Public School? Just let coyotes raise your kids

[Pretzel]

I guess I'll get a hamster to take over any homeschooling duties for my kids. It's THAT easy!

[Hisey]

Kelly fails to mention that she lived in her parents' extra home on their land (and probably paid a discounted rent). Her parents live a few hundred feet away. And her father employed her husband. So there was very little danger of losing their home or his job. She just forgot to mention that, I guess.

[church_of_dog]

Or 99% of the fundie homeschoolers. Coyotes are hella smart!

ETA: and at the rate my chickens are getting carried off, little coyotes get more to eat than Kelly's kids.

I live in serious coyote country, the inland high-desert intermountain west of the USA, and I have serious, serious respect for coyotes. I consider them the model population for how to survive in a changing world -- they are so adaptable!

I believe that schools are filled with lava

ooh, geology!

and spiders

ooh, biology/entomology/ecology!

satanic rituals

ooh, cultural anthropology!

everything that conflicts with my ideas is, by definition, a lie."

ooh, rhetoric!

all in all, not a bad education... :lol:

[DaisyD]

Somewhat beside the point, but if you can afford a single income, homeschooling is free through k-12. Not an advertisement, I am currently doing this with my son. Daughter still does public school, but they weren't interested in providing what the boy needed. I've spent less on homeschooling than I do every year on back-to-school. If you want bible thumping though, that costs.

I also avoid homeschooling groups like the plague because of people like this. My relationship with God is none of their business and my atheistic upbringing tends to come flying out of my mouth around them, even though I'm not anymore.

[lawfulevil]

"Coyotes With Master's Degrees" would be a pretty good TV show, TLC should consider it.

[Burris]

Raise your hand if you think Kelly had LOTS o' help from mom and dad. Raise your hand if you remember Kelly talking about the loads of debt they were in. Now, raise your hand if you remember how Kelly thought the Tornado that hit her area was an extra special blessing just for her, because it resulted in TONS of donations that allowed her to finish paying off said debt.

Kelly is one of those people to whom everything has been handed, and to such an extent that she can write the phrase, 'We couldn't afford it yet somehow we did' without a trace of irony or self-awareness. She doesn't seem to have a real-life clue how much it costs to do anything, and that includes rebuilding after losing a home to the forces of nature.

Her parents pay for her. Her husband pays for her. Her readers pay for her. Kelly never pays for herself and it shows. She has never suffered even a nanosecond of real privation - not once in her entire smug, self-satisfied existence has she ever dealt with real loss. Not enough money to pay for her then-three kids because she decided not to work when her husband was only making $19 000 a year? Call mom and dad - and then, years later, just conveniently edit that part out when someone confronts you on the cost of home education.

Kelly is so far up her own ass she is practically inside-out. Her deliberate pig-ignorance consistently makes her one of the most irritating people we ever discuss here.

[OkToBeTakei]

I honestly take my hat off to people who homeschool for all the right reasons and if it is best for their child. I don't maybe understand the public school is evil aspect. I also do not pay out anything, nada at all on my child's education. No text books. No stationery. We are out with the bus route so she is taxi-ed to school daily. She takes violin and if she did not have her own it would be provided. Same with all extra-curricular activity...it's about inclusion. We are very comfortable and could even send my kid to a private school but we are happy with our LEA.

My only outlay is uniform which is strict although her blazer cost is subsidised by the school. So basically 5 white shirts, 2 ties, 2 black skirts, 3 cardigans and endless tights.

The most amusing thing for me when reading Kelly is the fact that I live in a country with no separation of church and state and it seems to cause a very .......non-event in schooling. The fact my kid attends a state catholic school makes that more amusing. Religion is treated as an educational aspect...not an issue to exclude or hang your kids education on. UNLESS like Kelly and others you view education out with your narrow view, a danger. Don't get me wrong, like any system it has issues.

$19,000 is roughly 12k UK. Somebody working minimum wage employment 37.5 hrs per week would earn that. If they were single in my country they would be entitled to help with housing and council tax. With a family they would be entitled to further care. Healthcare is free but it would still be a struggle and not a life. They would be viewed as vulnerable and low income. Her kids would get subsidised meals, (I think they need that) subsidised uniforms, subsidised extra-curricular activity. She would get help with certain bills. Her child benefit would probably double her husband's income.

Can you imagine how much she would hate that? I don't resent the fact her kids would benefit from all that. I am happy to live in my society.

What angers me is that as others have mentioned she is dishonest. Her lifestyle is subsidized just as much as social care...because of her parents/charity. Yet she would condemn and malign others. She is clueless.

Her kids are just the victims of her lifestyle choice.

[Pretzel]

OktobeTakei, same where I come from. The only money you have to spend throughout your child's schooling is for field trips and insurance (but there are special insurance companies who insure kids for the time they're at school for what would be like 3 bucks per year). Everything is provided. (eeebil "socialist" country.../sarcasm. No socialism in my country. but a social education system).

[alba]

I honestly take my hat off to people who homeschool for all the right reasons and if it is best for their child. I don't maybe understand the public school is evil aspect. I also do not pay out anything, nada at all on my child's education. No text books. No stationery. We are out with the bus route so she is taxi-ed to school daily. She takes violin and if she did not have her own it would be provided. Same with all extra-curricular activity...it's about inclusion. We are very comfortable and could even send my kid to a private school but we are happy with our LEA.

My only outlay is uniform which is strict although her blazer cost is subsidised by the school. So basically 5 white shirts, 2 ties, 2 black skirts, 3 cardigans and endless tights.

The most amusing thing for me when reading Kelly is the fact that I live in a country with no separation of church and state and it seems to cause a very .......non-event in schooling. The fact my kid attends a state catholic school makes that more amusing. Religion is treated as an educational aspect...not an issue to exclude or hang your kids education on. UNLESS like Kelly and others you view education out with your narrow view, a danger. Don't get me wrong, like any system it has issues.

$19,000 is roughly 12k UK. Somebody working minimum wage employment 37.5 hrs per week would earn that. If they were single in my country they would be entitled to help with housing and council tax. With a family they would be entitled to further care. Healthcare is free but it would still be a struggle and not a life. They would be viewed as vulnerable and low income. Her kids would get subsidised meals, (I think they need that) subsidised uniforms, subsidised extra-curricular activity. She would get help with certain bills. Her child benefit would probably double her husband's income.

Can you imagine how much she would hate that? I don't resent the fact her kids would benefit from all that. I am happy to live in my society.

What angers me is that as others have mentioned she is dishonest. Her lifestyle is subsidized just as much as social care...because of her parents/charity. Yet she would condemn and malign others. She is clueless.

Her kids are just the victims of her lifestyle choice.

Re: the bolded:

I'd hazard a guess that this is actually cheaper than not having a uniform, because you just don't need that many clothes, and uniform pieces in the UK aren't that expensive; it's not comparable at all to private schools in North America. I attended a private school in Canada for several years, and the things we had to buy from the school were ridiculously expensive (the skirt was over $100, for instance), and not terribly high-quality, but we bought what we could from Marks and Spencer and BHS when we were in the UK on holiday and I was shocked at how cheap - and how much nicer - those shirts and socks were compared to what the school was peddling. My mom still wears our old knee-highs underneath her trousers in the winter to keep her legs warm :lol:

[DaisyD]

Last year the school tried to make buy copy paper for the teacher on top of the usual pencils, notebooks, markers, glue.... I layed out $200 in back to school stuff, then got the $40 activity fee. There were no activities that year that I heard about. My daughter really thrives in public school, so I'll still be doing it with her. I just couldn't pay for the privilege of watching them try to a label and beat down my son anymore. I didn't know what a goofy and happy kid he could be until we started homeschooling. He's able to focus and get his work done quickly without all the crazy pressure and belittling of his reaction to crowded spaces. Now I just have to get over the guilt of allowing it to go on as long as I did. (Sorry for the rant)

[snarkopolis]

You all are missing the point. Coyotes are like dogs. Dog is god backwards. So let God aka dog simile to coyotes skool your kid. See?

[Evangeline]

Nicole,

Sex education was just an aside from the point of the article (and very few schools teach abstinence).

Well, that's a lie. Every school in her state teaches abstinence.

I know a lot of homeschoolers. They claim lots of things about homeschooling that are, frankly, bullshit, but I've never heard one claim you can do it for cheap or free or entirely from the library. That must be some stellar homeschooling right there. :roll:

[rosastrohhut]

I guess I'll get a hamster to take over any homeschooling duties for my kids. It's THAT easy!

This is brilliant.

I am new to all these homeschool curricula and I have one generell question: how?

how do these parents teach ALL subjects up to high school level - when in public schools the teacher focuses on one or two subjects and has to have a university degree and a teacher's training programme? If it only takes Jesus to get that educated and intelligent to be able to be pro in so many subjects - sign me up yesterday! (I highly doubt it...)

And HOW do you homeschool with no curriculum but only a public library (I guess she does not mean a scientific/university library... ). I can understand that with a good curriculum and college educated parents it is doable, but no guidelines and only the bible in an outdated version of English?

The worst part is she does not even realize how crazy her "concept" sounds to an outsider.

I guess these people want to participate in mainstream culture (by that I mean non-amish like participation in everyday life - Amish get a go from me as they are self sufficient and do not need more education other than they get in their communities, they have a lot of knowlegde and are talented craftsmen).

I guess if the kids want to live the coyote life (naked in the desert - sounds like burning man festival to me...) they are very well prepared.

[Evangeline]

This is brilliant.

I am new to all these homeschool curricula and I have one generell question: how?

how do these parents teach ALL subjects up to high school level -

They don't. The kids teach themselves or use DVDs or online curriculums. People who aren't afraid of the entire world use homeschool co-ops and/or community colleges. The parents who act like it's all easy and no big deal are doing the least amount of work possible.

[mango_fandango]

They don't. The kids teach themselves or use DVDs or online curriculums. People who aren't afraid of the entire world use homeschool co-ops and/or community colleges. The parents who act like it's all easy and no big deal are doing the least amount of work possible.

Yep. This. Erika Shupe of Large Families on Purpose homeschools, and pretty much only teaches the preschoolers/kindergarteners (she has four kids at this level, ages 4, 4, 5 and 6). She does spelling with the middle three kids (12, 9 and 8) but that is only for half an hour every day. The oldest two- aged 16 and 15- teach themselves, primarily through textbooks and online materials. The preschoolers do things like "cracker math" (basic addition, subtraction etc using crackers) and also phonograms.

[Full enough quiver]

I've done both. Homeschool through elementary, and public school for jr high and high school. We used Khan Academy for math, but other than that, we just read and write a ton, watched a lot of discovery/history channel, went to museums, camping, hiking, worked in the garden, did experiments, went to co ops, all kinds of things. The girls are in public school now. They are both on the honor roll. The younger one has straight A's in all honors classes. Neither of them smokes, drinks, uses drugs, or is pregnant. They treat my husband and I and each other with respect. The younger one is a cheerleader, the older one is a peer counselor. Both very well adjusted. So far, public school hasn't ruined them. Perhaps it is because we gave them the freedom to make their own choices, and the confidence to stand firm in their beliefs, they didn't feel the need to go nuts in public school.

[cindyluvs24]

My town has one of the best public school systems in NJ. We also currently have wild coyotes sighted throughout the township. I have the best of both worlds.

[FundieWatcher]

I love Khan Academy.

My college General Chemistry I instructor at a CC did not want to be there. He refered questions to that site. We should have taught ourselves and taken the CLEP test.

[Jana814]

My town has one of the best public school systems in NJ. We also currently have wild coyotes sighted throughout the township. I have the best of both worlds.

Where in NJ r u? I live in northern NJ we have some of the best schools also!! People fight to get a house in my area.

[skrmom]

My son is one of the very few who attended public school from our church. He is the only one from his grade group that went to college. He is making three times the pay at his summer internship than his peers who were home schooled and are working in fast food restaurants or in retail establishments.

[Jana814]

My son is one of the very few who attended public school from our church. He is the only one from his grade group that went to college. He is making three times the pay at his summer internship than his peers who were home schooled and are working in fast food restaurants or in retail establishments.

Good for your son!!

[Inthemadhouse]

I volunteer my coyote to raise any children who need it. I mean, yeah, he hates kids, but according to the fundies so do teachers (unless they're molesters of course), so I think it would work out. His rates are very reasonable.

[Georgiana]

I volunteer my coyote to raise any children who need it. I mean, yeah, he hates kids, but according to the fundies so do teachers (unless they're molesters of course), so I think it would work out. His rates are very reasonable.

Thank you, but as my hamster is homeschooling her young, I think I will simply have her homeschool my children as well. I would, but I need to focus on making more babeez for jeebus and dreaming up new ways to unnecessarily add butter to recipes.

[artdecades]

Not only are some libraries charging to check out books these days (my local library doesn't carry homeschool material at all anyway), but those outside activities are important! I'm not saying parents should has date-nights as often as the Shupes, but some are necessary for a mental recharge.

Does it charge for everything or just some things? I know of some libraries (my own included) that charge a buck for movie rentals for new releases (older movies are still free), but don't know any that charge per book except for fines. As for homeschooling materials, a lot of libraries will not carry text books at all because they are so expensive and the publishers make them so they become obsolete within a year. It just costs too much and providing textbooks is a service that is already provided by schools.

They don't. The kids teach themselves or use DVDs or online curriculums. People who aren't afraid of the entire world use homeschool co-ops and/or community colleges. The parents who act like it's all easy and no big deal are doing the least amount of work possible.

You are missing the most obvious reason why these fundies act like homeschooling isn't a big deal: they don't actually teach their kids anything. Fundie homeschooling is a joke. It is not the same thing as homeschooling your kid and shouldn't even be mentioned along with actual homeschooling. They don't learn real science or history. We have seen the Duggar teens unable to do elementary math. We know that Sarah Maxwell writes like a 3rd grader. The list goes on. If these kids got any real schooling, home or otherwise, their parents wouldn't be so quick to call it easy.

[elizasc]

Still laughing about the hamster, which sadly might be equal to many homeschooling moms of this ilk...