Homeschooling - yay or nay?

[voxxpopulisuxx]

My wife home schooled our oldest 3 (of 5) up till about 8th grade with support from me ( I have to work constantly) and I had the philosophy of only doing it till I was sure they could read very good if not excellent. The problem as I saw it with a NON inner city public school (I make the distinction because an inner city school is nothing but a glorified prison and any parent who sends their kids there if they have any possibility of an option is insane) is not necessarily the immorality and anti religious curriculum although of course they are bad...it is the attitude that public school is somehow some kind of necessity. When my kids finally got to go to public school they entered already being self learners.... independent thinkers  and with the knowledge that mom and dad didn't assume the public school teachers and faculty's were always right. My kids know that the system is there FOR THEM to take advantage of...not the other way around. The world is a wicked place...and I feel the best way to educate kids is to teach them to read at advanced levels.....and show them how to eat the chicken and spit out the bones. We live in a moral warzone...and to keep our souls alive we have to learn to scavenge and take whatever good weaponry and facilitys the enemy leaves lying around and put them to good use...like little moral Rambos running around in the woods of a corrupt town. Homeschooling taught my kids this...it taught them that the world and its BS is not the whole story...you do NOT have to jump thru the systems hoops....make the system JUMP THRU YOURS. My youngest 2 have never been home schooled but they understand from their older siblings that they are not trapped in a system but are the beneficiary of a great resource. So I think all folks should at least homeschool their little ones till they learn to read at a high school level (which is easily accomplished before teenhood)

[Theophilus]

Since the goal of public (government) education is to make people dumb

More homeschool propaganda. While we were homeschooling, my kids got a little behind in some subjects, because it was very difficult keeping up with 3 different grade levels, a toddler, and a baby. Now that my kids are back in school, they have caught up and surpassed of all the homeschooled kids we know from church. I'm not basing this on just knowing a few homeschooled kids-- we know many of them.
When your kids are consistently ahead of different homeschooled families, you have to start to wonder about how much gets done at home. And I don't want to say anything bad about the parents, I think it's nearly impossible to keep up with a bunch of different grade levels, toddlers running around, and babies, PLUS having to keep things clean, cook meals, and all that other stuff. There are only so many hours in the day 

I'll admit that homeschooling is not for everyone.  It's great that you gave it a shot. 
The deliberate Dumbing Down of America
http://www.deliberatedumbingdown.com/MomsPDFs/DDDoA.sml.pdf
was written by Charlotte Iserbyt was a senior policy advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) of the U.S. Department of Education during President Ronald Reagan's first term of office. OERI was, and is, the office from which all the controversial national and international educational restructuring has emanated.  She was repeatedly blocked from trying to stop the social reconstructism that was being put into place.  I would hardly call it "homeschool propaganda", more like "Confessions of the US Dept. of Educ." 

John Dewey, the "father of modern education" had this to say:

"Thus, from Dewey's point of view, the school's primary commitment to literacy was
indeed the key to the whole problem. In 1898, Dewey wrote an essay, "The Primary-Education
Fetish," in which he explained exactly what he meant:

There is... a false education god whose idolators are legion, and whose cult influences the
entire educational system. This is language study—the study not of foreign language, but of
English; not in higher, but in primary education. It is almost an unquestioned assumption,
of educational theory and practice both, that the first three years of a child's school life
shall be mainly taken up with learning to read and write his own language. If we add to
this the learning of a certain amount of numerical combinations, we have the pivot about
which primary education swings.... It does not follow, however, that conditions—social,
industrial and intellectual—have undergone such a radical change, that the time has come
for a thoroughgoing examination of the emphasis put upon linguistic work in elementary
instruction.... The plea for the predominance of learning to read in early school life because
of the great importance attaching to literature seems to me a perversion."

--So John Dewey, the father of modern education says that teaching kids to read "plea for the predominance of learning to read in early school life because of the great importance attaching to literature seems to me a perversion" and do math "add to this the learning of a certain amount of numerical combinations" is a perversion.

Samuel Blumenfeld has written extensively on the replacement of phonics with whole word-look say reading.  It trains students to depend upon the teacher for the meaning of words instead of "Sounding it out". It progresses to the student being dependent upon the teacher for the "truth" concerning everything and of course they will get the politically correct answer. 
http://www.thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/4731-pavlovs-dogs-and-american-education?Itemid=651
http://www.thenewamerican.com/component/k2/item/10684-government-education-enemy-of-a-free-society?Itemid=660

When I was in college studying to teach (I changed majors) we were told that the classroom is the place where social reconstruction happens.  Changing society through the classroom.  What are we changing to?

[voxxpopulisuxx]

I knew and spoke with sam blumenfield when we had our first child. He was highly influential on our decision. Although I had an Idea for cyberschools well before the mainstream and I only wish I had pursued it..but Sam poo pooed the idea...I always held some bitterness about that...(wrongly of course, because I didnt have to take his opinion) but ultimately he made the case that reading was and should be the ONLY goal of early education....it is the tool with which one can expand on all other learning. At the time 21 years ago the public schools were causing reading problems in the states with nonsensical "look see" reading.( dyslexia being diagnosed when the kids began to fail horribly to learn using this nonsense fad...when in fact it was poor reading curriculum)...Sam pushed phonics...and phonics is now restored largely because of his work then and Concerned Women for America and others.....homeschoolers are owed a great debt for restoring some standards to Public education by causing there to be competition. So if you have decided not to homeschool it is only because public schools were made academically better by their political and societal influence....so dont be talking smack about homeschool propaganda.

[jovan66102]

My kids ended up with a complete mix, Catholic schools, public schools and homeschooling depending on circumstances at any given time. If I had it to do over they would never set foot in a public school. Why? Because there is little doubt in my mind that public schools (at least those I've been familiar with both in the States and Canada) teach the non-Catholic religion of atheistic secular humanism. At least in the US this religion has been recognised by SCOTUS in the case of US v. Seeger in which an atheist, who claimed to be a Quaker, was exempted from the draft despite his not believing in God. It was determined that he still could claim 'religion' as the basis of his refusal to serve.

And if this is true, Canon 1366 kicks in:

Parents or those who take the place of parents who hand offer their children to be baptized or educated in a non Catholic religion are to be punished with a censure or other just penalty.

[Theophilus]

My kids ended up with a complete mix, Catholic schools, public schools and homeschooling depending on circumstances at any given time. If I had it to do over they would never set foot in a public school. Why? Because there is little doubt in my mind that public schools (at least those I've been familiar with both in the States and Canada) teach the non-Catholic religion of atheistic secular humanism. At least in the US this religion has been recognised by SCOTUS in the case of US v. Seeger in which an atheist, who claimed to be a Quaker, was exempted from the draft despite his not believing in God. It was determined that he still could claim 'religion' as the basis of his refusal to serve.

And if this is true, Canon 1366 kicks in:

Parents or those who take the place of parents who hand offer their children to be baptized or educated in a non Catholic religion are to be punished with a censure or other just penalty.

What is SCOTUS?

[jovan66102]

What is SCOTUS?

Supreme Court of the United States.

[trentcath]

I'm gonna be honest I mocked home schooling when I was younger (God forgive me) but really its the way to go, avoiding all the heresy and disgusting sexual immorality taught and spread, even by kids, in these schools.

[voxxpopulisuxx]

I'm gonna be honest I mocked home schooling when I was younger (God forgive me) but really its the way to go, avoiding all the heresy and disgusting sexual immorality taught and spread, even by kids, in these schools.

I actually think its all about foundations...no child should be put in the public system until at least 12. and when going in they should be above proficient readers, have been to church regularly, fear doing moral wrongs, understand that the school is there for THEIR use and benefit, not the schools, that all teachers answer to THEIR parents, that their word is more trusted then the teachers unless shown otherwise. I think our kids will need how to handle the forces of evil out there...sooner or later they will be in the thick of it. BTW all the above assumes the public school in question is a good clean safe and well regarded school in the first place...inner city schools are death-camps for innocence and bright natures...barely any kid goes to those schools and comes out upright. IMO

[trentcath]

I'm gonna be honest I mocked home schooling when I was younger (God forgive me) but really its the way to go, avoiding all the heresy and disgusting sexual immorality taught and spread, even by kids, in these schools.

I actually think its all about foundations...no child should be put in the public system until at least 12. and when going in they should be above proficient readers, have been to church regularly, fear doing moral wrongs, understand that the school is there for THEIR use and benefit, not the schools, that all teachers answer to THEIR parents, that their word is more trusted then the teachers unless shown otherwise. I think our kids will need how to handle the forces of evil out there...sooner or later they will be in the thick of it. BTW all the above assumes the public school in question is a good clean safe and well regarded school in the first place...inner city schools are death-camps for innocence and bright natures...barely any kid goes to those schools and comes out upright. IMO

Pretty much the whole school system here in the UK is depraved.

[voxxpopulisuxx]

I'm gonna be honest I mocked home schooling when I was younger (God forgive me) but really its the way to go, avoiding all the heresy and disgusting sexual immorality taught and spread, even by kids, in these schools.

I actually think its all about foundations...no child should be put in the public system until at least 12. and when going in they should be above proficient readers, have been to church regularly, fear doing moral wrongs, understand that the school is there for THEIR use and benefit, not the schools, that all teachers answer to THEIR parents, that their word is more trusted then the teachers unless shown otherwise. I think our kids will need how to handle the forces of evil out there...sooner or later they will be in the thick of it. BTW all the above assumes the public school in question is a good clean safe and well regarded school in the first place...inner city schools are death-camps for innocence and bright natures...barely any kid goes to those schools and comes out upright. IMO

Pretty much the whole school system here in the UK is depraved.

Yeah sorry I was speaking of the States...have no clue about over there...are you allowed to Home school in England?

[trentcath]

I'm gonna be honest I mocked home schooling when I was younger (God forgive me) but really its the way to go, avoiding all the heresy and disgusting sexual immorality taught and spread, even by kids, in these schools.

I actually think its all about foundations...no child should be put in the public system until at least 12. and when going in they should be above proficient readers, have been to church regularly, fear doing moral wrongs, understand that the school is there for THEIR use and benefit, not the schools, that all teachers answer to THEIR parents, that their word is more trusted then the teachers unless shown otherwise. I think our kids will need how to handle the forces of evil out there...sooner or later they will be in the thick of it. BTW all the above assumes the public school in question is a good clean safe and well regarded school in the first place...inner city schools are death-camps for innocence and bright natures...barely any kid goes to those schools and comes out upright. IMO

Pretty much the whole school system here in the UK is depraved.

Yeah sorry I was speaking of the States...have no clue about over there...are you allowed to Home school in England?

I think so but maybe you need inspections or something? Not entirely sure to be honest.

[stitchmom]

Yes, not only would we homeschool, but we do homeschool.  3 of our 5.75 kids are  We also have a homeschool learning center in town where we can take our kids for subjects that are more difficult to do in the home (woodworking, lab sciences, foreign languages, etc.).

That sounds awesome!  Where do you live?

Omaha, NE.  We have an awesome homeschooling community here, and I'd say that at least 95% of the kids in our parish homeschool.  The learning center I referred to is unfortunately not Catholic, but since we teach religion at home anyway, it doesn't affect us.  My wife actually taught a sign language class there for a couple semesters and was able to get our kids in to some of the other classes for free.

My wife also started a Friday morning preschool for families from our church, and we get at least 3-4 families a week with young kids.  We're definitely blessed to live in this area, and I'd recommend it to any traditional Catholic wanting to raise a family.

For those without children if you have a hobby or skill think about voluntarily offering a class to your local homeschool group. You don't need to be a professional just be able to get the children started. It's very rewarding! Sept, October, Jan & Feb seem to be the best months to offer things. The holidays are crazy and spring is usually outdoor sports time.

This past winter I did a craft class. Hobby Lobby allowed their classroom to be used without charge. I was able to get supplies donated from a few different companies and grandmothers with stashes. I've personally spent about $25 on supplies so far but that is nothing for 4 classes with six kids. I pay $5 a class for his art class and every kid there pays the same. 

[Greg]

Voted no.  Don't do it, never wanted to do it.

State schools where I live are good and the curriculum not corrupt enough that I cannot compensate for it.

[PatrickG]

I voted 'no' as  I'm not married, but if I should have sons I'll send them to the public school in Kent run by the SSPX, I'll send any daughters to one of the Society's schools in France. For those who can't afford a public school education, don't have a traditional school etc, homeschooling is laudable.

Pretty much the whole school system here in the UK is depraved.

Oh yes. I don't know if it is better or worse than the American (I expect the states in the American South are better, in the American North and in California far worse) but I received a ''respectable'' British education and the state of the better schools is appalling, especially amongst the children. I cannot say anything about the rougher ones, but the depravity talked about from boy to boy is disgusting, the way young ladies' names are bandied about (and girls encourage this sort of thing - modesty is barely ever seen). I was excused 'sex education' (that is, state-sponsored pornography), for which I am most thankful. Apparently, pamphlets favouring sodomy are presently being printed in the wake of the 'gay' marriage bill.

PS: Yes you are, I think. I knew someone who was home-schooled, very much the better for it, but I don't know how difficult it is. I'd suggest St. Michael's, I've only ever heard good things about it, but I'm sure there are Catholic homeschooling groups in England.

[trentcath]

I voted 'no' as  I'm not married, but if I should have sons I'll send them to the public school in Kent run by the SSPX, I'll send any daughters to one of the Society's schools in France. For those who can't afford a public school education, don't have a traditional school etc, homeschooling is laudable.

Pretty much the whole school system here in the UK is depraved.

Oh yes. I don't know if it is better or worse than the American (I expect the states in the American South are better, in the American North and in California far worse) but I received a ''respectable'' British education and the state of the better schools is appalling, especially amongst the children. I cannot say anything about the rougher ones, but the depravity talked about from boy to boy is disgusting, the way young ladies' names are bandied about (and girls encourage this sort of thing - modesty is barely ever seen). I was excused 'sex education' (that is, state-sponsored pornography), for which I am most thankful. Apparently, pamphlets favouring sodomy are presently being printed in the wake of the 'gay' marriage bill.

PS: Yes you are, I think. I knew someone who was home-schooled, very much the better for it, but I don't know how difficult it is. I'd suggest St. Michael's, I've only ever heard good things about it, but I'm sure there are Catholic homeschooling groups in England.

I totally agree and yes I believe there are some.