3

5/17/2014 1:26:04 PM

My girlfriend saw this thread and wanted to say a few things to everyone:

Quote :

"I currently homeschool my ninth grader and my first grader. I experience in my daily life a lot of the same negativity I saw in this thread, and so I try to counter the misconceptions whenever I can. I realize this probably won't change a lot of the notions people have about homeschooling, but hope it will open minds to some degree. Call me an optimist. :-) First of all, I have nothing against public schools. I taught public school for eight years, and I think it is a viable option for most children. I think the schools where I live are excellent, and I know dozens of teachers that I would trust implicitly with my child's education. Secondly, I'm an atheist. There is no religious component to my decision to homeschool whatsoever. There is no other reason I wish to isolate my children from society either. Quite the opposite, in fact...I wish for them to be active members of their community. The factors that led me to homeschool my children had nothing to do with anyone else, and had everything to do with THEM. I wanted them to receive the best education that was within my power to give them. My definition of "the best" includes several things: quality instruction that meets their individual needs, time and support to pursue the things they are passionate about, and opening the world to them through travel and other opportunities. Homeschooling fits the bill. So, here we are in our fourth year of homeschooling. We've been extremely successful, and we're all very happy. My kids study at their own pace, which for them means that they fly through books and write ferociously, while math goes very slowly. And that's ok. I don't see any reason at all to either hold a child back with the things they are good at, or push them through a subject they have trouble with, as it only sets them up to fail. My teenager is a passionate artist, and she has plenty of time every day to work on her art. She also works with a successful exhibiting artist, and has blossomed under her guidance. My younger child hasn't found his passion yet, but he has plenty of time to play and explore and figure the world out on his own terms. Additionally, we have traveled extensively. We've been to Washington, DC, New York, Williamsburg, and Atlanta. We spent two months in Portland and roadtripping through Oregon. We spent a total of four months in London. We traveled to the Virgin Islands and worked with scientists in an eco camp, studying the coral reefs and environmental sustainability. We joke all the time about homeschooling being such a misnomer for us...we're never at home! The misconception that bothers me the most, however, is the idea that homeschoolers are socially stunted. My kids don't have a group of similarly-aged kids that they learn with daily, but they do have a very wide social circle. They enjoy kids their own age, but homeschooling has provided them with the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with all kinds of people. We have a huge circle of people we call our friends, and we have someone to see every day. The homeschool community in our area is enormous. We belong to just one of many local organizations, and that one has over 200 families in it. I've met countless homeschoolers, and I've never met one who didn't honestly have the best interests of their children at heart. Nobody has an agenda. I've never met anyone who homeschools for religious reasons either. I know those people exist, but I definitely have enough of my own evidence to say that they are in the minority, at least in this area of the world. I hope that shed some light on the reality of homeschooling, and helped dispel some of the negativity. When you read shocking stories about homeschooling screwballs, remember that good parents taking good care of their children never make the news. We're out there! :-)"

5/17/2014 10:46:14 PM

Please thank your girlfriend for Outside Sales Meme v2.0

5/17/2014 11:14:07 PM

Your girlfriend has a 9th grader? Wtf, how old are you people?

5/17/2014 11:15:33 PM

^She is 35

5/17/2014 11:17:29 PM

Quote :

"I realize this probably won't change a lot of the notions people have about homeschooling, but hope it will open minds to some degree."

Quote :

"The factors that led me to homeschool my children had nothing to do with anyone else, and had everything to do with THEM."

Quote :

"I don't see any reason at all to either hold a child back with the things they are good at, or push them through a subject they have trouble with..."

Quote :

"She also works with a successful exhibiting artist, and has blossomed under her guidance."

Quote :

"I hope that shed some light on the reality of homeschooling, and helped dispel some of the negativity."

She needs to brush up on her commas!

This is serious business!

[Edited on May 17, 2014 at 11:27 PM. Reason : Too lazy to find more.]

5/17/2014 11:25:07 PM

/ classic tww

5/17/2014 11:29:16 PM

LOL

Seriously though, dmidkiff, can you inform your girlfriend about the comma situation? It's a common mistake. We all do it. But she could use a reminder.

Please report back with her reaction. I'm really bored.

5/17/2014 11:34:31 PM

My closest friend here in Greenville home schools her children. Though they were not moved to home school for religious reasons, the decision was most definitely guided by faith. Their faith also moved them towards a Christ centered curriculum and Christian co op. I don't think that is terribly unusual in Eastern NC. Religion may not be the reason to home school, but faith definitely guides the practice.

5/17/2014 11:35:20 PM

It is perfectly acceptable to use commas before coordinating conjunctions with two independent clauses

5/17/2014 11:36:54 PM

These are not independent clauses:

Quote :

"but hope it will open minds to some degree."

Quote :

"and had everything to do with THEM."

Quote :

"or push them through a subject they have trouble with..."

Quote :

"and has blossomed under her guidance."

Quote :

"and helped dispel some of the negativity."

[Edited on May 17, 2014 at 11:40 PM. Reason : ]

5/17/2014 11:37:36 PM

whatever-I am just the messenger. do you have anything to contribute to the discussion?

5/17/2014 11:43:49 PM

No, fuck you. I don't really know what a coordinating conjunction is, but you shot back with that real uppity like. There's no "whatever" at this point.

You're gonna have to admit you're wrong.

5/17/2014 11:47:20 PM

I appreciate and applaud dmidkiff's girlfriend's perspective and actions as it pertains to this subject

5/18/2014 12:36:20 AM

I appreciate and applaud dmidkiff's girlfriend's perspective and actions as it pertains to this subject

5/18/2014 12:37:14 AM

I think she has a great perspective as well.

I'm also unclear how a single mother of two has the time to homeschool her children and travel so much. She's very fortunate.

5/18/2014 12:41:27 AM

I think Bridget needs to be taken down a peg

5/18/2014 12:50:01 AM

The comma thing is actually serious. If her children are "ferocious" writers, and she's their teacher, then she needs to know about it. Otherwise, she's obviously a fine writer.

And I do think income is an important thing to mention here. A lot of people would love to do all this awesome stuff with their kids, but they have to work.

5/18/2014 12:55:06 AM

Commas are what editors are for.

She must have a lot of money, I don't blame someone who has the money and education to take their kids around the world to do so.

I wonder what happens if the younger kid never "finds his passion" though, he could end up being a really spoiled adult.

5/18/2014 2:13:35 AM

the only thing that is significant in this thread is that saps and the duke have input in it


saps told me he quit tww....lurker fucker

5/18/2014 2:36:32 AM

Quote :

"Thanks for pointing out my misuse of commas.  That's pretty embarrassing! I know the rules, but sometimes I miss things, and I'm just comma-happy in general. :-) ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I didn't mention it in my original response because I didn't feel it was relevant to the discussion at hand, but I'm actually not able to continue to homeschool. It's not financially possible as a single mother. I tried to work a schedule that would allow me to continue, but it hasn't been quite enough, and I do have to work more. When I was married, my income was put completely toward homeschooling. Now that I'm single and living off my income, homeschooling is a luxury I can't afford. We're all a little sad, but I'm confident that my kids will thrive and be happy in public school. We will keep our homeschool community close even after our transition, and we will still participate in whatever activities we can with our friends. Like I said in my previous response, I have nothing against public school. In fact, I know school will offer some benefits that homeschooling does not.  For me, it was never about one way being better than the other...it was about what worked best for them at that time. My only concern is that they are getting the best education possible. School is what's best for them at this point, so off they go. They'll begin in the fall. I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors!"

5/18/2014 9:05:36 AM

Quote :

"Homeschooling families come from varied backgrounds—there are secular liberals as well as Christians, along with an increasing number of Muslims and African Americans—but researchers estimate that between two-thirds and three-fourths are fundamentalists. "

http://prospect.org/article/homeschool-apostates

seems oddly high

5/24/2014 1:11:48 AM

All of my wives were homeschooled and they turned out just fine.

5/24/2014 4:30:35 AM

not addressing the majority of the content of dmidkiff's gf's post and focusing on comma usage was pointless.

she apparently had a lot of perspective on the issue...but yeah, let's focus on grammar.

5/24/2014 11:13:03 AM

LOL at people criticizing her comma use hoping that that's a valid criticism of homeschooling.

Have you people seen the grammar and spelling of people who do go to school, and have even been to college? I mean, just look at TWW. Even better, go to the comments section of any of thousands of websites.

5/24/2014 12:14:56 PM

I'm the only one who said anything about the commas, guys.

I didn't address the content of her message because it all seemed fine and dandy. The decision to homeschool or not homeschool children is not something that interests me.

5/24/2014 11:36:04 PM

http://latest.com/2014/05/despicable-parents-6-sons-arrested-for-sexually-abusing-sister-starting-when-she-was-four/
Large homeschooling family sexually abuses sister for years...

6/2/2014 8:10:44 AM

I'm glad the 9th grader will be in school, and hopefully won't have to graduate late because of it. Not making them learn much math is short sighted, and they might be getting their dislike of math from their teacher. Now with someoene else as a teacher hopefully they will enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I think homeschooling should be outlawed unless the parent is a certified teacher. It is this way in some states but needs to be in all of them. And I mean the primary teaching parent, because I have seen one where the dad was a teacher and worked at a school and the mom stayed home and screwed up the kids pretty good but the dad was too tired to fix it.

6/2/2014 12:20:03 PM

Quote :

"I'm glad the 9th grader will be in school, and hopefully won't have to graduate late because of it. Not making them learn much math is short sighted, and they might be getting their dislike of math from their teacher. Now with someoene else as a teacher hopefully they will enjoy it."

2/27/2017 12:35:10 AM

Quote :

"saps told me he quit tww....lurker fucker"

yes he did...

2/27/2017 10:35:47 AM

yo, dmidkiff. Did you marry this girl, or leave her hanging with 2 kids and no money?

2/27/2017 12:30:30 PM