toldailytopic: What is your chosen method for educating your children and why?

[Alate_One]

And I wasn't. Like I said, no one seemed to care. And I was sick of having to prove I could do the work over and over.

That's kind of the definition of schooling. Otherwise nobody has any idea if you're actually learning something.

The challenge was for you to give me some calculus problems so I could do them.

Mind you I had only 2 semesters of Calculus about 15 years ago, but that's because I'm a biologist and the calculus I interact with is done for me by computer software so I've forgotten nearly all of it. However those people trained in programming and engineering have to take considerably more calculus and use it on a daily basis.

You can try a few problems ranging from the really easy to the complex . . . .

So What is the first derivative of e^x?

Here are some integral problems.

3D calculus worksheet

I think your real problem here is ignorance of what's out there. It's a common phenomenon, the incompetent greatly overestimate their own abilities in areas they don't understand well.

Also . . .

I will Derive

The point I am making is that there is no "all viewpoints" in public schools.

There's no ALL viewpoints anywhere. . . . but you have diversity. If you're teaching in your home you have . . . yours.

Really? What class was this? And did you study dispensationalism and open theism?

We just studied the very basics of world religions. iirc it was in world history. We certainly didn't get into the details of different Christian viewpoints (other than protestant and catholic)

Well I believe public schools shouldn't exist, so...

Glad you're not in charge and weren't in charge back when the US started public schools. Public education is essential for those unwilling and unable to educate their children themselves. If the parents themselves are poorly or uneducated, how do you expect their children to be any better off than they are?

But I will tell you that I will encourage my children to read all manner of religious texts.

You want them reading the book of Mormon?

 

[Yorzhik]

Did I say that?

Yes you did. Let me show you. Take what you said: "I send my children to Public School, where they can get an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialise with people from all walks of life."

and change Public School to Homeschool to see if it changes what you said: "I Homeschool my children, where they can get an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialise with people from all walks of life."

Does what I just said make sense? If it does, you said nothing at all. If it doesn't, then despite your claim to the contrary, you are saying homeschooling does not provide an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialize with people from all walks for life.

I simply stated that I send my children to Public School (which in Australia, are of an excellent standard). Stop trying to make issue where there isn't any.

No, you stated why you send your children to Public School. If the reason you stated was not different, at least in your mind, from homeschooling, then they are not reasons at all.

I wouldn't know. I don't live a homosexual lifestyle.

It's simply my way of saying there are some people you would not like your children admiring. So "all walks of life" is not something I think you really want your children learning about.

TM told LH:

Well, they're my children, so it's not really any of your business, now is it?

Whoever pays for their education dictates the rules. I know you are in Australia, but, all things being equal, as long as I'm paying to raise your kids I have every right to tell you how to raise your kids. So quit your whining.

 

[Arthur Brain]

Yes you did. Let me show you. Take what you said: "I send my children to Public School, where they can get an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialise with people from all walks of life."

and change Public School to Homeschool to see if it changes what you said: "I Homeschool my children, where they can get an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialise with people from all walks of life."

Does what I just said make sense? If it does, you said nothing at all. If it doesn't, then despite your claim to the contrary, you are saying homeschooling does not provide an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialize with people from all walks for life.


No, you stated why you send your children to Public School. If the reason you stated was not different, at least in your mind, from homeschooling, then they are not reasons at all.


It's simply my way of saying there are some people you would not like your children admiring. So "all walks of life" is not something I think you really want your children learning about.

TM told LH:
Whoever pays for their education dictates the rules. I know you are in Australia, but, all things being equal, as long as I'm paying to raise your kids I have every right to tell you how to raise your kids. So quit your whining.

Er, you don't have *every right* to tell TM how she should raise her kids whatsoever. People pay their due into the system but it doesn't give them carte blanche to tell other people what's best for their own children. Grow up. lain:

 

[Thunder's Muse]

Yes you did.

Funny, that. I always thought I said what I meant. I guess you know me better than I know myself.

Let me show you

.


Go for it.

Take what you said: "I send my children to Public School, where they can get an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialise with people from all walks of life."

and change Public School to Homeschool to see if it changes what you said: "I Homeschool my children, where they can get an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialise with people from all walks of life."

Does what I just said make sense? If it does, you said nothing at all. If it doesn't, then despite your claim to the contrary, you are saying homeschooling does not provide an education to lead them in whatever direction they choose for their life and so they can learn to socialize with people from all walks for life.

Well, what you said does make sense....so I guess I wasn't saying what you think I was saying.

No, you stated why you send your children to Public School. If the reason you stated was not different, at least in your mind, from homeschooling, then they are not reasons at all.

The OP asked how I choose to educate my children and why. So I answered it.

It's simply my way of saying there are some people you would not like your children admiring. So "all walks of life" is not something I think you really want your children learning about.

Well, obviously I don't want my children mixing with pimps and drug dealers. Thankfully, there aren't any enrolled in their school.

What I meant was, they have an opportunity to mix with people from different races, the rich and poor etc etc. Which I happen to think is important.....

Whoever pays for their education dictates the rules. I know you are in Australia, but, all things being equal, as long as I'm paying to raise your kids I have every right to tell you how to raise your kids. So quit your whining.

That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think? Please, feel free to explain how you pay for anything to do with my children? I'd love to know how you came to this conclusion.

 

[Choleric]

I homeschool.

1. I do it more for the "home" than I do for the "school"
2. Because if I was the devil and wanted to influence millions of children, I would want to devise a way to get them away from their parents for 10 hours a day. I am not falling for it.
3. Because I don't want someone else raising my children.
4. Because I don't want them to learn social skills from immature, godless children.
5. Because it is my duty as their parent to teach them in the ways of the lord.
6. Because I don't want them to be forcefed humanistic doctrine.
7. Because I don't want them to be forcefed evolution.
8. Because I love them. And the above is what I do for them because I love them and want what is best for them.
9. Because I am not lazy.
10. Because I am not selfish

 

[Yorzhik]

Well, what you said does make sense....so I guess I wasn't saying what you think I was saying.

Then you said nothing at all.

The OP asked how I choose to educate my children and why. So I answered it.

You have yet to answer the "why" part.

Well, obviously I don't want my children mixing with pimps and drug dealers. Thankfully, there aren't any enrolled in their school.

For their sake, I hope so. In the US, there are druggies getting their drugs from somewhere in every school. And there's nothing illegal about being a homo.

What I meant was, they have an opportunity to mix with people from different races, the rich and poor etc etc. Which I happen to think is important.....

So homeschoolers don't mix with people from different races, rich and poor etc etc?

That's a bit of a stretch, don't you think? Please, feel free to explain how you pay for anything to do with my children? I'd love to know how you came to this conclusion.

You'll have to learn what the term "all things being equal" means. It means I know I don't pay for your kids literally, but, for the sake of the conversation I'll act as if I do.

 

[Yorzhik]

I homeschool.

1. I do it more for the "home" than I do for the "school"
2. Because if I was the devil and wanted to influence millions of children, I would want to devise a way to get them away from their parents for 10 hours a day. I am not falling for it.
3. Because I don't want someone else raising my children.
4. Because I don't want them to learn social skills from immature, godless children.
5. Because it is my duty as their parent to teach them in the ways of the lord.
6. Because I don't want them to be forcefed humanistic doctrine.
7. Because I don't want them to be forcefed evolution.
8. Because I love them. And the above is what I do for them because I love them and want what is best for them.
9. Because I am not lazy.
10. Because I am not selfish

POTD!

 

[Lighthouse]

This isn't the first conversation you and I have had about my children. Now, it has been quite a while since we did discuss my children and I hafta say...you annoyed me then and your annoying me now.

I just figured you either were tired or you felt convicted and were looking for someone to blame.

Did I upset you LH? It's not immaturity. It's annoyance. Plain and simple.

What makes you think I was upset? And if you're getting annoyed by me you are allowing yourself to get annoyed, and to continue to be annoyed, therefore you are being immature because adults don't let themselves be annoyed by other people like that. They either just let it go or they completely ignore the annoying person.

So, why are you telling me how to educate my children?

Again I ask you to show me where I did that.

Well, it certainly felt that way. And after Yorzhik jumped in, I got a little ticked off.

Why do you think it felt that way?

Nope. As I said...if you are gonna get in my face about my kids, expect me to bite back.

When did I get in your face?

Perhaps you should have just kept your opinions to yourself.

I went to public school, I know what happens there. I was simply telling you what I saw. Do with it what you will.

*Takes a big, cleansing breath*

LH. Let's start this conversation again. I think we've known each other long enough.

I just want to say, first off... I did get a little emotional. But these are my children we are talking about....can you blame me for having such a passionate reaction? I love my children more than my own life, man....and I think you know that. It hurts when people think I'm not doing my best to raise them right....

So, that said. What exactly were you trying to say, LH?

I was merely trying to explain to you that public schools generally push children in only one direction.

That's kind of the definition of schooling. Otherwise nobody has any idea if you're actually learning something.

They knew I was learning. I proved to them I was learning. Of course, I recall that many of my classes didn't check to see if I had done the homework correctly, but only if I did the homework. So why do it? I could have just placed any paper on my desk that looked like it was the subject of the class and received a "complete," if I had wanted to be dishonest.

Mind you I had only 2 semesters of Calculus about 15 years ago, but that's because I'm a biologist and the calculus I interact with is done for me by computer software so I've forgotten nearly all of it. However those people trained in programming and engineering have to take considerably more calculus and use it on a daily basis.

You can try a few problems ranging from the really easy to the complex . . . .

So What is the first derivative of e^x?

Here are some integral problems.

3D calculus worksheet

I think your real problem here is ignorance of what's out there. It's a common phenomenon, the incompetent greatly overestimate their own abilities in areas they don't understand well.

First off, I can't do .pdf documents on this computer. It's old and doesn't have the memory for it.

Also, if I'm going to do this I need the terms defined.

Also . . .

I will Derive

I have an even harder time with videos online than I do with .pdfs. I would have to download the video to my computer and then watch it. But I don;t think I have a way to do that from TOL.

There's no ALL viewpoints anywhere. . . . but you have diversity. If you're teaching in your home you have . . . yours.

Do you think I would not teach about diversity? The only difference between public school and homeschool, in my case, is that I would not teach my children to universally accept all the diversity out there. I would teach them discernment.

We just studied the very basics of world religions. iirc it was in world history. We certainly didn't get into the details of different Christian viewpoints (other than protestant and catholic)

Exactly.

Glad you're not in charge and weren't in charge back when the US started public schools. Public education is essential for those unwilling and unable to educate their children themselves. If the parents themselves are poorly or uneducated, how do you expect their children to be any better off than they are?

I know from my own experience that I was actually able to teach myself a great many things. And I have met several children who have been able to do the same. If I had been allowed that freedom and the freedom to work at my own pace in an educational setting where my progress was monitored and officially graded I would have been much better off than I was in public school. I became better educated than my parents in quite a few areas, even as a child, on my own. And I firmly believe all children who do not have a mental disability are capable of that, as well.

You want them reading the book of Mormon?

Why not?

I homeschool.

1. I do it more for the "home" than I do for the "school"
2. Because if I was the devil and wanted to influence millions of children, I would want to devise a way to get them away from their parents for 10 hours a day. I am not falling for it.
3. Because I don't want someone else raising my children.
4. Because I don't want them to learn social skills from immature, godless children.
5. Because it is my duty as their parent to teach them in the ways of the lord.
6. Because I don't want them to be forcefed humanistic doctrine.
7. Because I don't want them to be forcefed evolution.
8. Because I love them. And the above is what I do for them because I love them and want what is best for them.
9. Because I am not lazy.
10. Because I am not selfish

:BRAVO:

 

[Thunder's Muse]

Then you said nothing at all.

Cool.

You have yet to answer the "why" part.

I thought I did. Public School offers them the opportunity to take their career any way they want to go and it allows them to learn how to socialise with other children their own age; from different races, financial groups, abilities etc etc.

Which is correct. Public School does offer those things.

I acknowledge that homeschooling does too. I'm sorry I didn't say that in my original post but I honestly didn't expect the grilling that I got.

For their sake, I hope so. In the US, there are druggies getting their drugs from somewhere in every school. And there's nothing illegal about being a homo.

It's probably more of a problem in High School...but it was when I was at HS 20 years ago.

As for my kids, they attend the small country school which is right across the street from us. There are at most 150 kids in the whole school.

I choose to send my children to school at this time, because my eldest daughter has Dyspraxia and there was a chance that my youngest 2 had it as well. The school they attend has Special Education Teachers, who are trained to detect these kinds of problems, early on, so that something can be done about it. Thankfully, they are doing great.

As for my eldest daughter, it was because of these Special Education Teachers, that she is doing so well now and has all but caught up with her peers.

You may not agree with my choice but from where I stand, I did the responsible thing for my children.

So homeschoolers don't mix with people from different races, rich and poor etc etc?

lain:

You'll have to learn what the term "all things being equal" means. It means I know I don't pay for your kids literally, but, for the sake of the conversation I'll act as if I do.

lain:


Can I return the favor?

 

[Thunder's Muse]

I was merely trying to explain to you that public schools generally push children in only one direction.

Which direction is that?

 

[Alate_One]

They knew I was learning. I proved to them I was learning. Of course, I recall that many of my classes didn't check to see if I had done the homework correctly, but only if I did the homework. So why do it? I could have just placed any paper on my desk that looked like it was the subject of the class and received a "complete," if I had wanted to be dishonest.

That's the fault of the indtructors . . .not you, however you have to measure student comprehension some way and that means having them do work.

First off, I can't do .pdf documents on this computer. It's old and doesn't have the memory for it.

Now that IS old. PDFs are very lightweight.

Also, if I'm going to do this I need the terms defined.

Explaining the terms to you would be explaining how to do the problems. I thought you said math was simple and you could figure it out? Do some google searching and see if you can "teach yourself" enough to do them. :rotfl:

Sidenote: Everyone with a college education I've told your little "all math is simple" story has cracked up. :third:

I have an even harder time with videos online than I do with .pdfs. I would have to download the video to my computer and then watch it. But I don;t think I have a way to do that from TOL.

Man why bother with a PC then. It's just a silly song. Though it sort of explains the basic concept of derivatives.

Do you think I would not teach about diversity? The only difference between public school and homeschool, in my case, is that I would not teach my children to universally accept all the diversity out there. I would teach them discernment.

What's wrong with "accepting" diversity? You can't exactly have them experience people of different races or cultures in your home unless you think video tapes count . . .

I know from my own experience that I was actually able to teach myself a great many things. And I have met several children who have been able to do the same.

As did I. That doesn't mean my public school education wasn't valuable. I certainly wouldn't have taught myself physics and most of the math I learned on my own.

If I had been allowed that freedom and the freedom to work at my own pace in an educational setting where my progress was monitored and officially graded I would have been much better off than I was in public school. I became better educated than my parents in quite a few areas, even as a child, on my own. And I firmly believe all children who do not have a mental disability are capable of that, as well.

They are and I did, however there are areas you won't naturally gravitate towards and if you aren't *forced* to learn these areas you will have a deficiency.

Why not?

It simply plagiarizes the KJV in a lot of places, and has more inaccuracies and anachronisms than you can shake a stick at. Though if you chose to spend time going through these issues with them it wouldn't be problematic. But I wouldn't just hand it to relatively young children.

 

[Yorzhik]

Cool.

I thought I did. Public School offers them the opportunity to take their career any way they want to go and it allows them to learn how to socialise with other children their own age; from different races, financial groups, abilities etc etc.

Which is correct. Public School does offer those things.

I acknowledge that homeschooling does too. I'm sorry I didn't say that in my original post but I honestly didn't expect the grilling that I got.

It's probably more of a problem in High School...but it was when I was at HS 20 years ago.

As for my kids, they attend the small country school which is right across the street from us. There are at most 150 kids in the whole school.

I choose to send my children to school at this time, because my eldest daughter has Dyspraxia and there was a chance that my youngest 2 had it as well. The school they attend has Special Education Teachers, who are trained to detect these kinds of problems, early on, so that something can be done about it. Thankfully, they are doing great.

As for my eldest daughter, it was because of these Special Education Teachers, that she is doing so well now and has all but caught up with her peers.

You may not agree with my choice but from where I stand, I did the responsible thing for my children.

Thanks for being so gracious.

You may get what you want from public school. However, the chances are better of you getting what you want from homeschooling.

As to special education, my daughter is a special needs child, and we are finding that with a little study we can do as well or better than the specialists.

 

[sdgareth]

The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for June 24th, 2010 1:59 PM

toldailytopic: What is your chosen method for educating your children and why?

Take the topic above and run with it! Slice it, dice it, give us your general thoughts about it. Everyday there will be a new TOL Topic of the Day.
If you want to make suggestions for the Topic of the Day send a Tweet to @toldailytopic or @theologyonline or send it to us via Facebook.

Private school
Given my location there is not much of a choice, as public schools are in a very bad state and there is a lot of violence and abuse in the system

 

[Lighthouse]

Which direction is that?

Whatever direction the government wants, since they run the schools.

That's the fault of the indtructors . . .not you, however you have to measure student comprehension some way and that means having them do work.

And I did all the work they actually checked.

Now that IS old. PDFs are very lightweight.

The issue is due more to not being able to install Adobe reader correctly. I can open the documents online, but I can't download them. So it is more difficult to work with them on my own time when I'm not busy doing something else.

Explaining the terms to you would be explaining how to do the problems. I thought you said math was simple and you could figure it out? Do some google searching and see if you can "teach yourself" enough to do them. :rotfl:

I never said I could simply figure out the necessary information to do the problem. If I am offered a problem of x+y=z the best I can do is respond with z=y+x, or z=x+y, or z-x=y, or z-y=x. But if you ask for a derivative and I don't know what a derivative is then how am I supposed to be able to answer. That's like asking someone who's never seen a tool in their life to hand you a flat head.

Sidenote: Everyone with a college education I've told your little "all math is simple" story has cracked up. :third:

Relevance?

Man why bother with a PC then. It's just a silly song. Though it sort of explains the basic concept of derivatives.

I'm saving for a Mac.

What's wrong with "accepting" diversity? You can't exactly have them experience people of different races or cultures in your home unless you think video tapes count . . .

It depends on the diversity of which you speak. I will not teach my children to accept sin, no matter who wants to label it "diversity."

As did I. That doesn't mean my public school education wasn't valuable. I certainly wouldn't have taught myself physics and most of the math I learned on my own.

Not necessarily as a child, no. But if you had been taught to teach yourself then you very well may have eventually graduated to teaching yourself those very things. How do you think the people who discovered these things learned them? No one else taught them, did they?

They are and I did, however there are areas you won't naturally gravitate towards and if you aren't *forced* to learn these areas you will have a deficiency.

If you're forced you won't want to learn them. And if you are interested you won't have to be forced.

It simply plagiarizes the KJV in a lot of places, and has more inaccuracies and anachronisms than you can shake a stick at. Though if you chose to spend time going through these issues with them it wouldn't be problematic. But I wouldn't just hand it to relatively young children.[/quote]
Of course I plan to spend time going over those issues with them. And I never said I planned on letting my very young children read them.

 

[Thunder's Muse]

Thanks for being so gracious.

You may get what you want from public school. However, the chances are better of you getting what you want from homeschooling.

As to special education, my daughter is a special needs child, and we are finding that with a little study we can do as well or better than the specialists.

I understand your point. I guess it's a little overwhelming when you first find out about your child's needs and you do what you think is best at the time.

Thankfully, she has improved a great deal over the last few years, to the point where you wouldn't know she had these difficulties. She's worked hard and I'm proud of her

 

[Memento Mori]

Hey! I finally remembered my calculus!

Derivation: xⁿ dx = nx^n-1

Integration: Sxⁿ = xⁿ⁺¹/n+1

Is that right?

 

[Alate_One]

I never said I could simply figure out the necessary information to do the problem. If I am offered a problem of x+y=z the best I can do is respond with z=y+x, or z=x+y, or z-x=y, or z-y=x. But if you ask for a derivative and I don't know what a derivative is then how am I supposed to be able to answer. That's like asking someone who's never seen a tool in their life to hand you a flat head.

It's the age of the internet bub. As my PhD adviser used to tell me, look it up. I'm not here to spoon feed you the problems. You said you could prove to us that math is simple. Sit down and do it or admit you're wrong.

I'm saving for a Mac.

Meh, as much as I like mac over microsoft on principle, I think you'll get a lot more bang for your buck with a PC.

It depends on the diversity of which you speak. I will not teach my children to accept sin, no matter who wants to label it "diversity."

No, I wouldn't teach alternative lifestyles as diversity, though I would certainly make my children aware that these things exist but that they are morally reprehensible. But I'm mostly talking about culture, race, religion etc.

Not necessarily as a child, no. But if you had been taught to teach yourself then you very well may have eventually graduated to teaching yourself those very things. How do you think the people who discovered these things learned them? No one else taught them, did they?

They were very interested in the subject matter. That's why they discovered them. As a general rule you don't discover things about areas you hate . . .

If you're forced you won't want to learn them. And if you are interested you won't have to be forced.

But if you are forced initially you may find out that you like something which may not have otherwise interested you initially. Also you may see the value of learning techniques or facts for the things you ARE interested in.

 

[Granite]

Why?

This has worked extremely well for each of my siblings and I don't see any reason to buck history. Give the child a good, solid grounding at home, then let them start making their way in the world. It's also a matter of not being able to teach certain subjects to the degree my children should be educated, as well (my wife and I are both relatively weak in math and sciences), and it's a little silly to keep a seventeen-year-old at home for his education when he should be challenged and getting exposure to his peers and other teachers who will push him and set different expectations than my wife and I will.

 

[GuySmiley]

Hey! I finally remembered my calculus!

Derivation: xⁿ dx = nx^n-1

Integration: Sxⁿ = xⁿ⁺¹/n+1 + C

Is that right?

I think so, except as an indefinite integral, your Integration should have a + C on the end of it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.

 

[Lighthouse]

It's the age of the internet bub. As my PhD adviser used to tell me, look it up. I'm not here to spoon feed you the problems. You said you could prove to us that math is simple. Sit down and do it or admit you're wrong.

I didn't ask you to spoon feed me, I asked what a derivative is.

Meh, as much as I like mac over microsoft on principle, I think you'll get a lot more bang for your buck with a PC.

If by "bang" you mean explosion I agree.

No, I wouldn't teach alternative lifestyles as diversity, though I would certainly make my children aware that these things exist but that they are morally reprehensible. But I'm mostly talking about culture, race, religion etc.

I'm certainly not going to teach my children that all religions are valid. They can't all be true.

They were very interested in the subject matter. That's why they discovered them. As a general rule you don't discover things about areas you hate . . .

So stop making children hate education and teach them to enjoy it and make it interesting. Problem solved.

But if you are forced initially you may find out that you like something which may not have otherwise interested you initially. Also you may see the value of learning techniques or facts for the things you ARE interested in.

You don't usually have to force a kid to try new things.