21 Mar 2010, 6:20 pm
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21 Mar 2010, 9:17 pm
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21 Mar 2010, 10:58 pm
I know this discussion has diverged from the earlier point of homeschooling, however I wanted to encourage people to not paint all homeschoolers with a broad brush of freethinking contempt. Just as those on the autism spectrum shouldn't be stereotyped, neither should those of us on the homeschool spectrum. There are a very significant number of ASD parents homeschooling and I would wager the vast majority are not doing it to protect their kids from the 'evils of Darwinism'.
I homeschool my AS son because the public school teachers he happened to have last year were cruel, small minded, and frankly less intelligent than he was at the tender age of 6. They were incapable of teaching him, and I am capaple of teaching him, therefore I teach him. I also happen to be Christian, go to church every Sunday, don't believe the Bible should be taken literally, have a degree in History, am pro-choice, believe firmly in GLBT rights including marriage, vote consistently on the left of the political spectrum, and don't include issues of religion in any of the subjects I teach my son.
You know what they say about making assumptions 
22 Mar 2010, 12:10 am
I homeschool my AS son because the public school teachers he happened to have last year were cruel, small minded, and frankly less intelligent than he was at the tender age of 6. They were incapable of teaching him, and I am capaple of teaching him, therefore I teach him. I also happen to be Christian, go to church every Sunday, don't believe the Bible should be taken literally, have a degree in History, am pro-choice, believe firmly in GLBT rights including marriage, vote consistently on the left of the political spectrum, and don't include issues of religion in any of the subjects I teach my son.
You know what they say about making assumptions
Oh, that's fine of you to do, Caitlin.
I actually made my own comment on homeschooling: "At the same time though, I would have to think that if I had a child and the time, then I would homeschool that child. Mostly because public education is sort of nonsensical and a waste of time for more capable students, and because I honestly hold my judgment on subject-matter in high esteem."
Honestly, I've heard of atheist libertarian homeschoolers. Like, I think Milton Friedman's son, David Friedman, homeschooled his kids(actually he "unschooled" them I think), and I know that fiercely anti-religious economist Bryan Caplan is looking forward to homeschooling his children.
That being said, I think the evidence disagrees with you, instead showing that these parents actually do want to save their children from evil Darwinism.
http://rawstory.com/2010/03/top-homesch ... evolution/
"Federal statistics from 2007 show 83 percent of home-schooling parents want to give their children "religious or moral instruction.""
""The majority of home-schoolers self-identify as evangelical Christians," said Ian Slatter, a spokesman for the Home School Legal Defense Association. "Most home-schoolers will definitely have a sort of creationist component to their home-school program.""
22 Mar 2010, 12:20 am
Oh I don't disagree that the majority of homeschoolers (at least in the USA) do it for fundamentalist religious reasons (but there are still significant numbers who don't). What I said was that I don't think the majority of ASD parents who homeschool do so for that reason - I think they have - generally - much different reasons (rooted in the inadequacies of the public school system) for homeschooling.
Interestingly, in Canada (where I live) statistics show that dissatisfaction with the school system's ability to adequately educate children is a bigger reason for homeschooling than religious reasons. We have our share of fundamentalists, but they are in a significant minority (and largely found in one province).
My son entered a science project in a local homeschooling project fair a few months ago. It was a project on a fossil he found that our city's Museum paleontologist dated as 460 million years old. It never even occurred to me that this would be a controversial project for a homeschool project fair... but sure enough, we had a few families come around to see the project who said "oh... 460 million years... well that's impossible since the earth is only 10,000 years old".
I was so shocked I didn't even have a snappy comeback 
22 Mar 2010, 1:29 am
Interestingly, in Canada (where I live) statistics show that dissatisfaction with the school system's ability to adequately educate children is a bigger reason for homeschooling than religious reasons. We have our share of fundamentalists, but they are in a significant minority (and largely found in one province).
My son entered a science project in a local homeschooling project fair a few months ago. It was a project on a fossil he found that our city's Museum paleontologist dated as 460 million years old. It never even occurred to me that this would be a controversial project for a homeschool project fair... but sure enough, we had a few families come around to see the project who said "oh... 460 million years... well that's impossible since the earth is only 10,000 years old".
I was so shocked I didn't even have a snappy comeback
Ah, I missed the ASD part. How silly of me.
I also ignore Canadians. How stereotypically arrogant of me.
And yeah, I don't think anybody could have a snappy comeback to something like that.
22 Mar 2010, 9:11 am
The secret truth about Canadians is that we prefer it when you ignore us. We like to fly under the proverbial radar.
22 Mar 2010, 10:22 am
Sorry, but post after post of this "I'm so much better than YOU because of what I think" attitude from certain people is getting very tireing, so excuse me for feeling a little angry. 
Alot of homeschoolers don't do it to be religion anyway. Alot of parents do it to teach their children better and to keep them safe from violence. 
Just like mine did to save what tiny good/happy side is left in my phsycie. I'm mentioning this because it's true, not because I'm 'leaning toward' your side. You have prooved nothing to go against my experiances with the homeschoolers.
Last edited by LiendaBalla on 22 Mar 2010, 10:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
22 Mar 2010, 10:51 am
Alot of homeschoolers don't do it to be religion anyway. Alot of parents do it to teach their children better and to keep them safe from violence.
Just like mine did to save what tiny good/happy side is left in my phsycie. I'm mentioning this because it's true. You have prooved nothing. If you have a problem with someone's religion and different background, you are the one whoes full of it.
The abundant misspelling do, however, speak loads about home-schooling.
22 Mar 2010, 11:01 am
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22 Mar 2010, 11:51 am
