Sigh... Had to educate the lady at Dollar Tree, today....

People automatically assume you are a rebel if you go against the norm!

Didnt read all the posts, but you don't have to attend dental school to show your kids how to brush and floss.

Life is a learning experience...........................
You should have told her, G"ee, I'm not even a certified teacher and "I" taught "you" something today". :evil:
(Evil laugh)

Ds told me a lady he works with will ask him questions like:
How do you know you got a good education?
How do you know you covered all the material required?
Blah, blah, blah!

Well, gee, let me think...............................

 

I would have asked her what kind of license she had to ring up your purchases. I would definitely inform corporate about her behavior now that. That is anti-customer service. She is representing the company when she is in uniform and working and says that. I would think that Dollar Tree does not want to come to be known as the anti-homeschool place.

 

So true! When on the clock, employees should keep their opinions to themselves.

 

Living in Texas, when people mention whether the government watches over what I do or not, I simply state that homeschools are private schools. NO private school in Texas is monitored in Texas. Then, I ask if they would ask the same questions of private school children as they have of me.

Also, since it was mentioned, I DID spend most of my certification classes learning classroom management and legal issues related to education. That's a given since a poorly managed classroom equates to a poor learning environment.

I actually pointed this out to a woman at my church who was saying that I was more fit to homeschool than a couple of other moms at my church because I was certified. I asked her if she was aware that really certification on the secondary level just meant that I graduated with my degree and then took classes that amounted to how to manage 25 kids and do so without getting myself into any legal trouble. I very pointedly said that they don't teach you HOW to teach nor do they teach you the information to teach; it's about learning to create an environment in which the student can learn. I then said that what I learned wasn't too applicable to teaching much smaller groups, so I was probably on a level playing field with those other moms.

She basically shut up at that point since it was clear I knew far more about the situation than she did.

 

well I have said it here before and I will say it again, I have been ask not once but hundreds of time what degree do I have to teach. If I had a penny for every time I was ask I would be rich....


First of all teaching high school is not as hard as you might think with all the computer stuff out there and most kids can read the material themself


I think people are just nosiey and jealous because they didn't do it or wouldn't do it.



I wonder many times, back in the old days when almost all kids were homeschool were people ask that question. Or when there was a one room school where the teacher taught many different age levels. Were they ask what is your degree?


The world just can't stand changes and if something is out of normal those people want to change it. I wonder what they are going to do now the whole world is going to change, big changes and it's not just homeschooler.

 

I am blessed, Iknow it, but when I do get drilled I toss my children back in thier faces with things like... well you see my son is designing his own video games now, has taught a jr high class t do power point at 10 yrs old... he studies things out when he wants to know about something thats not in the book ( Like the kings yesterday)
and my daughter started school early because we were teaching her big brother, she is two years ahead because of this.. and a very bright child!
They stand there dumbfounded...
SO I suggest you pick your childs best qualities and shine them big and bright before skeptics!

Maybe your child was able to verbalize something better because you take the time to listen to him,
Maybe your child can cook up a suflee or how ever you spell it! lol!
Maybe your child can show them where all the continenets are and has her own video on the video thing on the internet..
Maybe your child knows whats going on in the news?
Find that small thing, and shine it BIG!
And then you say...

Thanks why I home school my kids....

 

I think when she mentioned the lack of regulations, I would have turned around and said something like, "Oh! I so agree with you about where the country is heading and needing more government regulations. Do you know that each one of my children not being in public school saves taxpayers about $7,000 a year? That is something like $100,000 each child for the 13 years he would be in public schools and with the test scores that the average student has these days.... Yes, I certainly agree that the government needs to regulate the public education system and its unregulated amount of spending much better than it has been."

 

Very nice response! I may print this and carry it along with me. I've found that sometimes moms and dads who are new to homeschooling or who are considering homeschooling need to hear this.

 

LOL...if I were in your town Autumn I'd act crazy just to give them something to talk about. I "technically" live in a small town, except I don't live in atown and a big town is just as close as the small one.

Funny though - almost every other mom in the 4H group is a teacher...makes me feel surrounded at the meetings - but they never say anything. My next door neighbor is the middle school teacher technology teacher and she's real nice - we're good friends.

I don't feel any weirdness where I am but if I did - you can bet I'd start causing scenes just for the fun of it...

 

Thanks!
I actually DO like teachers.
I think School Teachers and Homeschool teachers are related, yet NOT the same animal. (We do not teach to the same audience) Therefore, we should NOT be natural enemies as some people would pit us against each other.

Now if they gave the power of judge, jury and executioner back to the teacher in her classroom. I *Might* consider letting my kids go view a real classroom on a field trip... hee hee hee!

I love teachers, I just HATE the system they have to work in.

 

I say this to teachers all the time when they get defensive because I homeschool...actually I've met several teachers that didn't really understand what homeschooling was until we talked and then after that they usually were much more open about it and some even said to me man I have a few students that would benefit from being homeschooled. I have nothing but the utmost respect for teachers but they are fighting an all uphill battle...they are told that if the students don't pass the test that their job is in jeopardy but yet they are not given the tools to teach the test and then there's the simple fact that not every 3rd grade child is ready for 3rd grade but yet that teacher MUST teach that child so he/she can pass the test! I tell teachers that I keep my children home so that there is one less child crowding their classrooms and one less child to worry about passing the test. most teachers respect me for what I do once they realize that I'm not doing it because I don't trust them to educate children.

 

:roll:Boy, I DO get tired of hearing that one!!! How it's not MY family, since I am obviously qualified to teach my children (or at least I was until Rachael started taking upper level classes!), and since Carl's a high school teacher. But what about ALL THOSE OTHERS who have NO IDEA what they're doing, and just sit around all day long, watching soaps and eating bon-bons? Sigh....

If they REALLY want to know, I explain that I learn A LOT from the experiences of those "unqualified" ladies (each of you without teaching credentials, this is your cue to give yourself a pat on the back :love, and that a lot of times it's actually EASIER for a non-teacher to homeschool, because us "professional educators" often have difficulty thinking outside the "teaching box", so to speak. We often have to un-learn what we have learned in school to begin with! Yes, you might find the occasional slacker, but 99% of hs'ers are on the ball, and are very diligent about their children's education.... Unfortunately, we DO know "slackers" in our church (though they're Cyber Schoolers, rather than HS'ers!), and I've been around and around with one well-meaning lady that if the kids don't learn, it's not HER responsibility, that no matter how many laws are passed or how much government oversight there is, there will STILL be those that fall through the cracks.