I can take one morning--from 8 to 12--and get every subject out the way of the day, and that leaves us the entire afternoon free for dance practice, voice lessons, playground, pool time, the beach, trips to Disney, etc.
how many parents do you think are actually doing that though? especially if both parents work? What's the kid left doing all day while the parents are away?
and you're a smart person.. would you want.. iceman doing the same for his kid? or some other intellectual and social idiot doing it for theirs?
and what about social skills? Learning how to interact with people you hate and like, having to learn discipline and structure from teachers you don't like but learn you have to respect them anyway, learning to form friendships and end them,trust and not trust,learning to be mortified because you have a pimple and you have to give a speech before the class on the same day but getting over it and doing it? Finding that 'love' and then going thru the heartbreak when it ends.. what about football games,proms,pep-rallies..
if we're going to make teachers get tested before they can teach? should we make parents also get tested?
I've watched two pretty decent kids get pulled out of school and 'home schooled' by lazy and ignorant parents.. one of them really did have a great chance. she was an introvert, but very science oriented.. she was just way to sheltered and shy and couldn't handle school.. so they pulled her out.. she's pretty much agoraphobic now and since her mom didn't really spend the time to teach her anything, she's lost any hope of becoming 'something'
the other was a good kid who went 'bad' because his parents were extremely lax. so when he lost the boundaries and structure of school, he did nothing but wander the neighborhood all day until the other kids got home.. but at 11/12.. wandering a not so great neighborhood to begin with, he turned into a little sexual,druggie, criminal..
I don't really know what the answer is since both options have the 'bad'.. and I understand the idea behind home school and don't really have much a problem with the 'education' part of it...it's all the rest, the other experiences that I wouldn't give up or take away from my kids if you paid me.. I can help them to become better with their education while they are in a 'decent' school.. but I can't help them learn and form all those other life-skills that can only be learned in jr and sr high school.. I can't give them a prom night, or jr. high school champion football game.. Those memories are too dear for me to want to take them from my kids..
