From Alex:
The media is polarizing this issue when in fact a lot of parents who don’t homeschool have the same view point. I like that I can choose whether or not to homeschool. I always keep homeschooling as a good option in the back of my mind because I could change my mind.
I read this right after one last visit to the blog of Stephen Downes. He seems to operate on the basic premise that parents are not to be trusted.
And all this under the influence of a most excellent CBC Ideas show called The Suspect Society. Episode One has some very interesting things to say about the increasingly suspicious eye with which parents are viewed. Definitely a must listen.
The California ruling is something all parents should be concerned with. It may be a part of a larger view that frames parents as amateurs not interested in or capable of providing the best for their children.
9 comments:
Thanks for the link to "The Suspect Society". I am listening to it now.
I admit it- I gave up on Mr. Downes- discussing freedom with him is like explaining the difference between pink and red to a man who was born blind.
I can't imagine a world where everyone with a child was monitored for possible abuse -instead of helicopter parents we'd have a helicopter government. And who is going the monitor the monitors?;)
He's a strange one, claiming reason and logic and then making competely illogical connections, ignoring half the criticism of his video posts and being downright insulting to you. He had no right to respond to you the way he did.
Dawn,
It's SOP when you can't deal with the issues to attack your opponent's character. When he responded to the folks who commented on his first post about abuse and homeschoolers, I felt that he was going to mulberry bush the rest of the conversation, and so he did.
I was hoping we'd have some productive discourse because his ideas about 'community schools' are so close to what home educators are already doing. But he can't seem to see past his own agenda.
I am enjoying this CBC show- I love the military, but we don't need to militarize society, and especially not the lives of our children.
What does SOP mean? If it involves curse words you're welcome to use them. :)
If you like that show there's another one by the same series, Ideas, called How to Think About Science:
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/science/index.html
I know we've got some differences in some key areas of science :) but this series is really a very general view about all kinds of different issues surrounding science like framing, technology, philosophy - even the dogmatism in science!
Excellent stuff for when the kids are in bed and the husband is watching sports!
SOP= Standard Operating Procedure. Sorry, no naughty words involved.:p
I am looking forward to cruising around that website. I love listening to audio that I find online, so this one is going in my bookmarks.
My dh doesn't like sports- he likes documentaries, but usually can't stay awake past the first 20 minutes. :D
If you like audio online try BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/
Fanstastic stuff there. My current favourite in the show, In Our Time, partly because it's a great show but also because they have all their past shows arhived so you can listen to them all.
I haven't done a lot of exploring of NPR yet, but I'll get there!
Dawn,
This off topice but I'd just like to thank you for the comment on my blog. I looked at the game and it looks good. I may just order it this weekend. You always have such good suggestions.
Christina
Your welcome Christina. we're gaming nerds in this house so if there's one thing I can reccomend, it's video and PC games. :)
Since this post was initiated the state of California has begun paying for online high school courses. Students can go to school from home 100% online and all the curriculum is provided. Here’s a short video about Kaplan’s online high school program for California students.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoXIB_HqTrU
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