A Homeschoolers Realizations about College...

[Gil]

I'm sorry if I came across as smug that was not my intent. What I'm trying to say is that in I believe  my state pubic education is broken. I did not say all 50 states.

However I find it incredibly infuriating when some people, not all make assumptions about homeschoolers. I did not say all public schools are bad but where I live many are. I have public school friends who get great grades and are socially adjusted but the stories I hear about the places where they attend school and my own research has caused me to believe my state's system is not working

As to my illness I stopped the meds that made me sick. There are other reasons I'm attending CC but I can assure you my parents forbidding me to go elsewhere is not one of them.

All I'm trying to say is that homeschooling is a viable education method with a few crazy people that misrepresent us. Public school is not bad but in my state I believe it needs reform. Again I'm Sorry I can get a bit

Carried away when it comes to homeschooling but when you have to defend your education choices constantly and answer the same questions over and over it can be frustrating.

I'm glad to hear your medication routine is being figured out -- really. Having bad symptoms from medication on top of an illness is really pretty terrible. I hope it's going well and I'm not trying to be an asshole about that.

I do have to point out, though, that you're defending homeschooling based on your personal experience, and that experience sounds like you're saying that you're so much better than your peers at community college. However, you're doing this while also stating that you needed to take a remedial course and making significant grammatical mistakes in your posts.

Homeschooling is not "better" than public school or private school. I've done a lot of public school and a little private school on scholarship, and I think homeschooling can be very valid with a parent who knows what they're doing. However, different things work for different students. I don't see why there's a need to put one system over the other, and I certainly don't see a need to put down those at community college as being beneath you.

If a "participation trophy" mentality plagues public school students, then a superiority complex plagues homeschool students, and I don't think that it's typically justified. Bloggers like Zsu write about their kids putting down others for going to public school; I think this is sort of the same thing grown up.

[Hane]

I think it's difficult to gauge the state of public education because there is such disparity in this country. Yes, there are horrible public schools, horrible colleges. However, the United States also have some of the finest schools in the world. It's the reason people from all over the globe come here to study. We churn out students that cannot string a sentence and students who have won research grants before they can drive. Is it any wonder we have such diverging examples?

I don't doubt that all the experiences shared on this thread is real. This means there are areas where public education is not "broken", and areas where it is. I don't need to watch a documentary about our broken system to know that we have horrible schools. But I also don't believe it when people say the entire system was rotten....because I've seen it work for me and for many of my friends.

In the homeschool world, some people have a great education, others have a Duggar education. Ditto for public school students. As a public school student, I could just as easily point to the Duggars and feel smug about my "superior" education. I took biochemistry and calculus and wrote college level papers in high school. The Duggars and Maxwells of the homeschooling world are barely literate and probably never touched a real science textbook.

I think it does everyone a disservice when we look at the lowest common denominator and assume that is representative of all public schoolers. I don't look at the Duggars and think that's representative of all homeschoolers. What society should focus on ferreting out lousy schools---be it homeschoolers who won't teach or public schools that fail----and removing students from them.

(bolding mine) What YPestis said. :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Witsec5]

I agree with the comment that too many people are self-diagnosing ADD/autism. There is no such thing as "mild autism". Yet, the spectrum for ADD and autism just keeps getting wider and wider. Diagnoses become less meaningful when they are part of our everyday vocabulary, "I'm so ADD!" At some point we have to admit that all people with social skills deficits are not autistic and all people who have difficulty focusing are not necessarily ADD. Oftentimes the label doesn't matter because interventions for people with autism and ADD often help people who have features of these disorders. I worry that services for people with autism are going to be so diluted that the people who need support services may not get them. The DSM-IV will have changes with regard to the autism diagnosis in particular. Just MHO and back to the discussion about homeschooling...

[Peas n carrots]

I'm sorry if I came across as smug that was not my intent. What I'm trying to say is that in I believe  my state pubic education is broken. I did not say all 50 states.

However I find it incredibly infuriating when some people, not all make assumptions about homeschoolers. I did not say all public schools are bad but where I live many are. I have public school friends who get great grades and are socially adjusted but the stories I hear about the places where they attend school and my own research has caused me to believe my state's system is not working

As to my illness I stopped the meds that made me sick. There are other reasons I'm attending CC but I can assure you my parents forbidding me to go elsewhere is not one of them.

All I'm trying to say is that homeschooling is a viable education method with a few crazy people that misrepresent us. Public school is not bad but in my state I believe it needs reform. Again I'm Sorry I can get a bit

Carried away when it comes to homeschooling but when you have to defend your education choices constantly and answer the same questions over and over it can be frustrating.

Yes, your state may have a problem. Issue being, American public schools are all locally supported with property taxes and with some federal tax dollars. For example, if you live in a poor rural area you will more than likely have a poorer education than if you lived in a well to do suburb of say, Chicago (I'm thinking New Trier High School, which is one of the top schools in the US). Also the culture of the area makes a difference. If residents in a district are opposed to raising property taxes, guess what...the schools are losing out on money too. There are a lot of factors that come into play, but making broad generalizations about public education are near impossible, since school districts are fairly autonomous.

The state I'm from for the most part has good to excellent public schools. I received a good education, and of my class about 2/3 went on to a four year university. Most of the rest went to a local community college that has some of the best programs in construction, welding and diesel mechanics.

My dad, who has taught at some of the best public schools in my state and some of the worst as well, will say from his personal opinion the quality of a public school is based on the amount of poverty there is in a community.

[B5SnowDog]

What I'm trying to say is that in I believe  my state pubic education is broken.

I hear ya. My state also favors abstinence-only.

[lilwriter85]

Exactly.

My 17-year-old, public-schooled-since-kindergarten son is going into his senior year of high school and is looking at colleges. His GPA and his SAT scores make it likely that he will be admitted to nearly any school he might apply to. He has already passed five AP exams (three 5's, one 4 and one 3, on a test that he hadn't had the proper class for). He is not that unusual among his peers, either. But you aren't ever going to encounter students like my son in the remedial classes at community college, so you might want to rethink your generalizations about public education. In my experience and in that of my three children, public K - 12 education has been excellent.

I like your post and you bring up good points. The topic of remedial classes in community colleges that has come up in this thread, reminds me of a situation regarding my cousin's two sons. My cousin and her husband sent both of their sons to Catholic schools from kindergarten through high school. Her sons are 19 and 21, and both had to take remedial math and English classes when they first entered college. In the past several years that I've communicated with my cousin, it seems that the schools her sons attended weren't very good. Both always had problems with school work. I do think there is the small possibility that those boys might have learning disabilities. But I think when it comes to remedial classes in colleges, there are always some private school graduates in those classes.

[lilwriter85]

I think it's difficult to gauge the state of public education because there is such disparity in this country. Yes, there are horrible public schools, horrible colleges. However, the United States also have some of the finest schools in the world. It's the reason people from all over the globe come here to study. We churn out students that cannot string a sentence and students who have won research grants before they can drive. Is it any wonder we have such diverging examples?

I don't doubt that all the experiences shared on this thread is real. This means there are areas where public education is not "broken", and areas where it is. I don't need to watch a documentary about our broken system to know that we have horrible schools. But I also don't believe it when people say the entire system was rotten....because I've seen it work for me and for many of my friends.

In the homeschool world, some people have a great education, others have a Duggar education. Ditto for public school students. As a public school student, I could just as easily point to the Duggars and feel smug about my "superior" education. I took biochemistry and calculus and wrote college level papers in high school. The Duggars and Maxwells of the homeschooling world are barely literate and probably never touched a real science textbook.

I think it does everyone a disservice when we look at the lowest common denominator and assume that is representative of all public schoolers. I don't look at the Duggars and think that's representative of all homeschoolers. What society should focus on ferrating out lousy schools---be it homescholers who won't teach or public schools that fail----and removing students from them.

Well put. I agree with you a lot on the Duggars. Many public school graduates could look at the Duggars and feel smug. I remember some interview or incident, in which one of the older Duggar kids said that they had never written long essays or term papers. I also remember either the Duggars or some other fundie family didn't know anything about formatting or citing papers in the MLA or APA styles.

[Amygee]

I homeschooled my 2 boys for 8 years total, until we decided to send the eldest to school in 9th grade. Despite my best efforts and all of our participation in lessons and co-ops etc we felt he could achieve more. We knew he had ADHD, but the eval we had done showed he had Aspergers as well. So we decided to work with the ebil public schools to address these issues. I have to say, I put as much effort into staying on top of his classes and his IEP as I did his homeschooling! That's probably what successful homeschooled kids have in common with successful public schooled kids: parents who are invested and involved.

When his brother started school, my youngest wanted to try school too, so he started in the 4th grade. We told him he had to give it the full year and then we would reevaluate in the summer. He really just loves school, so now he's going into 7th grade with no thought of going back to homeschooling. I do miss it, but he is obviously thriving where he is, so who am I to interfere with that?

(And academically both transitioned well. Big one, despite his issues, has a B avg and little one has straight As)

[Wolfie]

I like your post and you bring up good points. The topic of remedial classes in community colleges that has come up in this thread, reminds me of a situation regarding my cousin's two sons. My cousin and her husband sent both of their sons to Catholic schools from kindergarten through high school. Her sons are 19 and 21, and both had to take remedial math and English classes when they first entered college. In the past several years that I've communicated with my cousin, it seems that the schools her sons attended weren't very good. Both always had problems with school work. I do think there is the small possibility that those boys might have learning disabilities. But I think when it comes to remedial classes in colleges, there are always some private school graduates in those classes.

My cousin went to a very expensive private school and also had to take remedial classes in college. I've had friends with children in private schools who then transferred them into public schools and found that they were behind in some subjects too.

Private schools don't have to teach to the same standards as public schools, if you are going to send your child to a private school, check it out VERY well, and just like at a public school, be ready to supplement where needed.

[patsymae]

It's not home schooling vs. public school vs. private school--all can have problems or do great things, as someone said, depending on a lot of things, including the investment of the parents. The problem with Duggar/Bates style homeschooling is that it isn't schooling. The same lessons are considered appropriate for toddlers and people in their teens and even twenties. There is no exposure to critical thinking, great literature, real history or any science at all (consider moma Duggar taking the brood to the creation museum, looking at an exhibit of Jesus with a dinosaur, and proclaiming "See! There really IS a creator!" as if that was the scientific proof. No overpopulation. Zach Bates apparently believed that electing Santorum would ensure that states could not have laws that differed from those of the other states. They believe the US was intended to be a Christian nation...and on and on. I do feel so sad for the kids who do try to venture out and then get overwhelmed. Of course they are.

Also, as someone else mentioned, these families seem to confuse education with vocational training. The line has been blurred as colleges have become more like commercial enterprises, but there is still a difference. Nothing wrong with not going on for higher education, but,again maybe just in my area, the vo-tech high schools are highly selective, very demanding, and students have to study academic subjects such as English, high-school level math, lab sciences, and so on along with their vocational training.

I work in a respected, probably second tier, university, and many of the professors send their kids to community colleges for the first two years--it saves like a zillion dollars and the right programs have articulation agreements with four-year colleges. My oldest grandson will be going to a community college this fall because although he is fine academically, he is not really mature enough to handle all that college entails. Other kids who have some gaps in their educations but have the basics (ie., know how to read critically, know for example what the scientific method is, and so on) can get remedial help at many four-year colleges. They may not be admitted right away into the most selective programs but they can be admitted to noncompetitive schools (I'm thinking of the University of Cincinnati but there are many more), fill in the gaps and go on to have success--however you measure it.

There are homeschoolers (I'm not one but did consider it at one time and am not against it) who provide real education for their kids. From what I've seen (wrote about and researched it but didn't live it), these are parents who are not afraid of the outside world, who don't keep the entire family together all day, who associate with one another and with the outside world--these are the kids you see at the Lollipop concerts, the library programs, who are volunteering (as individuals, not as a group of 3-20 year olds) at a farm or an animal shelter or a museum or an observatory--in order to get "hands on" experience from professionals who actually have something to offer. They allow their children to participate in municipal sports or even where allowed (as where I live) in public school sports. Fear of or disdain for the "outside" world is not the determining factor.

Longwinded way of saying I don't think it's the choice of schools or to forego formal schools, I think it's more the total fuckupedness about what education is (or, more likely, a deep distrust of secular education and the outside world, which these parents realize is not PC to admit to) that leaves these poor kids just clueless.

[urban teacher]

Adding to what others have said, all my students who are going to college go to a community college because special education classes are not college prep. most of them are going to need remedial classes because they don't have needed skills. Kids who go to an UC school would not have these issues.

[emmiedahl]

There will always be students, in any form of schooling, who choose not to take advantage of the education available. At some point, it seems maybe in junior high, an education becomes less what you are being taught and more how much you decide to learn. So the merit of any educational system depends on how much it inspires students to want to learn and also how much is available to the students who want that education bad. *Not* the actual product. This is part of the problem with testing as a measure of a school's worth. There are schools that are dealing with students who are harder to inspire and not generally inclined to take advantage of the full amount of education available to them.

I am more disturbed by a single child who wants to work hard and learn but cannot, than about a classful of students who fail because they don't give a fuck. The access needs to be there. The Duggar children have NO ACCESS to a decent education.

[marmalade]

Adding to what others have said, all my students who are going to college go to a community college because special education classes are not college prep. most of them are going to need remedial classes because they don't have needed skills. Kids who go to an UC school would not have these issues.

As I said earlier, I'm an older (almost elderly(!) ) person who went back to school because I hit the ceiling in my type of work without requiring a college degree (and no way I was going into sales; I'm made to help people, not shove shit people don't want down their throats). I don't know if this is true in every state, but in CA, your high school credits are only good for 7 years after graduation (c. age 25), so I had to start over from scratch, except, interestingly, my foreign language credits.

However, this made starting at a 4-year institution of any sort (public or private) impossible because I essentially had no record. I had to go the CC route and transfer in to whatever university accepted me that was feasible as far as location, etc. To start at any CC, one's math and English skills are tested so the admin knows where to place each student. And yes, some kids need pretty remedial English and/or Math classes. My BFF from high school teaches at one of the CC's I attended (there are 4 in the same "system") and has taught everything from remedial English to Shakespeare. I scored 100% in English and was placed in what would be the required Reading/Composition class at the 4 year UC school I attended. Being an English major, I had to take a full year of this and got it out of the way before I transferred. I also had to be mindful to take courses transferable to the UC system; some courses, like Chemistry, had a UC track and a Cal State track.

However, my math skills were very rusty (and never so hot anyway). I tested between Algebra and Statistics. Given that it had been 20+ years since I'd taken a math class, I chose the "remedial" course that is NOT taught at the UC level (nor were the units transferable) to refresh myself and as a result, got a 96 in Statistics that I was able to transfer to UC. It was an extra course, but worth the $80 to get me to the next level.

Bottom line, without the core courses offered by the Community College, I never would have passed Statistics and there was NO way I was taking that at Cal. I knew their Math Dept. was BRUTAL; it has to be to weed out the chaff in the Engineering major.

Thanks to the CC, I saved two years' tuition, which just about doubled in my 5 semesters (vs. $20/unit at the CC). I paid my way for my first year at Berkeley, however, I was awarded scholar grants my senior year having been on the Dean's List my junior year, so I got a free ride. I graduated totally debt-free. I'm now waiting to hear if I got into a rather prestigious grad program - I'll know before the end of the month, likely sooner; an expensive private school, I'll be forced to take out loans, but it's only 3 semesters, so it won't be THAT bad. Not too shabby for an old lady who had to take 8th grade Algebra her first semester in school in over 20 years. :mrgreen:

[Itsnotaclowncar]

There will always be students, in any form of schooling, who choose not to take advantage of the education available. At some point, it seems maybe in junior high, an education becomes less what you are being taught and more how much you decide to learn. So the merit of any educational system depends on how much it inspires students to want to learn and also how much is available to the students who want that education bad. *Not* the actual product. This is part of the problem with testing as a measure of a school's worth. There are schools that are dealing with students who are harder to inspire and not generally inclined to take advantage of the full amount of education available to them.

I am more disturbed by a single child who wants to work hard and learn but cannot, than about a classful of students who fail because they don't give a fuck. The access needs to be there. The Duggar children have NO ACCESS to a decent education.

:slow clap: So much win here

I was in all AP/honors classes in high school, took a couple of classes at a mediocre community college, attended a "highly selective" university and got my masters from the #6 program in my field major public university. The biggest factor in how good a class was, was how many students gave a shit. Yeah I had to explain the difference between a noun and a verb to some people in a community college class but they tried so much more than the people who sat silent throughout some of my grad classes. During my undergrad I took a few classes with the head of security for the school, who said she would never have been admitted if she tried out of high school, but she cared enough to show up to every class, did the work and contributed to discussion. She was a much better classmate than some kids who went to the top private and public schools in the country (homeschoolers and single sex schoolers depended on how socialized they were). A room full of lazy students kills a class like nothing else.

[Patsy]

There will always be students, in any form of schooling, who choose not to take advantage of the education available. At some point, it seems maybe in junior high, an education becomes less what you are being taught and more how much you decide to learn. So the merit of any educational system depends on how much it inspires students to want to learn and also how much is available to the students who want that education bad. *Not* the actual product. This is part of the problem with testing as a measure of a school's worth. There are schools that are dealing with students who are harder to inspire and not generally inclined to take advantage of the full amount of education available to them.

I am more disturbed by a single child who wants to work hard and learn but cannot, than about a classful of students who fail because they don't give a fuck. The access needs to be there. The Duggar children have NO ACCESS to a decent education.

...you win the thread.

[Alana Rickman]

The problem with this is, while homeschooling might have worked for you, it really isn't just "a few crazies giving you a bad name."

You have an entire industry producing the fundy-light stuff. They've so saturated the market that it's really hard to find secular and historically accurate materials, and in many cases the local homeschooling groups are coopted by the religious hoemschoolers.

Not to mention that in the majority of cases, the same people who are pushing homeschooling are working to undermine the quality of public schools. They're undercutting science and history, pimping abstanence only, and driving up the Christian persecution complex. It's not a coincidence.

I object to the "homeschool because public schools are bad" argument, because I think it is elitist. A *very* small portion of the population actually has the ability to homeschool, so this argument deflects from the problems that affect the majority of school children.

Also, might want to check your first paragraph for spelling errors. :whistle:

There are spelling, comma, and/or capitalization errors in nearly all of her posts. She has also written several run-on sentences. I wouldn't ordinarily call someone out for her grammar, but it seems appropriate under these circumstances.

[Wolfie]

However, my math skills were very rusty (and never so hot anyway). I tested between Algebra and Statistics. Given that it had been 20+ years since I'd taken a math class, I chose the "remedial" course that is NOT taught at the UC level (nor were the units transferable) to refresh myself and as a result, got a 96 in Statistics that I was able to transfer to UC. It was an extra course, but worth the $80 to get me to the next level.

My SIL teaches remedial math at the JR college level in CA, she says that she's got different kind of students- the kind who really have no idea, the kind who don't really care, and the ones who just need a little refresher. It's the ones who don't really care that bother her.

[snarkykitty]

She should have seen a doctor, gotten a proper diagnosis and worked with the school's Students with Disabilities dept. She could have had a note-taker and taken exams with a proctor to take the stress off her (if she really does have some type of disability). She could also qualify to take fewer units and just go an extra semester (and summers) to make up for the class she misses each semester.

But no, it's easier to give up. I guess she was living off campus in an apartment with her DAD? What about HIS job? Or was she allowed out of his sight to attend classes?

I envy her only 3 hours of homework a night. I usually had more like 6 (TONS of reading), and of course, much worse around mid-terms/finals. Then again, I went to a top university, not Rinky-Dink U.

I'm not protecting this girl because I have no clue about the level and depth of her classes, but I had to step in on this note.

You don't have to go to a "top university" to have a ton of homework. Nor does studying (for a test) for twice as long as someone else mean that they are taking "easier" courses. Some people naturally don't have to study a lot outside of class (I'm not talking about strictly reading). Others need to go over material several times. Every person is different. You don't have to go to a "top university" to have challenging classes and lots of homework.

[yaright]

On the grammar run on sentences. I can't spell and have terrible writing skills but I am learning English with my children as I homeschool. ;) BUT we do a real accredited homeschool so I have someone to call and say hey does this mean. Which I do alot. And they tell me what to do everyday and we send it in to them.

As for homeschool vs public school. I have done both, it depends on your family situation and also the child. My kids do better in Homeschool, I live in a big city where there was 30-45 kids per class their elementary school had 1,000 kids. And my kids have some learning issues. Having them home with me allows them to work on grade level and take more time than if I had them in PS where they where behind. BUT I actually teach my kids.

People like the Duggars make it so I am questioned about how we school, which is fine I tell them what we use they shut up. I also don't shelter my children. These parents are not educating their kids and making it so they can function in the real world.

I have met unschoolers who are 17 and 18 and can barely read, forget math noone taught them anything. I have also met homeschoolers who started college at 16, not at CC but they took the SAT and where offered scholarships at 16. That was not because of homeschooling, it was the child was scary smart. Homeschooling is not going to make you have gifted kids, and neither is PS some people are just gifted. The role of the parent should be to give children the skills to enter the world. PS alone isn't going to do this and with HS it is up to the parent to teach them everything.

I went to PS did great then I was awful in college. I was super shy and didn't understand how the school worked, I was so freaked out I dropped out in 2 weeks. I graduated from Highschool early, so I have the brains just not the personality.

My husband had LD's did horrible in Highschool and did great in college. He took longer to graduate but he was interesting in his major, medicine. He is a paramedic. So how you do in High school is also not going to determine how you do in college.

And being my husband is a paramedic and loves science we are Christian but not young earthers or fundies and we use a Christian Curriculum but we also fill in the blanks of what it leaves out.

And because I homeschool and have 6 children I am not a good housekeeper or a perfect made from scratch mom, I devote myself to schooling my kids, my husband does alot of the cooking helps me clean and even helps in some of the classes. Not because I am lazy and a bad wife but homeschooling is freaken hardwork! When you do it right.;) These moms also upset me because they act like it is so easy. It is easy to homeschool a child if your not actually teaching. Or I could just be a shitty mom and wife, either way my kids and husband like me most of the time.

But my kids had to start writing papers in 4th grade which are graded by the school not me. And writing paragraphs around 2nd or 3rd grade. Not fancy paragraphs but 5 sentences, an intro, 3 supporting and a closing sentence. One was on a favorite pet. And by 3rd grade it was comparing things like 2 animals. By 4th grade they needed to write a book report on a book they pick a classic like Heidi it has to be typed and emailed into the grader.

I feel bad for this girl, maybe she has some LD maybe she just wasn't educated but either way she wanted to go to college atleast she is in an environment where that is allowed. Because I have a large family even though I am not a fundy I do go on some fundy spots and alot of them are completely against college.

Edited so I am not causing eyestrain ;) Hope this helps.

[freehannie]

I teach math at a non-research university that would probably be tier 4 on a good day. I have students who are seriously lacking in basic math preparation, but I don't think it's because of some trophy mentality. Those students are coming from very poor, overcrowded urban schools and what counts as passing there is very different from the well-funded suburban public school my son attends. I do spend more time than I would like on topics that should be mastered by college level, but my other option would be to flunk students who through no fault of their own aren't as prepared as their peers. I do have some lazy students as well and they do flunk even with the extra help. I would think that for someone who understands the material so well, this would be a great opportunity to help those students who are struggling. After all, the best way to master material is to teach it. I've never understood the impulse to judge those who don't know what you don't if they are working at learning when it would be so much easier to help them learn.

I also think that the solution to the problem of unequal funding isn't homeschooling as it isn't an option for the majority of students. The only workable solution is to level the funding.

[MeganC]

I went to public school K-12 and graduated high school with a 3.5 GPA and thought I was pretty awesome. Then I met a big group of homeschoolers and that was when I met fourteen year old kids who knew more about calculus than I ever knew. They also knew more languages. I was just encouraged to learn Mexican Spanish because we were in California and then I got into the real world and found out that Mexican Spanish is as useful as Appalachian English.

It is true that I knew about things the homeschool kids don't know about. I knew how to snort Ritalin, how to roll a joint, how to shotgun a beer, and I knew lots of other things they didn't know.

The big thing is that last month we had three college kids graduating from different schools and all three of them were valedictorians.

I know there are lots of homeschool kids who have it too easy, but they are not all of the homeschool kids just like not all public school kids get cheated on an education. It is REALLY bigoted either way to assume that a few bad example represent millions of other kids.

[Buzzard]

I teach math at a non-research university that would probably be tier 4 on a good day. I have students who are seriously lacking in basic math preparation, but I don't think it's because of some trophy mentality. Those students are coming from very poor, overcrowded urban schools and what counts as passing there is very different from the well-funded suburban public school my son attends. I do spend more time than I would like on topics that should be mastered by college level, but my other option would be to flunk students who through no fault of their own aren't as prepared as their peers. I do have some lazy students as well and they do flunk even with the extra help. I would think that for someone who understands the material so well, this would be a great opportunity to help those students who are struggling. After all, the best way to master material is to teach it. I've never understood the impulse to judge those who don't know what you don't if they are working at learning when it would be so much easier to help them learn.

I also think that the solution to the problem of unequal funding isn't homeschooling as it isn't an option for the majority of students. The only workable solution is to level the funding.

I was public school educated my entire life. My BA and JD are from top 25 universities and I cant add for shit! Math just isnt something that I seem to be able to wrap my brain around and I just accept that fact. I had a math tutor for the SAT/ACT but all she taught me was how to cheat the test, which was something I was able to easily learn because it was a stategy rather than math. Pulling me out of school to focus on math wasnt something that was ever discussed. It was just an accepted weakness and we moved on. I pulled straight As in all high school subjects and a C in math.

Could I homeschool if my kids one day need it? Nope. Its just not something that I'm wired to do. Law school beat all grammar rules out of me (commas and semi colons are your friends! use them often!!!), foreign languages and math are out the window. Would I spend hours AFTER school going over subjects with my kids? Absolutely. Homeschooling cant be painted with a wide brush. Its a personal thing that may be awesome for one family and tragic for another. Its that reason that makes me hope for mandatory testing (similar to NY regents exams) for all children to ensure basic understanding of all subjects. It also would give teh ebil authorities a chance to get a look at some of these kids to make sure they're not being kept in a chicken coop...

[bananacat]

I went to public school K-12 and graduated high school with a 3.5 GPA and thought I was pretty awesome. Then I met a big group of homeschoolers and that was when I met fourteen year old kids who knew more about calculus than I ever knew. They also knew more languages. I was just encouraged to learn Mexican Spanish because we were in California and then I got into the real world and found out that Mexican Spanish is as useful as Appalachian English.

It is true that I knew about things the homeschool kids don't know about. I knew how to snort Ritalin, how to roll a joint, how to shotgun a beer, and I knew lots of other things they didn't know.

The big thing is that last month we had three college kids graduating from different schools and all three of them were valedictorians.

I know there are lots of homeschool kids who have it too easy, but they are not all of the homeschool kids just like not all public school kids get cheated on an education. It is REALLY bigoted either way to assume that a few bad example represent millions of other kids.

I call shenanigans. Didn't you claim to be a teenage runaway who ended up in a women's shelter on the polygamy thread? So you're a teen mother dropout who just managed to get a 3.5 GPA? You're lying about something. Also, if you think that a single Duggar, parents included, could ever solve a differential equation or even know what one is, you are deluding yourself big time.

[Witsec7]

I went to public school K-12 and graduated high school with a 3.5 GPA and thought I was pretty awesome. ...

No mention of how awesome she was in her blog.

High school was not so much fun. My parents moved around a lot and I went to a lot of schools and didn't really make a lot of friends. My last two years in high school I independent study out of a continuation school and there just is not a lot to say about that.

edited for accuracy

[gardenvarietycitizen]

But what about those of us who both know how to roll a joint AND do multivariable calculus?

The former skill can help in a lot of high-tech workplaces. Just sayin'. :)