Home Schooling

[hadespussercats]

Don't get me wrong. I had no problems with my friends' overall parenting, and I loved their kids like I was a member of the family. They were very sweet kids, and well behaved. It was just the idea that there are two kids, and the way to make dinner is to open the 'fridge and ask them to point out things they want. Take out the temper tantrums and silly behavior, which all kids will engage in. Just the idea that mom is a servant who is going to obey the wishes of the children, and make individual means for the two of them, was to me abhorrent. I would avoid setting any such precedent, and simply making something for dinner and saying, here - here's dinner, and say please and thank you and may I and please pass the...etc.

Oh, yeah, I hear you. I was just thinking, if they were acting up and you were there, well, I could see thinking, "Eh, I don't want to give in to a tantrum but if I could just make them stop screaming!" The "pick out your dinner at the fridge" thing is different from the scenario I had in mind.

Do you watch Louis CK's stand up? I don't have time to hunt down the clip, but there's this whole bit he does about watching a dad and a kid at the food court at the mall or something, and the kid is asking all these questions, and the dad says, "Just eat your sandwich."

And Louis is thinking, "When I have kids, I will answer all their questions! I will reward their curiosity about the world..." or something.

Then he had a kid, and every answer was followed with "Why?" "Because...etc." "But why?" "Because....etc." "But WHY?"

"Just eat your sandwich."

[Ronja]

hades / Louis CK

Younger Daughter often starts to ask all kinds of fascinating questions when I am tucking her into bed. My response is always "Now is not the time to ask questions, now it is time to sleep - ask me tomorrow." The sad thing is that she almost never remembers to ask again. Maybe I should start writing them down in the evening?

[Jesus_of_Nazareth]

If the kids don't like what is on the Menu - teach 'em to cook......that'll learn them.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Maybe I should start writing them down in the evening?

No, definitely not!

You should record them so you can hear her saying them again in 30-40 years.

[nellikin]

Sorry - only did a fly-by of this thread, so I may be repeating other peoples issues.

All the home-school parents I've met have been fundy Xtians who want to protect their kids from the big bad world (i.e. the truth about evilution, which is compulsory in school here). I have for some time now strongly believed that home-schooling is a good option for kids outside of a major centre (i.e, who have to travel like 50 kms one way to school), but should be forbidden to the rest of us. But I guess that's only if you have a good education provided by the state... Still, I do pity the home-schooled kids in Newcastle, because they end up in a 'network' of hard-core Xtians who think that even the Anglican churh is too lax!

[hadespussercats]

Maybe I should start writing them down in the evening?

No, definitely not!

You should record them so you can hear her saying them again in 30-40 years.

This is actually a really sweet idea. Probably easier than writing, too.

[Coito ergo sum]

Don't get me wrong. I had no problems with my friends' overall parenting, and I loved their kids like I was a member of the family. They were very sweet kids, and well behaved. It was just the idea that there are two kids, and the way to make dinner is to open the 'fridge and ask them to point out things they want. Take out the temper tantrums and silly behavior, which all kids will engage in. Just the idea that mom is a servant who is going to obey the wishes of the children, and make individual means for the two of them, was to me abhorrent. I would avoid setting any such precedent, and simply making something for dinner and saying, here - here's dinner, and say please and thank you and may I and please pass the...etc.

Oh, yeah, I hear you. I was just thinking, if they were acting up and you were there, well, I could see thinking, "Eh, I don't want to give in to a tantrum but if I could just make them stop screaming!" The "pick out your dinner at the fridge" thing is different from the scenario I had in mind.

Do you watch Louis CK's stand up? I don't have time to hunt down the clip, but there's this whole bit he does about watching a dad and a kid at the food court at the mall or something, and the kid is asking all these questions, and the dad says, "Just eat your sandwich."

And Louis is thinking, "When I have kids, I will answer all their questions! I will reward their curiosity about the world..." or something.

Then he had a kid, and every answer was followed with "Why?" "Because...etc." "But why?" "Because....etc." "But WHY?"

"Just eat your sandwich."

I saw that! Funny!

I think back to my childhood, and I wonder how much people do what my parents did then. We had "dinner time." If you were hungry an hour before dinner time, well, tough, you wait till dinner time (that may have been one of the reasons why my siblings and i were all in good physical shape and not overweight - there were rules to snacking). Dinner was at the table, and mom made the family dinner, not each individual. The food was on the table, and you ate it. And, if there was a vegetable you didn't like, you still had to have some of it, even if it meant burying it in potatoes or gravy to get it down.

It wasn't draconian. It was natural, because the precedent was set early. If we started harping about wanting grilled cheese instead of fish and potatoes and veggies, well, we had two chances to quiet down about it, or we were going to get told a thing or two by dad. No corporal punishment ever necessary in our house - just the slight raising of dad's voice, and we were in line. It was all in how things happen early, I think.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Maybe I should start writing them down in the evening?

No, definitely not!

You should record them so you can hear her saying them again in 30-40 years.

This is actually a really sweet idea. Probably easier than writing, too.

And you'll be able to embarrass the hell out of her whenever you want.

[hadespussercats]

Don't get me wrong. I had no problems with my friends' overall parenting, and I loved their kids like I was a member of the family. They were very sweet kids, and well behaved. It was just the idea that there are two kids, and the way to make dinner is to open the 'fridge and ask them to point out things they want. Take out the temper tantrums and silly behavior, which all kids will engage in. Just the idea that mom is a servant who is going to obey the wishes of the children, and make individual means for the two of them, was to me abhorrent. I would avoid setting any such precedent, and simply making something for dinner and saying, here - here's dinner, and say please and thank you and may I and please pass the...etc.

Oh, yeah, I hear you. I was just thinking, if they were acting up and you were there, well, I could see thinking, "Eh, I don't want to give in to a tantrum but if I could just make them stop screaming!" The "pick out your dinner at the fridge" thing is different from the scenario I had in mind.

Do you watch Louis CK's stand up? I don't have time to hunt down the clip, but there's this whole bit he does about watching a dad and a kid at the food court at the mall or something, and the kid is asking all these questions, and the dad says, "Just eat your sandwich."

And Louis is thinking, "When I have kids, I will answer all their questions! I will reward their curiosity about the world..." or something.

Then he had a kid, and every answer was followed with "Why?" "Because...etc." "But why?" "Because....etc." "But WHY?"

"Just eat your sandwich."

I saw that! Funny!

I think back to my childhood, and I wonder how much people do what my parents did then. We had "dinner time." If you were hungry an hour before dinner time, well, tough, you wait till dinner time (that may have been one of the reasons why my siblings and i were all in good physical shape and not overweight - there were rules to snacking). Dinner was at the table, and mom made the family dinner, not each individual. The food was on the table, and you ate it. And, if there was a vegetable you didn't like, you still had to have some of it, even if it meant burying it in potatoes or gravy to get it down.

It wasn't draconian. It was natural, because the precedent was set early. If we started harping about wanting grilled cheese instead of fish and potatoes and veggies, well, we had two chances to quiet down about it, or we were going to get told a thing or two by dad. No corporal punishment ever necessary in our house - just the slight raising of dad's voice, and we were in line. It was all in how things happen early, I think.

We always had family dinner, too. No rules about snacking, though-- which was probably good, since sometimes (well, often) Mom would get caught up in a book or something and dinner wouldn't happen until nine. She wouldn't let anyone else make it, either-- when I was old enough to start thinking about eating my evening meal earlier instead of snacking, I asked. Often. I liked to cook. But no.

But my parents had issues. I posted elsewhere about this. Taking the clean-plate rule to an extreme, and there was corporal punishment, so...

I like the idea of a family meal together in the evening, but I have to admit, J and I have never really gotten it together for ourselves. We usually eat in the living room, not at the table, and over the course of our marriage we've both had such crazy schedules with evening hours and such that a regular dinner-time just hasn't made sense. I've been thinking about this a lot, with the Sprog. No answers yet-- just playing it by ear. He's gotten the okay to eat solids, though, so we'll be figuring it out.

Blah, blah. We're not doing the home-schooling, though. Unless we have to move to a district with really crappy public schools and we can't get him into a charter or on scholarship somewhere private. Even then, I'd try to get into a liberal-minded home-schooling group, to make sure he meets other kids and isn't warped by just being around us and our points of view 24/7.

[Tero]

I have a couple of shoe boxes of 8mm video cassettes. My plan is to get obe of kids to become a senator. Then I give the tapes to the staff for 2 million. To file away in the senatorial archives.

[Coito ergo sum]

Don't get me wrong. I had no problems with my friends' overall parenting, and I loved their kids like I was a member of the family. They were very sweet kids, and well behaved. It was just the idea that there are two kids, and the way to make dinner is to open the 'fridge and ask them to point out things they want. Take out the temper tantrums and silly behavior, which all kids will engage in. Just the idea that mom is a servant who is going to obey the wishes of the children, and make individual means for the two of them, was to me abhorrent. I would avoid setting any such precedent, and simply making something for dinner and saying, here - here's dinner, and say please and thank you and may I and please pass the...etc.

Oh, yeah, I hear you. I was just thinking, if they were acting up and you were there, well, I could see thinking, "Eh, I don't want to give in to a tantrum but if I could just make them stop screaming!" The "pick out your dinner at the fridge" thing is different from the scenario I had in mind.

Do you watch Louis CK's stand up? I don't have time to hunt down the clip, but there's this whole bit he does about watching a dad and a kid at the food court at the mall or something, and the kid is asking all these questions, and the dad says, "Just eat your sandwich."

And Louis is thinking, "When I have kids, I will answer all their questions! I will reward their curiosity about the world..." or something.

Then he had a kid, and every answer was followed with "Why?" "Because...etc." "But why?" "Because....etc." "But WHY?"

"Just eat your sandwich."

I saw that! Funny!

I think back to my childhood, and I wonder how much people do what my parents did then. We had "dinner time." If you were hungry an hour before dinner time, well, tough, you wait till dinner time (that may have been one of the reasons why my siblings and i were all in good physical shape and not overweight - there were rules to snacking). Dinner was at the table, and mom made the family dinner, not each individual. The food was on the table, and you ate it. And, if there was a vegetable you didn't like, you still had to have some of it, even if it meant burying it in potatoes or gravy to get it down.

It wasn't draconian. It was natural, because the precedent was set early. If we started harping about wanting grilled cheese instead of fish and potatoes and veggies, well, we had two chances to quiet down about it, or we were going to get told a thing or two by dad. No corporal punishment ever necessary in our house - just the slight raising of dad's voice, and we were in line. It was all in how things happen early, I think.

We always had family dinner, too. No rules about snacking, though-- which was probably good, since sometimes (well, often) Mom would get caught up in a book or something and dinner wouldn't happen until nine. She wouldn't let anyone else make it, either-- when I was old enough to start thinking about eating my evening meal earlier instead of snacking, I asked. Often. I liked to cook. But no.

But my parents had issues. I posted elsewhere about this. Taking the clean-plate rule to an extreme, and there was corporal punishment, so...

I like the idea of a family meal together in the evening, but I have to admit, J and I have never really gotten it together for ourselves. We usually eat in the living room, not at the table, and over the course of our marriage we've both had such crazy schedules with evening hours and such that a regular dinner-time just hasn't made sense. I've been thinking about this a lot, with the Sprog. No answers yet-- just playing it by ear. He's gotten the okay to eat solids, though, so we'll be figuring it out.

Blah, blah. We're not doing the home-schooling, though. Unless we have to move to a district with really crappy public schools and we can't get him into a charter or on scholarship somewhere private. Even then, I'd try to get into a liberal-minded home-schooling group, to make sure he meets other kids and isn't warped by just being around us and our points of view 24/7.

I think home schooling is silly, because parents aren't teachers in the sense of a teacher at school. I don't think most of the adults I meet have the education or talent to teach children in the wide spectrum of subjects they need to learn, and then there is the discipline. It is one thing when there is a syllabus with a paid person whose job it is to teach every day. A parent that is going to try to fit 6 hours of school into a day just isn't going to be able to keep up.

My preference is to send the kid to school, and then add to that what really counts: a love of reading, encouragement to read for pleasure, and reward inquisitiveness. Help them go beyond the school books and the class work. When they study something in school, treat it as the minimum, and that just knowing what is taught in school is not knowing enough. Get that set in to their personalities early, teach them to read BEFORE they start school, teach them some adding, subtracting, etc., and how to tell time before they get to school, and the child will be fine from then on out. It's the first 5 years that are most important.

[Jesus_of_Nazareth]

I don't think most of the adults I meet have the education or talent to teach children in the wide spectrum of subjects they need to learn

My bet is that Sex Ed is covered fairly thoroughly.........in the cellar there is no one to tell.

[Seth]

I don't think most of the adults I meet have the education or talent to teach children in the wide spectrum of subjects they need to learn

My bet is that Sex Ed is covered fairly thoroughly.........in the cellar there is no one to tell.

Nah, that's what the atheists do, fuck their children in the basement, because they have no morals, no beliefs, no constraints on behavior and no concern for anything but immediate pleasure because they don't believe there is anything to account for at the end of their lives, so hedonistic excess is the typical atheist behavior pattern, and they look at their children as mere sexual property to be used however they wish because after all, in the socialist world most atheists live in, it's okay to force children into sexual slavery because adults have a "need" they must fulfill, and the kids can easily provide sexual satisfaction according to their "ability." After all, to atheists, a fuck-hole is a fuck-hole, and it matters nothing that it's attached to a child, even their child, because all children are just useless energy-sucking cogs in the great socialist machine and therefore ought to be compelled to produce SOMETHING worthwhile instead of taking without laboring. If adult atheist sexual pleasure is all they can produce, well, that'll do.

How's it feel to be group-insulted and reviled unfairly?

[Ian]

I've always wanted to ask - how does one escape from a straight-jacket?

[redunderthebed]

Sorry - only did a fly-by of this thread, so I may be repeating other peoples issues.

All the home-school parents I've met have been fundy Xtians who want to protect their kids from the big bad world (i.e. the truth about evilution, which is compulsory in school here). I have for some time now strongly believed that home-schooling is a good option for kids outside of a major centre (i.e, who have to travel like 50 kms one way to school), but should be forbidden to the rest of us. But I guess that's only if you have a good education provided by the state... Still, I do pity the home-schooled kids in Newcastle, because they end up in a 'network' of hard-core Xtians who think that even the Anglican churh is too lax!

+1

The only people ive met who are home schooled are hardcore fundies or in a isolated case this lady who had obvious mental health issue to do with paranoia.

I personally think that far too many have the wrong motivations for home schooling for it to be considered on the whole a good thing.