More than ever - SCHOOL CHOICE

[Cow Poke]

One of the biggest factors that is often ignored is discipline.

Where parents are actually paying "extra*" for Christian or other private schools, there's an extra incentive for those parents to "get their money's worth".

I taught in Christian schools back in the late 70's and early 80's, and one of the deciding factors for parents coming to us was 'discipline'. We had a much more concrete code of conduct and enforcement than the public schools did, because kids simply can't learn in a chaotic environment.

A lot of the discipline factor has to do with parents who are engaged in the lives of their kids. Parents who are not so engaged in the lives of their kids are more likely to leave them in public schools to be discipline problems.





*a lot of people don't consider that parents who have their kids in private school are STILL paying the same taxes as if they had their kids in public school - so, in effect, they're paying at LEAST twice for their child's education.

[seer]

Mossy would like the minimum standards for world geography to include that American students be able to identify Canada on the same continent as our own country. Extra points if they can identify at least three provinces.

I know, I know - Canada is the 51st state of the United States! I'm so smart...

[Sparko]

Private and Homeschooling doesn't guarantee a better education though. a couple of things about homeschooling or christian schooling are

1. Lazy parents who don't actually bother to teach their kids, or unscroupulous schools who just take money and don't actually teach, or just use it as an opportunity to indoctrinate to their "cult"

2. Insulation of the kids from controversy and "the real world" - then when they go to college, they get swamped with atheist and liberal students and teachers and authority figures that convince them that all that religion stuff is wrong and if they want to really be sophisticated college students they need to stop believing in fairy tales.

[Cow Poke]

Private and Homeschooling doesn't guarantee a better education though. a couple of things about homeschooling or christian schooling are

1. Lazy parents who don't actually bother to teach their kids, or unscroupulous schools who just take money and don't actually teach, or just use it as an opportunity to indoctrinate to their "cult"

True. Which is why, when we started homeschooling, I volunteered to submit my kids to testing by the local school district. Instead, they had me arrested. HOWEVER, the "teacher's college" at Sam Houston University was doing a study on private education, and they were THRILLED to do free testing and evaluation of my kids, and document their progress. The lady who was in charge of the program just fell in love with my oldest daughter (then, about 6 years old, I think) and always kidded us "can I pretend she's mine?"

2. Insulation of the kids from controversy and "the real world" - then when they go to college, they get swamped with atheist and liberal students and teachers and authority figures that convince them that all that religion stuff is wrong and if they want to really be sophisticated college students they need to stop believing in fairy tales.

Yeah, that's a concern you have to face. On the other hand, when my kid started college, she already knew how to use the college library, do all the proper cites, bibliographies, research -- cause she had been doing that by herself (with guidance) all her life.

[Sparko]

True. Which is why, when we started homeschooling, I volunteered to submit my kids to testing by the local school district. Instead, they had me arrested. HOWEVER, the "teacher's college" at Sam Houston University was doing a study on private education, and they were THRILLED to do free testing and evaluation of my kids, and document their progress. The lady who was in charge of the program just fell in love with my oldest daughter (then, about 6 years old, I think) and always kidded us "can I pretend she's mine?"



Yeah, that's a concern you have to face. On the other hand, when my kid started college, she already knew how to use the college library, do all the proper cites, bibliographies, research -- cause she had been doing that by herself (with guidance) all her life.

yeah technically I can see how they would be well prepared. But I can also see it like protecting your kids for 12 years and then throwing them to the wolves and seeing if they get eaten or not.

[Cow Poke]

yeah technically I can see how they would be well prepared. But I can also see it like protecting your kids for 12 years and then throwing them to the wolves and seeing if they get eaten or not.

Even back in the 70's and 80's we had regular instruction in "this is what you'll hear in college"... and how to defend it. That would be an important component for Christian education.

[Cow Poke]

Yeah, that's a concern you have to face. On the other hand, when my kid started college, she already knew how to use the college library, do all the proper cites, bibliographies, research -- cause she had been doing that by herself (with guidance) all her life.

Oh, and she graduated High School with three college classes already completed.

[Sparko]

what we need is "home college"

[Cow Poke]

what we need is "home college"

Or Father Guido Sarducci's Five Minute University

[seer]

Or ather Guido Sarducci's Five Minute University

LOL! I haven't seem him in years - I wonder what happened to him....

[Cow Poke]

LOL! I haven't seem him in years - I wonder what happened to him....

I don't know, but that's one of his best skits ever! The law school... "got another minute?"

[rogue06]

why don't they use those critical thinking skills they got in college?

Because critical thinking makes them uncomfortable and needing to retreat to a safe zone.

[rogue06]

LOL! I haven't seem him in years - I wonder what happened to him....

I'd sure like to know since I'm still waiting for my "I saw the Pope on TV" button that was the prize for finding all 264 popes in find the pope in the pizza contest he held.

[Cow Poke]

I'd sure like to know since I'm still waiting for my "I saw the Pope on TV" button that was the prize for finding all 264 popes in find the pope in the pizza contest he held.

Looks like he did a 'benediction' for Steven Colbert in 2010, so he was still alive then! He's about 73 now.

[Joel]

2. Insulation of the kids from controversy and "the real world" - then when they go to college, they get swamped with atheist and liberal students and teachers and authority figures that convince them that all that religion stuff is wrong and if they want to really be sophisticated college students they need to stop believing in fairy tales.

I didn't really see that in my university experience (early 2000s). But I was in the engineering college, not in the humanities, or pirate college.

I do intend to provide my kids with 'controversy', examine with them with all kinds of counter-arguments to what I think is true.