HEY MR. ARNOLD, MAYBE CUSTODIANS SHOULD STICK TO WHAT THEY HAVE THE EXPERIENCE, TOOLS AND SKILLS FOR... SWEEPING

The following is my commentary on a recent article posted on the NEA website. (Don't even get me started on the NEA.) I really have to note that Mr. Arnold is not a teacher, he is a custodian. You read it right, custodian, otherwise known as janitor.

Home Schools Run By Well-Meaning Amateurs
Schools With Good Teachers Are Best-Suited to Shape Young Minds
By Dave Arnold

There's nothing like having the right person with the right experience, skills and tools to accomplish a specific task. Certain jobs are best left to the pros, such as, formal education.

Natalie: Mr. Custodian, sir, may I point out that you have used a dangling modifier?

Mr. C: Don't backtalk me!

Natalie: But, sir, you should have written, "Certain jobs, such as formal education, are better left ...."

Mr. C: Get out of my classroom!!!!

Sorry, public school flashback. That conversation was actually with Mr. York. Now he was a wannabe! He was a coach being forced to teach history and civics.

Okay, if public school teachers are such pros with so many great skills, tools and experience, then why are there so many kids out there who can't even name the fifty states? On a recent reality show, a young woman was asked which was further South, South Dakota or North Carolina. You guessed it, she got it wrong. And on another show which purportedly featured the best of the best (academically speaking), a young man who was quite confident that he was the brightest boy there couldn't name the author of Gone With the Wind. Now, granted, there are some very bright and well-educated kids coming out of the public schools but as a nation, we have not been competitive adacemically. There have been many studies published and articles written and news stories about what the average high school student doesn't know. My only point here is that the majority of people in this country know that public education is failing the students it is designed to serve in some very fundamental ways.

I also have to grant that there are some wonderful and devoted and bright teachers out there. They are the saving grace of our country's future. Thank God for them since the vast majority of American kids are in the public schools. There are also way too many teachers who are just marking time, there are many who really are clueless about child development and there are even a greater number than you might think who don't even like kids. And all of them are laboring in a system so flawed that it really should be scrapped and begun anew. So... who has the right experience, skills and tools to teach our children? In a great number of instances that would be the parents.

There are few homeowners who can tackle every aspect of home repair. A few of us might know carpentry, plumbing and, let’s say, cementing. Others may know about electrical work, tiling and roofing. But hardly anyone can do it all.

Same goes for cars. Not many people have the skills and knowledge to perform all repairs on the family car. Even if they do, they probably don’t own the proper tools. Heck, some people have their hands full just knowing how to drive.

So, why would some parents assume they know enough about every academic subject to home-school their children? You would think that they might leave this -- the shaping of their children’s minds, careers, and futures -- to trained professionals. That is, to those who have worked steadily at their profession for 10, 20, 30 years! Teachers!

Okay, to begin with, if you think there are more than a very small handful of teachers out there who know much of anything about every academic subject I've got some swampland in Arizona.... And if you think you have to know everything about a subject to encourage and facilitate a child learning it, you are just not well informed on the ways that children learn. As Yeats said, "Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire." But, to answer the charge made, my Dad and two of my brothers can and have built entire houses including plumbing and electric, foundation to roof. I've watched 'em (and fetched nails;o) ). Same Dad and at least one of the brothers can take your car apart and put it back together. Consider that men who were able and often required to "do it all" used to be the norm. Micro-specialization is actually a very recent phenomenon.

Secondly, we must consider what exactly is "the specific task" we are supposed to be qualifying for? Don't answer too quickly. I must say that Mr. Arnold actually put it pretty well: "the shaping of [our] children's minds, careers, and futures". I would add their heart and character. Am I leaving that to people who rarely believe in the same values and morals that I do? Would I ever leave a job as vitally important as that to someone who really doesn't get it that human beings learn and retain information better if it is relevent to them or that human beings who are brought up to believe in themselves and to desire to live productive lives and to value knowledge and wisdom will naturally seek after knowledge and wisdom? And finally, why would I even consider leaving the most important task God has given me as a parent - just as Mr. Arnold described it - to someone who doesn't know that Gini works best with quiet but Harmoni really needs to be moving to absorb information. I think not.

The number of parents who could easily send their children to public school but opt for home-schooling instead is on the increase. Several organizations have popped up on the Web to serve these wannabe teachers. These organizations are even running ads on prime time television. After viewing one advertisement, I searched a home school Web site. This site contains some statements that REALLY irritate me!

“It’s not as difficult as it looks.”
The “it” is meant to be “teaching.” Let’s face it, teaching children is difficult even for experienced professionals. Wannabes have no idea.

Well, speaking as a "wannabe" who has been doing "it" for 13 years with five kids, I think I have a pretty good idea how difficult it is. And, ummm, how shall I put this... It's not as difficult as it looks. Consider that the public school powers that be have a vested interest in keeping the general public fooled into believing it is a horrible, nearly impossible task that they sweat through each year. The things that make the task a difficult one are the unrealistic settings and methods, the administration itself with it's true cluelessness and kids who desperately don't want to be there because they are painfully, horrifically bored!

“What about socialization? Forget about it!”

Forget about interacting with others? Are they nuts? Socialization is an important component of getting along in life. You cannot teach it. Children should have the opportunity to interact with others their own age. Without allowing their children to mingle, trade ideas and thoughts with others, these parents are creating social misfits.

I invite the reader to check out my article on socialization previously posted on this site. I will say that for this man to insinuate that parents dedicated enough to homeschool their children would neglect to provide reasonable and safe social interaction opportunities for their kids is insulting and ignorant. I would invite him to attend a gathering of homeschoolers in just about any city in the country and meet some of these kids (or talk to the college recruiters who have found that homeschoolers are very likely to make successful college students) before he goes around calling anyone's children "social misfits". I'd also like to include a couple of pictures at the end of this post to show off a couple of my own little "misfits". I have quite frequently been asked by other parents how I manage to have such close relationships with my kids and how I have gotten three kids through (or almost through) their teenage years without one incident of serious rebellion and without ever, and I mean ever having been called a name by my kids. And no, I very rarely spank. I'll tell you freely that it is due in no small part to the fact that my kids have not had the dubious benefit of public school "socialization".

When I worked for Wal-Mart more than 20 years ago, Sam Walton once told me: “I can teach Wal-Mart associates how to use a computer, calculator, and how to operate like retailers. But I can’t teach them how to be a teammate when they have never been part of any team.”

So I guess Sam never hired anyone who hadn't played organized sports??? My 17 year old daughter is considered a very good employee and is highly valued by her managers where she works. One of her primary complaints about the workplace she recently left is that the people there had no concept of being a "team player". Again, Mr. Arnold is quite arrogant and insulting to suggest that parents are not willing or able to instill in their children the ability to work together for a common goal. I have met many, many homeschooled kids and I assure you the vast majority of homeschoolers are teaching their children exactly that and in a much more relevent and effective manner.

The homeschooled kids that I have been around (and I'm betting I've been around a lot more of 'em than Mr. Arnold has) are generally so much more happy, healthy, well-adjusted and eager to learn than public schooled kids that they are the best proof against the ignorance of people like Mr. Arnold. They say "the proof is in the pudding" and homeschooled pudding most often comes out so wonderful that other people become drawn to their methods. I can't tell you how many people have met my children, found out they were homeschooled and promptly started pumping me for information on how it's done, what the laws are and how to get started. More than a few over the years. Mr. Arnold, thanks ever so much for the input but my little puddings are coming out just fine, thank you.