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    Lily022's Avatar
    Lily022 Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #21

    Mar 4, 2013, 09:29 PM
    I am a middle school teacher. My husband has a Ph.D in engineering. We want to homeschool our children because we both had very bad experiences growing up attending public school and because too much time is wasted on classroom management in public schools.

    I began reading at age two, and by the time I entered kindergarten, I was reading chapter books. I exhausted the 1st - 6th grade reading curriculum during my first two weeks of first grade and had to "sit there" for years waiting for the others to figure out how to stumble their way through "The Cat in the Hat". I read most of the books in the public library (excluding some adult romance novels, which I didn't find interesting) by the time I finished elementary. My teachers generally refused to call on me in class because my answers to simple questions were too detailed. I dropped out of high school several times, and failed most of my high school classes because I had skipped classes and never learned how to work hard when I was younger. Fortunately, I did manage to graduate college Phi Beta Kappa with Honors, but I really had to struggle to learn the self-discipline I had never been taught in school.

    My husband was teased mercilessly because he was "odd" (dxd with Aspergers). He felt out of sync with kids his own age, preferring to talk to older kids and adults. Even as an adult, he gets along remarkably well with older adults. He is generally well-liked by people our age, though he still has a tendency to become overly-technical when trying to explain things to non-engineers. He is a deeply sensitive and caring person, and he has a strong desire to seek social justice in the world. I do not believe his "lack of social skills" means that he is socially inept; he simply approaches the world and the people in it differently than others.

    Even children who are not intellectually gifted could benefit academically from an educational environment with fewer than 36 students. I waste more than half my time in the classroom dealing with discipline issues, and the kids who are motivated to learn suffer because of it. Without the discipline issues, our kids could be years ahead in terms of the curriculum, and they would have time to learn additional subjects not generally taught in elementary or middle school, to get involved in extracurricular and/or social activities, or to explore areas of particular academic interest to individual students. At the very least, they would have more time to approach regular academic content in ways that encourage creativity, problem solving, moral development, and higher-level thinking skills. Sadly, these skills are rarely practiced in most elementary and middle school classrooms.

    My parents are both career teachers with 35+ years of teaching experience each. They agree that, if they had kids now, homeschooling would be a better option than public school.
    scapluzi's Avatar
    scapluzi Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #22

    Mar 16, 2013, 10:40 AM
    This is many years later, but it isn't any of your business what they are doing with THEIR child. Do you realize what the kids go through in school? Socialization is way over rated. The parents can choose who their child is interacting with. It is their own decision. Be concerned, but you need to support them.

    My daughter started kindergarten this past September. She has been picked on since day one by 1 child. Her snack is stolen from her lunch box. A friend of mine has a kindergartener too. Her daughter has been spit on, pinched and threatened to get stabbed in the eye. A boy has even exposed himself to her!

    I see the parents of these children. I don't want my daughter around their children! She doesn't need to be exposed to these attitudes. She is there to learn, which is hard to do when the classroom is overpacked. Also, she is more advanced that most of the other kids in her class. My daughter is losing out on learning.

    Grandma is not always right.
    teacherjenn4's Avatar
    teacherjenn4 Posts: 4,005, Reputation: 468
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    #23

    Mar 16, 2013, 11:19 PM
    Quote Originally Posted by scapluzi View Post
    This is many years later, but it isn't any of your business what they are doing with THEIR child. Do you realize what the kids go through in school? Socialization is way over rated. The parents can choose who their child is interacting with. It is their own decision. Be concerned, but you need to support them.

    My daughter started kindergarten this past September. She has been picked on since day one by 1 child. Her snack is stolen from her lunch box. A friend of mine has a kindergartener too. Her daughter has been spit on, pinched and threatened to get stabbed in the eye. A boy has even exposed himself to her!

    I see the parents of these children. I don't want my daughter around their children! She doesn't need to be exposed to these attitudes. She is there to learn, which is hard to do when the classroom is overpacked. Also, she is more advanced that most of the other kids in her class. My daughter is losing out on learning.

    Grandma is not always right.
    Although the thread was started long ago, I would like to comment to you about your child. I am a Kindergarten teacher and I am very sad to hear about your daughter's Kinder experience. If she is picked on, it should have been dealt with long ago by her teacher and/or the principal. No child should be bullied, ever! It is not tolerated in my classroom. Yes, there are children with poor behaviors, and I am hoping they received appropriate discipline for it.
    Yes, public schools are overcrowded, but it still should be a wonderful experience. If you are so unhappy and your child is losing out, why haven't you transferred her out of the classroom or school?
    scapluzi's Avatar
    scapluzi Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #24

    Mar 17, 2013, 06:34 AM
    It isn't even just in her classroom anymore and we did visit another school. The other school is in another district so would have to wait until next year. We were going to deal with the small issues and finish out this year.

    Unfortunately, her school feels the need to sugar coat many issues and put a veil over our eyes, and many other parents. The more problems we see, we hear even more from other parents.

    Her school is no longer safe for my daughters well being, emotionally and physically. I had to find out from another class about multiple cases of head lice, now a case of pin worms in the school. The principle says it's a waste of paper to inform everyone about everything. She says, "it's not an epidemic, it's not a big deal" She believes it's an isolated problem to the one classroom. Yet the entire school shares gym, music, art, the lunch room, library... The principle feels that there aren't any bully issues. Everything we have been hearing about the kids kissing, " No, they don't do that"

    And it isn't just us. I have two friends with children in the school. I hear their experiences. They also hear from other moms.

    It really is so sad because she used to like going. I have asked my daughter's opinion and what she will miss. She is excited to be away from this little boy and she will miss painting and recess. She didn't mention teachers or students.

    It may not read as horrible as it is, but we are at our wits end and the pin worms was just the last straw. I still can't believe the principle told my pregnant friend not to worry because they can't get her, because she is pregnant! OMG, I would love to know where she got her "medical degree"

    Sorry it's long winded. I'm just trying to express how we reached this point, even though this is just the icing on the cake.
    JennYH's Avatar
    JennYH Posts: 1, Reputation: 1
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    #25

    Apr 3, 2013, 10:01 AM
    Public school is not the only place for kids to be around other kids in their own age group. The idea that children need to be "socialized" is pure propaganda. Sure it is good for children to be around kids their age sometimes, but not the majority of the time, and that's the difference. Who do you want the main influence of your children to be? Other 5 year olds? No thanks, I think I'll raise my kids myself. My child has plenty of friends his age and he didn't meet them at school. Get outside of the bubble you live in and stop being a lazy parent. That's my advice. BTW I plan to home school all of my children all the way to the completion of high school. Yes, they will be involved in sports, and they will play an instrument of their choosing. They will have many opportunities to be social... but being social will not be the focal point of their lives. These days so many kids are raised to behave in selfish and childish ways. I'm raising mine to be adults one day, not grown up babies. There is a real world outside of my home, and I intend to prepare my kids for that. In REAL ways. I don't coddle, I don't always say "yes" and they don't always necessarily like me. It isn't my job (as their mother) to be their friend, that will come when they are adults. It is my job to be their parent. It isn't easy, it isn't always fun, but I take it very seriously as the huge responsibility that it is.

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