend lots of time on huge reports that

they then present back to the class... these seem like real-life skills

that they will need in the job market. what is the logic in denying them

those opportunities? also, they take very intense courses, trig, calculus,

neurology, foreign language... how are parents able to adequately teach

all of these courses? in their history class, they do mock trials that

they prepare an entire semester for, have very well-researched debates (go

to the law library at a local lawschool...) and etc. i am wondering how

parents can provide those experiences at home, and why they would even

want to. i know of many parents who homeschool that have no college

degree, one even has a GED... scary!!!!! also, peer relations are, IMO,

very important. how does one go off to college after being home with mama

for 18 years? ok, i am ready for very heated hate email. go for it.

~kari

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

In light of what other have been saying about home schooling and how

social their children really are, I must ammend my previous reply on

the subject.

My husband was not around other children during his childhood. He is 8

years younger than his brother and sadly, was severely secluded, only

seeing his older brother before & after school (yes, older bro went to

public school) and older kids a few times a week. He really didn't have

any friends and that is pathetically sad. I was around other kids,

other adults during my home school years. I realize that my children

don't have to experience the same home schooling situation that my

husband or I did and that would be my intention -- to give my kids a

better experience than we had.

~

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Well, this message seemed rather judgemental. As

non-vaxing parents, we should be more aware that

different choices are right for different people. If

you want to really understand why people homeschool, I

suggest doing a little research or reading, start with

Holt's _How Children Fail_, or _Learning all the

Time_. After all, we are always discouraging people

from making decisions without all the information!

in OR

=====

" Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being

taught. "

--Winston Churchill

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I homeschool. I have 5 kids. I do not homeschool my children to avoid

dealing with vaccinations and all the stuff I hear many of my friends

and people on here dealing with. I actually wanted to homeschool before

I learned much on vaccinations.

My reasons for homeschooling are simple. My children learn better at

home. I am not going to send my kids who are all different to a school

where the are forced to conform to be like the 32 other children in the

class. They each learn differently and so I can bend and change project

to fit their learning style. I homeschool for my children's safety. My

kids living in CT have already been threw a knife threat that was kept

hush hush as much as it could be because it was a catholic school in a

snotty neighborhood that could not take bad press. I homeschool because

I enjoy watching my children learn and being there to see it much like I

was for their first step and their first word. I homeschool because I

believe my children will find their passion in life instead of being

part of herd mentality I often see in schools. I know not all schools

are this way.

Homeschoolers are able to do all the things you mentioned kids who go to

school do. My children are not old enough but my eldest already thinks

she would like to go to a city college to take some course when she is

old enough. Local groups get together to study things and there are more

opportunities for kids to share and learn together. In many ways I am

able to take my kids to a local museum to research something we are

studying and get one on one with a person who works at the museum and

get more background on things than a classroom would.

As for peer relations...I will just say my children have a very very

full schedule of activities with both homeschool friends and school

friends from the neighborhood to Kung-fu.

My last comment back to you is about a parents ability to teach. I think

there are some parents who should not homeschool. I have met a few. But

on the whole most parents are able to teach and if not they find someone

who can and either trade off with another parent or hire a tutor. I

really do not like your attitude on a High School Diploma. If you do a

little research you will find that many famous and very important people

were homeschooled (like Einstein for starts.) or dropped out of school.

I know people who got their h.s diploma and did years of college to

become a doctor and decided they were happier working for a trash

company. While that may not be what some people want for their kids it

is a shame this person had to go threw years of school and waste so much

money to find out he didn't want to be a doctor. I know people who

dropped out of high school , went to a trade school and doubled up on

classes and now own a piece of a business that is one of the top

companies in the US. See it depends on your outlook and what you want to

do with your life. And this is where i think homeschooling my kids will

give them the chance to find out what they want to do...weather it is

teach yoga, walk dogs, fly to the moon, find a cure for AIDS or be a

housewife no matter what I will be proud of them.

Mom to 5

Connecticut

[Guest guest]

I also have 5 children...how do you do it? Email me please. boldml@...

Laurie>Bucyrus,Ohiomother to (13),Donovan(8),Buck(4),Luke(3), and (1)----- Original Message -----

From: kalima

I homeschool. I have 5 kids.

[Guest guest]

ok, i can see your point(s) re: homeschooling. it certainly gives you a

lot of control over what your kids are exposed to... and yes, the

shootings/drugs at school are very real and very scary. i guess if you are

very educated in multiple subjects, and are not

emotionally/psychologically unbalanced in any way (don't laugh!! half of

my friends are!!!... maybe me, too!!!), and can somehow provide peer

relatinships... sounds like it could work. i just wonder why some of those

that complain that the public schools are full of uncredentialed teachers

(and are therefore substandard), think it is ok for them to teach their

own kids without a credential.

in light of the diseases, violence, drugs, sex, politically correct

thinking (i hope you don't mean as opposed to racially or gender biased

thinking...), i think i will keep my kids indoors forever! or at least

until they turn 21!!! no, i am not being sarcastic!!!!!

~kari

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

There are a lot of mixed reasons for homeschooling--one of the main reasons I am considering it (mine aren't school age yet) is the level of education. Not all schools deliver a level of education that is satisfactory and I feel may be better delivered by my husband, myself and the local homeschooling community. Second, there are often religious views involved. Many people don't care for the socialization public schools give. Also, I don't care for the politics children are caught up in and subjected to simply for being at the school. In addition, for people that seek alternative lifestyles, public school can be difficult for children that are "different."

I do not, however, discount the positive aspects. However, how often do you hear about a homeschooled child opening fire on his class?

As for college, just because your child doesn't attend public school doesn't mean the child is not getting the socialization or study skills they need to succeed in college or the world.

no hate mail...

adrienne

homeschooling

i find it interesting that many of those who choose not to vaccinate arealso those who believe in homeschooling. why is that? to decrease exposureto disease or totally unrelated? my teen daughters have been in bothprivate and public schools and really love it. (i am fortunate enough tolive in a very nice area with top rated schools...). they have made allkinds of friends from all different backgrounds, have learned to workcooperatively on group projects, spend lots of time on huge reports thatthey then present back to the class... these seem like real-life skillsthat they will need in the job market. what is the logic in denying themthose opportunities? also, they take very intense courses, trig, calculus,neurology, foreign language... how are parents able to adequately teachall of these courses? in their history class, they do mock trials thatthey prepare an entire semester for, have very well-researched debates (goto the law library at a local lawschool...) and etc. i am wondering howparents can provide those experiences at home, and why they would evenwant to. i know of many parents who homeschool that have no collegedegree, one even has a GED... scary!!!!! also, peer relations are, IMO,very important. how does one go off to college after being home with mamafor 18 years? ok, i am ready for very heated hate email. go for it.~kari__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I missed the original post on this, but I thought this was a great reply.

I think a lot of people make snap judgements about home schooling without

really knowing anything about it... similar to not vaccinating. Public

schooling is, like vaccinations, relatively new and it seems with more

and more instances like in CA yesterday, and just generally poor performaces

of todays students, it (and mass vaccination) is a failed experiment.

S.

Steve & Tami wrote:

>i find it interesting that many of those who

choose not to vaccinate are

>also those who believe in homeschooling. why is that? to decrease

exposure

>to disease or totally unrelated?

unrelated. part of the reason i plan to homeschool though

is because i

don't want to mess with exemption hassles. if my kids want

to go to public

school when they're older, like jr high age, that may be doable.

but for

these early years, they'll be at home.

--

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone

else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a

quotation.

- Wilde

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Guest guest]

I hope I didn't offend. In your post you made it sound like there was no

need to sugar coat. I am glad you have a school system you like and I am

glad that it is working for you. Ahhh, if we all actually could choose

from a variety of schooling options that would work best wih our

children. But alas, for many, home schooling is the only exceptable

option

In your second post you made a comment about if teacher can't teach how

can parents. Most of what teachers are doing is crowd management,

dealing with disapline issues, trying to get a bunch of individules to

learn at a standardized pace, dealing with kids who are sleepy, hungry,

cranky, uncared for, hyper, depressed, " gifted " ,not fitting the class

mold etc... Very little of my teachers time was actually spent teachimg.

Most teachers are just reading from a well worded script in thier

teachers manual. I used to teach in a public school classroom and I

don't have any sort of college degree. You never really know who is

teachng your kids anyway. I am also a firm believer in children teaching

themselves when they know how to learn.

Back to the socialization thing. Most of the kids I knew who were

homeschooled had better social skills than I did. They were free from

the competition to look the best, say the right things, or hang out with

the best crowd. They were comfortable with people of all ages. I was at

the bottom of my social totum pole and was insecure around my peers,

thought underclassmen were beneath me and deathly afraid of interacting

with adults.

I also forgot to mention that homeschooled children also do a lot of

apprenticeships. Real world sruff (resume stuff) that there trad.

schooled friends don't have time for.

________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Ok, look....

If you don't know about a subject, you are bound to picture it incorrectly most of the time aren't you?!

Sheesh the girl was only asking for input....

It has sparked interest in me on this subject now,so, the girl did good!

Sue, mum to Ruby(21 months)

Wales, U.K.

[Guest guest]

I'm not sure if you're responding to me since the post is completely snipped

off, but if you are you've taken much more offense than I intended. You're

right, you are bound to make incorrect assumptions if you don't know about

the subject you are speaking about - that was my point. Many people don't

know anything about homeschooling, but rarely do they simply ask what makes

it so attractive to those who do it - they ask thing like why would you

deny your child [insert misconception]?

I'm not trying to beat a dead horse here and I know the original poster

has apologized.... just trying to make my point clear. This is something

probably all of us have done, but should really do less of.

S.

suziesparkle wrote:

Ok,

look....If

you don't know about a subject, you are bound to picture it incorrectly

most of the time aren't you?!Sheesh

the girl was only asking for input....It

has sparked interest in me on this subject now,so, the girl did good!

--

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone

else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a

quotation.

- Wilde

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Guest guest]

> Dear Kari,

I am the mom of a 19 year old and a 2 year old. I have a degree in

Elementary Education. I am the granddaughter of a teacher, the

daughter of two teachers and the sister of a teacher.

I homeschooled my first daughter. From the time of seventh grade to

high school she refused to do any formal school work...and to be

honest I was a bit concerned. She did not seem to be a motivated

student. She however had a strong desire to learn everything she

could about computers...fixing and programing especially. I know very

little about computers and she taught herself.

She is now in college going for her AA degree in Telecommunications

and has maintained a B average.

She has been helping many of her classmates learn stuff she learned

on her own.

Traditional school may be great for some kids but homeschooling can

be wonderful too.

Anjin

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to apologize for my tone in my response to this thread. I was

already riled up on an unrelated matter and it crept over into this. Sorry!

[Guest guest]

This may be just my opinion, but it also includes the beliefs of my parents who

I think did a wonderful job raising me and my sister.

If you choose to homeschool your child simply for the reason that they are being

bullied, you are only prolonging the inevitable which is there are bullies in

this world and they are at any age and in every city. I'm sure most individuals

on this list who went to public school (myself included) had to deal with a

bully or two throughout school. I think it is imperative that children learn to

defend themselves at a young age (I'm not talking violence). Speaking for

themselves and standing up for themselves. My Mom always told me (when I was

nervouse to stand up for myself), " What's the worse that could happen?? " ...and

all I could ever think up was.. " Getting punched or thrown in a trash can " . So

my Mom would say, " Well there you go, and that probably won't even happen

anyways " .

If kids don't learn to defend themselves when they are young, then who is going

to defend them when they are in the working world and there is a bully in the

office. Are they gonna bring their Mom or Dad in to stand up for them. Or

better yet, why not work from home, then you won't have to interface with anyone

at all (I know I know, I'm being sarcastic)

I just don't think Homeschooling gives children the ability to interact, ON A

DAILY BASIS, with people. I don't think it allows them to be independent (i.e.

standing in line to get cafeteria food, having their own locker)

Hope my opinion helps some people...if not, then at least I hope it doesn't

offend anyone.

[Guest guest]

I was homeschooled, not because of dwarfism, but

because of my father's career, he wanted the family to

travel with him.

Homeschooling can be great IF it is done for the right

reasons (and that is your call) and with a quality

program. Check out www.calvertschool.org. This is

the school my parents chose 30+ years ago for me.

Calvert has been doing homeschooling for over 100

years (it's not just some kooks in a basement who

decided to write a math book).

If I had the option to stay home with my son, he would

be in Calvert today.

Feel free to contact me off list.

--- no name <witchywoman30@...> wrote:

> i was just wanted to see what most people thought

> about homeschooling

> kids?my son is 9yrs old and gets picked on really

> bad in school.the school

> won't doing anything to help me with this problem.so

> i was thinking about

> homeschooling.thanks jennifer

>

>

_________________________________________________________________

> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at

> http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Dear

I complete agree with you!!! I have 2 children daughter 10 years grade 5

(normal) and my son 7 years a dwarf with SED with a big hunchback and big

(borskas??) sorry for the Afrikaans

(operate twice with no success, difficulty with lungs get sick quickly

especially in winter with the flues going around then his most of the time

on anti bio tics, any advise? I'll appreciated it) .

One day my son comes home and was in a bad mood the whole afternoon,

(I phone them in the afternoon they go home after school or to after school

nursery work till

5 o'clock so I see my children 5h30pm, single parent)

then I toke him one side and talk to him, the tears start rolling over his

face, he told me " Mommy I don't want to be a dwarf anymore!! " at that moment

I was so upset but try to stay calm because I know that there were teasing

going on at school. So it toke me about an half an hour to let him see the

light. There are a lot of bullies in the world they bullies fat children,

children with glasses, with hearing problems, to fat to thin you'll find

them any where and when I use that example he felt better and he realize he

may be a dwarf in a normal school, but other children also get hurt for ec

fat, thin, teeth etc. I don't believe in home schooling your child can

communicate and in adult live????

I would love to hear from any one, or please if you can give me advise to

handle the more bad situations and as they get older. To all you Toronto

guys lucky for you to be so privled to have such an organization in your

countries and world wide in SA is nothing! I wish I could take my son and

show him there are more than one of his kind on the earth.

Kind greetings

from SA

Ilse Barnard

ilseb@...

Re: Homeschooling

This may be just my opinion, but it also includes the beliefs of my parents

who I think did a wonderful job raising me and my sister.

If you choose to homeschool your child simply for the reason that they are

being bullied, you are only prolonging the inevitable which is there are

bullies in this world and they are at any age and in every city. I'm sure

most individuals on this list who went to public school (myself included)

had to deal with a bully or two throughout school. I think it is imperative

that children learn to defend themselves at a young age (I'm not talking

violence). Speaking for themselves and standing up for themselves. My Mom

always told me (when I was nervouse to stand up for myself), " What's the

worse that could happen?? " ...and all I could ever think up was.. " Getting

punched or thrown in a trash can " . So my Mom would say, " Well there you go,

and that probably won't even happen anyways " .

If kids don't learn to defend themselves when they are young, then who is

going to defend them when they are in the working world and there is a bully

in the office. Are they gonna bring their Mom or Dad in to stand up for

them. Or better yet, why not work from home, then you won't have to

interface with anyone at all (I know I know, I'm being sarcastic)

I just don't think Homeschooling gives children the ability to interact, ON

A DAILY BASIS, with people. I don't think it allows them to be independent

(i.e. standing in line to get cafeteria food, having their own locker)

Hope my opinion helps some people...if not, then at least I hope it doesn't

offend anyone.

Looking to unsubscribe? Don't e-mail the list! Just send a blank e-mail to

dwarfism-unsubscribe

[Guest guest]

I understand your concern and where you are coming from. I do agree

with the child learning to defend themselves.

But I Disagree Greatly with your other comment about Not being around

people on a daily basis. Yes it depends on the situations, family,

where you live, etc.

But When you go to school you hear teachers say, " this is not the

time to talk, you are here to learn not socialize. "

Now, when I was homeschooled I was around people daily, and out in

the community. I was not treated as a hermit as some people think

home-schooling as. A lot of kids who are home-schooled tend to be

smarter, better behaved, and more socialable, Follow directions

better, get one on one attention, than those who go to public

school...not all...but the ones I know.

I had to do volunteer work being home-schooled. I worked at the town

library, on the board of directors for a teen center, AND I worked in

the special Education Dept. at the high schoool. My brother was home-

schooled, but he went to college (age 13) and volunteered at the

Planetariam. My little sister is homeschooled and she takes lessons

at a very good Music school. She takes Violin, viola, Piano, voice,

she dances, and does school work at home.

We also have the choice of public school or homeschooling. All three

of us were greatly, and still are involved in community theatre.

WE also while being home-schooled, we went to the public school for

Art, Music, Gym, etc.

You cannot tell me that we didn't interact with people on a daily

basis!! This day and age MORE and MORE parents are home-schooling.

There are too much Violence, drugs, sex, and so on in

school...especially in the bigger cities. and the small ones where

there's nothing to do.

I understand your concern about home-schooling, Some parents do make

it seem like a private in home all the time type of schooling...but

MOST do NOT.

a

>

> If kids don't learn to defend themselves when they are young, then

who is going to defend them when they are in the working world and

there is a bully in the office. Are they gonna bring their Mom or

Dad in to stand up for them. Or better yet, why not work from home,

then you won't have to interface with anyone at all (I know I know,

I'm being sarcastic)

>

> I just don't think Homeschooling gives children the ability to

interact, ON A DAILY BASIS, with people. I don't think it allows

them to be independent (i.e. standing in line to get cafeteria food,

having their own locker)

>

> Hope my opinion helps some people...if not, then at least I hope it

doesn't offend anyone.

>

>

[Guest guest]

I agree with ~ it's really best to embrace what they are teasing you

about~ takes all the fun out of it! For example, I will go out on a huge

limb here and admit to all of you that my maiden name is Hogstrom. Can you

imagine the flak I got?

Then one day, a friend of mine gave me the nickname Hogue! That's who I've

been for a long time now, and I also have a collection of pigs!

So, embrace it, and make it your own, whatever it may be!

BTW, when my daughter was in 4th grade they were lined up for something

according to height. Of course, Amy was dead last, and the kid next to her

was saying stuff like, " Ha, ha, you're last! Why are you so short? " and she

came right back with, " I'm a dwarf, and I'm supposed to be short! You're

next shortest, what's YOUR excuse? " Shut him up in a hurry....

(unknown)

> >

> >i was just wanted to see what most people thought about homeschooling

> >kids?my son is 9yrs old and gets picked on really bad in school.the

school

> >won't doing anything to help me with this problem.so i was thinking about

> >homeschooling.thanks jennifer

> >

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[Guest guest]

We homeschooled our daughters from 1st - 12 th grade - they both

attended a private Christian school for the 2 years before that - I

attended a public school --- all of us are LP.

Our reason for homeschooling was solely because of our religious

convictions. The fact that the girls were LP was not an influencing

factor.

But......... homeschooling has GREAT benefits to the LP. Everything is

already 'adapted' at home, no IEPs to contend with, fair competion

without adaptations, much more comfortable - physically - in your own

home with your own furniture, etc and you don't have to lug a book bag

around or sit in uncomfortable desks, walk long halls, etc. You don't

have to play the sports that you will always lose at - you can

participate in the ones that you can do and can do well - swimming,

bicycling, golf, etc.

When you have surgery or other causes for being absent you can make up

those days another time without getting behind or being pushed to make

up the work. You can do your work in smaller increments if you need to

because your hands are tired or you are hurting - you can work some,

take a break, work some, take a break - whatever you need without

affecting a whole class. You can go at your own pace - going faster

through the stuff you know or that comes easy to you and take your time

with the harder subjects so you can understand it and not just rushed on

to the next chapter before you comprehend the material.

As for socializing, and 'needing' to fight for yourself and 'be in the

real world' - these are totally nonesense for the most part. Unless

you are confining your child inside the home 24 hrs a day you have

nothing to worry about. There are a multitude of opportunities daily to

socialize --- with your family, friends, neighbors, at church, clubs

(scouts, sports, etc), classes (music, dance, foreign language, art)

homeschool group activities, field trips, etc. If you do any reasearch

at all on homeschoolers you will find that this 'socialization' issue is

nothing but a myth. Think about this for a minute - when in life in

'the real world' will you be grouped according to age other than the

school years? Will you hold a job with only other 30 yr olds? School

socialization is pretty limited to your age group. Real life

socialization exposes you to all ages infants to elderly. Studies have

shown that homeschoolers get along with all age groups better than the

public schooled child who tends to stick to his age group and has a

harder time socializing with younger children and/or adults.

As for a LP - it is much easier to deal with the teasing and stares and

bullying as it comes along in daily living - a little at time ---- than

it is to be thrown into it for 8 hours a day with no reprieve. You are

there for your child with love, understanding, support, wisdom and

advice to help them learn to deal with these situations. The comfort

and security of home and family does alot to build the self esteem/self

worth of a child.

And this idea that a child has to learn this now ---where does that

come from?? Who says a child HAS to be tormented and tortured daily by

his classmates or anyone else just so he can learn to 'fight his own

battles' 'stand on his own two feet'? These are our children! Our job

is to protect them. We wouldn't let someone come into our home and

treat our child this way yet we send them out into the " real world " to

this abuse. What is wrong with this picture? We can let a child play

in the middle of the highway and after getting hit by a car he would

probably learn that he should not play in the road but do we do that??

NO!! Why? Because we are there to protect our child - we can teach this

child to not play in the road and why without them having to experience

the pain of being run over. There are many ways to teach life's lessons

without having to live through them all. Believe me a child has his

whole life to learn those lessons so it doesn't have to be in those 12

years of school.

As for the woman whose son is being bullied -- there is no way that I

would allow my child to be abused the way your child is being abused.

You are right to be concerned. Yes, you should contact the school

administration but as a parent you have a right to protect your child

until something is done. You do not have to sit back and wait for

things to improve = your child is the one suffering and you will have no

idea what kind of lasting effects this could have on him.

My daughters are " in the real world " every day ... they work, they go to

college, they attend church, they go and do pretty much what they want

to do. They feel good about themselves, they know how to stand up for

themselves and they do it - sometimes nicely, sometimes not so nice.

They are NOT overprotected or sheltered.

Many people giving advice about homeschooling have `little or no first

hand knowledge of the subject. They are trying to help but simply do

not have all the facts. Colleges are giving special scholarships to

homeschoolers these days because they have earned an excellent

reputation both academically and socially. Every state in the country

allows homeschooling now. And yes, I know that homeschooling is not for

everyone but it is definitely an option to look into. Don't be scared

away by well-meaning folks giving inaccurate information. Check it out

for yourself - look at the research - talk to homeschooling families

yourself = I think you will be surprised.

The Teaching Home magazine, Home School Legal Defense Association

and Rutherford Institute are excellent sources for information and for

the research study results.

Reba

[Guest guest]

Watching this discussion for a couple of days made me wonder if this

has been the topic of a panel discussion at a national conference.

Experts from both sides can be invited to present their point of view

and perhaps some of the data backing up each side can be presented.

It's never to early to start planning for next year.

[Guest guest]

> Experts from both sides can be invited to present their point of view

> and perhaps some of the data backing up each side can be presented.

All one need do is look at the track record of the public school,and while

you are doing that, harken back to your own childhood recallections.

My rule of thumb is'never let anyone care for your child that you would not

trust to borrow your car for an extended period of time'.

What is more,I know countless ps graduates ,who even after all that

socialization,can't hold a job.

Jill

Re: homeschooling

> Watching this discussion for a couple of days made me wonder if this

> has been the topic of a panel discussion at a national conference.

> Experts from both sides can be invited to present their point of view

> and perhaps some of the data backing up each side can be presented.

> It's never to early to start planning for next year.

>

>

>

>

> Looking to unsubscribe? Don't e-mail the list! Just send a blank e-mail to

dwarfism-unsubscribe

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandi,

is on Home bound schooling. I believe I told you that. I like the

program and its more of a 1 on 1 teaching. I was worried about the socializing

but is doing well. If you would like more info please let me know.

There is a difference between homeschooling and homebound schooling.

Robbin