Homeschooling is pretty rare in the US, but in Germany, it's against the law. I read an interesting article from the New York Times, Judge Grants Asylum to German Home Schoolers, about a German refugee family living in Tennessee. The Romeikes family chose to home school their children because they felt that other students' bad behavior was unhelpful to their children's learning and because they believed that the stories in German readers - where "devils, witches and disobedient children are often portrayed as heros" were not good examples for children to be reading. The Romeikes worked with a curriculum from a private Christian correspondence school. However, it was not recognized by the German government, which enforces that all students must attend school, whether that be public or private. The law maintains that going to school allows for "social integration" and is necessary to "ensure exposure to people from different backgrounds and prevent what some call 'parallel societies.'" The Romeikes eventually faced fines up to $11,000 and almost lost custody of their children, so their lawyers petitioned for asylum (Protection and immunity from extradition granted by a government to a political refugee from another country), and it was granted because the Romeikes would have faced persecution had they returned to Germany.
Should parents be allowed to home school their children? Ultimately, I believe that parents should be able to choose whether or not they do, regardless of the circumstances - as long as they follow a set curriculum. Parents have the right to raise their children the way they think is best, and in a way that does not compromise their beliefs. However, I do see truth in the reasons for which Germany prohibits this schooling method - I believe social integration is important for children to develop into aware and tolerant individuals. In the case mentioned above, Mr. Romeikes said, "I want my children to learn the truth and to learn about what’s going on in the world so that they can deal with it.” What do you think?
I think that public schooling is great!
ReplyDeleteStudents socalize and learn about the good AND the bad. It also prepares them for college. Give your kids some slack and let them expierence them being on their own.
Dear Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThere are pros and cons to both public schooling and homeschooling. Public schooling does tend toward more mainstream socializing for kids, but it is not impossible to socialize homeschoolers, nor is there only one "correct" type of socialization. It just takes a little more effort from the parents to provide alternative social environments for their children.
BOTH methods prepare students for college, and I have seen kids provided with both good and bad preparation from both systems of education. A child will not be prepared for college by default if processed through public education. It all comes down to the child's motivation to learn.
Kids will find ways to experience "being on their own" regardless of their education track. In some cases, yes, homeschoolers can be over protected by their parents, but in other cases it's the complete reverse! Kids can learn to be even more independant via homeschooling if given a chance, since they are much more responsible for their own education than children processed through a public school system.
Katie, cute cartoon, btw!
This is a fabulous cartoon! I find it interesting that the non-homeschooling types think that homeschoolers aren't exposed to 1) other kids 2) real life and some how think that homeschoolers won't be able to "hack it" in the real world. This couldn't be further from the truth. As a homeschooling Mom my kids are exposed to working with other children (at co-ops, etc.) and exposed to real life, just like any public school child would be. The goal isn't for us to keep our kids locked up inside the house in some twisted way to "save them" for the dangers of the real world. In reality, we simply have a strong desire to provide the very best education for our children and recognize that a "one size, fits all" way of doing things doesn't work for most children. I acgree with the above poster, most homeschooling adults that I know are far more responsible than most (not all) public school children and have gone on to rewarding careers. PS - Homeschooling isn't rare in the US, in our state alone there are over 5,000 homeschooling families. Thanks for the cartoon, great!!
ReplyDeleteI was a home-schooled kid for 14 years, I was just put into high school last year. I've experienced both sides. Being home schooled you do get the same experiences, you get more advantages, and you are still socialized. Half of my friends are from when I was home schooled. If you haven't been home schooled then you do not understand and you base it on what you see, and when you base it on what you see, then you are only seeing half of what is there.
ReplyDeleteDear 1st Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteDid you know that homeschoolers are sought out by colleges and universities because they know that they can teach themselves, they haven't been spoon-fed all their information?
Socialization is the biggest misnomer. Homeschooling for most of us should be called car schooling because we are always on the road going to co-ops, play dates, teen groups, book clubs, the library, park days, dance and art classes, sports, etc. The difference is there is no "peer" group. My children can carry on a conversation as easily with an adult as a child of a much younger age.
I graduated 13 years ago but still have a clear memory of the socialization in public school. When you do talk to your friend in class, you had to go to the front of the room and write your name on the board. How humiliating. If you did it again, even to just as for your pencil off the floor, now you got a check mark. One more of those and you had an after-school detention.
On the playground, you had 15 mins to play or socialize, if that. Sometimes the class didn't finish their work and we weren't allow to even play that day. If you got a swing you were lucky. How about the kids that picked on your because they didn't like your clothes?
When I was in middle school, one girl had to be homeschooled because she was being bullied and beaten up regularly and the other girls' parents wouldn't do anything about it.
Do you work with only people of your own age? Probably not. That isn't real life. Yet that is what the public school system sets up for every student from age 5-18.
Just curious if this is the type of socialization you were referring to? I don't want to shelter my children forever. I do want to protect them from that crap until they can reason and understand better. When someone treats me like crap as an adult, I can reason and understand that they own the problem. As a child, you don't have that reasoning and understanding ability. I bet you can recall with ease, an incident when somebody did or said something so hurtful to you in school. Most of us can. All these years later, it still is fresh and sticks with you. Life is going to be that way forever but as an adult or even teenager, they can understand that better.
I am on the playground with my little kids to observe the situations that are going on. Teachers can't possibly watch over all the children on the playground to make sure no one is getting hurt or bullied. I only step in when I see that it needs an adult to do so, before that I will watch and see if my children can handle it on their own. I use those moments as teaching moments so they know how to properly handle that situation in the future. WHO is teaching this to our children in school. I remember the teachers standing on the side of playground socializing themselves, not watching what was going on until someone got hurt. You wouldn't leave your child to fend for themselves at a public park, how is this different.
These are things that most people don't think of. Schools train people to conform and not think for themselves. Homeschoolers think for themselves and have a LOVE for learning because it isn't shoved down their throats.