Susanna Hope is Growing Up!
November 27, 2007 - 12:27 a.m.
5 lbs. 14 oz. - 20 inches long
"Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
are full of trouble and full of care;
To stay at home is best."
~*~ Longfellow ~*~
May. 16, 2008
The State of Education: Public Schools/Part Two
Hi everyone. I’m enjoying becoming part of The Old Schoolhouse family.
I hope you’ll forgive the length of my post this week, but some things take a few extra words to say.
Sometimes I think parents know things are terribly wrong in public schools, but that somehow their children will navigate the waters okay. But the variety and vastness of the problems is far worse than most people realize.
There are the courses taught, of course – stuff that finds its way into even rural schools in strong family communities. It was going on even when I was in school. I recall having a Zen class in 8th grade during which we were instructed in mystical meditation techniques. Today, it’s the rare child who escapes a public school without a substantial amount of knowledge about alternative lifestyles and an active or subconscious bias against religion.
Then there are the students. Regardless of what parents teach at home, the children they toss into public schools become the students and victims of all the worst that other students have been exposed to. No MTV at home does not protect a child against the antics of Madonna if he attends a public school.
Then there are the people we always excuse when we talk about public schools – the teachers. I’ll start with an excuse myself – there are some good, caring, capable teachers out there. And now a truth that must be faced – there are a lot, a whole lot, of bad teachers out there. Some are immature, some mean, some incompetent, some predatory, some emotionally dysfunctional, and quite a few a combination of these things.
I took stock of all the teachers I can recall from my school years – ten of them. Of ten, three were outright cruel and one had some serious issues that his students suffered for. Two were very good. The rest were mediocre. The cruel ones stand out most clearly in my mind. They’re the ones who left an impression, though they were not cruel to me but to other students. I can only imagine what they left those students with – very possibly ruined lives.
What I hear from many parents today is that it’s hard to tell the students from the teachers. Teachers are as immature as their charges. They scream and swear at students and at parents, they’re defensive over even the most innocent questions, and they’re mean or vindictive.
I used to pick up the 3rd grade daughter of a friend from public school each day, and the girl often climbed into my car in tears. Her teacher, she said, swore at them all the time and was always telling them they were stupid. I tried to comfort her and told her she knew she wasn’t stupid. She said, “I know, but when someone tells you that every day it’s hard not to believe it.”
Then there was the call from the mom whose 10-year-old daughter suffered from a bladder control problem. The teacher would not allow her to use the restroom except at appointed times. When the girl had an accident in her seat, which she often did, the teacher encouraged the other students to make fun of the girl. The mother had been to the principal and the school board, but the teacher had been with the school for over 20 years and had tenure. The girl failed her grade and started seeing a psychiatrist.
And there was the 10th grade boy who suffered from narcolepsy. His mom had explained his condition to all his teachers at the beginning of the year, supplied a doctor’s verification, educated everyone on what to expect – all to no avail. No amount of reasoning would convince this boy’s teachers that it was fair for him to get away with sleeping during class when the other students could not do it. He was penalized with detention every time he fell asleep.
A friend’s son who attended public school for one year – 11th grade, reported that no math was done in his math class. Instead, the teacher had the students push the desks aside each day and he engaged in wrestling matches with the young people he was supposed to be educating.
An 8th grade girl who was eight months into a pregnancy was not permitted to go to the nurse’s office when she felt poorly; instead, she was forced to lie down on the cold tile floor of the classroom.
One mother I know was so displeased with the quality of education in her children’s middle and high schools that she required them to take a second math and a second foreign language course at home.
I’ve heard dozens upon dozens of stories of teachers calling students stupid or lazy and yelling and swearing at their classes.
The complaint I hear the most is that teachers simply don’t teach. Parents are sending their children to school and “homeschooling” at the same time. School time is spent playing, watching movies (quite often R-rated ones), gossiping, and goofing off. Home time is spend making up for it.
I have no trouble believing any of this, because whenever I’m out, I talk to young people. Regardless of what any test scores say, young people today are woefully ignorant and increasingly amoral or immoral. I can’t tell you how many teenage cashiers cavalierly tell me they’re living with their boyfriends or that they and their “fiancé” are expecting a baby.
These same young adults can’t figure out what 10% of $4.00 is so I can get my discount on a magazine. Conversation with them is extremely limited because they’ve been so unexposed to so much in the world of learning.
Even among the better students, the academic deficiency is shocking. I worked for a number of years at a bookstore that often employed high school students who loved to read and thought working in a bookstore was the epitome of cool. These kids liked to flaunt their literary knowledge, but it didn’t take five minutes to figure out that they’d never read anything that wasn’t on the school reading list and had never thought anything about it that didn’t spout from a teacher’s mouth. They could parrot what they’d read and been told, but they couldn’t discuss it in any meaningful way.
There’s a lot going on in public schools today, but I can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that education and growing in maturity and wisdom are not among those things.
The schools have great PR agents (including the media, the NEA and many others). They feed us endless lies about how public schools have made America great, public schools make us one as a nation, public schools are staffed by highly-trained professionals. It has been said by more than one famous person: A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth for most people. For everyone else, it plants a seed of doubt that grows with each watering.
The only way to safeguard ourselves against the lies and to keep our children safe is to strengthen our resolve by facing the truth.
There are some nice people who work in public schools and there are nice children who go to public schools, but public schools are not nice places.
More truth about public schools next week.
Tammy Drennan has homeschooled and helped others start homeschooling for 23 years. Her web sites and blogs include: www.homeschoolstarter.com and www.educationconversation.wordpress.com.
• Post A Comment!
Comments
May. 17, 2008 - Untitled Comment
I was shocked to read your blog, and I found it difficult to believe. I am a teacher in Australia, and the education system is nothing like you described. We have high-quality education, both public and private, and teachers are generally highly trained professionals committed to the education of the children in their care. I was shocked that a teacher would be allowed to swear or watch R-rated movies with their students in America. It sounds from your blog that the teachers do not even undergo any education training and do not have any enforced standards in relation to the material that they teach. Although I never did have much faith in America as a country, your blog has made me have even less faith, and I will definitely never be visiting a country whose education system is so poor.
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - I agree, Anonymous
I think she was just making things up to 'prove' her point. The pregnant girl had to lie on the cold tile floor? Yeah, right. Let me guess, you heard this, right? It's like that little kids' game, Telephone. You whisper something in the first child's ear, and wait to see just how messed-up it is by the time it reaches the other end.
So, you remember your teachers being mediocre and cruel. What about those parents who are mediocre or cruel and keep their children home? Or doesn't that ever happen? Everyone who homeschools is compassionate, intelligent, friendly, patient, and top-notch? I realize that homeschooling parents care more about their child's education, than maybe the public school teacher, but your far-fetched claims are alarmist, exaggerated, uninformed, and just plain wrong. Some supporting data, rather than outrageous "facts" and hearsay would be appreciated. Good thing you're not claiming all this really happened. Oh, wait...
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - I am Anonymous too!
Boy howdy! I'm loving you, "Anonymous." You are dead-on. I am a private school teacher who remains appalled at the power of generalizing asserted by these homeschoolers. I know plenty of homeschooling parents to whom I would NEVER send my children for education. Have you also noticed the horrible grammar on these blogs? Whew!
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - Dear Anonymous
Hi there. I'm the lady who wrote the blog piece you find so shocking. I'm glad you find it shocking -- it should be, and all too many people fail to feel appalled when they hear some of the awful things that go on in schools.
I can assure you (though you'll still only have my word to go on) that I share only stories from first-hand sources. I've mentioned before and will mention again that there are good caring teachers out there, but there are also many more atrocious ones than most people realize. I imagine you'd find it just as difficult to believe the news stories about the awful things that go on in schools, but, sadly, they do happen.
Are there bad parents, too? Of course. And there are many ways of dealing with abusive home stiuations. Unfortunately, there aren't too many ways of dealing with abusive school situations, aside from walking away from them. The system protects its own and parents often have little choice regarding the teachers their children get.
If things are radically different in Australia, I'm glad. I hope you'll still consider visting the US sometime -- we are much more than our state school system. Our founding principles still foster a flourishing culture in many other areas.
Yours, Tammy Drennan
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment
I do not find the so-called facts in your post shocking. I find your over-the-top assumptions and claims shocking. I stand by my description of your post as being far-fetched and alarmist, no matter how close to you the source. I'd be less likely to write you off as an ultra-conservative lunatic if you cited statistics, instead of spouting your apparently ficticious anti-public school rhetoric. But it's ill-informed posts just like this one that fuel the fire, so congrats. Homeschoolers all over the country (and world) will read this crap, believe it, then pat themselves on the back for keeping their children away from such horrible, terrible places as public schools.
You can write and post shoddy pieces that pass for homeschool journalism on this site, but your lack of supporting data isn't fooling us, the public school majority. See, we live in the public/private schools every day, and see firsthand what happens there. And it's nothing like the stories you relate. I've seen other homeschoolers on this site brush off opinions and assumptions made by non-homeschoolers about what goes on in a typicall homeschool day, claiming you actually have to do it to know what really happens. That's the case with public school, too. You can't take your experiences from 30 years ago and apply them to modern day. That's ridiculous. Furthermore, your outlandish claims make you come across sounding like a member of a cult who's spent too many years of her life being spoon-fed the party (homeschool) line, and is afraid to do any research to back up her info, relying instead on what she's heard from others who regurgitate the party line. If they're saying it, it must be true, right?
I'm sure there are atrocious teachers. But there are atrocious clergymen, too. And firemen and grocery store checkers, and neighbors. Learning to interact with all types of people is a necessary skill.
I grew up in the public school system and my children currently (and will always) attend public school. When I start seeing the pregnant 8th graders denied a trip to the nurse's office, I'll get worried. Until then, I'll continue to be active in my children's classroom and school, cntinue to lend a hand when the teachers need it, continue to be a positive influence on the kids, and continue to monitor the daily goings-on. I'll let you know when I see the teachers berating and ridiculing and swearing at the children. It might be a long wait.
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Thanks, Tammy, for your assessment of the public school system. I wholeheartedly agree, having been through it - having siblings go through it - and having had a few of my children in it.
My oldest graduated in '95. The valdictorian was a cross dresser who used the platform on graduation day to shock us all in the middle of his speech. She will tell you herself, "average student" and the piece of paper called a diploma means nothing as to real education and learning. She homeschools her children now.
I pulled my now 19 year old daughter out of public school after 1st grade. See, I figured if I was going to be homeschooling her anyhow, when she got home with her blank papers, I may as well keep her home.
It was bad when I was in school. Much worse by the time my oldest got there. Today things are out of control, and I hate to think of how bad it's going to get.
I've been homeschooling for 20 years now. You will never hear me say "Oh, I wish I'd have kept them in public school." Every day I hear the bus go by our house, I'm so glad they're not getting on it. I've been there - I know what they're missing, and I'm not sorry they're missing it.
Deb
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Dear Australian Anonymous,
Well said! I have a question, though. How did you come to read this blog? I am a strong supporter of public and private schools but find myself browsing these pieces when I am bored. I came here because I have a relative who is trying her hand at homeschooling. I wanted to know what it was all about. From my blog observations, I am most concerned about the subjugation of women clearly espoused by these women. But there is no use in battling them, for they easily "defend" themselves by, what they consider, "proof" from the bible. Oh well. It's always good to stop by and get riled up.
By the way, I was raised in public school, educated by a public university, and received my graduate degree from a private university. I taught for years in a public high school and now teach in a private school. People are people, no matter where you are. I loved your analogy about corrupt clergymen and such, as you are so correct!
Now this statement may be a gross generalization, but I get the feeling that a lot of the homeschooling moms didn't receive that much of a formal education. And I thank God for mine. Had I not gone to college, I fear that I would be confined to the ideas and theories of my (hopelessly narrow-minded parents and closely knit community). I found myself through philosophy and literature. I'm sure there are a few homeschooling moms who went to college, and I know that college doesn't enlighten everyone, but it sure made a huge difference for me.
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - Dear Pattycake,
I think pulling your daughter out of school in first grade was absolutely the right thing to do. The blank papers she brought home were an obvious indicator that she needed specialized, one-on-one help in order to complete her first grade curriculum. I'm really glad for her sake you were in a position to oversee every aspect of her education, and as she moves out into the world, she'll come to appreciate your having controlled her curriculum such that she wasn't exposed to distasteful harsh realities and the unwashed masses. I bet she fills in those worksheets and standardized tests like a pro now!
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Dear Anon,
Boy did you get it wrong. My daughter couldn't fill out her papers in school due to another child's taking the whole classes attention for the year.
In our homeschool, we don't fill out papers. We read, we live, we learn. The world is our classroom. She was socialized not by a group of peers her own age, but people of all ages, and in all kinds of situtions. Due to being part of a large extended family, she met all kinds. ALL kinds.
She is amazing. She is one of the most intuitive people I know. I couldn't be prouder, or happier about our decision to homeschool, and our lifestyle of learning. She has a love for learning, for life, and for people that I find rare in today's youth.
I've been to the local mall - I've seen the public school product of mass education with peers all the same age. And of couse, I've spent my time there. When I got out of "jail" real learning began. Real learning started much earlier for my own children.
• Permanent Link
May. 19, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Homeschooling obviously works for you and your family, and I think that's wonderful. However, public schooling works, too. Ask my 6th grader who just tested into 9th grade algebra for his 7th grade year. He doesn't need to be a genius to be successful - he can be normal public school kid who happens to have a knack for math. He's getting what he needs to succeed, and all at the hands of the evil public school system.
Just as you acknowledge there are homeschools that have problems and some problems in homeschooling, I acknowledge that there are sometimes problems in public schools. But the events often described in this blog are isolated events. Terrible events, yes, but not indicative in the slightest of the state of every public school in every town. Your attempts to generalize events in the news to say that these things happen in every school are just that - generalizations. And generalizations rarely hold up to scrutiny.
I understand that many homeschoolers need the daily encouragement to keep fighting the good fight. To continue educating their children at home, despite the tight finances, the stresses of having no time apart from their children, despite having no formal teaching credentials, despite the trials of dealing with and overcoming special needs or learning disabilities. I get that. But using scare tactics to keep homeschoolers homeschooling is definitely uncalled for. I daresay most of what these women need is something positive and reassuring to keep them doing what they (and you) so strongly feel they need to be doing. They certainly don't need the bullying and horror stories.
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Just For Kicks...
Let's see what Google comes up with:
But, before that.... there was already a teacher making fun of others IN THE COMMENTS! Can you believe it? I tell you, the proof is there:
"Have you also noticed the horrible grammar on these blogs? Whew!"
By admittance, from an Anonymous "public school teacher"
I do understand that with so many Anonymous's up there, it may sound like I am putting words in your (anonymous) mouth, but I am not accusing all of you for what each of you said.
On with the search results of "Teacher makes fun of student"
**********************************
>>Did a TEACHER ever make fun of a student in your school?
Posted: Mon Nov 19, 2007 8:13 am Central Time
http://www.retroland.com/retrotalk/viewtopic.php?t=16003
"But the part I DIDN'T think was so funny is when the teacher screamed "This is why no one likes you!" and "I don't blame them for laughing...Look at you!" Talk about evil! You'd think the teacher would be the one person NOT to agree with the kids laughing at you! She almost encouraged everyone to keep laughing (I think she assumed he'd get embarrassed and stop)"
>>(same post)
"In 8th grade this popular guy had a video camera in English class because it was the last day of school and he was video taping the class. he aims the camera on the kid and says "And this is the biggest loser in the school" and everyone laughed as he continues to rag on the kid while filming him. The teacher just sat there reading a book until the mean guy aims the camera on her and says "How did you put up with him all year? Didn't you just want to put a gun to your head?" And the teacher LAUGHED and said "I think I qualify for sainthood!" and then made a caomment about finally being rid of him since it wasthe last day of school. I couldn't believe it...and all the time they were filming the kid and he had this awful look on his face. Then this girl Marlene Pipes in with, "I've had him in my class every year since Kindergarten!" and the teacher repliesd with something like, "Uggh! You have my sympathy! I only had him for one year and I'm sick of him!"
A lot of the other teachers also used to treat him the same way. he'd cry or throw a fit and they'd pretty much make fun of him just like the students."
Here's a great public school lesson you may have never thought of:
>>(same post-private school)
"I remember one year back in elementary school my teacher Ms. Sulivan made a young man by the name of Osbourne wear a dress. The reason she had him wear a dress was because he kept embarrassing the young ladies by looking up their dresses. The teacher decided to teach him a lesson by ultimately making him wear a dress and having the girls lift it up to look under. Afterwards, he never did it again."
>>(wow, same post)
"Okay, my turn: My (extremely cool) wind ensemble prof (let's call her Anna Cruses) makes fun of students pretty much ALL the time. On the first day of rehearsal, she told our one and only string bass player (let's call him Prince Lowstrung), "Okay, you're going to have sectionals with the tubas and euphoniums sometimes, and other times, with the basssons. So, you're going to have to learn to make friends REALLY quickly.......not that I don't think you have friends now, I mean." But, by then, we were all laughing.....good thing Prince Lowstrung lives up to his name, lol.
Another time, Anna Cruses decided to pick on one of our trombonists (let's call her Princess Letitslide), because she wasn't playing her solo loudly enough, and she was apparently playing "too nicely." So, she marched Princess Letitslide up to the front of the room, and had her face the rest of us and play as loudly as she could, and "make ugly sounds." She promised to pay Princess L. a dollar upon completion of this task. Now, Princess L. is one of those people who's kind of shy, but also something of a people pleaser, so although she was obviously MORTIFIED to be up there, she just Couldn't. Say. No. I asked her later if she'd ever gotten her dollar for this ordeal, and apparently, Anna had "forgotten" to pay her."
>>(same post)
"I was the one the teacher made fun of."
I was planning on searching for awhile, but I guess I hit the jackpot. Now, I don't have any media (they are so trustworthy to tell the truth) to back this up, just the words of some who have experienced it, but there are plenty there, aren't there?
>>(same post)
"In 11th grade my girlfriend and I both had hair about half way down our backs. We walked in class together and the substitute teacher called us lesbian twins. It would have been funny to me but he was being nasty and not joking."
>>(same post)
"My third-grade teacher made fun of me ALL the time. I was a Special Needs student and she was so old-fashioned that she felt that Special Needs kids DID NOT belong in a regular classroom. She was just very strict and quite demanding and expected perfection from eight and nine year olds. That sounds like a big mistake on my part-- a teacher should never expect such a young child to be perfect."
Getting tired of these yet?
>>(same post, from a parent)
"Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 2:38 pm Central Time
My youngest child (in 4th grade) just told me of a teacher doing this to someone in his class last night;
Teachers, parents, counselors and friends need to be aware that the class clown may not necessarily be auditioning for his next performance but in reality, is crying for help.
Humor is sometimes a defense.
One way children defend against painful issues is through humor. When taken to an extreme, clowning around is a way of compensating for some very difficult feelings. Children who constantly need to be the center of attention are often struggling with a shaky sense of self that is stroked when others are laughing at their jokes."
>>(same post)
"My social studies teacher..."
>>(still same post)
"I had a teacher in high school who made fun of every student."
Moving on to more disgusting humiliating things you wouldn't expect a teacher to do:
>>(this time, verified by the media)
Boy Says Teacher Forced Him To Urinate In Lunchbox During Class
http://www.wftv.com/news/15620442/detail.html
Link may disappear, so, here is part of the article:
"The teacher was relieved of her duty with pay, officials said.
Thomas, 13, said his teacher, Jameeka Chambers, gave him two options. She said he could wait to go to the restroom until the end of class or use her lunchbox in the back of the classroom. He used her lunchbox.
He said it was less embarrassing than wetting his pants.
If that's not bad enough.... his entire class of 19 students and his teacher watched."
**********************************
Perhaps one of the worst things about this case is that the student didn't think to just say, "I am going to the restroom or I am going to the principal's office, but your lunchbox is not an option." (I just got that from my 14yo daughter who I said how sad it was that a 13yo boy was made to do that: that was her response)
They don't even know how to get out of the abusive situation.
**********************************
>>(New post) In the Motherhood
http://cc.motherhood.liveworld.com/topic/General-Chat/Sons-Teacher-Makes/800000803?messageID=800003877
"Re: my son's teacher makes fun of him in front of the class!
Apr 29, 2008 6:21 PM
My son had a teacher for second grade that always seemed to be picking on my son. He dreaded going to school and on several occasions I attempted speaking with the teacher. Unfortunately my son did have behavior/social issues so that was used against him as the reason. The teacher would tell me he was just exaggerating the situation. Speaking with one of our neighbors who had a daughter in the same class, turns out this teacher favored girls and had serious issues with most of the boy children in her classes. This same parent had the issues a few years previous when her son had this teacher. I decided one day to request the principal to unknowing observe what was going on. My son had no knowledge of my plan nor did the teacher. They agreed but not without fighting it. The principal and myself stood outside the classroom where the teacher could not see us, but we could see and here what was going on. My son was moved to a new teacher that afternoon and problem solved."
>>(same post)
"Re: my son's teacher makes fun of him in front of the class!
Apr 24, 2008 11:19 AM
I'm very sorry your son is going thru this. I had a similar issue when my son was in 2nd grade.
First, that teacher is paid to teach. I dont care if she likes her students are not. She needs to be professonal. Second, you are your son's voice. Dont be afraid to use it, loudly if nessesary.
My son was basically picked on by the teacher because she did not like him. This was a special ed techer. (my son is dyslexic) She had created an atmosphere in class that did not allow my son to learn. He had stomach aches and was very stressed. The last straw was when she grabbed his face in front of the class. The next morning I was in the principals office. I had him removed from her class. I also wrote a letter on her. The letter will be placed in her employment file. As a parent you have more power than you know. Since she was a special ed teacher, she had contact with him in different settings. I told the principal that my son was not to be anywhere around this teacher and If nessasary I would stand outside of the room to make sure my son did not enter. I also told his other teachers that if they left him in a classroom where she was I would come to school and demand to know why. I only had to go to school once.
During this I did not yell, cuss or lose my temper. You cant do that and get what you want. My son's health improved greatly after I removed him from that teacher. She was removed from the school the next year. Dont be afraid to go over the principals head either. I've done that twice.
Sorry about the long rant, but even after all these years (he's 16 now) I get angry and cry that my son was treated like that. He has never gotten over it, and it has colored how he looks at all teachers, even the good ones."
**********************************
Of course, you could always just go back into the HWTB archives and see the many posts of actual abuse by teachers, but I don't think it is your goal to be convinced. Even all of these posts made by ordinary people will not convince you. You do not want to believe. You want to believe everything is good in the government schools, and the team here is exaggerating, because, if you believe what we are saying, then you would be remiss as a parent to leave your child in the government schools, and you would have no other option but to homeschool them, and I just don't think you would want to do that. Even if we are correct.
Some people just do not want to believe the truth.
What if your child is being bullied and you just never find out? What if there is anything detrimental happening to any child in the government school, and you just never find out? Is that ok then? Is it ok that it only happens to, say, .00001%?? Or is that .00001% worth noticing and believing and doing something about? And, what if your child is that .00001%?
Some of us do need encouragement to homeschool. It is a hard and thankless job sometimes. But most of us do not have this perpetual *need* to be babied and encouraged as you make it seem. We are a pretty independent bunch, as you can tell by the fact that we educate our children at home. But, if we do need the encouragement, so what? We network just like any other group of like-minded people do.
I would like to encourage you to take a look at reality. Try to stop thinking like someone who is told what to think and see what is going on in many - not all - but many classrooms today.
It does amaze me - the comments we get here by people who have clearly not had much interaction (if any) with homeschoolers and their parents, but still know us. I can say, tho, that most parents who homeschool did go to a government or private school and have seen what is described. It's like going to someone's house and telling them that you don't want to hear their experiences and you don't believe what they are saying (you are standing on their front steps, mind you), and you mock them just a little for their beliefs and maybe for not having a college education or for going to church... and grab the other person who wasn't arguing with or discounting the person whose steps you are standing on and saying, "Yeah, see? They don't know what they are talking about... and what are you doing here, anyway?".
How ironic to call exposing the truth "scare tactics". Really? Well, if life is scary, fix it. Don't put your child into a place that is scary. Many times, the child ends up scared or scary themselves. I would link the two articles about the two separate teachers in two separate schools just 20m from here who had illicit affairs with their high school age students (even though many of the students knew about both affairs), but I am tired, and I have wonderful children to teach tomorrow, so I must be off...
Deb, you know you made the right choice, and your children are better for it. We do live in the real world, with other families and other children. We do see the effects of the government schools. It is not a big mystery.
And, btw, Tammy... thank you for writing on this tough topic! The only thing I will add or would change is the title. I would insert "government schools" for the term "public schools". They are no longer public schools. They are run by the government and lobbyists (like the NEA and teachers), and really not much can be done by the public in them any more. Definitely don't expose anything. Let's just keep everything in secret. And call it good.
:)
sorry for such a long comment...
blessings Ladies!
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Rebuttal
Dearest Jacques,
Thank you for the "fine" research. It's just such a shame that the media cannot get a hold of any mistreatment going on in the household under homeschooling, isn't it? Once again, you have "stalwartly" chosen a battleground: homeschooling vs. public education, and you've made it your life. As Australia pointed out, there is corruption in EVERY facet of life. Isn't that the very nature of humankind: sinfulness? Your research doesn't show me anything I don't already know or haven't heard. It is sick and disgusting but, I believe, also isolated. Like I said before, I've been entrenched within these public/private systems for MANY years and I have never witnessed, participated, or known any kinds of abuses. But I do know that you homeschooling mothers are about the most sanctimonious women I have ever heard. You are raising your children to think that you and they are superior to everyone. Shame on you.
-the teacher
p.s. And yes, your grammar stinks. You might want to brush up on your articulation skills if you and the rest of them are contributing to a public forum and you want your points to have some credence.
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Wow
I have to say, you are a very bitter person. As far as being judgmental, I think you are on a two-way street. Superiority attitudes are a matter of opinion. Why is it that speaking the truth always comes across as a superiority attitude? Sometimes it is, but sometimes it is just the truth. Not condescending, just the truth.
?You said Dearest? How condescending.
I certainly hope that if homeschooled children are being abused emotionally, physically, educationally, spiritually, sexually or otherwise that they will be removed from that too. Unfortunately, I think abuse is also a matter of opinion. Most people think that sarcastically correcting a child is ok too. I know the child doesn't think so (especially in front of a class of peers). Have you seen that in your years as a teacher? Or done it yourself?
You *will* hear less instances of abuse in homeschooled families, because that is the way it is. Most of us love our children and want the best for them, and we put them first, not ourselves. It is not just a job, and it is not about getting a paycheck. Besides that, if you have heard all of that before about these abusive and hateful teachers, then you have no forum here.
One thing you don't understand is that no one singled you out and called you names and said what a bitter, nasty, hateful person you appear to be, but you can come here to our house and spout your biased opinion AND call names.
THAT. Is. Sanctimonious.
Shame on you. You are the kind of teacher I do not want my child to have in any place: gov't school or church sunday school class - or even a youth group. If this is how you speak to students' parents who disagree with you and have proof to their points, you need to polish up your tact and communication skills.
And, as far as grammar goes... that sounds like a superiority complex to me. FYI... if you are correcting the grammar in what I COPIED AND PASTED from those articles, ALL MISSPELLINGS INTACT..... then you need to gain an understanding of how to report things like that. It was not my intention to change what the authors wrote. Those grammatical errors and misspellings are direct from the sites I found them on.
Also, the name is Jacque. Sounds like Jackie, rhymes with khaki. It's English, not French. Jacques is a man's name. The proper feminine French translation is Jacqueline, pronounced zya-kleen'. Sorry to sound snotty about that, but, I can see where you may have misunderstood the pronunciation, and it is a pet peeve of mine. :)
~Jacque Dixon
http://jacquedixon.com
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Also
I cannot believe you would say that the abuse is isolated. The comments I stated are from forums online. Forums that consist of people from all over the world, with all different education status', and different teachers in different schools. We no longer just hear news reports from Los Angeles and New York about violence and abuse; it is E V E R Y W H E R E.
How ludicrous is that? "Isolated instances". That in itself is mind-boggling that a teacher would believe that. (though, I don't think you do believe it.) You also said in the same paragraph, "Isn't that the very nature of humankind: sinfulness?". You are correct. And sin is not isolated, so neither are the instances of abuse in the classroom by teachers.
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - To Jacque the Homeskooler...
Jacque,
We all have different definitions of truth. Mine is not equal to yours. Your truth is not my truth. I don't believe you, your b.s., or your hair-do.
-a Great Teacher who inspires and calls a spade a spade
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Because you can go online and find a dozen or two dozen or even a hundred accounts of perceived abuses in the public schools does not make these instances widespread or a daily occurence. Let's go back to statistics class for just a moment. How many publuic schools are there in the US? How many children attend public school in the US each day? How many teachers interact with those students on a daily basis? Now, statistically speaking, there WILL be isolated instances of unsavory experiences or behavior occurring on a daily basis throughout the US. Howevver, statistically speaking, what are the chances the bad things are happening to my children, any children I know, or any children within my school district? Pretty slim. I do not deny these occurences, but to condemn the entire public school system for the actions of a very few is ludicrous. It's like saying you had a terrible Girl Scout leader as a child, and since things can ONLY get worse with the passage of time, ALL Girl Scout leaders must now be sub-par, and now keep your children out of Girl Scouts because it could happen again.
Again, I think you all believe your own propaganda to the point of thinking those of us who have current and relevant hands-on public/private school experience are the blind ones, the ones unwilling to see the horrors taking place right before our very eyes. That is so not the case. I've said it before, and I will continue to say it: the downfall of today's youth is NOT the fault of the public school system, but rather the neglect/apathy of their uninvolved, uninterested, unmotivated parents. You homeschooling moms take that to the other extreme and are involved in every aspect of your children's lives, but if today's public school parents would show even a little bit more interest in their own children, I think you'd have far less ammunition for your anti-public school platform. It's the apathetic parents who think all learning takes place in the classroom, who think teachers are babysitters, and feel no real need to intervene in cases of discipline, behavioral problems, or learning disabilities. After all, the school system is supposed to care for and feed these children for 6 hours a day, right?
Anyhow, I think all us lowly public school folks are fortunate that you're not part of our community. I can take self-righteous indignation only on in limited doses. Any more than that, and it just wears me plum out!
In any case, how about we agree to disagree? I'll continue to raise my substandard, public-school educated, poorly socialized, victimized, and bullied children, and you continue to raise your un-schooled warriors, and we'll see which ones get the $150k/year jobs in another 10 years. Okay?
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Aussie strikes again!
Well said, Aussie Gal!
Regarding grammar, I was not referring to the items you copied and pasted but rather to the obscene amount of misspellings, wrong word choices, punctuation errors, illogical connections, blurred semantics, pronoun-antecedent disagreement, and so on that are ubiquitous on these blogs, esp. Tia's.
-The Great Teacher
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Untitled Comment
oops... not Aussie! Sorry!
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - LOL
I suppose if I had low self-esteem or I was a little kid in high "skool", your bullying would bother me. If the measure of your opinion of anyone is based on hair-dos, then, like I said, THANK GOD you are not my children's teacher. I am not going to cry or engage in bullying. You can say all the idiotic things you want to the truth, and you are still in the same place as before.
To previous anonymous~ We *can* agree to disagree on opinions, but not facts. I do not hate public school teachers. I do not think public school children are losers. I do not think my children are better. Believe me, I spend enough time with my children to know that they could give any child a run for their money sometimes.
and HUGE LOL on this: "we'll see which ones get the $150k/year jobs in another 10 years. Okay? " Of course we will see.... what a bunch of homeschoolers raised as leaders versus children you are training to all be alike and held under the ominous "No Child Left Behind" propaganda and other programs that don't allow children to excel for fear that it might make the lesser students feel stupid. Come now. These poor children. They are created for greatness. The problem is not the children - or even the teachers in many cases - it is the system. It is a mess.
Public/government school teachers miss the entire point of this blog. I am sorry to have engaged you in any type of arguments, because you do not understand. This is about calling hearts HOME: not to the teachers, not to their peers, not to a public lifestyle of educating cookie-cutter-people. It is about calling parents to the hearts of their children, and part of doing that is by educating them in your own standards and beliefs as a parent. This practice automatically includes getting them out from under the abuse and beliefs of teachers and peers.
There is really no argument here. You can disagree with what many people have lived through. You are calling it bs. That is fine, but please don't then continue to accuse me or any other homeschooler of having a sheltered life.
And so what, Great Teacher, if you can write well, considering the content of what you are writing? It always comes down to bullying when you have the weaker argument. Bullying is what it is. It is a shame you cannot see it. And, I am an adult you won't ever face. What happens to the children you do face? Scary.
JD
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Untitled Comment
Wow - definitely glad I'm homeschooling.
As to isolated ... I've taken to writing up what's in my own local paper lately. It seems there's always something.
My local school made Newsweek's top 1300 in the nation again - but I know all about it. I've been there, and had children in it. It's all a facade.
Not isolated. Rampant.
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - I'm wondering...
...why so called 'teachers' and others who do not agree with, or even like, homeschoolers come to a site like this more than once just to satisfy their curriosity. Why do you?
To pick a fight? To bring us down to your level? To feel superior by displaying your condescending, pompus attitude? To make yourself feel better about being a part of a failing system? To make fun of happy, satisfied, content Christians because we have something that you want but you are fighting it?
Why even bother to come back?
YOU, and others like you who devalue our choices (because ours are working and yours are not), and the way you speak/write to us; the way you put us down, the way you feel that you must slander us even though we and our children are succeeding and flourishing...my goodness!...YOU cause me to utter praises of thanksgiving that my children ARE home where they belong and NOT with someone who so devalues others like yourself. Are you truly trying to hold yourself out as a stellar example of a public school teacher...'The Great Teacher'? My oh my.
What has made you so angry? You degrade not only our homeschool choice but also that of our faith. Does it bother you SO MUCH that our families are happy, satisfied, validated, successful, content, thrivng, socialized, civically involved and participatory, and eternally secure? Why? I've said it before...I DO believe that you keep returning for a purpose...whether you realize it or not. Each of us here who write for HWTB are praying people...do you know that we pray for you and other angry, dissatisfied people like you? Obviosly, you must keep returning because you are looking for something that's missing from your life. Is it a loving relationship with the Lord...is it simply that you are being drawn to homeschool and can't even admit it to yourself? Are the pressures of what you see and hear at your government school bothering you to the degree that you have to take out your frustrations on innocent people simply trying to do the best for our families that we know to do? What IS your problem with us?
Since ALL of us here have gone through government schools and are also daily involved with friends and family members to still send their kids there and COMPLAIN to us EVERY chance they get...I don't see the footing you have to stand on with your false, rude accusations of a life-style you are afraid of because you might just enjoy it.
I am sorry for you. You are obviously very unhappy and are looking for someone to take it out on and we lost your lottery. But I (we) will still be praying for you.
Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Where do I start
First of all, I grew up in Public School, graduated from the Centinella Valley School District in Los Angeles. My school was Hawthorne High School. I had only a couple of amazing teachers who really cared about educating us. I could tell you about them or I could tell you about the ones who didn't care and let me get a C- and said I was doing well.
I took it upon myself to see the school counselor and request different teachers. One teacher drank liquor in his coffee, another flirted with the girls in class, another assigned that we read the newspaper everyday then slammed a final exam on us with the text book as our material, 24 hours in advance.(this being 2 days before graduation and he gave every one of us a D-)
I'm amazed they let me graduate. In the classes where I had good teachers, I excelled. However, in the ones that I had teachers who lacked the desire to help students to grow, I struggled just to pass the class. On average, throughout my four years of high school, I had one good teacher per semester.
So are we to allow our children to brave the government schools JUST so they can hve those FEW good teachers? When we're talking about nurturing young people to become intelligent, productive citizens, who are respectful and show proper etiquette, then we need to make sure that happens.
The government schools are not responsible for raising our children. If they think they are, then we can certainly blame them for all the problems we have happening in America, after all they did educate them.
I truly am thankful for the few good teachers I had in the public school, but I'm far more thankful for my parents for loving me. It was my parents who were there for me when I got married and when I gave birth to my children. It was my family who was there for me when I almost died of pnuemonia and when I had emergency surgery due to a diseased gall bladder.
I'm not a perfect parent and I didn't have perfect parents, but after all the years I was in the government schools I have not been contacted by any of them when I got married or had my children.
(and just in case anyone asks if I ever tried to contact my teachers, the answer is YES! But that's a whole other story.)
While in the school I did take notice that it's not always the teacher's fault that the children can't learn. There is so much violence that takes place and back talking from children it's ridiculous. I don't think that any of the homeschool parents will say that it's ONLY because of the government paid teachers that we homeschool.
The majority of inappropriate behaviour I encountered was taught to me by other students. However, for the girls who were taken advantage of by their male teachers, that would be enough to keep my children home with me. Why put my children at risk to be in that kind of situation?
There was one semester that my parents put me in a different school. We had to lie about where we lived just to get me in. The city I lived in was inundated with gang violence, bomb threats, etc. In the short time I was in the other school, which was in a wealthy neighborhood, I still encountered many of the same problems. These teens were educated allright. They knew how to run successful gambling rings, *rgies, and bully other teens with a more sophisticated style so they wouldn't get caught.
So I can attest to the fact that it isn't the area you live in, the teachers you have, or how much money you have that gets you an education. The majority of my education came after high school, when I found a good church to teach me manners. I got a hold of good books that taught me how to be a good wife and a good friend. A friend that is there for you at midnight no matter what.
I learned that I didn't have to stab another gang member in order to protect my friends, or submit to being made a pr*stitute so I can put food on the table for my family. No, I have not had to do those things, but I was close.
I'm thankful that I had a private school for my children to attend during their elementary years, but do you know what I found while they were there? Sophisticated, intelligent teens who knew how to do all the same things as the public school kids and not get caught.
I had parents tell me that my kids won't ever tell me EVERYTHING that happens in their life and I can say without a doubt that they were wrong about my daughters. They did tell me what was going on!
When a teacher would walk out of the room, the conversations turned to topics such as *ral s*x, making out in the theaters, and sneaking out at night. Now this is in a very good school, educationally that is. It is a private school, but the kids come from different types of homes. The bullying is still in private schools, the manipulation is there, the teacher's pets are there, the low self esteem from feeling like you're stupid when it's announced who got straight A's and honor roll and you didn't make the cut.
My second daughter struggled with her academics for 3 years. We even hired tutors and put her in a different school for a year. None of this worked for her. She was failing all her other classes because she was striving to just get a passing grade in one class. The curriculum couldn't be adjusted, the teacher wouldn't slow down and she fell further and further behind.
My youngest daughter was held back in kindergarten, 'failed' and all her friends went forward without her. The school didn't have counselors to help test her for learning disabilities so we had to taker her to the doctor to get a referrel for testing. Our insurance wouldn't cover it. We were stuck!
Then it was time for our regular eye appointments and come to find out she couldn't SEE! She needed glasses! On top of that she had to take speech therapy. The dentist commented that the roof of her mouth is very high and that may be why she seems to talk with an accent. So we saw a Speech therapist who worked wonders in her ability to learn to read and speak properly. The schools couldn't help either one of my daughters. The teachers couldn't protect my 12 year old from hearing about *ral s*x and making out in the movie houses.
My youngest daughter was mistreated by her fellow students and the teacher never saw it happen. The kids at kindergarten level were just as sly as the high schoolers were. My Gina is an affectionate girl and would want to hug her friends upon arriving at school, but instead of being greeted as a friend she was yelled at by other kindergartners that she was gay. "Ewww don't touch me!" they'd say, "You're gay Gina!" (she was only 5 for crying out loud)
Now my best friend calls me and tells me that her 6th grade nephew was given h*m*s*xual pictures with men having *ral s*x, BY HIS TEACHER!
And we're suppose to trust our kids in the government schools OR the private schools? No thank you.
My goal is not to put out the next NASA astronaut or the next Bio-Engineer. If they choose to go in that direction they'll do fine. My goal is to raise my children to love God, to take care of their families, to be wise, and to be positive contributors to their communities.
We serve at the homeless shelters, volunteer at Vacation Bible schools, volunteer for community clean ups, assist the deaf, run the local Toys for Tots, and work with our local Fire Insprector each Christmas with her annual toy giveaway for needy families. That's the direction we aim for our children to go in.
Our goals are different than the goals the government has for the children. We have the right to raise our children this way. We have a right to educate them this way. Our children have the right to grow up without violence.
Some government agencies say that children left with their parents end up having problems with abuse? And the public school kids don't have a problem with violence, STD's, abortions, and molestation?
Let's challenge the parents to raise their own kids. Parents need to learn how to be better parents. Maybe if the parents would do THEIR job we could have a better future for our children and grand children. So just where do we get these parents educated at? What do we use as a textbook for teaching families how to be families? Who is the final authority on what is right and what is wrong?
I don't think I need to give you the answer. I think you all already know what the answer is. The question is will you seek to find it and use it?
And just for the record, the hairstyle a woman has has no bearing on how she educates her children. What a low blow from a woman we're supposed to trust with educating our children.
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Untitled Comment
There's no bullying going on here. I should be able to present a counter-view without being accused of bullying. Why do it here? Because you're cranking out your own version of propaganda. As for the horror stories you/your neighbor/your friend had in public school, I'm sure just about everyone can come up with something negative during their ~13 years in public school. I bet they can come up with just as many negative grocery store trips. Or outings to the mall. People are people, no matter where you go. Instead of citing the positive things about homeschooling, you point to public schools and insinuate that only bad parents would dare to send their children there to be educated. Having a non-public school parent write about what kind of atrocities MIGHT occur in public schools, with no supporting data other than second- and third-hand anecdotes is BAD JOURNALISM, no matter how you slice it. It's fake, full of lies and suppositions, and utterly and completely wrong. Yet you question why we object to it. My question is, why don't you?
I'm a stay-at-home mom, but I do not want to homeschool my children; haven't even considered it. But that doesn't mean I don't take an active role in their educations. I'm in my children's school three days a week, helping out in the classrooms, seeing firsthand what goes on. It's NOT always perfect, but then again, WE are not perfect. My children are receiving quality education that doesn't end when they leave the classroom.
As I've noted, you're free to believe whatever you'd like and educate your children as you see fit, but to claim all public schools are cesspools is WRONG. I can only assume the majority of children in public schools are happy, healthy, and unbullied, and while I don't have statistics to back it up, if that weren't the case, there would be many, many more news stories to point it out. Granted, not every interaction children have with other students, or even faculty, is going to be positive, but all life experiences add up to learning how to live with, interact with, and handle others. Because right along with learning the ABCs and how to find the area of a circle comes real-life skills, and those cannot be taught.
• Permanent Link
May. 20, 2008 - Untitled Comment
You know... I think I am done with this. And no thanks to your prayers. Someone asked why I was so angry with you all. So, I am going to communicate this message as positively as possible. (You're right about the negativity but not about the bullying. I am picking on you, yes, because simply you ladies could use some loosening up.)
So, why am I angry with you, this forum, and everyone who participates?
1- I believe in the power of women and men, working together, in equality and harmony. However, my perception of you all is that you believe in an inferior (by varying degrees) position of women. I do not believe that women should be considered better than men, but I righteously proclaim the absolute necessity for male-female equality. From several women's blogs, I have gathered that, ultimately, you, women, defer to your husbands. That shakes me to my core. I could wage a war over it. If I had lived in the 1960s, you'd better believe that I would have been burning my bra and marching in Washington. I remember learning about the women's suffrage movements of the 1920s and the feeling of my heart soaring with pride! Then I remember realizing just how lucky I had it! Born free in America!
And I am no lesbian (although I see nothing wrong with them). In fact, I absolutely adore men.
So... when I (masochistically) visit a forum, upon which my actual OPPOSITE view of humanity is plastered, obviously I freak out. By the way, I also don't believe in the slaughter of animals (however humanely) to furnish my dinner table. So, when I see goat butchering parties, downed hawks by young ladies, prairie home skirts, everyone woman sporting long hair, many women (in a sort of brainwashed and/or indignant mode) go off in some sort of ecstatic glee of serving their men... i just want to vomit.
So, to know that your OPPRESSIVE teachings are molding your children into little copies of yourselves makes me feel like I must stand UP against women who are propagating beliefs that hurt themselves, their children, and ultimately everyone.
You're so brainwashed that you can't see.
-the frustrated (and great) teacher
• Permanent Link
May. 21, 2008 - Let me ask for clarification please...
****(in a sort of brainwashed and/or indignant mode) go off in some sort of ecstatic glee of serving their men... i just want to vomit.
So, to know that your OPPRESSIVE teachings are molding your children into little copies of yourselves makes me feel like I must stand UP against women who are propagating beliefs that hurt themselves, their children, and ultimately everyone. ****
So you're saying that serving my husband a fine meal is an action that would make you vomit? And that makes me brainwashed? I thought it showed my husband that I love him and want to please him. Surely you don't think that a man who comes home with flowers for his beloved wife is also an action that makes you vomit. And that training and teaching our children to also be kind and loving to their spouses is 'propagating a belief that hurt themselves, their children, and ultimately everyone." ???
Please tell me this is not so. For it is that kind of teaching ,that you feel is important to teach to America's children, that convinces us keep them at home.
My experiences in the public school are my own, not false lies. You can ask the other thousand or so teens I graduated alongside. Not all of them are Christian, stay at home, homeschooling moms, but they can tell you of a certainty that these events have taken place.
To our other responder:
I really must as of you to understand my views on your words..."As for the horror stories you/your neighbor/your friend had in public school, I'm sure just about everyone can come up with something negative during their ~13 years in public school. I bet they can come up with just as many negative grocery store trips. Or outings to the mall. People are people, no matter where you go. Instead of citing the positive things about homeschooling, you point to public schools and insinuate that only bad parents would dare to send their children there to be educated."
Are you telling me that a 12 yr child being exposed to *ral s*x, but an adult who is suppose to be trusted by that child is equal to something that could happen in a grocery store?
And I'd like to answer your comment ..."you point to public schools and insinuate that only bad parents would dare to send their children there to be educated"...
No actually I think good parents send their kids to public schools too. I realize there are many good public schools in small cities and towns that are still fairly decent, however, from the state I'm living in, I have lost complete faith in our public school system while I was still growing up in them. That was 18 years ago. The direction the schools are taking are not meeting the requirements that I feel is best for my child.
Gena, I can understand the responders concern about a mom who doesn't use the public school saying what 'might' happen, however we certainly can find enough facts to back it up. It's plastered all over the internet. And if you ever want me to write from my point of view I'd be glad to. (grew up public school, had kids in private school, still believe homeschooling is best for my family.) Oh I sure could go on.
http://ourapplesofgold.blogspot.com/2008/02/parents-greatest-weakness.html
• Permanent Link
May. 21, 2008 - One Last Thing...
I'm going to add one last thing to this particular post...
Anonymous - the teacher - seems me to be such a sad, angry person. I don't know what's hurt you in your life, but I feel so sorry for you.
I also want to clear up the idea that you've obviously gotten from some freak WE TV documentary about abused women from some cult that you seem to think we are...
I am probably the oldest woman on this post...let me tell you that I DID grow up in the 60's and they weren't the shining example of women's rights, racial protesting and the free love of Woodstock that you seem to be dreaming that they were - obviously, something you learned from your left-slanting textbooks in your government school and University "education." Actaully, the 60's counter culture was a national embarrassment and disgrace. We are now suffering even more from it because many of the duped, twisted graduates who came out of those Universities are running our government and influencing Hollywood. By the way...it seems to me that when I see these people on TV that they are some of the angriest, most unhappy people around. Why do you suppose that is? But I digress...
As for myself and your idea that we are so brainwashed and surely must walk around like a prairie-dressing Stepford Wives...not that I don't love a cute denim skirt!...but you couldn't be MORE wrong. I grew up in the fashion industry. I modeled from the time I was 9 years old until, literally, days before I married at 25; I also did make-up artistry work from 19 until I was in my mid-30's. During most of that time I was deeply invovled in what is now commonly called New Age...my friends didn't mess around with semantics, we called it what it was...occult or some called it witchcraft.
Know where I got into the occult? From my favorite teacher, ever...my 9th grade ENGLISH teacher. Oh, she was "SO COOL"! I was in a small group of kids that she took under her wing to tutor us in tarot cards, I-Ching coins, numerology. Oh, we were 'cool,' too.
Then, after graduation I went to college for 2 years but decided to work full-time in the costmetic industry and model on the side. If you think Hollywood is depraved and decadent, try the fashion industry. Sex, drugs and rock-n-roll...oh, and a hand-full of gay friends who could teach some women I know lessons on feminity. As long as I was busy I was OK...but when I would go back to my apt, things would either get scary or lonely.
In 1982, when I was 23, I was alone in my apt and I told God that I think I might want to try Him on just for a lark. But, of course, none of my party friends would know it. Then, I ran into an old party buddy friend of mine and he absolutely glowed and was truly, truly content with his life. I wanted that. So over a few weeks we talked about this Jesus guy and straightened out some truths against some myths (which, I think, is what you need, dear Anonymous) and a few days later, at a Christian rock concert - ironically it was May 20th, 1982...26 years ago yesterday - I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and have NEVER been the same. I have learned over those years what REAL love and REAL truth really are!! By the way, it was also VERY meaningful to me that I accepted the Lord at a Christian rock concert, as music has always been very important to me...I had also sang in a locally popular country-pop band. So - no offense to great hymns of the church - but it meant alot to me that I could sing other praise music using modern instruments.
So...dear Anonymous...I HAVE lived a life outside of faith in Jesus and I KNOW the sad person I was then - HEAVILY influenced by my beloved teacher - and I KNOW who I am now - a contented wife/mom/homeschool teacher who has a relationship with the Creator of all. Yes...I defer to my husband as the head of our household as the Bible tells us to; Yes...I homeschool my daughters to do the same; Yes...I am happy and content with my life and choices because they have given me LIFE when I was on the road to hell on earth.
I have made the best choice by heeding the call of Jesus. And I will be bold enough to say that probably the reason you keep coming back here is because you see something in us that you are attracted to...whether it be homeschooling or a relationship with the Lord...and something in you is fighting against what something else in you is telling you is truth.
So...yes, there are those of us who love a great demin skirt (the unofficial homeschool uniform! lol), there are those of us who have long hair (funny, but every girl on a shampoo commerical does, too), there are even those of us who let our wonderful husbands have the last word when a decision needs to be made (heavens!)...but we are loved and encouraged by our Lord and our husbands and we are raising our families to do the same and to be LEADERS! Many homeschool graduates already are. Yes...I am teaching my daughters to be keepers of their homes; they will go to college before they marry and have a family, but I am confident that they will make the right choice to be homeschooling homemakers and raise their own famlies to serve the Lord, too.
My oldest daughter, a homeschool graduate who worked very hard and made nearly all A's in our school, took 2 years off to work and get involved in a ministry, just took her entrance exam to enter college and after 2 years she aced her exam! Our youngest daughter will graduate next year I know she will be a success in life, too. But in the long-run, they are looking forward to being at home with their own famlies.
I've been in the world and done all the things that so many think are the 'cool' things to do. Let me tell you that they almost killed me. What I have now is more than I could even imagine I wou
Schoolhouse Store
TOS Current Issue
Posted by Anonymous 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by 
Posted by