That’s interesting; liberals argue against homeschooling because it’s too “religious” and children need to learn opposing viewpoints, but then proceed to ban opposing viewpoints like religion from the public schools.

Actually DarkEye, I know some kids who are homeschooled and they’re turning out just fine on the socialization skills set… they are involved in community rec sports with my sons, they are active in our church’s youth ministry, they are equally competitive, assured, polite and respectful as are my sons -who attend Catholic school. They use Ipods, can dance and laugh easily around their peers.

I find, “most often” that those who have adverse opinions about homeschooling don’t know jack about homeschooling. And homeschoolers, by and large, appear to me to be well-rounded kids… not some cultish automotons from the Stepford molds spouting out bible verses at hopscotch.

YOU may have had an untoward experience in private school, but I can tell you that isn’t our experience.

Caring about your kids’ education isn’t about “insulating them from the world”; that’s just liberal pseudo-paternalistic BS with a large dose of condescension. Homeschooling or private school, I think, is the ultimate gift a parent can give to their children… almost like finding a job that allows you to be home, available and accessible to your kids, when they’re school aged… it can be a supreme sacrafice by a parent for their kid.

And it’s one that society ought to promote… not disparage.

I always thought that parents who complained about schools corrupting their children was just their lack of responsibility. Children should learn opposing viewpoints so that they can reaffirm their own values, unless they were never given such a value code by their parents.

North Carolina elects their judges. This judge is likely testing the political waters on this case and thinking of his own job security.

The kids are, as Leah commented, just pawns. The father could use his visitation time to “educate” the kids. The father could be saying he doesn’t want his kids raised as Jews or Catholics or vegetarians or with TV. When parents turn such matters over to a judge, you may expect judicial chaos to follow.

The fact remains, home schooling has had great success and many more parents are turning to it as a way from escaping the indoctrination and numbing, dumbing effects of government schools. The public schools are whiplashed by public relations realities to the point where public education is an after effect.

Kids don’t drop out of home schooling. Kids don’t set the agenda in home schooling. Kids don’t sleep through class in home schooling. Kids get individualized instruction in home schooling. Kids get their creativity challenged in home schooling. Many communities of parents have organized parents with special strengths to work in tandem with larger groups.

Home schooling is the old fashioned, pioneering spirit that made America. It is seen as a real threat to big government America and a chink in the growing socialist armor. Not to mention that little minds are being “poisoned” by religion in many cases. Moral relativism is under assault by home schoolers. We can’t have that.

Worse still, the same teacher’s unions who are so adamant about the value of “socialization” hypocritically refuse to let home-schooled children participate in extra-curricular activities… even though home-schoolers still have to pay taxes to support the unionized government schools.

I definitely agree with LisaT- give me the $6000.00 dollars a year the public school gets, and that would pay for half a year at my son’s private school. We have no choice in what our kids are taught, or how, in public school, because public schools are not run for the benefit of the children.

Public Schools were not created to educate, but to indoctrinate (read Hoarce Mann and Dewey) Looking at schools now, they are a failure at educating, but quite successful at indoctrinating. Case in point, a High School senior was telling my aunt that he learned in school how wonderful Universal Health Care is and that we need a system like Canada’s in the USA. Where did he get his facts? Why from the movie “Sicko”. Text books that are used to “teach” are full of bias and incorrect information.

Teachers are constrained to what and how they teach based on the dictates of the School District and not what is in the interest of the student. Think about it, who is teaching the teachers?? None other than folks like Bill Ayers who admitted that he never changed his liberal ideas, he merely chose another forum. Influencing young minds is far more dangerous than bombing buildings.

The public school system is more concerned about feeding its own bereaucracy by securing more money than they are about teaching children. The head of the teachers union in my state said that the teachers union is not concerned about the children since they do not pay union dues, but that when the children start paying dues to the union, then the union will start to care about them. Not really the level of “caring” I have in mind for my child.

I do homeschool for a variety of reasons including social, religious and educational. I do have have a huge bias against the public school system and the “school” model in general. For example, private schools are not much different than public schools in that they have the same classroom, same administration, same forced social setting, same outcome based model with different curriculum.

We owe it to our children to teach them how to think, not just spout off a bunch of idiotic facts that they “learned”.

Of course this is an issure of freedom. Parents should never abdicate the training of their children to the state. This case sounds more like one spouse trying to “get back” at the other, than what is truly in the best interest of the children. Sad.

I’m all in favor of school choice. Give the parents the money to educate their children, let the schools compete for the business of education. If a parent chooses to homeschool, then they should be given vouchers as well. If I had 1/2 the per student money spent on public schools, I could give my daughter a stupendous education and save plenty of money to send her to any college for years and years of higher education.

The fact that Eva Young, a progressive idiot, is linking creationism with homeschooling shows that the left is afraid of this issue.

Homeschooling is a both-sides issue. Liberals want to kill homeschooling because it’s not fair that they get ahead of public schools, and conservatives + moderates want to keep it because it provides for kids a chance to get ahead in education and not be beholden to the public school system that is infested with problems.

Eva, you are a liar.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123604286020215187.html

If not, prepare to be outraged.

The Amish, the Catholics, the Jews (to name a few) took charge of “proper” education a long time ago. Many home schoolers do not want their kids being short changed in the basics while the government school goes all over the map in promoting political correctness.

This North Carolina judge has got his nose stuck in a grinder over this one. The father is particularly concerned that his children not be stuck with the Biblical explanation of the the creation.

Why doesn’t the father just use his visitation time to “debrief” his kids? Do you suppose the judge would issue a cease and desist order if he did? Heck no. The judge feels safer considering the government school to be better setting for education.

Leah is probably correct that the kids are being sacrificed as pawns in this whole nightmare.

Should we really be that involved in whether a child is brought up to be vegetarian or avoid shell fish or to admire professional wrestling? Married couples reach the point of mutual disrespect for countless reasons. They frequently lose their bearings and drag their children through all manner of muck and mire. If anyone thinks a judge, elected or appointed, is any smarter for wearing a robe, that anyone has never met the vast array of loons who end up as judges.

What is the harm done to a child who believes in creation? Sooner or later, the child will test the assumptions on his own. Is there a “correct” answer? Or does accepted scientific theory always rule?

On the other hand, I can see where school choice is a very conservative issue. There are some very successful home schooled kids, and others where the parents are using the children as pawns in their own emotional games. The same can be said about a lot of parenting practices.

I would love the word ‘choice’ to be connected with anything but abortion these days. School choice, whether, public, private or home – would be a good issue.