In article . net>,
"MarjorieB" > wrote:

> Though I don't believe public schools are the greatest, they're certainly
> better than no school at all, which is what "The Homeschooled" are getting.
> And though I have a college degree, it isn't in elementary education, so I
> am therefore no more capable of educating my children than is a bored
> housewife, which is what "The Homeschooling" are.

Then why is it that when children were largely homeschooled in our
country (at least for their early education, through what would now be
second or third grade), by mothers harried by real hard work at home,
and who weren't educated beyond maybe the age of 14 or 15, the children
accomplished so much?

I am not planning on homeschooling my kids, but parents with a vested
interest in their own children have more drive to teach them, to work
with their learning styles. I learned this forcefully when Alexander
was bringing home blank papers from his preschool and his teacher was
asking me about any learning problems. I sat down with him and asked
why he didn't do the paper, whether anyone told him how. He answered
that they had told him what to do. I asked if he understood, he said
yes, but he didn't know how to do it. I showed him once, and he was
able to do all the rest easily and quickly. Nobody had shown him how
to do what they were asking. This was when he was 4. They had a room
full of kids, and it was easier to just say that the kid wasn't doing
his work than to sit with him for the three minutes it took for me to
ask him what he needed and show him how to do it.

There may be subjects that a parent does not know how to cover with
his/her children, but certainly reading, writing, math, history, basics
can be covered quite easily at home, and with the material available to
homeschoolers now, and the co-ops of parents who will teach science, for
instance, to a larger group of homeschooled children, or art, or music,
these children are well able to have a balanced education. I am
currently giving violin lessons to a bright, accomplished young woman
who is homeschooled, and who will be heading to college at 17, passing
the tests with flying colors and well socialized.

As one of those housewives you mentioned, though I prefer the term
homemaker, I will attest that I am neither bored nor incapable, and most
of the women I know who stay home (a laughable term, since I am in my
car and out of the home so often) are in the same position. You do not
need a degree in elementary education to teach your children to share,
cooperate, have good manners, read, write, do math (we're already doing
the beginnings of algebra with our eldest son, though he doesn't really
know it, and we've been teaching him about how it was his ancestors that
came up with these concepts), study history in elementary school, any
more than you need a degree in child psychology to be a parent.

Regards,
Ranee

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"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

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