Findies in my newspaper - homeschool stereotype

[flojo]

Found this today when reading the paper:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/educati ... homeschool

Perpetuating stereotypes much?

[CanticleoftheTurning]

OMG, the girls are even covering their hair.

[maybeizfundie]

yoiks.

I wear headcoverings, and skirts, but there is an "I'm so much plainer than you!" vibe that some people give off, and I'm getting it from that picture.

[clibbyjo]

UGH. As a homeschooler I am offended they couldn't find anyone normal to interview.

[CynicMom]

I didn't have to follow a curriculum to teach my baby how to walk. I just gave lots of encouragement.

I didn't need anyone to teach me how to be a doctor, I just had lots of encouragement!

I didn't need anyone to teach me differential equations, I just learn by doing!

I didn't need anyone to teach me how to teach... there's no skill-set involved at all!

[kayray]

All of the kids have that same creepy-pursed-lips-forced-smile look to them. Something is "off" about it.

Dismantling cell phones is not an education. Kids with the "engineering brain" do that anyway - in their time off from school (I know a few engineering (with real degrees!) friends who all did the same thing - and tried to put them back together). That is not going to get him into MIT!

I like how the younger kids "can feel confident" asking the older kids for answers - the older kids have the same education! :roll:

It's not about whether you have a degree, it's whether you have the confidence and want to spend time with your family."

None of the kids look terribly confident in that picture. Even if they do, their confidence is relative to what? Their siblings who are in the same SOTDRT? I am not confident about their confidence in the big world out there. And, while it may not be about the degree for mom, post-secondary institutions DO care about your educational credentials. Their father is an engineer, but how are the kids going to have access to that same opportunity when they "graduate" this home school?

People can want to spend time with the family, have confidence, AND have a degree. Ta-da!

ETA: disclaimer - I am not bashing all home schooling. Just the idea that you need no skill set to be a home schooler and that you can just "wing it", rely on the older kids to answer questions, and give them electronics to dismantle and violins to play as their education.

[thetabmeister]

I thought most of the kids looked absolutely adorable. That baby...and the little boys...I just want to pinch their cheeks! I didn't read the article. Just commenting on the photo and the other posts. I hope the children are able to grow up safe and smart and make their own decisions once they get older. If it's any consolation, most of the kids that I knew that were home schooled with me growing up in the 90's/early 00's are now not home schooling their children. I really think the trend for second-generation home schoolers is declining. Conversely, I have absolutely no statistics but it seems like first generation home schoolers are increasing. But I just don't think home schooling has a high rate of redo, unless you're in one of those crazy patriarchal families, and even then how many of their daughters actually married and started a family to even have a chance to choose home schooling. I guess we will see. Most of the people I knew that were home schooled, now you can't even tell. They did some pretty major breaking away from their parents.

[tropaka]

So they started homeschooling because it was easier than walking the kids to kindergarten - BIG RED FLAG? Second red flag is hearing about homeschooling at church....

[docmom]

The first red flag is the first sentence- some people might find having 9 children hard but she sees it as a blessing. Classic fundie language. Why do they persist in thinking that everyone who isn't a member of their cult, finds children a burden?

[Wolfie]

So they started homeschooling because it was easier than walking the kids to kindergarten - BIG RED FLAG? Second red flag is hearing about homeschooling at church....

It was easier to walking the kids to kindergarten- yet she claims she can pack them up and take them on school trips whenever she wants...

[debrand]

My children have told me that they won't home school. It has nothing to do with their feelings toward their education but the fact that my daughters want careers. My oldest son is already talking about preschool for his son and my younger boy says that he wouldn't date anyone less ambitious than he is.

One of my daughters has said that the decision will be up to the stay at home dad she plans to marry. :)

[Biscuit]

If she believes that children are a blessing, she should be willing to do more for them than just what is "easier". Seriously, that is the most ridiculous reason I ever heard for homeschooling.

[flojo]

UGH. As a homeschooler I am offended they couldn't find anyone normal to interview.

This was my problem. Using stereotypes. Embarrassing journalism.

[Mommy22alyns]

UGH. As a homeschooler I am offended they couldn't find anyone normal to interview.

THIS. Why do they always go for teh crazies?

[Mommy22alyns]

If she believes that children are a blessing, she should be willing to do more for them than just what is "easier". Seriously, that is the most ridiculous reason I ever heard for homeschooling.

And this too. LAME.

[emmiedahl]

Ugh, the media always finds the craziest homeschoolers out there and tries to make them look normal.

When I homeschooled, I did it because I wanted to ensure that my children got a great education and that they grew up to be inquisitive, open-minded people. This is not an unusual motivation in the hs community. If a reporter had come to my house, I would have discussed how I selected curriculum that was best for that child, our ability to spend less time on subjects we grasp quickly and more time on those that need more effort, etc.

A local parenting mag did a story on hsing a few years ago and found the most extreme people out there. Lots of quotes about how if you know the Bible, that's good enough. It made us look bad.

[CynicMom]

Christopher Paolini, the author of the best-selling Inheritance fantasy series was homeschooled.

[emmiedahl]

iirc, he was unschooled too. Unschooling is probably the least understood homeschooling method, and Dr. Phil's show on that unschooling family that let their kids play Xbox all day did nothing to help.

[darareaksmey]

I can understand, I suppose, not wanting someone else to look after your kids all day; but I can't understand undertaking to teach them when you're not much prepared yourself. I would venture to say that public--or private-- school teachers do far, far more than just "look after them" all day. If a parent is worried that school doesn't give kids a moral foundation, then why not opt for the best of both worlds? Send them to school to be taught academics by proper teachers, and give them an education on how to be decent human beings at home. It's what I do, and so far, so good.

Like kayray above, I am fine with people homeschooling. I have known very few homeschoolers in my life. But many, many of the ones I learn about from FJ seem to be parents who did well to learn to read and write themselves. Sheesh. One of my goals as a parent is for my kids to be smarter and better prepared for adult life than I was. I can give them some of that training, but when it comes to higher maths and foreign languages, I'm all about real teachers.

[emmiedahl]

The "real teachers" are human beings too. I encounter poor grammar and spelling in every single school document that is sent home, and my son spent a year of Honors history in high school watching Star Trek while filling out worksheets.

We cannot compare the worst homeschoolers to the best teachers, or vice-versa.

[darareaksmey]

They are human beings, but there's recourse when they aren't doing it right. I don't have any problem in pointing out what the teachers do wrong. I was all over my daughter's science teacher a couple of weeks ago for her apparent lack of math skills in adding up my daughter's grade on a project. Apart from her bad arithmetic, though, the science teacher is very proficient in her subject; if I thought she were teaching my daugher bogus science, or not teaching her at all, I'd be in the principal's office throwing a fit.

But if I as a mom homeschool teacher can't teach my kid how to do fractions, that's the end of it; there's no principal to complain to. I know there's state testing, but there are probably homeschool parents out there who aren't only against public schools; they're against too much book learning in the first place. The child doesn't pass the test--big deal, it's not a godly test anyhow. Education is overrated.

I do not mean to generalize that homeschooling is bad; no doubt there are many successful adults who were homeschooled. But schools provide safety nets not always present in homeschooling. I for one would not like to go out and learn calculus so I could teach it to my kid. I'm relieved there are teachers prepared for that service; and all my child has to do is take the class.