Archive for the ‘Child Education’ category

Homeschool News – 7 Surprising Facts About Home-Based Education

October 19th, 2011

What do you think of when you hear the word “homeschoolers”? Do you think the spelling bee and a large family? Do you think socially awkward? Well, here are some statistics that may surprise you. But be careful, this could change your image of homeschooling upside down.

The HSLDA reports some amazing new statistics in homeschooling. First, how many kids do you think home schooling? In the last decade, the population of students in home education has grown from 850,000 to 1.5 estimated 2 million.

Fact # 1: homeschoolers do 34-39% above the national average in standardized tests. The national average, by definition, is 50%. Homeschoolers test in 84-89% in subjects with the subject of standardized test scores, well above the national average.Fact #2: Children in lower income families who homeschool outperform public education. Even families making a combined household income of less than $35,000 per year outperformed public education by 35% in standardized test scores.

Fact 3#: Boys and girls respond well to homeschool education. Only one percentage point separated male and female students in standardized test scores with boys averaging 87% and girls 88%.

Fact #4: Home-schooled children of parents who do not have a college education outperform public education. Even in homes in which neither parent has a degree, students tested at 83% nationally. That’s 33% above the national average.

Fact #5: Stronger government regulation does not increase student achievement. No discernible achievement difference is shown in states with high, medium, or low levels of regulation. Students’ performance levels for all three categories come in at 87-88%, or 37-38% above the national public school average.

Fact #6: Spending more per student via public education does not improve performance. Homeschool education generally costs $500 per student each year for curriculum and supplies, while public education costs an average of nearly $10,000. Regardless of total dollars per student, homeschool students came in at 86-89% performance, or 36-39% above the national public school average.

Fact #7: Homeschool children of parents who had earned teaching certification were not higher in achievement. Certified educators achieve homeschool performance at the 87th percentile while non-certified homeschoolers achieved the 88th percentile.

These are amazing statistics and should serve those considering home education well making their evaluation.

Public School Sex-Education Classes — Bad News For Parents and Children

October 18th, 2011

One task of the parents’ most important thing is to protect their children from these values ​​and harmful sexual behavior. Yet many public schools force potentially harmful, sex education is sometimes surprising explicit in their students.

Most of the time, parents have no control over the content of these classes. Sometimes, a group of parents to know about sex education class is very annoying and protests to the principal or local school board. Classes can be dropped, only to be replaced by other classes that teach the same material object.

School authorities ‘cavalier attitude toward the parents about this issue shows their anti-parent bias, and their contempt for parents’ rights to control the values ​​their children are taught.

Many school authorities insist that children need comprehensive sex education from kindergarten through high school. They believe parents can’t be trusted because they have shameful feelings about sex or have “outdated” moral or sexual values. School authorities, claiming that they know best regarding sex education, usurp the parents’ role, allegedly for the good of the children. In doing so, they show contempt for parents’ rights, values, and common sense.

Many sex-education classes indoctrinate children with sexual values that can cause them irreparable harm. For example, these classes often promote the idea that most sexual behaviors are acceptable, including adultery, homosexuality, masturbation, and premarital sex.

The sex-education instructor simply tells the kids to “be careful” or use their “common sense” when they engage in these behaviors. As if we can depend on teenagers with raging hormones to be careful or use their common sense. The soaring teen pregnancy rate in this country puts the lie to this notion.

Horror stories about sex education classes and flagrant violations of parents’ rights confront us from around the country. Here are only four of those stories:

o On March 19, 1996, a public school in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania made 59 sixth-grade girls submit to a genital examination as part of a routine physical. The school did not ask for parental consent. During the exam, school officials blocked the exit doors and refused to let the crying and pleading young girls call their parents.

o In Stephens County, Georgia, parents were shocked to discover that their fourteen- and fifteen-year-old daughters had been driven to a birth control clinic by a public school staff member without their knowledge. The county clinic administered AIDS tests and Pap smears to the girls and gave them birth control pills and condoms. The school denied parents access to the test results and defended its actions on the grounds that the counselor believed that she was doing what was best for the girls.

o The Pacific Justice Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of parents against the Novato [California] Unified School District for authorizing pro‑homosexual presentations without any prior notice or consent. According to the Pacific Justice Institute Press Release, “The presentations entitled “Cootie Shots,” exposed elementary school children as young as seven years old with skits containing gay and lesbian overtures. The presentations were followed by question and answer sessions about what constitutes ‘normal’ families and acceptance of those who choose the homosexual lifestyle.” 6 (see Notes in “Public Schools, Public Menace”)

o Carol (last name withheld for privacy), a schoolteacher, couldn’t believe what she was being asked to teach in her sex education class. The curriculum forced her to show second-graders pictures of nude boys and girls and ask them to name body parts. School authorities told Carol and her fellow elementary school teachers that there were no absolute moral rules, so she shouldn’t be concerned about what she had to teach the children.

Parents, it might be advisable if you periodically asked your children if their school is giving them sex-education classes and what the school is teaching in these classes.

If these classes force your children to sit through shocking, obnoxious, or embarrassing sex-education material, you can do something about it. Many states have Parent Notification laws that allow you to demand that the school “opt-out” (withdraw) your children from these classes. You can find more information about this important issue in “Public Schools, Public Menace.”