Well I have to pipe in here. I live in the South and I am sure this is part of the regional thing but the homeschoolers around here are for the most part the evangelical type and they are rather closed minded. They don't want their children in the public schools because they don't want "precious" to mingle with the great unwashed.
I even had a mother say to me that she let her daughter go to school for awhile but she just had to pull her out because when you are exposed to that "filth" all day the "stink is going to rub off" on you. And me with my kids in public school!!! I didn't know what to say to be honest.
Until I came to this board I had a VERY negative view of HSing. I have to say that you all have changed my mind. I think in certain instances HSing is the best thing to do for a child. But before I came here that wasn't my take on HSing at all.
OK, since we're all airing what we makes us defensive, negative comments about the Christians who homeschool is my pet peeve.
What that 'Christian' said about pulling her child out and using the analogy of 'the stink rubbing off' was just plain wrong. But there are Christians who have wrong attitudes and should be called on it, I have no problem exposing hypocrisy and wrong attitudes.
Where I have a problem is mocking them like this, "they don't want "precious" to mingle". As far as pulling a child for religious reasons, how many of you have pulled or considered pulling your child because the school authorities told your child he could not read certain books, or discuss certain subjects? That is what happens to Christians. And I'm not even talking about trying to tone down zealous, evangelizing types, I mean things like my GS8, then 6, was told he could not read his Bible in school. Are you all OK with censorship, as long as the book being censored is one you wouldn't read?
And don't forget, if it wasn't for the Christian homeschooling movement, it likely would not be an option in much of the USA. It is not an option in several European countries.
OK, off my soapbox and off to 'pastries with parents' at GS8 school this morning.
