High School Deadlift Injury/The Government Schools

[atw_abn]

As a non-shitty teacher (middle school, special education), I have to disagree with you, Rip. Very few parents are qualified to teach their children. Contrary to popular belief, teaching (I'm referring to actually providing children with the tools [both academic and social] that they need to be successful in life.) isn't easy. Sure, there are kids that will learn regardless of the specific situation they are placed in, but those kids would learn just as much in a public school as they would at home. These students are in the top 10%. The rest of the population benefits from rigorous, quality instruction (Rare these days.) provided to them by people that are qualified to do so (Even rarer than rigorous, quality instruction.). In my personal opinion, pushing for homeschooling is a cop out. It's a 'take my ball and go home' mentality. Instead, people (and I mean ALL people...even those without children) need to demand improvement in their local school systems. Better schooling means better post-secondary outcomes for your citizens. Better post-secondary outcomes for your citizens benefits everyone living the in the community (i.e. less reliance on welfare, lowers costs of policing/incarceration, lowers costs of health care, etc.). Can you homeschool your kid? Sure. But you're still going to be paying for/dealing with the end results of a crappy school system for the rest of your life. Why not take the time to improve the school system, and by extension, your entire community?

In addition to the lack of parents qualified to provide their children with an education, there are some really important social-emotional skill sets that children in homeschool situations don't learn without the parents going out of their to expose them to the situations required to develop those skill sets. I work with students outside of school (quite a few of which have been homeschooled), and I can easily point out the kids that haven't ever attended a public school. They're often socially awkward and have few, if any, friends. They missed out on the whole hidden curriculum (social-emotional) that a vast majority of public school students learn intuitively. Whether you realize it or not, this is just as, if not more, important as the concrete information that students learn during their years in school. You can be brilliant, but companies aren't going to hire you if you're incapable of working with your peers. You're simply not worth the HR hassle.

Just my two cents.

It is hard to express, in strong enough terms, my absolute disdain for public school teachers and their attitudes of superiority. In any other job they would all be fired. Public schools in the US are failure factories.

In regards to homeschoolers: I defy you to find ONE statistic in which public school students are better served than home school students. ONE. Just one. JUST ONE STATISTIC.

Here's a preview...there isn't one. From testing, college success, financial security in adulthood, etc. There isn't one. Home schooling is superior. Period. Full stop.

[Will Morris]

Can homeschooled kids participate in high school sports?

I would have a hard time saying that my life would be better without experiencing the competition and camaraderie from high school athletics. Same goes for college.

It all depends on the school district. Some districts allow homeschool children to participate in anything, since their parents still pay taxes that support the schools. Some districts do not allow homeschool children to participate. It is very much a “take my ball and go home mentality” for them because the homeschooled children absolutely slaughter their students in standardized test scores. It is explicitly stated by some district superintendents that if a homeschooled child doesn’t add to their metrics on standardized test scores, they aren’t going to allow them the opportunity to participate in athletics.

Arguably the most famous homeschooled child in America is Tim Tebow. Despite his lack of socialization, he seems to have carved out a rather remarkable life. His school district, however, allowed him to play high school sports despite being homeschooled.

[BMueller]

It all depends on the school district. Some districts allow homeschool children to participate in anything, since their parents still pay taxes that support the schools. Some districts do not allow homeschool children to participate. It is very much a “take my ball and go home mentality” for them because the homeschooled children absolutely slaughter their students in standardized test scores. It is explicitly stated by some district superintendents that if a homeschooled child doesn’t add to their metrics on standardized test scores, they aren’t going to allow them the opportunity to participate in athletics.

Arguably the most famous homeschooled child in America is Tim Tebow. Despite his lack of socialization, he seems to have carved out a rather remarkable life. His school district, however, allowed him to play high school sports despite being homeschooled.

I think Tim Tebow being the poster child for a movement is a mark against it.

And Will, while modesty is certainly a strong suit of yours, the idea that you are of average intelligence does not really fly. First off, you can't have it both ways--Mark has said repeatedly that this program is best suited for highly intelligent people, and you are one of its most vocal and knowledgeable proponents. So you should make a decision: can this material really be understood and implemented (and taught) by most anyone, or are you (and your kids) perhaps more naturally gifted than you allow? Second, your education level and your talent in writing and speaking does not comport with someone who is not at least a standard deviation above the mean. So, while I'm sure you and your wife are skilled and devoted homeschoolers, I'm also confident that you passed on noteworthy intellectual (and maybe social and athletic) capacity that accounts for a significant chunk of their academic and social success.

[Gbraddock]

Maybe free college isn’t such a good idea?

Reminds me of the quote...

“There’s no such thing as a free lunch”

Taxpayers will foot the “Free College” bill while rates skyrocket for these “ higher institutions of Learning”. Heck they already are skyrocketing, wait till it’s free

[Yngvi]

Maybe free college isn’t such a good idea?

No, it is not.

It becomes an extension of high school if it is free. I had friends who attended community colleges that were almost free. We would always joke that they were repeating high school.

No incentive to manage finances efficiently, no incentive to uphold academic standards and a huge incentive to waste time, thus prolonging the "education" of students. That is the inevitable result of "free" education.

[Kyle Stevens]

My wife and I teach in public schools. Don't send your kids to these places if you can help it. This whole system is screwed from the top down. Whatever the government touches becomes an absolute disaster, and public schools is no exception.

Even private schools seem to be falling in the same rut. I graduated from an excellent parochial school, solid academics, extra curriculars and firm but fair discipline. Now that same school some 15 years later has no Dean of Discipline and students are freely allowed on cell phones at any time with no consequences. Makes me sad.

[Nick Delgadillo]

I work with students outside of school (quite a few of which have been homeschooled), and I can easily point out the kids that haven't ever attended a public school. They're often socially awkward and have few, if any, friends. They missed out on the whole hidden curriculum (social-emotional) that a vast majority of public school students learn intuitively.

I've had the exact opposite observation. The majority of homeschool kids I've met can easily carry on a conversation with adults and are comfortable interacting with people. My kids have trouble understanding the social dynamic of cliques and kids just being douchebags since they don't see it every day like kids who go to school do, but I'm happy to explain to them that there are lots of people who are douchebags and that they need to learn to deal with douchebags. They're okay with it. So am I. This is far more valuable than training them to accept douchebaggery in their day to day lives - something that school does very well.

The homeschool kids who are socially awkward have socially awkward parents. Putting them in school doesn't make them not socially awkward, it makes them able to function in the make-believe social structure that is school. That hardly means the socially awkward kids are thriving.

You've been around my children before. They aren't socially awkward. They aren't weird. They aren't devoid of friendships. They are actually exceptionally high functioning, wonderful children with good manners, they are kind to people, respect other people, have wickedly keen senses of humor, and they are very well-rounded. I have an 11 year old that has made his mind up that he wants to be an orthopaedic surgeon and a 9 year old that hasn't quite made his mind up on whether he wants to be a dentist or an oncologist. They, oftentimes, get to interact with the individuals practicing in the profession they aspire to end up practicing in, and they have always impressed those professionals with their intelligence and maturity for their ages. They did not learn this at public school. They learned this by having parents that model good behavior and help cultivate the desire in them to be good people.

When people ask me about homeschool, I tell them that my approach is an adulting apprenticeship. They can educate themselves if we provide the environment and the example. Teachers hold no secret knowledge in 2020.

We've made significant sacrifices to be able to do this with our kids and it's not feasible for everyone to do the same thing, but cramming 30 kids in a classroom in a school with 1200 kids enrolled in a government mandated curriculum, under heavy government oversight by overzealous bureaucrats, and taught by underpaid and under-appreciated teachers isn't the solution.

While I appreciate the effort being made to set the record straight around the benefits of home schooling, I feel the urge to ask the question: what are working parents supposed to do?

Perhaps working parents in middle to upper income brackets could afford to have someone come into their home to teach their children, but what about lower income parents?

Simply saying "just homeschool" does not work for the vast majority of families in this country.

I realize this leads into larger issues of income inequality. So long as our public schools are failing us, the cycle will continue.

I personally have seen the benefits of a well run charter school and do believe that charters can be a solution. There are many, many bad ones in this country but there are a few examples of what they could be.

I don't think it's a viable solution for everyone. The point is that if people can and are willing, they should. If people want to and can't for whatever reasons, they should fix up their lives so that they can. There's not a whole lot much more important going on in most peoples' lives for the next 10 years or so. I've known people who wanted to homeschool but didn't out of fear that they'd "do it wrong." So these folks should be encouraged.

What definitely also isn't a viable solution is what's going on now. A good start might be having schools compete for enrollments. That could immediately solve some problems.

[CommanderFun]

I work with students outside of school (quite a few of which have been homeschooled), and I can easily point out the kids that haven't ever attended a public school. They're often socially awkward and have few, if any, friends.

Funny, that is a description of me back when I was going through public school.

[FatButWeak]

LOL 4 kids. Homeschooled them all. They all squat, bench, press and deadlift correctly, too. I'm not having some lesbian/vegan/wiccan teach my kids that they have to "respect" xir mental disorders.

[Shea Frazier]

It is hard to express, in strong enough terms, my absolute disdain for public school teachers and their attitudes of superiority. In any other job they would all be fired. Public schools in the US are failure factories.

In regards to homeschoolers: I defy you to find ONE statistic in which public school students are better served than home school students. ONE. Just one. JUST ONE STATISTIC.

Here's a preview...there isn't one. From testing, college success, financial security in adulthood, etc. There isn't one. Home schooling is superior. Period. Full stop.

How many public school teachers do you know? How many have to taken the time to sit down and speak with?

Students with special needs who are being homeschooled, in many cases, lose access to the following FREE services - occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, assistive technology, ABA, etc. They also no longer are able to access free standardized diagnostic assessments in the areas of reading, written language, mathematics, adaptive skills, etc. Parents of homeschooled students with special needs will need to access these services in the private sector. If they have the money to do so, then the child may very well be better served in a homeschool environment. If the parents can't afford these services and the child needs them, I think you'd have a hard time arguing that the child is better served in a homeschool environment when all those services would be available to them in a public school environment.