4 ms·

In the rural areas that I've lived in, it's mostly about a strong desire to supplant science and history with religious ideas and principles.

satvikpendem 11mo ago
That is exactly what I've seen, to keep kids in their brainwashing bubble.
- TaupeRanger 11mo ago
  Where I live in the Midwest that is absolutely the case. The homeschool "groups" are almost all religiously oriented in some way.
  - marcus878 11mo ago
    Lived in the Midwest too when I was younger, wasn't till I grew up that I saw how religiously linked it all was.
- UltraSane 11mo ago
  You are light gray but creating a bubble is actual expressed reason for many home schoolers like with young earth creationists.
alphazard 11mo ago
I hear this a lot, and it may be true, but I am very skeptical that it matters. The statistics about home-schooled children don't support the idea that they have horribly inaccurate models of the world guided mostly by religious thinking. Or if they do it doesn't seem to affect life achievement in any important way. Instead home-schooled children are typically more advanced at graduation and have higher lifetime achievement metrics than their public school counterparts. As an athiest, and a bayesian, it's difficult for me to worry about other peoples religious beliefs that don't seem to negatively affect them or me. Especially when there is propaganda taught in the public schools that does warp the students' world views in ways that harms them and me.
- tshaddox 11mo ago
  > The statistics about home-schooled children don't support the idea that they have horribly inaccurate models of the world guided mostly by religious thinking. I'd be surprised if any such statistics exist. I've seen studies about the reasons parents choose to homeschool, and various outcomes of homeschooled kids versus public school kids, but none about what particular beliefs homeschooled kids have regarding, say, the age of the Earth.
  - typeofhuman 11mo ago
    Homeschoolers tend to outperform their regular school peers. But I think parental involvement is a significant differential and is probably contributing to the outcomes.
    - tclancy 11mo ago
      In what and citation needed.
      - eucyclos 11mo ago
        "In study after study, the homeschooled have scored, on average, at the 65th to 80th percentile on standardized academic achievement tests in the United States and Canada, compared to the public school average of the 50th percentile."[1] "Descriptive analysis reveals homeschool students possess higher ACT scores, grade point averages (GPAs) and graduation rates when compared to traditionally-educated students."[2] [1]https://www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/sites/www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/files/2022-06/Homeschooling%20Associated%20with%20Beneficial%20Learner%20and%20Societal%20Outcomes%20but%20Educators%20Do%20Not%20Promote%20It..pdf https://www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/sites/www.educa... [2]https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ893891 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ893891
        amrocha 11mo ago
        That doesn’t control for socioeconomic background. Yes, homeschooled kids do better than the average. The average is also dragged down by the country deciding that if your parents are poor you should starve.
TheGRS 11mo ago
That has been the case for a long time, and I guess something about the current generation of parents has gotten them to act more on it. My dad came from a very religious family and they all did private religious schools for their early grade school years. Then they went to public for high school years. If I had to guess, its maybe something about the demise of church life that has gotten religious parents to just pull back entirely. It wasn't that uncommon for public schools to make nods toward Christian ideals/lifestyles before like the 90s, but now that stuff just doesn't happen anymore.
- JoshTriplett 11mo ago
  > It wasn't that uncommon for public schools to make nods toward Christian ideals/lifestyles before like the 90s, but now that stuff just doesn't happen anymore. Schools should absolutely teach Christian mythology and history, and Greek mythology and history, and Egyptian mythology and history, alongside many other subjects. But to the extent that they used to make "nods" towards "this is the cultural default we defer to", nope.
  - joemazerino 11mo ago
    Take this thought, apply it to your favorite non-Western country and tell me where you end up.
  - programjames 10mo ago
    Why? How does this benefit the students, except in understanding allusions in books and poetry? Or is that the goal, in which case, sure, but I think Eastern mythologies should be included too.
    - JoshTriplett 10mo ago
      Same reason for studying literature, in addition to understanding the pervasive allusions and effects throughout society. And yes, of course; that list was an example, not a comprehensive list.
- 11mo ago
ohsoSad 11mo ago
[dead]
_blk 11mo ago
I won't pretend to know where you live or what those people's desires are but I definitely started homeschooling after the last US administration took moral volatility to new standards. The principles taught in schools just did not align anymore with what was common sense when I was in school and what I believe in. Now before you judge, I'm not looking for a fight. My wife and I have both master-degree educations in CS and law and our four kids have been to public school in the US and abroad, they've been to an evangelical christian school, and now that we've decided to homeschool for two years, we're not likely to take them back. The traditional school aspects take up 2-3h per day at most, then comes the school of life: raising and caring for animals and plants, fixing the truck or other engineersy activities and of course plenty of fun activities outside of the too-busy-to-be-fun times. My kids have learned of historic events such as Jamestown, Gettysburg or Mount St. Helens at the actual site of the event, they've been to most of the national parks and the fear of being socially-disconnected is not more than a fear before you start. Heck, thanks to Starlink they can even talk to their friends while we're driving through a desert. Now let me also say that preparing the curriculum, ordering the materials etc. takes a lot of effort and discipline. It's definitely almost a full time job and I'm blessed with an amazing wife that's gifted in all that but the reward is more than worth it. Also, if you're thinking about it, many states have home school support programs and put you in touch with other home schoolers in the area.
- discardable_dan 11mo ago
  So, to be clear, you pulled your children out of public school because students were being educated to accept other people who do not adhere to their own set of religious and cultural beliefs, in a country founded on freedom of religion? And now instead of learning science in a lab and socializing, they are forced to maintain your farm? What an good job you are doing!
  - deleted 11mo ago
    [deleted]
  - joemazerino 11mo ago
    You're forgetting an important distinction: Freedom of religion amongst various Christian denominations. Failure to recognize this as a historical fact leads to back to the original point of public education being a morality platform and not an objective educative platform.
anon291 10mo ago
I mean in the inner city science is supplanted as well like when they close down stem schools because too many Asians or something.

satvikpendem 11mo ago

That is exactly what I've seen, to keep kids in their brainwashing bubble.

TaupeRanger 11mo ago
Where I live in the Midwest that is absolutely the case. The homeschool "groups" are almost all religiously oriented in some way.
- marcus878 11mo ago
  Lived in the Midwest too when I was younger, wasn't till I grew up that I saw how religiously linked it all was.
UltraSane 11mo ago
You are light gray but creating a bubble is actual expressed reason for many home schoolers like with young earth creationists.

alphazard 11mo ago

I hear this a lot, and it may be true, but I am very skeptical that it matters. The statistics about home-schooled children don't support the idea that they have horribly inaccurate models of the world guided mostly by religious thinking. Or if they do it doesn't seem to affect life achievement in any important way. Instead home-schooled children are typically more advanced at graduation and have higher lifetime achievement metrics than their public school counterparts. As an athiest, and a bayesian, it's difficult for me to worry about other peoples religious beliefs that don't seem to negatively affect them or me. Especially when there is propaganda taught in the public schools that does warp the students' world views in ways that harms them and me.

tshaddox 11mo ago
> The statistics about home-schooled children don't support the idea that they have horribly inaccurate models of the world guided mostly by religious thinking. I'd be surprised if any such statistics exist. I've seen studies about the reasons parents choose to homeschool, and various outcomes of homeschooled kids versus public school kids, but none about what particular beliefs homeschooled kids have regarding, say, the age of the Earth.
- typeofhuman 11mo ago
  Homeschoolers tend to outperform their regular school peers. But I think parental involvement is a significant differential and is probably contributing to the outcomes.
  - tclancy 11mo ago
    In what and citation needed.
    - eucyclos 11mo ago
      "In study after study, the homeschooled have scored, on average, at the 65th to 80th percentile on standardized academic achievement tests in the United States and Canada, compared to the public school average of the 50th percentile."[1] "Descriptive analysis reveals homeschool students possess higher ACT scores, grade point averages (GPAs) and graduation rates when compared to traditionally-educated students."[2] [1]https://www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/sites/www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/files/2022-06/Homeschooling%20Associated%20with%20Beneficial%20Learner%20and%20Societal%20Outcomes%20but%20Educators%20Do%20Not%20Promote%20It..pdf https://www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/sites/www.educa... [2]https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ893891 https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ893891
      - amrocha 11mo ago
        That doesn’t control for socioeconomic background. Yes, homeschooled kids do better than the average. The average is also dragged down by the country deciding that if your parents are poor you should starve.

TheGRS 11mo ago

That has been the case for a long time, and I guess something about the current generation of parents has gotten them to act more on it. My dad came from a very religious family and they all did private religious schools for their early grade school years. Then they went to public for high school years. If I had to guess, its maybe something about the demise of church life that has gotten religious parents to just pull back entirely. It wasn't that uncommon for public schools to make nods toward Christian ideals/lifestyles before like the 90s, but now that stuff just doesn't happen anymore.

JoshTriplett 11mo ago
> It wasn't that uncommon for public schools to make nods toward Christian ideals/lifestyles before like the 90s, but now that stuff just doesn't happen anymore. Schools should absolutely teach Christian mythology and history, and Greek mythology and history, and Egyptian mythology and history, alongside many other subjects. But to the extent that they used to make "nods" towards "this is the cultural default we defer to", nope.
- joemazerino 11mo ago
  Take this thought, apply it to your favorite non-Western country and tell me where you end up.
- programjames 10mo ago
  Why? How does this benefit the students, except in understanding allusions in books and poetry? Or is that the goal, in which case, sure, but I think Eastern mythologies should be included too.
  - JoshTriplett 10mo ago
    Same reason for studying literature, in addition to understanding the pervasive allusions and effects throughout society. And yes, of course; that list was an example, not a comprehensive list.
11mo ago

ohsoSad 11mo ago

[dead]

_blk 11mo ago

I won't pretend to know where you live or what those people's desires are but I definitely started homeschooling after the last US administration took moral volatility to new standards. The principles taught in schools just did not align anymore with what was common sense when I was in school and what I believe in. Now before you judge, I'm not looking for a fight. My wife and I have both master-degree educations in CS and law and our four kids have been to public school in the US and abroad, they've been to an evangelical christian school, and now that we've decided to homeschool for two years, we're not likely to take them back. The traditional school aspects take up 2-3h per day at most, then comes the school of life: raising and caring for animals and plants, fixing the truck or other engineersy activities and of course plenty of fun activities outside of the too-busy-to-be-fun times. My kids have learned of historic events such as Jamestown, Gettysburg or Mount St. Helens at the actual site of the event, they've been to most of the national parks and the fear of being socially-disconnected is not more than a fear before you start. Heck, thanks to Starlink they can even talk to their friends while we're driving through a desert. Now let me also say that preparing the curriculum, ordering the materials etc. takes a lot of effort and discipline. It's definitely almost a full time job and I'm blessed with an amazing wife that's gifted in all that but the reward is more than worth it. Also, if you're thinking about it, many states have home school support programs and put you in touch with other home schoolers in the area.

discardable_dan 11mo ago
So, to be clear, you pulled your children out of public school because students were being educated to accept other people who do not adhere to their own set of religious and cultural beliefs, in a country founded on freedom of religion? And now instead of learning science in a lab and socializing, they are forced to maintain your farm? What an good job you are doing!
- deleted 11mo ago
  [deleted]
- joemazerino 11mo ago
  You're forgetting an important distinction: Freedom of religion amongst various Christian denominations. Failure to recognize this as a historical fact leads to back to the original point of public education being a morality platform and not an objective educative platform.

anon291 10mo ago

I mean in the inner city science is supplanted as well like when they close down stem schools because too many Asians or something.