Quote From: princess1While I do not know every family that homeschools (that would be an impossible accomplishment) I know that statistically homeschoolers do much better both academically and socially. Your assumption that I said only homeschooling families care about their children shows that even though you may have a higher education you are ignorant. I did not say that people who don't homeschool don't care about their children's education. You really have to be a dedicated and caring parent to make and follow through with the commitment to homeschool. Not all my son's public school time was bad, he had some wonderful caring teachers. (who supported my decision to homeschool) I am willing to bet you, being an education professional, have seen teachers who don't care and just pass kids along. I hope you are not that kind of teacher. Teaching is probably one of the most difficult jobs out there, with little pay and having to deal with children who have parents who refuse to parent makes the job even harder. Bottom line, a parent is the child's first teacher, and I believe the most important.
I know that statistically home schoolers do much better both academically and socially.
Those statistics are largely invalid. In terms of statistical research, validity refers to the extent to which a study measures what it is supposed to measure. You have to be able to eliminate all possible variables that may effect the results. In most educational studies, it is very difficult to control all the variables.
When measuring the success of home schooling, not all home schooling families are required to participate. It is almost exclusively the ones who are doing a bang up job who participate in the research. It makes the data extremely skewed and it does not really measure whether or not the homeschooling is responsible for the success or the fact that those parents are so dedicated to their children. You cannot with any certainty attribute to success to the homeschooling as those students would probably do well in ANY educational setting. In fact, studies that separate students first by socioeconomic factors ( parents' income and education level) and THEN by schooling show that public school children tend to outperform both private school kids and home school kids.
Thank you for your manners and etiquette. Using either the literal or implied meaning, your statement is incorrect because NOT all home schooling parents are those who 'truly care about their child's education'. If you had read my entire post, I explained that many parents grow frustrated with the public school system because they resent being told the truth - that their kids are undisciplined and unmotivated. They get tired of being called when the child will not behave or when he refuses to learn. So they pull their kids out of school to avoid the reality that they are NOT doing their jobs as parents. These are the kids who don't show up on your statistics.
Bottom line, a parent is the child's first teacher, and I believe the most important.
I am in agreement there!
