Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Thank a Teacher!

A few days ago there was an article in the NY Times about home schooling children (that which has come to be called un-schooling). Today, people reacted in the letters section. One woman said that she homeschooled her kids early on - but they CHOSE to go to school. Our society has become a complete parody of itself if a woman can say in an international newspaper (with a straight face) that her kid CHOSE to go to school! Did she let him choose to eat pizza everyday too. Nevermind, that is a whole other topic.

Homeschooling intregues me, and as a highly education person who has less and less motivation to go back to work as the days pass, I have thought of homeschooling my own tiny boy.

But, lately the "unschooling" thing has really gotten on my nerves. Today, I figured out why. It is a complete slap in the face to teachers. Teachers (even the bad ones) give up money, respect, prestige, and "having a life" so that every day we can take our kids to a place where we know (or hope) they will be protected, educated, and have fun -- for free. Yet, somehow, I rarely hear anything good about these teachers.
I only hear a)complaints, b)I could do it better (even though I have no training in education) or c). a pin drop.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, there.

I think there is another side to home schooling that is not related to the abilities of our teachers (who are to be admired for their dedication). Some parents are not happy with the social behavior tolerated in schools today. While they know their children must fit into society, they choose to take more control over social issues, as well as academic issues. I have friends who have chosen to home school to provide moral and ethical training they believe their children are not receiving in school. I don't know if this is better or not, but it does allow the intelligent parent to retain some control. I wish I had been able to home school my children.

Anonymous said...

I end up homeschooling anyway. How the hell else will the kids learn that the government is run by a crime family intent on stealing all the resources from the middle east; that Joseph Beuys was right all along; or that the Orc language is an inversion of Elven in Tolkien's novels? Don't even get me started on Linda Bierds' underappreciated status.

Actually, I WOULD homeschool if someone else would do the drop-off and pick-up.