Quote:
Originally Posted by Clark Addison
I have no beef, in theory, with home schooling, and I am aware of several people similar to those that minn_stat mentions. Having said that, I have also known home schooled kids, who seemed intelligent, who could barely read when they were 10 years old.
I think it is clear that many of us react to the motivations of LDS home school parents. Maybe I am simplifying, but in my experience, very many LDS parents who home school are not doing so to give their child a better education, but instead to give them a more moral education. They are upset that the schools are too liberal, or that the schools teach evolution, or sex ed, or that they read a book that talks about breasts, or something like that. They are much more concerned with shielding than in enriching or educating.
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I would generally agree with this post. My wife and I were interested in the concept of homeschooling from very early in our marriage, and have looked at it quite closely. We have observed and talked to dozens of families that have homeschooled, and have discussed it with many people who are not too keen on the idea.
Our observation is that home-schooling families who are more focused on giving their child a better education generally do "better" (which we define as producing children who are well prepared to contribute to society in all ways) than those who are more focused on the moral/political/social issues. The more narrowly focused on moral/political/social issues, the less effective they tend to be.
Some of the families that do well are concerned about moral/political/social issues, but they tend to see it in a broader context (e.g., they do not like society's tendency to have children socializing other children, rather than extended families socializing children; as opposed to not liking that their kids are taught evolution).
You put it as "shielding" vs. "enriching", which I think is about as good of a one word summary as you can put on the differing attitudes, and I would agree is pretty good at differentiating between those who have success and those who don't.