This pretty much sums up how I feel about home schooling. I think it takes more than good government and a good education system to make educated children. Every parent who home schools their child could have a similar impact on not only their own child but other children who don't have parents that CAN spend the time with their children.

I've never really thought that home schooling is the answer. I DO believe that different children have different way of learning and that our schools are too large and too "assembly line" oriented to give each child what they need.

I was a very involved parent. Of course, time available to volunteer was limited by having to take care of my other children. And, it all depended upon the teacher and how much involvement they wanted from me. And, most teachers don't want you in the classroom anymore after first grade, they just want you to make copies, check papers, etc. Not things I was there for, and, I felt they should be correcting the work to see where the students were at.

Our schools PTA are very poor. I was involved with many a project that previously had funding from the PTA and then they said they had nothing to offer.

I think the involvement that I had with the schools only made me more upset at the level of their education/treatment of the children later and why I pulled them out.

We have always contributed to the classrooms. In kindergarten, always a room mother. On fieldtrips, working with the students as well as helping the teacher when she needed help organizing projects.

One first grade teacher was very open to our help; we brought in pets for them to tend to, plants for them to grow, I made a 'store' for them to learn about money and math.

Even when we weren't involved with the PTA, we were involved with trying to make the school a better place. When the school tried to stop the trick or treating, we worked together to make sure it happened. {much better for the kids} When the budget called for cuts for the sixth grade activities, we fought for them as well as trying to find ways to get funds for them.

Wow, and ya know, other parents {those of kids not in your childs' grade} don't seem to give a care about anyone but their own grade. Never would they imagine that their child would be in that grade, eh? We seemed to end up fighting parents as much as the school for a lot of funding.

The other thing that we had issues with; when our children were sick and missed school, the disctrict would send out threatening notices. That really p'd me off because I couldn't help if they were sick. Perhaps if other parents kept their kids home sick so many others wouldn't miss school because they caught what they had?

{Homeschooled, my kids never got sick.}

And, on that note, when my kids were in grade school, I remember being told not to send the kids in if they had a fever within the past 24 hours {like say the evening before}. Or, if they may have vomited, keep them home. Now, they keep kids at school when they are sick. This can't be a very good way for them to learn and it is how the sicknesses are spread.

But you can do this with traditional schooling as well. Maddy did a report on Hearst Castle - so we went there. We do outside things that reinforce or enrich things she's learned at school all the time.

I'd say most kids are more advanced in one subject than in others. No matter how they're schooled.

Let me clarify that:

I don't care if someone chooses homeschooling over public schooling, whether it ends up benefiting them more or not. My whole point is that no matter what, it comes down to how much the student and parent want to get out of the situation. Except for some outlying cases where public school just is not right for an individual student, if the parent and student work to get an excellent education out of public school, it can be done. If a parent and student work to get an excellent education out of homeschooling, it can be done. But not every responsible parent has the inclination or ability to be both parent and teacher (and yes, I will continue to assert that those are two different skills), so public school provides a valuable service to those that can't...as long as the parent remains invested in their child's education (a prerequisite for success in ALL schooling options).

The only point of contention I have is lack of oversight and accountability in homeschooling. And "well, public school is screwed up" is not an argument against that. Those are independent issues that both need solving.

When I was in the 6th-8th grades, I went to a MGM school. We had so many more opportunities to do things than the "regulars" that shared the school with us. We had a community garden, a small farm, a intensive, all subject study of Yosemite followed by a 1 week trip to the Valley each year. We also had music, theater, art classes and lots of other fun things.
While I still sucked at the subjects I've always sucked at, I felt successful in some of the other opportunities I was given. It really changed the way I thought about school and learning and made a HUGE difference in my life. I wish every child in school had these time of opportunities.

I wish there were still these types of programs available.

This assumes that the school is open to accepting the help you feel is needed. Your PTA wanted to support an art teacher and the school accepted that help. What if the school had said "we don't want to include art in our curriculum. Any donated PTA monies will be used to fund our pilot underwater basketweaving program"?

Wendy already mentioned Washington's obsession with the WASL. I certainly can't speak for all school districts, but I know local parents who have not been permitted to contribute additional enrichment activities because the school is all WASL, all the time, and will not devote space or time to non-WASL activities. (Goodness knows competent people graduated prior to the creation of the mighty WASL - why not try employing some of THOSE techniques? But that's a rant for another day.)

If I had children and lived where I do now and could not find a private school I found suitable, I would absolutely home school. I think they should have certain skills upon graduation, and receive a well-rounded education, but I want that education to be the goal, not passing the great and mighty WASL. Until the local public schools are freed to follow a similar goal, I wouldn't send my kids there.

I think you can be a good teacher without being a parent, but every good parent is a teacher. You must have teaching skills to be a good parent. This does not mean I would be good in charge of a classroom setting (though I am in a gym with a group of basketball players).

To some degree, I agree. But with any skill, there is a difference between using one's naturally ability vs. refining that ability through training. To use a hokey contextual analogy, it's one thing to find a kid who has natural basketball skills and throw him on the court. It's another to have that kid coached in the finer points of the game. Most parents may be naturally good at teaching their kids some level of knowledge, but a good (and I stress good) teacher has the tools to do more.

Thank you , Pru.

The WASL is a monstrous waste of time, resources and talent. It forces teachers to teach to the test, to the detriment of all other disciplines. That means very little to no art, geography, music, foreign language, etc. It's an incredibly high-stakes test created by a for-profit corporation and it's ruining our schools.

As far as changing things from within: fine, if you're into quixotic pursuits. I hope you enjoy bumping heads and egos with suburban soccer moms hopped up on Starbucks. Our PTO was a flippin' Peyton Place, and I have no tolerance for that kind of merde. It's not something I can even adequately describe- anyone who doubts will just have to experience it for themselves. Did it for two years and regret every second of it.