Homeschooling Changes

[Ceres]

It seems, as Buffy from the show Buffy The Vampire Slayer said, "homeschooling isnt just for weird religious people anymore"

www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_08/b3972108.htm

[brymble]

pfft! "affluent" parents my tall, pointy hat!

it bugs me that homeschooling is seen as something for the affluent - a "privledge" of wealth and not an educational right - just as much as the stigma about religion does. i've never met a truly affluent homeschooler. i've known homeschoolers who were the children of full-time working single mothers, WAHM's who get the needed income working out of the home, and stay-at-home parents in one-paycheck households that just learn to make do, not to mention the modern "traditional" two-income households. most of the homeschooling families i know spend more effort than money, to make things work.

[Chibi-Fallon]

Read what that kid is doing :zzzzZZZ:
"The 11-year-old spends his days playing the role of town zoning officer, researching the pros and cons of granting approval to a new Wal-Mart (WMT ). Other endeavors include pretending he's a Sand Hill Road venture capitalist, creating Excel-studded business plans for a backyard sheep company, and growing his own organic food."

Maybe the gardening would be okay. But what 11 year old wants to play "venture capitalist"?
And it's probably just the wording but this bit came off much more snooty then most articles about homeschool. But it is buisness week.
Although my dad is a zoning coordinator for St. Paul. :lol:


And Brymble there's probably a reason you don't know any of the really rich homeschooling parents, probably the same reason you weren't in skulls and bones (I'm going to assume). They tend to run in different social circles.

[brymble]

oh man, i could totally see my 8-year-old trying to start his own "business" though. he gets it from his mom, i'm afraid. he sees me miserable in jobs and struggling to start my own business, and he says "hey, that's not a bad idea!" yesterday he told me he wanted to build a "snowfort" stand in the front yard and sell hot chocolate and gluten-free brownies to the neighbors, "because any kid can sell lemonade in the summer!" i told him he'd have to wait for the weekend, when there'd be more people about and we could actually afford the cocoa. i've caught him "lending" pennies to his 3-year-old sister and then trying to charge her interest. now i don't understand where he gets that behavior. fiscally i lean so far to the left i'm practically sideways - how'd i end up with a little capitalist??? oh, well, i hope he develops it into a skill that will make him happy and successful someday, lol.

[Ceres]

I think the article was trying to say that homeschooling general is outgrowing its reputation for being mainly done by fundamentalist christians. I dont think they were trying to say affluent homeschoolers are a huge sector, just a growing trend.

[pawnman]

Read what that kid is doing :zzzzZZZ:
"The 11-year-old spends his days playing the role of town zoning officer, researching the pros and cons of granting approval to a new Wal-Mart (WMT ). Other endeavors include pretending he's a Sand Hill Road venture capitalist, creating Excel-studded business plans for a backyard sheep company, and growing his own organic food."

Maybe the gardening would be okay. But what 11 year old wants to play "venture capitalist"?
And it's probably just the wording but this bit came off much more snooty then most articles about homeschool. But it is buisness week.
Although my dad is a zoning coordinator for St. Paul. :lol:


And Brymble there's probably a reason you don't know any of the really rich homeschooling parents, probably the same reason you weren't in skulls and bones (I'm going to assume). They tend to run in different social circles.

Didn't you ever play "Monopoly"?

[pawnman]

oh man, i could totally see my 8-year-old trying to start his own "business" though. he gets it from his mom, i'm afraid. he sees me miserable in jobs and struggling to start my own business, and he says "hey, that's not a bad idea!" yesterday he told me he wanted to build a "snowfort" stand in the front yard and sell hot chocolate and gluten-free brownies to the neighbors, "because any kid can sell lemonade in the summer!" i told him he'd have to wait for the weekend, when there'd be more people about and we could actually afford the cocoa. i've caught him "lending" pennies to his 3-year-old sister and then trying to charge her interest. now i don't understand where he gets that behavior. fiscally i lean so far to the left i'm practically sideways - how'd i end up with a little capitalist??? oh, well, i hope he develops it into a skill that will make him happy and successful someday, lol.

Loaning pennies and charging interest...That's AWESOME! What does he take as collateral, Barbie's corvette?

[lynn271]

Good. It gets old always having people assume that because we homeschool that we're fundamentalists. Of course, where I live, the vast majority really are and my family are very much in the minority even among homeschoolers.

[Alora]

We are homeschoolers. I started a homeschooling group because it seemed that everyone around here were fundamentalist xtians. It's not true. They are just very vocal. You wouldn't believe how many homeschoolers are not fundies and there are quite a few Pagans as well!

If you are homeschooling and in need of community....Create it!

[brymble]

Loaning pennies and charging interest...That's AWESOME! What does he take as collateral, Barbie's corvette?

you know, as thrilled as i am that he's learning money skills, i'm not happy about this, because his sister is 3, and way too young to understand the pennies he gives her are a loan. and yes, he sometimes does take her toys or candy as "collateral". unfortunately, rather than teaching him responsibility, it's starting to develop into bullying, and i'm not sure how to go about stopping the behavior without squashing his enthusiasm for money. (especially since my own values lean so far to the left i'm practically sideways.) if my boy is going to grow into a little capistalist, i want him to learn to be ethical about it.

i lived in rochester, and unfortunately, the stereotype there was that all homeschoolers were wealthy, and that those under a certain income (or not living in pittsford) had no business teaching their own. fortunately, this was a sterotype that for the most part only existed outside of the homeschool community, although it took me awhile to recognize that. i knew other single-mom homeschoolers that worked very hard to make ends meet and still taught the little ones at home.

[misschief]

actually, where i live i've never heard anyone say that they think homeschooling was for any particular group of people. lots of people do it here, so much that most of the local colleges already know what needs to be done with each kind of homeschooler, because sometimes if you didn't homeschool THROUGH an actual school, you can't go to certain colleges without taking the GED test. i just thought it was like that everywhere :lol:... guess i'm kind of sheltered sometimes.

[pawnman]

you know, as thrilled as i am that he's learning money skills, i'm not happy about this, because his sister is 3, and way too young to understand the pennies he gives her are a loan. and yes, he sometimes does take her toys or candy as "collateral". unfortunately, rather than teaching him responsibility, it's starting to develop into bullying, and i'm not sure how to go about stopping the behavior without squashing his enthusiasm for money. (especially since my own values lean so far to the left i'm practically sideways.) if my boy is going to grow into a little capistalist, i want him to learn to be ethical about it.

i lived in rochester, and unfortunately, the stereotype there was that all homeschoolers were wealthy, and that those under a certain income (or not living in pittsford) had no business teaching their own. fortunately, this was a sterotype that for the most part only existed outside of the homeschool community, although it took me awhile to recognize that. i knew other single-mom homeschoolers that worked very hard to make ends meet and still taught the little ones at home.

Maybe you can tell him that the SEC recieved some complaints about his collection practices and if he doesn't stop he'll lose his lending license.

[brymble]

:alol:

by the sounds of the squawks in the next room, it sounds like he's trying to collect a "debt" right now_wedgie_

*sigh*