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Criticism and discussion of Wow! -- 57 Unique Benefits of Homeschooling by RationalWiki.

Introduction
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Wrap up

Some Wishful Thinking About Why Homskulling Rulzors

RationalWiki's Awesome Pwnage of These Pointzes

Introduction

By Joel Turtel (on Apr 27, 08) Parents, is homeschooling the right choice for you and your children? Maybe you think you don’t have the time to homeschool because you work. Perhaps you don’t have confidence in your ability to teach your kids because you never took “teaching” courses… But consider the alternative. Public schools can destroy your children’s self-esteem, destroy their ability to read, strangle their love of learning, put them in physical and moral danger, and wreck their future. In contrast, here’s 57 unique benefits homeschooling can give you and your kids. This list was created by Laura B., a smart, wonderful wife, mother of three, homeschooler, and business owner who works from home and still focuses on her family, and includes a few benefits that I added. Homeschooling (or low-cost internet private schools), can have the following extraordinary benefits for you and your children:

We found this excellent list because it was once upon a time featured on Conservapedia's "broken news" list on their main page. Herein we discuss the 57 points of light one at a time, in spite of their tremendous repetitivity.

1

Be with your family

Be with people other than your family. (Most people have quite enough time with their family as it is, school's often a welcome break. Besides socialization is important.)

2

Set your own schedule that’s convenient for you and your kids

Awaken and eat breakfast of cold bread and pork gravy, 4 AM. Feed, water and milk cows 4:15 - 6:00. Make and serve Daddy's hot breakfast. Cut and stack wood, 8:00 - 12:00. Sturdy lunch. Study Bible and Spelling, 1:00 - 3:00. Feed chickens and retrieve eggs. Prepare evening meal for Daddy's return home from work, 4:00 - 6:00. Eat nutritious supper of grits and worms in back room, 7:30. Scrub floors and walls, 7:45 - 10:00. Sleep on straw-stuffed ticking, 10:00 - 4:00. OR: Because you'll be able to do that all your life, who needs to get up to go to work at a particular time? who needs to keep appointments made by other people? What does it matter if the football game's finished when I get there ..... and on and on. OR: Why should I care what other people want to do with their time, it's me that matters.

3

Vacation when you want

As long as the breadwinner's employment allows this opportunity. A week at the Creation Museum sounds fine to me!

4

Choose curriculum that best suits the needs of your child

Trained professional teachers are much more likely to know and understand various curricula that work well for the students they encounter. Untrained parents are very unlikely to know how to match an appropriate curriculum, and not having taught many, many students leaves them ill-prepared to determine what types of learning will work best for their children.

5

Be totally aware of the state and progress of your child’s education

That sounds reasonable - although, without other students working together with your kid, how can you measure if the progress is appropriate or not?

6

Keep your child away from unnecessary peer pressure

How does one then supply the necessary peer pressure? It is, at the very least, needed in order to teach kids how to overcome its effects.

7

Keep your child away from the bad influence of other children

Keep your child away from the good influence of other children.

8

Love, nurture, and teach your child the character and morals you value most

Because these goals are obviously incompatible with formal schooling. And you don't have the rest of the day/week/year to love your child?

9

Make learning fun

If parents love learning then the kids will, wherever it's taught. Learning is fun (even at 64!)

10

Make learning as “experiential” as you want

Read lots of Nietzsche, Camus, and Sartre.

11

Don’t have to get up at the crack of dawn to get your child dressed and fed and off to school where they’re so tired they don’t learn well anyway.

Knocking out the "commuting" time alone is a nice time saver, yes. But what if the parent and child have different "body clocks" and thrive at different times of day? And when will a child learn that responsibility for the "real world"?

12

Break up the day however you want to fit your child’s learning attention span

Huh? What? I forgot what we were working on... But, seriously, being able to manage one's attention span versus what is expected of one is a vital adult skill. And the younger children in schools have less expected of them in terms of concentration anyway. "Aw, Mommie, I'm bored!" "Alright, Sweetiepie, let's play 'vacuum the house'"

13

Teach your child without any “assumed limitations.” Teach multiple languages, develop one skill or subject—the sky’s the limit

"He can't add up beyond five, but he's read all the Harry Potter books - and he's only thirteen!" - You get the idea.

14

What you teach an older child naturally filters down to the younger child(ren) making learning much easier and faster for siblings

Younger siblings always start swearing at an earlier age than their elders. Err.. tosh! Sibling rivalry anyone?

15

Teach at the pace and developmental stage appropriate for your child

That means: "Teach at the pace and developmental stage you think appropriate for your child." If you're a softy:- no challenges (probably OK if you're rearing a girl to be a good Conservative bride); if you're ambitious: - too much expectation (leading to rebellion or psychological harm).

16

Avoid educational “labeling”

And "truth in advertising".

17

Keep your child as far away from drugs as possible

What's in your medicine cabinet? Your liquor cabinet? Most kids get ahold of their first drugs at home.

18

Never have to worry about bomb scares or mass shootings

Unless Daddy comes home from bowling league pissed off. Also, bomb scares teach evacuation techniques, yet another useful skill. Of course, if you have the kids help build the home bomb shelter or panic room, you can have your own practices at home!

19

Allow your child to do, think, discuss, and explore in ways not possible in a rigid classroom setting

As long as those ways don't conflict with any rigid mindsets held by the parents themselves.

20

Constant positive reinforcement and gentle correction. No abusive words or actions that scar your child’s psyche

Whap! A bat upside the head, though, is useful once in a while!

21

Don’t use the school system as a babysitter. Most parents only need three to five hours a day for homeschooling their kids—the rest of the day is often filled with unnecessary “busy work”

Or at least, useful chores like cleaning the sub-basement, or "polishing Daddy's pewter".

22

Develop your child’s life skills such as cooking, cleaning, and organizing that are easily learned with the additional time spent at home

Free slave labor at mealtime!

23

Spend as much time outdoors as you want to enjoy nature and the world around us

That's a good one, as long as where one lives offers such outdoor pleasures. By the way, part of "the world around us" are people who are different than our families.

24

Teach the value of responsibility by providing daily jobs for your kids

More slave labor! But seriously, what does this have to do with homeschooling? Surely kids who go to regular schools can do chores and such just as easily?

25

To make money management as natural as breathing by allowing even small children to do tasks, earn money, save it, and spend it in an appropriate manner.

What does this have to do with homeschooling? Surely, these are things that can occur just as easily when one's kids are in regular schools?

26

Never have your child beat up by a bully. Teach self-defense skills that will enable him to deal with any situation, but not until he is mature enough to handle the emotional aspects of confrontation

Of course, your child gets no practice interacting with other students, bully or not, and hence lacks any other socialization skills. Maybe your child can confront his silbing. Can your child handle the emotional "trauma" of leaving home?

27

No pressure or set “expectations” from teachers on a younger sibling that follows an older sibling in the same school

Instead, you can play your own favorites!

28

Be around when your child needs to talk

Or a square. You never can tell.

29

Take a break when your child needs a break

Break your child when your child needs to take something. Be there to catch them!

30

Bond as a family through family group activities

Will these occur after the breadwinner is home from work? And surely the many hours not spent in school and work can be used for such awesome "bonding"?

31

Pass on your religious beliefs and morals to your children and stay away from the “indoctrination” of other school systems

Indoctrinate your children for many more years to think just like you before they find out what is going on in the rest of the world for themselves.

32

Teach sex education when and how you want

Or not at all. Or misinform the children if you are ignorant of certain issues or have biases over certain sexual issues. By the way, parents are free to teach their children about sex "when and how" they want even if their kids are in traditional schools.

33

Develop your child’s imagination and teach diverse problem-solving skills, instead of one institutionalized method of thinking

This line was obviously written by someone with little or no familiarity with modern schools. One hopes, at least, that the parents in question know a diverse set of problem-solving skills so they can teach them.

34

Unlimited possibilities for extra curricular activities that interest your child.

"Mommy, what's a 'goatse'?"

35

Not having to live up to the expectations or skills of others

Homegrown slackers are the goal now? The expectations and skills of others will define your kids' lives in almost every way once they "leave the nest". Might want them to get used to what it's like while they are young.

36

Develop the individualism and unique potential of your child

Are they an idiot, or a moron? Everyone is special, after all.

37

Avoid traditional school “group activities” that may leave one student doing all the work or ruining it for everyone else

Avoid learning how to work in groups with other people with differing skill sets and aptitudes. Also great since employers want works who are capable of teamwork and interpersonal skills.

38

Never have your child feel the failure, embarrassment, or teasing from “failing” a grade

Never let your child feel the success, achievement, and congratulations from "passing" a grade...

39

To keep your children out of the care, custody, and control of people you don’t know who naturally teach their (sometimes warped) values to your children, whether they realize it or not

Some of these, I swear, could just be copied to this side. What about parents with "warped" values? Whether they realize it or not?

40

No opportunity for your child to “just get by” with academics

This conflicts with the other items that claim no grading is good, no criticism is good, and no challenge to compete is good.

41

To have your child learn initiative naturally, because there’s no peer pressure or fear of embarrassing himself

There's also no interaction with people outside the cloistered family and carefully chosen social acquaintances. Part of "initiative" consists of being able to lead, follow, and work with a wide variety of people, some of whom may disagree with your religion (if asked).

42

Allow your child to have input and say in subject matter and learning style, so learning will be exciting and an adventure, rather than the boring drudge it is in most public schools

"Mommy, you're boring, and a drudge. Can we got to the real school now?"

43

Allow your child to focus on growth and development—not following the latest fad or being in a certain group

In this case, the "latest fad" is homeschooling, and the "certain group" is the parents' one, chosen to restrict access to ideas they disapprove of.

44

So your child will only be surrounded by people who love him, encourage him, and want the best for him.

This is a useful skill to have when entering college or the workplace - to have never dealt with people who don't have one's fragile self-esteem always first and foremost in their hearts and minds.

45

To make sure your child doesn’t end up graduating without knowing how to read or knowing other basic skills, due to educational failings of your local schools.

You don't have to homeschool to make sure your kids can read, or whatever those other "basic skills" are.

46

Keep your child out of private schools that have peer pressure, teacher criticism, drugs, sex, and alcohol that your child never needs to be around

... so that when he or she goes into the "real world," he or she wille experiment with drugs, sex and alcohol out of control.

47

Avoid grading scales and testing that gives no positive benefit to your child

This is direct conflict with number 40.

48

Not to give local, state, or the federal government control of your child’s mind and future, that they arrogantly assume is theirs

Of course, if you customize the curriculum too much, the students won't be able to go to college, destroying their future.

49

To easily pass on your unique heritage or language to your child

Surely the "heritage passing" can be done in the many hours outside of school; and it's also a good idea to let your child learn English (or whatever the local language is) in school if your language is "unique".

50

So your child is not limited by “age” or “grade” to advance in or explore subjects in which they are interested or gifted

Or subjects in which they are clueless or generally deficient.

51

To teach your children to enjoy life and learning

Once more, this is not in conflict with going to public or private schools, and parents can surely impart these characteristics whether they homeschool or not.

52

To allow your children to go to work with Mom or Dad when you all want to—not just on the one “go to work with a parent holiday”

I'm sure "Mom or Dad"'s employers will be pleased by this one. One reason for the "go to work with a parent day" things is so employers and workplaces can be made, at the very least, "kid safe" - and so the boss knows nothing much will get done that day.

53

Go to as many field trips as you want, to places that interest your child

Field trips are teh awesome! Why can't you do them as parents outside of school? Mine did, and I wound up sort of smart, kind of. At least, I learnded from my parents outside of school. I still know and respect that learnding I got from thems. Especshully spellig and grammage.

54

To just take a day off when everyone feels like it

Since obviously whoever works to provide the family a living can do the same thing. Part of "learning" what is needed to get by in the world, of course, is also figuring out how to get things done when one doesn't "feel like it".

55

Flexibility to switch to or experiment with different curriculum and teaching methods to perfectly suit your child’s interests and abilities.

This assumes that the parent is well-versed in "different curriculum and teaching methods" - especially one that will be "perfect" for their child. This point has also already been mentioned.

56

Teach your kids to read quickly with phonics. Not having your child waste 12 years with idiotic “whole-language” reading methods that public schools use, which can wreck your child’s ability to read.

Wow, someone has an issue with how reading is taught. (Foniks reelee wurkd fur mee, sow aul hoam skoolurs shood yous foniks.)

57

Re-ignite your own love of learning, by teaching your kids.

Or learn to hate it all over again, if grade-school subjects make you nauseous. Hopefully by the time they are old enough to be considering homeschooling, the parents are learning things far beyond this level. Or, then again -- maybe they aren't. They could just as easily re-ignite (and hopefully re-kindle and re-burn) their love of learning by paying attention to what their kids are studying in school and helping them with it by getting involved. Of course, they could also found and work on an internet encyclopedia.

Wrap up

Parents, if you are disgusted with public schools and want your children to have the great education they deserve, why not consider homeschooling? Millions of parents now homeschool their kids, and many of these parents are only high-school graduates. In the last three chapters of “Public Schools, Public Menace,” you’ll find many ways to homeschool your kids or use internet private schools, even if you work. Homeschooling can be a lot easier, and take a lot less time than you think. It can also bring you great joy in teaching your children. Joel Turtel is an education policy analyst and syndicated columnist. He is also the author of “Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children” and “The Welfare State: No Mercy For the Middle Class.” Visit Joel’s website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com/

It's the world of the future! Children "educated" at home by people with no more credentials than a high-school diploma! It's even easier if you work - just lock them in the cellar with a textbook and a candle. No more struggling to get them off to the fascist government school on time while you try to get ready for work. Joel Turtel seems like a tool, and doesn't even know how to avoid repetition in a "bullet list".