Comments on: WebMD comments on homeschooling

By: Principled Discovery » Homeschooling amateurs outdoing professionals

Principled Discovery » Homeschooling amateurs outdoing professionals — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:34:27 +0000

[...] have gone over what it means to be an amateur before, but to recap briefly, it is a “lover of”–someone who does something for [...]

By: Dana Hanley

Dana Hanley — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:51:43 +0000

Susie, I did not criticize Dr. Parker…I only disagreed with him. He tried to present both sides and I am merely presenting my side. If we are “all entitled to our own opinions” that includes me and the other commenters here.

No one here has said that homeschooling has anything to do with keeping children from learning what their “comrads” learn. Or to keep them from succeeding later in life. My only points here (and I stand by them both) are that 1) “amateurs” are perfectly capable of educating their own children and certification is unnecessary and 2) anecdotes do not really qualify as solid evidence. I could as easily condemn the school system or call for drastic security reforms because of some of the recent abuse cases which have been publicized.

By: Susie

Susie — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 18:05:00 +0000

I love Dr. Parker and think his views are pretty neutral and seems to me (if you really READ his blog) that he was trying to present both sides of a story and remain as neutral as he could. We shouldn’t be so sensitive to something that is really an opinion - and that is what all of these comments are - our own opinions and we are all entitled to them.
What is wrong with a little training and consistency with what kids are taught? Seems part of the reason to home shchool would be to keep the kids (to some degree) out of harm’s way - not keep them from learning what their “comrads” learn and to help them succeed later in life. We are doing our childern no favors by teaching them what we “think” they should learn or by teaching them what we want them to know….
Just my opinion (and I do home school my kids btw)
Susie

By: Dana

Dana — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 23:43:03 +0000

In Nebraska, there are more dropouts than homeschoolers. And our capital city has a staggering graduation rate of 65%, deemed “embarrasing” by the superintendent. Omaha has a graduation rate of 55%.

But we have to spend our legislative energy and property taxes (which are above the national average) to chase down homeschoolers to solve a “problem” that isn’t even proven to exist?

By: Dana

Dana — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:59:51 +0000

What suburbancorrespondent said. Dr. Parker conveniently omits that it was the shortcomings in state education which led to the mass exodus into home education in the first place. The state’s shortcomings are never contrasted with those of homeschooling because it would expose the massive amount of flaws in our public educational system.

I wrote WebMD and asked if Dr. Parker’s grossly ignorant post (the man admits to having barely any contact with homeshoolers) passes as expertise on WebMD and if WebMD is comfortable with allowing this as a reflection of its content quality and accuracy. It will be interesting to see if I get any response.

By: suburbancorrespondent

suburbancorrespondent — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:29:40 +0000

How about the government being held accountable if schooled kids can’t cut it educationally? Is it? I don’t think so. How many drop-outs are there? How many kids graduate without any real academic skills? It’s pathetic.

By: JJ Ross

JJ Ross — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 03:31:09 +0000

Oh dear, CW — we can’t know for sure either way, I suppose, but surely the appellate court ruling in the Long case had ample reasons to disapprove in the Long case without merely being snobs.

By: Mackey

Mackey — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:46:34 +0000

Aren’t the Olympic games restricted to amateur athletes?

Yeah, they were. Now they are “your vocabulary here” because of the introduction of professionals into the games.

Just like education.

By: Crimson Wife

Crimson Wife — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:39:02 +0000

Frankly, Dr. Parker’s article is classist. He implies that homeschooling is okay when done by upper middle class families like the Morgans and not okay when done by working class families like the Beckers. IMHO this same type of attitude played a significant role in the original 2nd Appellate Court ruling in the Long case. Many members of the elite in this country look down their noses at those who have less money and/or formal education than themselves- hence the appeal of the “nanny state”.

By: Dana

Dana — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:02:00 +0000

One of the two men (Bopp) who discovered comet Hale-Bopp was an amateur astronomer.

I guess it depends whether your field is more interested in advancing knowledge or developing proprietary territories.

Looking forward to your analysis, Scott. There certainly are a lot of directions this could take. But I will say that as a doctor who obviously has serious concerns about homeschooling, I appreciate that he is open to the potential. I started in a similar place. That is why I think that it is largely positive experiences with homeschoolers which will benefit us more than the most well-crafted arguments.

And very true, Leslie. Often it is these “lessons not taught” which contribute most to our character…ultimately leading to greater success in learning.