As long as some think this way? There is a gliimmer of hope.

Wow, allot of Zero kid households here?
If you don’t parent one, no way we can explain the complexities :(

How do you know?

I have my own little monkey, a nine-year old angel! :D

Best,

Kurt

Actually Kurt my "We" included You and I :D

I know liberals that home school. I know conservatives that home school. I know some that do it together so that the kids get socialization and the parents get a break. I know home schooled kids that went to top flight colleges, and some schools like Stanford and others have added special guidelines for evaluating home schooled children.

This ruling followed the law as it is written, but it shouldn't be enforced.

The California Public School system is bordering on utter collapse. You can argue the causes, but it's not good overall, no matter how you slice it.

My kids are in private school. We sacrifice a lot to make that happen. If we couldn't afford it, we'd home school.

Assuming the kids have to take the same standardized tests as all others, and they do well, why would anyone want to change that?

Don't agree with making a law over it.

REALLY don't care for home schooling. Socialization is the biggest issue i have with it. My feeling is that if the schools suck where you are then move and give your kids a chance. I know there are those who have done well with it though.

BTW, my experience with home schooled kids tends towards those with 'religious' parents who, as others have noted, seem to be shielding their kids from the real world. THAT flat out angers me.

Funny you (jyl) briing this up. The year I lived in PDX, I heard more about home-schooling than probably the rest of my life, combined. Was it the social circles in which I ran? The people I tended to meet working at OHSU? Nevertheless, a LOT of people seemed to be into homeschooling. Perhaps there's some link to the fact that there were a lot of people into home-births, too. I think half the couples in our birthing class were planning on doing it at home--even the couple who's first birth was supposedly a near-fatality due to some sort of hemorrhagic complication. Jeebsus. If you're bleeding to death, do you really want to be doing that at home, as opposed to the hospital where they bank things like blood for emergencies just like that? I digress.

I'm personally not a big fan of the homeschooling concept (excepting particularly unusual circumstances, like living in BFE, living in a particularly awful school district, or spending a year as a family sailing around the world). On one hand, the potential for personal academic achievement is fantastic. Who can argue with near one-on-one tutoring? But I think kids miss out on a HUGE part of the socialization of childhood, too. Homeschoolers will argue that there's a network of other like-minded families out there, who will get together for joint recess, activities, etc. But the constant give-and-take of being surrounded by classmates all day long (and the fact that that's what "regular" life is like, too), plus the concept of having an authority figure for your child that's not just Mom or Dad, are things that can't really be replicated by homeschooling. I think those are vital lessons for my kids to learn, BEFORE they become semi-adults at the age of 18, and go off on their semi-own recognizance.

Re: the point about meeting the requirements of the state/national standardized tests. That's a fair point. As long as you're meeting the standards to which everyone else is performing, what difference does it make who's doing the teaching? At the same time, I (and probably a lot of others, here) always seemed to be reading/counting/whatevering about 2 or 3 grade levels above my own "appropriate" level, as a kid. So if my kid just performs at the level the state says is appropriate for him/her, I don't know if I'd necessarily be so satisfied with just that. Are those state-approved minimum levels of performance really to what I want my kids to aspire?

Here's the personal prejudicial/judgemental part of my post: My wife and I were talking about homeschooling just last week. And I finally confided to her that most of the people who were into homeschooling (at least, based upon my experiences in Portland), seemed to be just semi-weird people. IMO. She was amazed, because she had also thought the same thing, but never wanted to say anything, either.

I think the real issue here is that they are your kids!
You do whatever you think is in there best interest at that time no matter what it takes.

Do your best in raising them do not neglect their needs and cater to their education and that’s the best you can do.

berettafan why do you trend this decision towards religion?

You adapt as you go, there is no rulebook for raising children, there is no way in hell you can say, prior to
having children “When I have kids it will be like this or that”, hell if you think like this, well you are just like me many years ago :D

Kids just complicate everything. Probably yet another reason why I don't want or have any.

I can't understand what motivates you guys to want to throw yourselves into these kinds of issues. Seriously. I think I'd go out of my mind. Life is difficult/complicated enough as it is.

Put simply, my kids (as I've come to find out these last few years) are the most fun and rewarding thing I've ever done in my entire life. And that's including the cars and motorcycles. :D Just my personal experience.

Cl8ton my experience w/ home schooling has been, for the most part, with folks who live the bulk of their lives through their church. They have, almost to a man/woman, been outcasts. The parents I mean. Kool-Aide drinking, tin foil hat wearing flakes. It's almost like they don't want to see their kids be more adept at living in the real world than they are. They treat home schooling like a badge of honor and I have gotten the feeling that they'd home school regardless of the quality of the schools in their area. They are modern day gypsies. I feel pity for the kids.

God made this a beautiful world and to hide from it is, IMO, a slap in His face for the sake of self-righteousness.

I pointed the religion issue out in my post because my particular experience has a strong slant to it which doesn't apply to everyone.

Like your sig. line btw!

Some of you guys that say Homeschooling = stupid kids should look at national spelling bee results last year and see all the stupid home school kids.

http://www.spellingbee.com/finishers.asp

I personally would never do that with my sons, my older one is too much of a rebel with mom and dad for it to work. The little guy is too smart and we are glad that we can afford to send him to private school where he is being pushed to his full potential.

Our older one was left to languish in a public school too with teachers not giving a crap about him and his inability to learn like other kids, he was labeled stupid and passed over. It was very frustrating for me and I cannot count the nights spent with him trying to teach him what teachers failed to.

He has spent the last 2 years in a private school and I can say his self confidence is through the ceiling now. His grades are shooting upwards. He wants to go to public HS and I am nervous that these A-hole teachers in public school are going to tear down all that has been accomplished over the last 2 years. I plan on joining the PTA and getting VERY in the face with his HS. It seems if your active in the PTA your kid gets treated better. My sis in law is doing this with their 5 year old and its night and day.

How any of you can post in here and say a public school is a good place to get an education is beyond me. Public School = another branch of a government run agency. Think FEMA, homeland security, your local DMV, and you start to get the picture, Public Schools are just another branch of screwed up government agencies.

No child left behind, such a warm feel good catch phrase that means nothing.

A good friend of mine home schooled his 2 kids through HS with great results, the daughter finished a year early and is in college now. The son finished on time and is not taking over the family business.

I haven't read any other responses, just responding to you. I think its a parent's choice. I don't like Uncle Sam telling us ANYTHING, and this is no exception. I personally would not homeschool my kids (if I had them). I would certainly do a lot of supplemental stuff for them, but they would go to regular school every day. The socialization cannot be omitted- too much to learn at that age in my opinion. But again- its MY choice, as a parent. Not anyone elses. If my neighbor wants to teach his kids at home, he has every goddamn right to do so.

Pretty much my feelings on the issue. I was a big proponent for home-schooling my kids, after tiring of seeing what PC garbage they were being taught. I made numerous calls and visits to the school to inform them that I was not happy with the hippy teacher inflicting his/her political or social views on my kids.
My wife is a teacher, so I get first hand what is being taught in the schools. For example, American history is a long gone subject. Now it is "world culture". Schools are more concerned with social matters than the "three Rs".

I was against home schooling but a very good friend of mine did it. He has 5-6 kids (forget how many) and I now have to say that the kids turned out far better than I ever could have dreamed. Nice mannered, all have a 3.8 or better average in college and are just nice kids.

Not everyone should do it, but in this case it really worked.

Amen to that. I gave up my toys for my kids, and it is 100% worth it. My family is the best thing that's ever happend to me.

A good friend/former roommate of mine was homeschooled through middle school. His parents are both very intelligent, and highly educated. It was probably more of a religious thing with them, not to mention they spent a year of his childhood in Africa as missionaries. Regardless, he was dumped into the public school system for high school, and was always playing catch-up on the social front. He referred to himself as being "socially retarded". He and his two brothers are all intelligent, intellectual people, and have overall adjusted to the real world, but there was a HUGE learning curve. Today one is successfully working with his father doing real-estate investment, the other two both have graduate degrees and good jobs, and all three are married. All's well that ends well I suppose, but they had a rocky road at times.

My experience is that most home-schooling parents do so in order to shelter their kids from the real world. Sorry, but that's not going to work. Eventually, the real world will find your kids. You have to prepare them, not shelter them. Personally, I hate the public schools due to their PC attitudes and lack of discipline, so we chose to send our kids to Catholic schools.

[QUOT

That being said, I am 100% convinced that this is NONE of the government's business. Parent's should have absolute authority on how to raise their kids. Thank God this kooky idea would never fly in Illinois with all of the Amish here...[/QUOTE]
Exactly the most important issue. That being said, we home schooled our three kids. Oldest daughter is a police officer who earned a bachelors degree from calif state college and received academic honors in the police academy. Son is in Naval Submarine Electronics School ,recently appointed "section leader". Youngest girl in 12th grade taking college courses at the local JC. All have boy/girl friends that have no home school connection. None of our close family friends are homeschoolers yet we all get along socially just great and have the same values and dreams. The socialization argument and substandard education argument are just desperate attempts by teachers and their unions to control your kids and keep the money flowing for the crappy job they do.. We were fine with public school if they stuck to reading writing and 'rithmatic, problem is that now a days, the teachers seem to think they have the duty to shove their world /life view down the kids throats. And that is not their job.:D

You'll get no beef from me on this attitude. To each his own life choices.

Totally agree.

If raising a secure, happy, confident, kind and sensitive kid is the only success I ever have, I will have lived a full and satisfying life.

No doubt.

Forget all that is good and bad about home-schooling, the courts should stay out of it especially if the kids are meeting all of the educational requirements of their age group.

Best,

Kurt

edit: FTR my Daughter goes to public school with significant supplementation (is that even a word? :)) at home!