I have mixed emotions about home schooling as well. Let's face it, several years after graduation, most adults don't remember algebra, trigonometry, statistics, biology, chemistry, physics, or even English. A lot of parents don't even speak English correctly. How can they effectively home school their children? The answer is, they can't. But what they can do is support those that are qualified to do so. By working WITH their child's teachers instead of AGAINST them. I have several educators in my family and I have heard all kinds of horror stories about how some of the parents behave when they go to the schools to discuss their children's progress or behavior problems. I work with parents who complain about receiving phone calls at home about their kids. They have some of the most ridiculous complaints, like "She always calls during dinner" or "I used to talk a lot in class when I was a kid, so I guess my kid gets that from me". Hello! Since when have teachers been blessed with psychic abilities to know when families are having dinner? Since when is it okay for children to be disruptive in class simply because the parent was also disruptive in class?
Quite frankly, I think teachers are given a very bad rap. If the parents don't care about their kids education, the teachers can't make the students care. It has to start at home. I was blessed to have 2 parents that made education a priority. Any grade below a "B" was an unacceptable grade in their eyes and would be strictly punished. My mother's line of thinking was that her above average child should only make above average grades. Today I am so grateful that my parents were hard on me where education is concerned. My friends that had those lenient, push-over parents are all statistics now.
[This message has been edited by MIDWESTDIVA (edited November 21, 2000).]
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