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| Funny, they don't look dangerous. PACE might wonder what they are plotting. |
Once again, Europe is overreacting to the potential that extremist Muslims might create schools in their midst. Europe is involved in wholehearted attempts to integrate foreigners into their societies. Although I understand the intent, I disagree in the manner in which this is being done.
This week, the Parliamentary Association of the Council of Europe, or PACE declared that homeschooling should be severely restricted because it opens the possibiities of parallel societies !
In order to make doubly sure that no Terror Camps for Tots emerge in their nations, they want to ensure that no one homeschools ! That's a bit like stopping pertussis by beheading all of the children in a nation who are of an age in which pertussis could be fatal ! Stopping homeschooling removes an excellent and viable means of education for many.
Why should we care what happens in Europe ? We should care because whatever madness comes to Europe, sooner or later hops the pond to our shores. In the United States, homeschooling has provided the only means for many families who can't afford a private school education to ensure a superior education for their children. My own children have graduated from universities with honors following almost exclusively homeschooling. I am not entirely sure, had they remained in the chaos of the public school system that they would have had the inclination, desire, and the nerves to continue in college and university. Why discount an entire alternative that has been proven to benefit many families ?
If Europe wishes to monitor Neo-Nazi's, extremist Muslims, Mansonites, and Ku-Klux-Klanners then knock yourself out. Our nation is already monitoring the Conservatives at our expense. Perhaps keeping their meddling hands off the only bodies of learning which are successfully teaching reading, writing, history, geography, and the like should be left unmolested ! After all, we are going to need someone to do the work and the thinking of the world after the rest are simply mesmerized by their iphones.
Information on this development:
Council of Europe Threatens Homeschooling
On Fighting "Sects"
5 comments:
Amen.
The name of the game is "Total government control" If you think it can't happen here, think again. It is precisely that we are too busy with our I phones that this can be put in place without anyone noticing. Wake up America
Actually, I am very concerned that this level of stupidity can be implemented here. People are beginning to notice !
I am not particularly a fan of Conservatives and definitely not a fan of Muslim thought. But, how can private, family home schoolers pull off anything seditious that they could not manage even if the kids were in public schools?
The reasons people home school their children bother me, but the actual home-schooling cannot cause me to lose sleep.
The girl I tutored after she had been homeschooled was not ready for college at all. Her spelling level was at seventh-grade level. Her mother had allowed her to complete her work by herself for the last four years because "she always does her work."
Several homeschools families in my church did not want their children associating and being led astray by worldly public school children. So, the 14-yr-old daughter got pregnant by a boy being homeschooled. That family had money but was plagued by ignorance. The science experiments were really off base and formulated by the mother who did her own "interpretation" and taught her children false facts about science. I am quite sure you are not one of these homeschool mothers. There is just no way to guarantee a quality education. Of course, there is no way in public schools, either. lol.
Linda,
You raise a number of good points. I have been active in the homeschooling community for 24 years. The process of homeschooling has been independently studied and the positive data from these studies are why laws permit the practice. Many homeschooling families are highly educated and do a credible if not superior job of preparing their children for often top colleges, for life, and they do so, with balance. It is estimated that 1-2 % of homeschooling families do so, not for positive educational or other reasons, but as a dodge for as structured a life as school brings to not only a child, but to a family. This was very interesting to me because of all the families we met during homeschooling, in our local support group, homeschooling sports group, and specialty programs, (which included everything from yearbook to cotillion ) most were doing an excellent and broad job of educating, and their children were calm, articulate, and balanced. However, in all that time, we did meet three families who, in my estimation, were using homeschooling to avoid the oversight of others. Of course, having your children at home all the time, and having them NOT make progress is very frustrating, and all three returned their children to schools of one type of another within a couple of years.
I have long said that homeschooling is not for everyone. Families must consider that it is really only an alternative for the right child, the right family, and the right block of time. Mine did very well, but both my husband and I really ENJOYED the process of homeschooling, and our kids enjoyed it because it provided time for other activities, like flying lessons, art and music etc. However, we made the decision as to whether we would homeschool on an annual basis. It was always possible that one or all of them would continue education in school. As it was, we transitioned them to community colleges at 16, and then on to university where they did incredibly well. Right now, their friends who homeschooled with us are in medical school, dental school, grad school and one is a new veterinarian locally. One of their friends from our homeschooling support group teaches college.
As for the concern of "parallel societies", so long as students are passing our states annual required exam, there is probably no time to be preparing them to be terrorists. European nations who consider homeschooling might just wish to institute the annual exam.
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