Posted by Carroll on September 09, 2002 at 19:42:28:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Why should we have to defend teachers? posted by Kenneth Sloan on September 08, 2002 at 22:36:08:
O.K. I was going to let all of this go by, but I just can't. I respect the views of those who are eloquent enough to voice them clearly, but I must disagree with the concept that most people are capable of home-schooling. I can see finding an expert to teach a child tuba lessons - one on one... but unless you are also going to find math, science, english, and social studies experts... you will be dis-serving children. Would you trust the people you see in the grocery to teach your kid chemistry, or English composition, or tuba? Yet these people are home schooling their own children. I know there are wonderful curriculum guides for home school parents (my wife's siblings home school) but it cannot be enough. There are also tuba playing texts, but I cannot read one and teach someone how to play. And the moral implications are diverse, as well. My sister-in-law tells her children not to cheat on a test, but they never get the opportunity to cheat. Have they really learned that lesson. I want my own daughter to agree with my views, but if she does not know other views, and resolve the conflicts between the two - for herself - she has not really learned. I want her to meet all kinds of people, ones I want her to be like, and especially ones I do not. Then she can develop into a self assured, experienced young woman who can make her own choices and think for herself. Perhaps it is just the rural area in which we live, but I cannot see these experiences happening for the majority of home school students I meet through the very limited home school band program I direct. I can only see these kids once a week, and they gernerally do not make great progress. Peer pressure to excel can be a good thing.