READERS' HOSTILE LETTERS

Thank you all for sending them.

I knew they had to come . . . eventually. This is the first week I've received what could be described not only as questioning, but as hostile letters. Only letters with workable email addresses will be included. In other words,

NAME: unschoolingisajoke!!!!!!!! E-mail: schoolsstartedchildleded1st

won't be included.

May 16, 1997:

What the monkey? I do not understand why you feel that the government should not teach our kids. I have several reasons why they SHOULD. Please read them. 1. Library at school. I suppose you have a local library, but why drive all the way there when your kid has one at school? 2. Schools have money, provided by the GOVERNMENT. I don't suppose you would ever be able to take your "class" of children to the many inside events that schools get to go to. 3. Homeschooling requires a lot of time, and just how many parents will be getting a teaching degree when there are no schools? Untrained parents without the right education have a hard time helping their kids with their homework. Is that a good teacher? One who doesn't understand what they are teaching? 4. If two parents work, or if a mother is single, what will the child do, sit in front of the TV all day? 5. All the homeschooling materials can get expensive. What percent of people want to spend the time and money to teach their kids when they could use bus them to school and have them learn FOR FREE? 6. What the assurance that a child will even learn correctly? Will you then later home-college him/her? Will a home-schooling degree get the child a good job? How do you know if he is achieving the right amount? 7. What kind of social skills does a home-schooled child receive? How does he compare with other children? What satisfaction does he get when summertime rolls around? Where's the excuse when your child is fat and lazy is he stays home all day? What I'm trying to get at here is that the separation of school and state SUCK. If you want to see an extremist, go stick everyone on your side of this argument in a mirror and stare at it real hard. Maybe if you kill someone you will no longer have an extremist in the view. athens/forum/6524 mysideofit And - thanks for the article idea

Address Withheld

One Reader's Response

8/23/97

This is a reply to the 7 questions that are quoted here.

I am a parent that had her children in the public school system and chose to pull them out. And if I knew then, what I know now, back when my oldest dd who is 15 now, was little, I would have never placed her in the system. I had no idea that I could do this, teach my children. I was alway told when a problem arose, that I didn't need to bother myself with it, they had the degrees and would be able to handle anything. Absolutely not!!!! They couldn't handle her ADD and few teachers that did, were few and far between.

Anyway to get to the questions. Here it is, this is my humble opinion.


>May 16, 1997: 
>
>What the monkey?
>
>
>I do not understand why you feel that the government should not teach our
>kids.  I have several reasons why they SHOULD.  Please read them.
>
>1.  Library at school.  I suppose you have a local library, but why drive all
>the way there when your kid has one at school?

Why drive all the way to the library and spend some wonderful learning time with my children and see the joy in their eyes when they find something that is inspiring them to learn?? To learn about something that they will be able to use when they get older and not something that someone else says they have to learn and they will forget later in life because they were not interested in the first place. Or read to them and have them enjoy the wonders of the words on paper and seeing the differences between the book and a movie that someone made from the book. Well I guess that would be a waste of time, N O T !!!!! Oh and don't forget the books. Through the public library you can find every book you need, if your local library doesn't have the book you need, you can get it through the inner library loan program. What is a inner library loan program? This is also a question that I had after first starting Homeschooling. A inner library loan program is a national hookup of libraries that can network to get books for their patrons that they do not have in their stock of books.

>2.  Schools have money, provided by the GOVERNMENT.  I don't suppose you
>would ever be able to take your "class" of children to the many inside events
>that schools get to go to.

Well this is funny. I don't remember these things being paid by the government. Field trips were always paid by the parents. And we as homeschoolers do get discounts for our group field trips. It is wonderful to walk with your child and tour the State Capitol and see what goes on there. And visit historical sites in the state to learn first hand, not from a book, about your local History.


>3.  Homeschooling requires a lot of time, and just how many parents will be
>getting a teaching degree when there are no schools?  Untrained parents
>without the right education have a hard time helping their kids with their
>homework.  Is that a good teacher?  One who doesn't understand what they are
>teaching?

Yes it does require a lot of time. And isn't that what we are supposed to spend with our children? And aren't we supposed to teach them morals and why can't acidamics be tought along with morals?

Teaching degrees do not mean that the person with one knows what they are doing, I have found this problem first hand. So if I don't know everything about Math, I will learn as they are learning, but I also have the answer keys to refer too if I find something difficult and can then teach because they give me understanding. There was a 5th grade teacher that had to do this when teaching Math, so what was her degree for, it was in History. I know of other teachers that were placed in subjects that they were not trained for and had to wing it all year till they got it and they had 30 or so students to deal with at the same time. In teaching your children, they get the one on one that most need in the first place.

>4.  If two parents work, or if a mother is single, what will the child do,
>sit in front of the TV all day?

I am not a single parent, no do I work out of the house. But I do know of Moms that are single and are homeschooling their children and NO they don't sit in front of the TV. They have been homeschooled all of their lives and they have the natural instinct to want to learn still, that we are all born with. So they use their time very well and read and learn all the time. I know from having children in the public school system, that they vegitate in front of the TV, because they are not interested in learning, they are burnt out. Sick of being pushed to learn things that don't interest them and that will of no use later.

 

>5.  All the homeschooling materials can get expensive.  What percent of
>people want to spend the time and money to teach their kids when they could
>use bus them to school and have them learn FOR FREE?

Not very many care enough to spend the time to teach their children. Goodness knows I did not think that I could even help much with my oldest because my own ignorance and low self esteem and the fact that they did not see that she was having problems with comprehension and consentration and I could and did not know what to do. Now what does that say about degrees??

And having our middle child come along and finding out when she was 5 that she has Autism and needs lots of help with just living in this world, I learned fast that I could do anything I wanted too. Trying to make the teachers and staff at the school understand what Autism was all about and them not getting it. She was always stressed out and sick from the stress. And now being at home in a comfortable environment, she is not sick anymore.


>6.  What the assurance that a child will even learn correctly?  Will you then
>later home-college him/her?  Will a home-schooling degree get the child a
>good job?  How do you know if he is achieving the right amount?

Learn correctly?? And you think they "learn correctly" in the public school?? They learn that they have to have someone over them telling them what to learn and what they should be interested in. Where to go, what to do and how to do it. Well isn't it a shock to be slapped into the world and find that you are on you on, with noone to tell you exactly what to do, when to do it and how?? I don't want robots for children, I want children that can think for themselves and do good for themselves and others. That can get along with all ages and not just the ages they are stuck with in public school.

>7.  What kind of social skills does a home-schooled child receive?  How does
>he compare with other children?  What satisfaction does he get when
>summertime rolls around?  Where's the excuse when your child is fat and lazy
>is he stays home all day?

Ya, Social skills. This is a real issue for me. Because my oldest came out of public school in March 97 and is just now, August, showing signs of wanting to be with the family and really learning how to handle her 2 siblings, we have a 2 yr old ds also. She is begining to take more responsability for things to do with the family and understanding that what she does can and will affect the family. So now she is getting better at thinking before doing. She knows that her friends are important, but that family and learning comes first and playing comes second. She has also come up with ideas for teaching her little sister and brother and is enjoying being with them. And I know that this will only keep getting better.

Homeschooling families verces public school families. Well when I am around homeschooled families, the syblings get along better, they don't tend to push the little ones away, but instead they play with them and enjoy them. Public school families have more trouble with this, remember that is where we are coming from just recently, the children seem to fight and not want to be with each other but instead want to be with kids their own age, really social being stuck with one age group huh??

Before public school was implimented some 130 yrs ago, everyone was homeschooled and the social skills were learned through family and friends, the oldfashioned way. I love oldfashioned, barbeques, picnics and just outings. Family reunions and friendly get togethers. We get more social skills from them than ever could be learned in school. The skills that are learned in homeschooling are that we can get along with all age groups, not just one. And it is like having summer all year, because they are always enjoying themselves.

We like taking walks and going to the play ground or working outside or just dancing to music. Taking time everyday to do something physical is good for everyone.

>What I'm trying to get at here is that the separation of school and state
>SUCK.  If you want to see an extremist, go stick everyone on your side of
>this argument in a mirror and stare at it real hard.  Maybe if you kill
>someone you will no longer have an extremist in the view.
>athens/forum/6524
>
>mysideofit
>
>And - thanks for the article idea

Now this is a statement of a sick person. So you want to kill someone with a different view than yours? I think that is being an extremist. You must have been schooled in public school. This kind of agressive attitude is what is being seen more and more in the public school systems and not just the students but the teachers. I would rather have my children in a safe place and learning all the time and not just when the bell rings. Bell rings, start learning, bell rings, stop learning. Not here at home.

Seperation of school and state, HA that will never happen. But for those that are lucky enough to find that we can and will be able to teach and spend real time with our children, teaching, learning and loving, their children will be better adults and make it in this world because their parents didn't push them out the door just to get rid of them.

May the Angels up Above,
Guide you with Love.
~A~ ~A~ ~A~ ~A~
Rita in Georiga ~A~

Address withheld

In a couple of days 13 people have visited this site. In 3.5 months, only 36 people have visited the normal letters page.
The normal letters aren't all sweetness and light. There are challenges. If your taste for controversy hasn't been sated, you might also try the Q&A pages.

This page accessed times since May 18, 1997.