Do home schooled kids actually have to learn something?

An all-republican Texas state supreme court is about to decide just where religious liberty and parental rights to educate their own children begin and end.

The McIntyres are accused of failing to teach their children educational basics because they were waiting to be transported to heaven with the second coming of Jesus Christ. Sauce

No, need for any of that learnin in heaven... Scary thing is that other states are allowing this to happen.

State lawmakers in Arkansas this year repealed a law mandating that home-school students take nationally recognized standardized tests, and Utah removed academic requirements from its home-school students in 2014. Pennsylvania, Iowa, New Hampshire and Minnesota have also recently moved to relax home-school standards. Sauce

Personally, relaxing these education standards is a mistake.

a reply to: TheAmazingYeti

Like the general population of the US isn't stupid enough as it is. God (or who ever) save you're country.

If they are going on to college they will still need to pass the ACT or SAT to gain admission into the vast majority of colleges that accept homeschooled children.

On a personal note, while I was not home schooled, I learned more from my mother and reading on my own than I did from many public school teachers.

I was initially skeptical of the whole home schooling routine until the decision was made to educate my grandson by that method. In Washington State they use WAVA (Washington Virtual Academies) as an online partner with the school district. Kids still "belong" to a school district and can take some classes normally,, participate in extra curricular activities, etc. while taking most classes online. This relieves the parent from attempting to be an expert teacher in all subjects, though she still must ride herd on the kid to get his work done. Private tutors are also available through this program, which is entirely free.

I know WAVA isn't like all home schooling, particularly when you get into the fundamentalist religious aspects of it all that may not use something like WAVA at all, but I have grown to respect this program a great deal. My grandson was a couple of years behind grade level when he started, and now he is at grade level and a bit ahead in some subjects. He's never going to be a PhD, but the fact is homeschooling "saved" him from academic failure. Done right, it's not a bad way to go for kids who need it.

originally posted by: Tjoran
a reply to: TheAmazingYeti

Like the general population of the US isn't stupid enough as it is. God (or who ever) save you're country.

That would be "whomever" and "your country."

Do they teach grammar in YOUR country?

a reply to: TheAmazingYeti

I was raised a Jehovah Witness, and was not allowed to pursue any education. I had to go back to school as an adult. It had a terrible impact on my life. The usual Armaggedon is coming, so no need for school crap. That was in 1975. I really feel sorry for any child not encouraged to learn all they can.

On the other side of the coin, I home schooled my daughter, she graduated early, in just 1 1/2 years. She just turned 18 and already has 2 yrs of college under her belt.

I have 2 nephews that were home schooled and both graduated from Tex A&M
in 4 years. I have other family members that were HS and public schooled that
have made one bad choice after another.

Depends on the kids and who is teaching them.

Agreed they should have to pass the same tests as other HS kids in the given state.

a reply to: TheAmazingYeti

I saw this earlier today. This idiotic family is trying to argue religious exemption against teaching their kids anything. This really shows the absurdity of these stupid religious exemption cases that have flooded the landscape recently. I'm glad this case is occurring in Texas. That state can keep that idiot family.

If I have children they will be globally educated. We will travel and learn from people from all walks of life. Figure a good chunk of standard curriculum can be done online through opensourceware. What better projects than to live a full life and deal with real world situations as they arise.

Of course, I won't have children until certain financial thresholds are breached and the clock is ticking, so... we'll see.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

You're glad it's happening in a particular state? I wonder which erroneous stereotypes you hold in regards to my state. I'm for progressing our state, not keeping to ignorance.

a reply to: pl3bscheese

I saw this great documentary about a doctor and his wife who bought a motorhome and traveled they ended up having 10 kids in the motor home. The kids hated their parents for awhile after they grew up, but they are all successful, and they never went to school. Just surfed and traveled their whole life. Im not advocating that lifestyle, but you only get one life, so always follow your heart, just make sure you take your brain with you.

There are plenty of families that "homeschool" that are as bad as this one, but this one is making waves because the parents are using a religious justification for their lack of actual academic rigor in the household.

But there are times when a family's kids fall off the radar and when one turns up dead (like the kid in a freezer in Detroit), where one of the steps that enables it is the homeschooling excuse. They don't want the kids where it might be noticed they've been abused. Those kids don't have any academic rigor, either, and you don't hear as much about that aspect of the situation, only the tragedy.

Thing is that homeschooling is a very viable alternative for any parent who wants to make sure their kid gets out of a failing public school system, and while the religious parents were the first to take that route, it isn't just the religious who are seeking it out these days, an increasing number of black families and progressive families are also choosing to homeschool for their own reasons. And the root cause of it is that none of these families trust their public education system to adequately handle the job for their children.

a reply to: pl3bscheese

Good luck with that. I'm not going to hold my breath though.

originally posted by: misskat1
a reply to: TheAmazingYeti

I was raised a Jehovah Witness, and was not allowed to pursue any education. I had to go back to school as an adult. It had a terrible impact on my life. The usual Armaggedon is coming, so no need for school crap. That was in 1975. I really feel sorry for any child not encouraged to learn all they can.

On the other side of the coin, I home schooled my daughter, she graduated early, in just 1 1/2 years. She just turned 18 and already has 2 yrs of college under her belt.

Shouldn't she be keeping her college above her neck??

LOL - sorry, the amateur comedian comes out sometimes. Otherwise, good job. I wish I could homeschool my kids, but my ex wife decided that she'd rather get some strange than put her kids first.

Home Schoolers Anonymous

Everyone involved in/with home schooling should read this blog.

homeschoolersanonymous.wordpress.com...

These kids aren't being home schooled, they're nothing more than dropouts with parental consent. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing these parents charged with negligence in this case. These kids will be lucky to get a job flipping burgers without even a basic GED.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

These types of parents won't be sending their kids to those types of colleges -- they'd be more inclined to send their children to non-accredited Christian colleges.

originally posted by: MystikMushroom
These types of parents won't be sending their kids to those types of colleges -- they'd be more inclined to send their children to non-accredited Christian colleges.

It would appear so. They do have the avenue, if they want to invest the time, into composing a curriculum that many of the top schools in the nation would find acceptable if they were also able to pass the ACTs or SATs.

Just another way to bash the home schoolers eh!

Just TODAY! in the uk the following was revealed.

First, for those in other locations, in the uk children go to what we call Primary school until they reach eleven years of age, then they move on to Secondary school.

Today in the news it was revealed that ***TWENTY PERCENT*** of children arrive at secondary school unable to read or write or add up!
FFS!!! just what the hell are they doing with them for the first five years of their lives?

ALL the home schoolers that I know could read write and add up by the age of four!

I recently heard that for the first six months of primary school they learn to count to fifteen, and learn the first half of the alphabet. Thats just appalling! Is that really the best they can do?!

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

I'm not certain ... but I think some of these "Christian colleges" don't require the ACT/SAT for admittance. My better half almost was forced to go to one. It was either get help paying for a Christian, non-accredited college or do it all on your own.

She chose to pay for her own school, and go to an accredited school that would provide recognized diploma.