BALD  EAGLE

J O U R N A L                        L E A R N I N G  &  E D U C A T I O N

HOME-SCHOOLING PRODUCES BETTER ACHIEVERS

      -- Education Pros take aim at destroying Home-Schooling

Remember the old adage: "The proof of the pudding is in the eating thereof!" Well, that seems to apply to students who are learning in their homes rather than in the public school. Results of SATs are now revealing what many parents have believed for the past twenty years as Public schools have become hotbeds of cultural correctness and Jock palaces!

According to government statistics (if you can believe them!), between 1 to 1.5 million children are now learning in their own homes where they are taught by one or both parents. Typically, these are families in which both parents are college educated. The Mother, however, has chosen to stay home and teach her children. The curriculum is much the same as that presented in the public schools, however, making sure that the pupil is learning his or her lessons is a much more concentrated and exacting process. Distractions, conflict, crime and bullying do not exist in a well-managed, parent-directed home. Focus or concentration can be better maintained in an environment that learning-oriented rather than a place that is a mish-mash of pep rallies, student government, sex education and cultural symposia!

Why is home-schooling a hot topic today? Several reasons can be cited. First, the administrative bureaucrats in public schools see the possibility of Home-schooling becoming so popular as to create a whole new "learning option". Use of Vouchers is another option they fear. Such options could in time impact tax dollars flowing into the public school system. Yes, MONEY, as always, is a big concern. Secondly, teacher unions like the FTA and the NEA see their "cultural control" over young Americans weakened and perhaps, in time, eliminated. Teacher unions are an instrument of change in this country. Ambitous Jewish intellectuals, seeking to change the Christian culture in the USA have dominated our schools for most of the post WWII period.

Yes, there are legitimate concerns about home-schooling. The most obvious is whether home-based teachers are following reasonable standards of performance. One would think that question is answered by tests that home-schoolers must pass to receive credits needed to qualify for grade-level and later, college entrance. At this moment, home-schoolers perform much better (i.e., make higher test scores) than the public school pupils. Of course, that is one of the reasons for establishing home-schooling for a child in the first place. Performance should be better when you have more one-on-one attention! But there are many other reasons!

Listen to the stories of parents who are doing the home-schooling and you will get a more comprehensive view of how bad the Public School system has become. Schools are the focal point of all sorts of cultural conflicts today. Civil Rights Movement, Immigrant children, Feminism Movement and Rich versus Poor conflicts are but the more familiar forces at work in the typical public school. Bullying is much more violent today than ever before. Children from dysfunctional families place a special burden upon school staff and teachers AND other students! Sexual harrassment and molestation and threat of rape lurks on our school grounds in many areas due in great part to the number of children raised in homes of different cultures and ethnic orientations. Some are receiving no rearing whatsoever!

It is obvious that bureaucrats and the unions have killed the School Voucher idea. It's real purpose was to serve notice on Schools that 'they had to get their act together', or Parents would have an option to move their children to a 'better' school. We have already stated that the Voucher approach is a rather tedious way of correcting such a problem. We should have more positive control of a system that We the People created in the first place! Of course, it is Politics and Liberal politicians who have refused to hear what the People want.

Alternate schooling systems have occurred in European countries years ago. Today, in the USA, there appears to be a great opportunity to establish a broader expression of the Home-School concept. Jewish families -- the first to find much wrong with the Public school system in this country -- have conducted home-schooling by having as many as 10-15 pupils attend school in a local home under the tutelage of a well-qualified teacher. That could be the next step in home-schooling in the USA. Such a move would be a more serious threat to those who are protecting the public school system for their own selfish reasons. The most nettling issue to home schooling is the fact that families who 'school' their children are forced to pay school taxes anyway. The Voucher poses a more serious problem: money will go to the school that is preferred by Parents.

The Personal Computer and TV-School has made home-schooling even more successful. Parent-controlled Neighborhood Home Schools could produce the next major flight from the Public School system!! When leadership fails in America, the People will not stand idly by and tolerate such nonsense and such incompetence! They will find another way --  trust me!

Today, many communities are debating the question of how Home-schooling should be treated. School districts are now demanding that they determine the standards and conduct oversight and supervisory activity over such schools! Imagine, a school inspector coming into a private home to examine how the youngsters are being taught by their parents!

One way or the other, the professionals who cannot operate their own tax-supported schools and produce competent graduates, will hound the home-schoolers out of existence. That is to say: If YOU -- Mr. and Mrs. Citizen -- allow it to happen!

de cqh