Homeschooling is wrong.

I think a new thread should be started and the person could ask their questions there, maybe cut and paste the parts of the other thread, something like that?
Then we all will feel like reading and helping instead of deleting the email when it comes in hehehe, that is what I have been doing for like twenty of them! Lol

 

The quote from JenPooh is very interesting and one of the reasons why I think homeschooling gets a bad name. In particular, the comment: I do not want up the chances of my child becoming "lost" so I do not believe in that philosophy.

I was raised Catholic and I have moved on to another denomination. My conclusion is that there are extremist Christians, like extremist Muslims, like extremists Mormons, etc, etc, etc. I've found that Christian values depend on the person teaching those values. For example, some would argue that they are pro life, but support war. If you read what Jesus taught, you may come to another conclusion. Religion can be a bad thing and is only one part of educating our children.

In any case, I don't want to get into a debate over whose religion is "right", I'm looking for advice on what is best for my children.

Another quote (shown below) that also grabbed my attention was "I want my children to go to heaven, not hell, period." So, are you saying that my children will go to hell if they don't follow your religion? I find that offensive, and an example of why people view homeschooling as teaching non-tolerance. Answer this for me, does a person in a foreign land who never was exposed to Jesus and believes in some other form of God go to hell? If so, do you teach your children this?

I'm sorry if I'm upsetting people, but we are in a critical time. Our country is in multiple wars, we live in a global economy, and poverty is on the rise. I want to pass something better onto my children.

Thanks for your reply!

 

Yep

You are right. I am the husband, and I work fulltime as an engineer. My wife, who currently stays home with the kids would be doing a lot of the educating.

I'm not a troll, I'm just looking for options. I see some very good and some bad things with homeschooling. My experience with public school has been mostly positive. Sure, I was picked on like many kids, but overall, I think the public school system made me tougher and more successful. In particular, the sports programs. While I was in high school, football taught me more than any classroom could have. It taught me to always get back up after getting knocked down. When you take your body to the extreme, you tend to realize a few things .

The classroom side of things was pretty easy for me. I didn't play sports beyond high school, but I feel what I learned in sports helped me dominate in college. I repeatedly got the highest scores in college courses (Bachelors and Masters). When I didn't, the competiveness made me work harder and never give up. I fear that homeschooling will not teach this to my children. I know many areas offer teams for homeschool children, but I've never seen those teams go to state champions or require extreme workouts in the weight room.

Perhaps schools today are worse than when I went to school. Or maybe we see more of the negative things that go on because the media loves reporting it (Stossel in particular). There is no doubt that American inner city schools are in trouble. On the other hand, what about the rest? I don't know. It seems that everyone has an agenda. This is what we have to deal with with modern day politics.

Another tid bit I have to offer is that my sister-in-law is a teacher for special education. When I see her working with my "normal" boys I see something special. She has extreme patience and knows how to react when they have tantrums. This leads me to believe that if I'm in a good school district, I will get good teachers who are better qualified to teach. Opions on this taught are welcome.

Thank you all for your help. Please keep the comments coming!

 

Hi nonsure.

Maybe school did make you tougher and more successful but that is partly due to your inborn personality in how you reacted to the environment. Another kid given the same circumstances might have a different reaction such as withdrawal, or aggression. Also your own kids might care less about sport. How will you feel about that? That is all such a long time away as well. Just because you hs doesn't mean you always have to homeschool. If your kids need or want something at highschool age such as 'state champions or require extreme workouts in the weight room.' Then you can always send them then. Home schooling isn't something set in concrete from K to graduation unless that's what you all want.

There is a religious board here to take these kinds of questions too.

I'm sure nobody was trying to offend you just stating what they believe which we are each entitled too. What people believe is up to them and not really connected to your hs search for answers for your own family. With homeschooling you are free to teach your children your own views, not your neighbours or thankfully the states. Homeschooling isn't just for Christians its also growing in pagan circles because they also dislike the states values.

 

You totally just proved my point. You just don't understand. Raising our children up with the Christian values is not extreme, it's part of being a Christian.

BTW, I never said I was a homeschooling parent either. I support homeschooling however.

 

I teach my children that God is just. We can trust His justice. It is His desire that NONE should perish. Because of that, any who DO perish do so because of THEIR choice, not God's. How He choses to deal with people who haven't "heard" is up to Him. But MY children have heard. There is no excuse for them to not believe. If THEY chose not to, then they are CHOSING hell, as are any who have been exposed and chose not to believe.

 

GREAT explanation Jackie!:angel:

 

Well notsure, ok I grow up going to ps and I was picked on really bad and it hurt me for life. I had a big family and was raise very poor and the other kids were not nice to me. I still have alot of troubles to this day. So, there are two sides to that story. Just like every story it all depends on the kid or person at the time.


Jackie, Well said.

 

Ditto!

 

Notsure
OK, so I will admit that religion is alot of the reason why I homeschool. You will probably see more people here who homeschool for that reason above all others. We can debate religion, or we can just move on to other topics.
My question to you is "What are your main motives for homeschooling?" You have stated that you want to pass something better along to your children, but what would that be? Also, why, if your experience with a ps was so positive, are you considering homeschooling? I am not trying to argue, I just want to understand better where you are coming from.
Also, the public school system is in some serious need of help! I gratuated in the late 90's and had several friends who gratuated with me who couldn't read. For me, apart from religion, that was enough reason not to put my kids in.

 

I was not going to reply to this at all, but I feel I need to explain something. Homeschooling is about EDUCATION. For me that does include teaching my children Biblical foundations. I do use Creationist Christian curriculum. That is what I believe; however, my children are exposed to and taught other theories and religions. We are not teaching our kids to be religious fanatics who know nothing except how to spout off scripture. We are teaching our children how read and write, how to do math, history, and science. We are teaching our children to take the Biblical knowledge that they have and lead well-educated Christian lives.

Although I feel that God has called me to homeschool my children, a good education is the reason behind it. I have dealt with the ps with my children. My oldest was in ps for 2 years (3 different schools). When it was time for my next to go to K, we were concerned about some developmental issues with her. I turned to the ps, who told me nothing was wrong. She'd catch up. We waited a year and had again turned to the ps for help. She was tested again (through a different school system). Again, I was told nothing was wrong. Simply that I did not expect enough of her. Further testing, that my husband and I footed the bill for, discovered that there was a problem, one the ps wouldn't deal with (because her IQ is normal). Had I put my sweet, loving child in one of those schools, I firmly believe that she would have suffered tremendously. She would have been labeled lazy and ADD, neither of which she is. Notsure, most (not all) of us on this forum are Christians and choose to instill those beliefs in our children. But the bottom line is we want our children to have the best education possible. We feel that is at home.

Perhaps, if you have legitimate questions, it would be better to begin a new thread instead of dragging up an old one that was deliberatey started to stir up trouble. That raises a red flag with us immediately. Any thread with the title "Homeschooling is Wrong" is bound to cause the folks on a HOMESCHOOL forum to come up with fists flying. We always welcome questions here. We love to help people considering homeschooling. However, we expect politeness.

 

Pam, we all teach for different reasons and that's OK. But FOR ME, education is not the primary reason. In "Educating the Whole-Hearted Child" by Clay and Sally Clarkson, they stated that the goal of ANY Christian education, whether it be homeschool, private school, or even Sunday School should be DISCIPLESHIP rather than academics. That's NOT to say that we throw academics out the window. Not at all!!! I want my children to be well educated. I expect them to do their best academically, and I know of no homeschoolers, Christian or otherwise who don't. But my PRIMARY goal is to train them to walk with the Lord.

Again, I'm throwing tomatoes or anything at you. It's just my goal.

 

notsure, I suggest that you find another homeschooling site that is secular. Not all homeschoolers are Christians so I can't understand how certain Christians could give homeschooling a black eye. In order for somebody to make an educated opinion, they need to know the whole of it, not a small piece of it.
Anyways, you will find many non-Christian homeschoolers on other sites. This is not a Christian site either, many of us happen to be Christians. Some sites are strictly secular. Maybe this is what you are looking for. Unless you post direct questions regarding homeschooling alone, we will not get anywhere because you do not hold the same values we share and it appears you want to debate our values with us. You do not understand them simply because you do believe what we believe. You have mentioned that we teach non-tolerance, well right back at you. I find it interesting that people cry out that we are non-tolerant and yet they try to tell us we are wrong in what we believe. I can't help thinking this is the same thing. You are not being tolerant of us either. We have other people on this site who are not Christians and they are kind and discuss homeschooling with us because their best interest is to raise up their children the way they see fit. They are not here to debate why we believe what we believe. At first I really thought you were seeking knowledge but then your posts became combative. This is not seeking out knowledge regarding homeschooling.
I hope nobody else posts anything in response to you unless it is strictly regarding homeschooling that will be benificial to you, not questions regarding us.
Patty

 

I am a christian. To be a christian you must believe that Jesus is the son of God, born of the virgin Mary, and was crucified on the cross to save us from our sins and give us salvation. Salvation is the only way into heaven - without Jesus there is no salvation. So I suppose the answer to your question is yes - a person that does not ask for salvation from my God will not get into heaven. That is what I believe and that is what I teach my children. Why would I teach them something other that what I believe to be the truth.

Now that doesn't mean I don't also teach tolerance of other religions. We are very tolerant of other religions. I treat people of other religions the same way I would treat a christian - I just won't see them in heaven.

If what we believe offends you or anyone else that is just too darn bad. What you believe doesn't offend me and has no basis in my life.

 

Some of these answers are why nonchristians do not feel welcome here, folks. Patty went as far as to tell notsure to look for another forum, for secular homeschoolers. This site right here is not exclusively for christians!!! It never has been. All but a few here homeschool, right? Can't we agree on that, put a period and move on??

Everyone's jumping on this guy and he's not even getting personal with anyone. I can't stand it when we all profess to be these accepting christians, then come off with an attitude of 'get lost if you don't like it'. How does that look, folks??

 

Notsure~ what kind of engineer are you? My husband is a stationary engineer.

 

You are right this site isn't exculsively for christians but I have to second Patty's suggestion to him.

If he had questions about homeschooling then fine post them and ask away and I'm sure everyone here would be more than happy to answer them respectfully to the best of our ability regardless of whether he worships God, Buddah, or the man in the moon - but it is apparent (to me at least) that he wants to debate our religous convictions and I was and will continue to defend mine.

By the way - great post Patty.

 

Becky, if you take the time to go back to my post you will read that I made it clear that this is not a Christian site. I do not agree that he is looking strictly for homeschooling information. I think the post he wrote in regards to Jennie make it clear he has an issue with Christians and how we homeschool. It appears to me that he is looking for answers but at the same time wants to debate our answers because they do not fit his criteria. If he doesn't want to hear that we homeschool with an emphasis on Christ, then he shouldn't ask the questions for one and two, he should go where we are not speaking of Christ. I still stand on this whether it is agreed upon or not.
Patty

 

I'm taking Becky's side on this one.

 

I'm not going to argue, because I don't want this thread closed. I do not see one example of where he got personal with anyone or told them they were wrong for what they thought. The only thing he could do differently would be to ask his religious questions in the Christian Issues forum.

If everyone would get their Christian feathers smoothed out, they'd see he is trying to figure homeschooling out. It's completely foreign to him, he wants to make the right choice, so he's seeking answers. I used to feel exactly the way he sounds, so I believe he is legit.