Do you support educational vouchers in schools?

IS THIS A WOODWORKING NEWS GROUP????????????????????????????????????????????


"toto" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 May 2005 06:49:28 -0400, Bob LeChevalier
wrote:

You have been convinced, Bob, by the mass media that Homeschooling is
BAD

No. Homeschooling is good for some, indifferent for some, not worth
the hassle for many, and impossible for many.

Here is the crux of the matter. What these folks don't seem to
understand is that as a society, we are attempting to educate all
of our children.

I've had experience with many homeschoolers. There are some that do a
very good job, but in general once the student is past elementary
school, they don't homeschool themselves, they hire tutors or send the
student to classes at local colleges or have them take distance
learning classes. Those options do work well. But parents who don't
have the resources to pay for those options don't do as well at
teaching their children through the academic high school classes
unless they themselves have a college education and good grasp of
the subject matter above the high school level. That's not *bad,* it
is simply a fact of life. When you talk about parents who are poor
and don't have any education themselves, homeschooling beyond
the basics becomes impossible or *iffy.* I have met several kids who
returned to the public schools well behind where their classmates
were. Even in this school though there were kids who failed. I doubt
that homeschooling would have provided them with anything better,
though. Do you really think a parent who is a crack addict or
alcoholic can homeschool her child?

I have no quarrel at all with people who choose to homeschool as long
as they manage to teach to a minimum standard of academics. I do
think though that children need to have some empathy for those who
have less than they do and whose parents are not able to provide the
same things that their parents can provide.

and public schooling is GOOD

It is satisfactory. At least, so the public rates the public schools
in the annual Kappan poll.

Unfortunately, public schooling is quite uneven. There are very good
public schools (my ds and dd attended one of the best and got an
education that surpasses that of many kids who were attending their
colleges from other high schools). Even in poor schools, btw, there
are often kids who end up with good educations. The inner city school
I taught at for 8 years had an honors program that allowed the best of
our kids to attend and succeed at excellent universities. One of my
favorite honor students attended University of Chicago in its program
for marine biology.

There is always room for improvement.

Absolutely.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

On Mon, 30 May 2005 10:42:09 -0500, toto
wrote:

My favorite homeschooling book is
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Ue the Whole World as Your
Child's Classroom by Mary Griffin

It can be found at amazon and bookstores, or as Nan says, you can use
the public library.

Also, if you google homeschooling, you can find many websites that
don't charge fees and imo, you don't need to buy any canned curriculum
from anyone to homeschool.

Exactly. All the information one needs is out there at no cost. Our
library even carries materials aimed at homeschooling for no cost.

I will most likely be at the very least supplementing my dgd and dgs
at home and have found plenty of inexpensive materials I can use.

Same here. My dd1 will be in public school but I'm not going to leave
all the work to the school system.

Nan

On Mon, 30 May 2005 16:16:00 GMT, "Joe" wrote:

IS THIS A WOODWORKING NEWS GROUP????????????????????????????????????????????

Look at the headers.

I rarely snip headers when responding as I don't know which
group the original came from. I have tried to remember to clip
out the woodworking group, but usually I just reply to all. Please
killfile the thread if it bothers you. The thread is relevant on mk
and me. I will attempt to cut rw out, but most people will not do
this, so you are going to have to deal with that fact.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

"Nan" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 May 2005 10:42:09 -0500, toto
wrote:

My favorite homeschooling book is
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Ue the Whole World as Your
Child's Classroom by Mary Griffin

It can be found at amazon and bookstores, or as Nan says, you can use
the public library.

Also, if you google homeschooling, you can find many websites that
don't charge fees and imo, you don't need to buy any canned curriculum
from anyone to homeschool.

Exactly. All the information one needs is out there at no cost. Our
library even carries materials aimed at homeschooling for no cost.

Were it me, I'd probably buy that above book so that I could
have it with me for longer than three weeks. If it's an ongoing
resource, I'd certainly want it at home all the time.


P.
Tierney

On Mon, 30 May 2005 17:13:08 GMT, "P. Tierney"
wrote:


"Nan" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 30 May 2005 10:42:09 -0500, toto
wrote:

My favorite homeschooling book is
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Ue the Whole World as Your
Child's Classroom by Mary Griffin

It can be found at amazon and bookstores, or as Nan says, you can use
the public library.

Also, if you google homeschooling, you can find many websites that
don't charge fees and imo, you don't need to buy any canned curriculum
from anyone to homeschool.

Exactly. All the information one needs is out there at no cost. Our
library even carries materials aimed at homeschooling for no cost.

Were it me, I'd probably buy that above book so that I could
have it with me for longer than three weeks. If it's an ongoing
resource, I'd certainly want it at home all the time.

Most libraries allow you to renew, so you'd have it longer than 3
weeks. You can also take what is necessary for your situation and
keep that information indefinitely.
My point is, nobody *needs* to spend money on homeschooling.

Nan

On Mon, 30 May 2005 17:22:07 GMT, Nan wrote:

Most libraries allow you to renew, so you'd have it longer than 3
weeks. You can also take what is necessary for your situation and
keep that information indefinitely.
My point is, nobody *needs* to spend money on homeschooling.

I wouldn't actually say that.

But you may not need to spend any money you would not ordinarily spend
on books and activities for your children normally.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

On Mon, 30 May 2005 17:13:08 GMT, "P. Tierney"
wrote:


"Nan" wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 30 May 2005 10:42:09 -0500, toto
wrote:

My favorite homeschooling book is
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Ue the Whole World as Your
Child's Classroom by Mary Griffin

It can be found at amazon and bookstores, or as Nan says, you can use
the public library.

Also, if you google homeschooling, you can find many websites that
don't charge fees and imo, you don't need to buy any canned curriculum
from anyone to homeschool.

Exactly. All the information one needs is out there at no cost. Our
library even carries materials aimed at homeschooling for no cost.

Were it me, I'd probably buy that above book so that I could
have it with me for longer than three weeks. If it's an ongoing
resource, I'd certainly want it at home all the time.

I might buy some books. I don't know that I would buy this particular
one, though it is possible. It looks good on the surface, but I would
probably read it from the library first before I bought it. For one
thing, websites go out of date quickly so google is better for that
resource than a book, imo. For another, I would have to see what
exactly was being recommended. Most canned resources are too
limiting, iNshmo.

P.
Tierney


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

"toto" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 May 2005 17:13:08 GMT, "P. Tierney"
wrote:


"Nan" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 30 May 2005 10:42:09 -0500, toto
wrote:

My favorite homeschooling book is
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Ue the Whole World as Your
Child's Classroom by Mary Griffin

It can be found at amazon and bookstores, or as Nan says, you can use
the public library.

Also, if you google homeschooling, you can find many websites that
don't charge fees and imo, you don't need to buy any canned curriculum
from anyone to homeschool.

Exactly. All the information one needs is out there at no cost. Our
library even carries materials aimed at homeschooling for no cost.

Were it me, I'd probably buy that above book so that I could
have it with me for longer than three weeks. If it's an ongoing
resource, I'd certainly want it at home all the time.

I might buy some books. I don't know that I would buy this particular
one, though it is possible. It looks good on the surface, but I would
probably read it from the library first before I bought it. For one
thing, websites go out of date quickly so google is better for that
resource than a book, imo. For another, I would have to see what
exactly was being recommended. Most canned resources are too
limiting, iNshmo.

I agree. I'd like to buy a supplemental resource at some
point, but I'd research it a bit and borrow library ones first.


P. Tierney

"Nan" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 30 May 2005 17:13:08 GMT, "P. Tierney"
wrote:


"Nan" wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 30 May 2005 10:42:09 -0500, toto
wrote:

My favorite homeschooling book is
The Unschooling Handbook: How to Ue the Whole World as Your
Child's Classroom by Mary Griffin

It can be found at amazon and bookstores, or as Nan says, you can use
the public library.

Also, if you google homeschooling, you can find many websites that
don't charge fees and imo, you don't need to buy any canned curriculum
from anyone to homeschool.

Exactly. All the information one needs is out there at no cost. Our
library even carries materials aimed at homeschooling for no cost.

Were it me, I'd probably buy that above book so that I could
have it with me for longer than three weeks. If it's an ongoing
resource, I'd certainly want it at home all the time.

Most libraries allow you to renew, so you'd have it longer than 3
weeks. You can also take what is necessary for your situation and
keep that information indefinitely.
My point is, nobody *needs* to spend money on homeschooling.

There has to be some sort of a cost to quality homeschooling.
I'm not sure what it is, though I would guess that it has been
researched.


P. Tierney

On Mon, 30 May 2005 12:39:18 -0500, toto
wrote:

On Mon, 30 May 2005 17:22:07 GMT, Nan wrote:

Most libraries allow you to renew, so you'd have it longer than 3
weeks. You can also take what is necessary for your situation and
keep that information indefinitely.
My point is, nobody *needs* to spend money on homeschooling.

I wouldn't actually say that.

But you may not need to spend any money you would not ordinarily spend
on books and activities for your children normally.

http://tinyurl.com/d9za6

I realize this is a book, and books *can* cost money (we have this one
available at our library and I liked it so much I did purchase it).
However, internet resources are free with a library card, some
libraries will allow a certain number of free copies or printed pages
as long as it has to do with homework or homeschooling (ours allows 20
free pages), and handwriting out information is always free other than
a minimal cost for a notepad and pen.
Yes, it can be done for.... I'll amend my previous statement to read:
Next to Nothing.

Nan