Homeschooling our children

Look at those MTBS videos ... go to this year's MTBS ... and see. There is a huge difference. When the MTBS is over it is rugby/hockey etc. Home school sport is like watching turtle wrestling.
 
Cerebus, who's doing the fun stuff on the pavilion during MTBS? The athletes or those like you? The competition for the best cheering is as important as the athletics.
 
BeVonk! said:
Cerebus, who's doing the fun stuff on the pavilion during MTBS? The athletes or those like you? The competition for the best cheering is as important as the athletics.
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Yea... still not selling me on it lol. Rah-rah-ing used to irritate the jiminies out of me in high school.

Look my brother in law's children are highly athletic and academically strong. I appreciate the value in it. It's just that there's absolutely no reason a homeschooled child can't have EQUAL amounts of athletics as a normally schooled one. All the facilities are there.
 
cerebus said:
Yea... still not selling me on it lol. Rah-rah-ing used to irritate the jiminies out of me in high school.

Look my brother in law's children are highly athletic and academically strong. I appreciate the value in it. It's just that there's absolutely no reason a homeschooled child can't have EQUAL amounts of athletics as a normally schooled one. All the facilities are there.
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My eldest son (13) has been on the Proteas Karate team to Australia, and has competed in other national teams.
Last year he got Silver in the 2011 JSKA Southern African Karate Chamionships in Stellenbosch.
This year he goes to Mexico for the 2012 JSKA World Championships.

My Youngest son (8) has also gotten Gold at the 2009 Karate World Championships at Sun City.

They are all home schooled.
 
Cerebus, there's a lot kids out there that is home schooled that wishes to be in a "normal" school setup but the parents are so full of issues that the kids will never tell them ... so they shut up and go along. The rebellion however builds and one day all hell breaks lose. We've seen this happen. When the support groups get together the are so vocal about everything the is wrong with our country and society and the world in general that the kids will never embarrass and challenge the parents by asking to go to a "normal" school. Kids told my kids in private that they want out but their parents will go ballistic.

Please expose your kids to what "normal" schools are up to and give them the freedom/right to go there if the so wish. Make sure they follow a programme that will help them re-integrate. It is very wrong to force kids to follow a specific school programme/career because the parents had issues. Be very sure it was what your kids want and monitor it throughout. Many parents don't and the pain the kids go through in silence is heartbreaking.
 
Cerebus, there's a lot kids out there that is home schooled that wishes to be in a "normal" school setup but the parents are so full of issues that the kids will never tell them ... so they shut up and go along. The rebellion however builds and one day all hell breaks lose. We've seen this happen. When the support groups get together they are so vocal about everything that is wrong with our country and society and the world in general that the kids will never embarrass and challenge the parents by asking to go to a "normal" school. Kids told my kids in private that they want out but their parents will go ballistic.

Please expose your kids to what "normal" schools are up to and give them the freedom/right to go there if the so wish. Make sure they follow a programme that will help them re-integrate. It is very wrong to force kids to follow a specific school programme/career because the parents had issues. Be very sure it was what your kids want and monitor it throughout. Many parents don't and the pain the kids go through in silence is heartbreaking.
 
Yeah we also know of a case like that in our extended family. Don't worry, the boys are both going to playgroups. If they end up thriving in a proper classroom we'll have to reconsider our direction. I think the home environment we have now is very strong.
 
BeVonk! said:
Cerebus, there's a lot kids out there that is home schooled that wishes to be in a "normal" school setup but the parents are so full of issues that the kids will never tell them ... so they shut up and go along. The rebellion however builds and one day all hell breaks lose. We've seen this happen. When the support groups get together the are so vocal about everything the is wrong with our country and society and the world in general that the kids will never embarrass and challenge the parents by asking to go to a "normal" school. Kids told my kids in private that they want out but their parents will go ballistic.

Please expose your kids to what "normal" schools are up to and give them the freedom/right to go there if the so wish. Make sure they follow a programme that will help them re-integrate. It is very wrong to force kids to follow a specific school programme/career because the parents had issues. Be very sure it was what your kids want and monitor it throughout. Many parents don't and the pain the kids go through in silence is heartbreaking.
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So?

You get parents with kids in school who also have issues. It is the same on both sides of the coin.
You get parents with kids in state school who let their kids run riot and have no authority whatsoever.
Just because you get screwed up parents in all sectors of society, how is that home schooling's fault?

Straw man argument is incredibly obvious.
 
I don't think there's anything wrong with home schooling. Have friends that were home schooled and are more social than some people I went to school with.

Truth be told you end up wasting alot of time at school, and alot of the extra curricular that kids are FORCED to do (like swimming is the most important thing in the world) are totally useless in the real world. You do NOT have to do those things to be able to succeed in the real world, and you do NOT have to play sport to know how to be part of a team or how to cooperate with others or to learn how to be 'social'. It is nonsense that home schooling only breeds anti-social 'scientists'. If anything the bullying in school, and there is going to be a ton of bullying whether you like it or not, will most definitely make your child antisocial if they are the victim of it.

Your child will waste alot of time in lessons while teachers scream at kids for not doing their working, being late, talking etc etc etc. It will never end until the last day of matric. There is so much pointlessness to school, the amount of time wasted is astonishing. If you really can't be around all day to see to your kids then I guess there is no other option.

After leaving school I realised what a neurotic bunch pretty much everyone was there. You think the bullying stops in later years but I remember it quite clearly from grade 1 to matric. I was never one of the 'main victims' but I feel sorry for the people who were for many many years, and there were many of these targets. These guys all have poorly developed social skills now.

Yes, children need to gain their confidence somewhere and your home can be a better environment because it will be bully free. EVERY school has bullying, its just what kids do. And EVERY kid has to take a side. Don't fool yourself into thinking that any teacher has complete control of every kid, once those kids get an idea into their head it will never drop. NEVER!

When you put alot of kids together, a miracle does not happen. Kids do not need to be around hundreds of other kids every day for 12 years to learn how to be a good person or to learn social skills. Maybe they wont be exposed to every label that kids hand out like 'nerd', 'jock' and 'emo' but once you get to university, the people who still live with that mentality never succeed. What is the point of being so closed minded? Those kids teach each other to be closed minded because they are just bloody kids! Face it, many if not all are immature, arrogant, loud and straight out dumb. That's what being around other kids and absurdly strict school rules gets you.
 
cerebus said:
Tbh BeVonk the whole bullying thing isn't really a factor for us. It's just because some people here have said that it's positive to allow your children to be exposed to bullying, which I totally disagree with. Bullying is something that only happens in a particular environment where some children are permitted to dominate others; it's not representative of real life.

Personally I have to say... I've never been a huge sports fan. At school I resented being forced to play games I had no interest in. Now I never watch sports really. I get that there's value in it, and believe it or not there are a LOT of homeschooling or just extracurricular sports teams that children can be involved in. But for me it's not a huge deal. Children these days need academic skills FAR more than sporting skills.
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So true, I hated sports at school, while I still do watch a bit of Rugby and Cricket nowadays.
After school I started doing Martial arts, my parents never allowed me to do this, I had to take up a sport at the school offered.
 
I spoke to one of the Moms at the Karate Dojo last night who is a teacher.

She teaches 8th grade Maths.

She has 43 kids in her one class. All the others are in the high 30's.

I am sorry, but how on earth is a child supposed to get a quality education with so many kids in that class?

Even that teacher said she cannot cope with that many kids.

and that is en epidemic situation across so many SA schools.
 
BeVonk! said:
And Cerebus, the fact that you and your wife wasn't (and still isn't) into sport should not feature in your decision at all. What does the kid want? They don't know when they are that small so best is to give them wide exposure and let them decide when they've seen it all.

This book helped me when I considered both sides: http://www.amazon.com/Why-Christian...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327045858&sr=1-1
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Actually that was me. My wife's family is stronger on the sporting side so we'll make sure they get it. But for me particularly team sports, I'm not that concerned. I'd rather they do something like athletics or martial arts, where PERSONAL advancement is the central focus.
 
Garyvdh said:
I spoke to one of the Moms at the Karate Dojo last night who is a teacher.

She teaches 8th grade Maths.

She has 43 kids in her one class. All the others are in the high 30's.

I am sorry, but how on earth is a child supposed to get a quality education with so many kids in that class?

Even that teacher said she cannot cope with that many kids.

and that is en epidemic situation across so many SA schools.
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Typical argument from home schoolers. Despite this argument the majority of kids from well functioning schools are doing perfectly fine. My kids included. Some always see the glass half empty.
 
BeVonk! said:
And Cerebus, the fact that you and your wife wasn't (and still isn't) into sport should not feature in your decision at all. What does the kid want? They don't know when they are that small so best is to give them wide exposure and let them decide when they've seen it all.

This book helped me when I considered both sides: http://www.amazon.com/Why-Christian...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327045858&sr=1-1
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That's why we exposed our kids to Swimming, Chess, Cycling, and Karate while they were younger.
The boys settled on Karate.
My daughter gave up the karate after a year (but we made her finish out the year).
She then settled on Crafts, she loves crafts. She is now 11 and has had several of her patchwork quilts featured in SA quilting magazines (It helps that her Instructor is one of the best Quilters in SA) :D

You can say, I am boasting... but what I am in fact saying is that this is actually NORMAL for home schooled kids.
As it has been with many other families we know.
I can give you the contact details of teachers, doctors, dentists, etc... that I have known in the last 20 years... .who were all home schooled.

Your criticisms are well heeded, but ultimately unnecessary (since the problems apply to ALL families and chidlren - not just home school families).
 
cerebus said:
I'd rather they do something like athletics or martial arts, where PERSONAL advancement is the central focus.
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Participating in TEAM sport and activities is important Cerebus. Not just at church ... but everyday. In sport, when the team is under pressure and must work together to solve the situation the kids learn a heck of a lot to take with them in life and work.
 
BeVonk! said:
Typical argument from home schoolers. Despite this argument the majority of kids from well functioning schools are doing perfectly fine. My kids included. Some always see the glass half empty.
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I disagree. The state school kids are actually struggling.
Come with me to the Kumon Maths center where my wife works part time... and I will show you the shocking situation in State Schools.

Your kids might be doing well because of your input. But lots of other kids have no such extra home input or motivation.

The number of parents who just drop their kids off at Kumon and tell the instructors "You make them good at maths" is horrendous.
The Kumon Instructors then tell the parents "Unless you are willing to be involved in your child's education, you are wasting your time"
Then the parents pull their kids out a few months later, cos they "didn't learn anything" when it is the parents fault they never enforced the homework at home.
 
BeVonk! said:
Participating in TEAM sport and activities is important Cerebus. Not just at church ... but everyday. In sport, when the team is under pressure and must work together to solve the situation the kids learn a heck of a lot to take with them in life and work.
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Team Sports are not only conducted at Schools. There are plenty of private Soccer, Cricket and Rugby clubs around for kids from the youngest age.
Why does it HAVE to be done at a state school?
 
BeVonk! said:
Typical argument from home schoolers. Despite this argument the majority of kids from well functioning schools are doing perfectly fine. My kids included. Some always see the glass half empty.
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You aren't even addressing the actual point. Sure by and large the kids turn out fine... but is that optimal? What we want is to give them the best we possibly can. How can overcrowding them into classrooms where their attention must be shared with 40 other children be the best of all provisions for their education?
 
Garyvdh, my kids get minimum input from me and my wife. My kids have been in many state schools due to me moving around for work and by far the majority of teachers we dealt with did a great job (despite the large classes). In Centurion where we lived for a few years my kids were in Hennopspark Laerskool. Brilliant school. When we moved from CT to Centurion everybody warned us about the bad state of state schools in Gauteng. We found it to be nonsense. There are bad schools for sure, but there are a heck of a lot of brilliant schools as well. There is no way in hell that anyone will convince me that a school like Hennopspark is not good enough for their kids. Here in CT are many good schools (primary and secondary) that does a great job year after year.
 
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