If you're against homeschooling, why answer questions here?

Because people are always convinced they are right, even when they aren't. That's what drives ME insane, I have NO problem whatsoever with antihomeschoolers coming on and presenting FACTS. However, it very rarely happens. People come up with opinions PRESENTED as facts, and no verification to back their argument. Very often, it's an assumption based on thin air, or ONE homeschooler out of two million in the US.

For example, the first poster replied that homeschooling is controlled by the government, which is legally false. Federal govt has no control over any aspect of education, pubic or otherwise, and many states to not have any say in how homeschooling is done, ie TX, OK are two that pop into my head.

Then she stated that the government has the right to control standards, also false, as the constitution specifically states that the government does not control anyones standards outside of the laws designed to permit the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness clause.

Next, she stated that homeschoolers lack interaction from day to day, which is also false. My kids spend all day with seven other kids, and at least three times a week see up to twenty other children in a fun group. They also see five to ten neighborhood children every day after school and ten to fifteen after Sunday after church. Not to mention the eight that they see at girl scouts, the 20 they see at boy scouts, the 30 that they see in band, and the 16 that they see in orchestra EVERY week. They meet and greet adults every day of their lives, at the store, the library, classes, museums, trips around etc. They are MUCH more respectful of those adults than the publicly schooled kids we meet there, because the respect is not forced onto a few adults (principal and teacher) but is modeled for every person (adult or child) they meet.

Life is pain, Princess, and anyone who tells you different is selling something. A little quote, but to imply that homeschooled kids cannot deal with life is to assume that they are locked up all day in a basement. There is drama in life, there is drama in a family, there is stress when you're in cooking class and there aren't enough chocolate chips to go around. The difference consists of the willingness and ability of having enough adults to help everyone through it. In the long run, it builds great relationships and they are MUCH more capable of coping with stress

and PROOF

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/07120...

" ...new research at the University of Haifa found that, contrary to common belief, young adults who maintain a close or moderate relationship with their parents exhibit greater independence in their personal lives than those who have a distant relationship."

Again, I agree that people can argue against homeschooling and it does not bother me Unfounded opinions created just to troll the yahoo does. There is a reason Y!A was voted WORST PLACE to research, because there is sooo much misinformation.

I think that there are questions on here that cater to both sides - such as "what are the pros and cons of homeschooling" or "what do you think about homeschooling". I appreciate some of the answers of the naysayers - i.e., the ones that are actually researched and well thought out. Homeschooling is not for everyone, it should not be taken on lightly, and people do need to know that there are actual pros and cons.

What bugs me, however, as another poster (Thrice Blessed, I think) mentioned, is the people who come on looking for specific information that we can easily help with - information such as "how do you legally homeschool in ___" or "what sort of math curriculum do you recommend for my struggling student" - and get blasted with 17 answers about how homeschooling will socially retard your kids, how homeschoolers never leave the house (yeah, right), or how it should be illegal. These people are trolls, and shouldn't even get the two points for answering, IMO.

This isn't a homeschool bulletin board, any more than Teaching is a bulletin board for teachers or Vegetarians/Vegans is a bulletin board for veg's. I think both sides need to be presented here, but quite frankly, if a person has no knowledge on a subject and nothing helpful to contribute, they should really move on to something that they know about.

JMHO...

One could argue that this isn't Yahoo Groups and wasn't really designed to be a support group system. One could also argue that homeschooling naysayers are just as interested in homeschooling as homeschoolers, or potential homeschoolers. Those who are against it have their opinions to share as much as anybody else. They may even have an internal desire to dissuade people from homeschooling as much as homeschoolers which to encourage and help those who are thinking about it.

Have you ever seen the religion section? Oh boy. Even the vegetarian section has its naysayers. Why do some hang around (as opposed to just answering a question that shows up in one of the larger categories--homeschooling can show up on the main page or in the top part of Education and Reference without ever actually going into the homeschooling section)? That's going to boil down to a personality thing--especially when the answers aren't even answers to the question in any way, but just opinions. Kind of like the first person's answer which finally got to the answer at the end.

I am all for anyone who wants to answer any question anywhere on YA - even when they obviously know nothing at all about the topic.

What bothers me is when folks show up and post insults and never even come close to addressing the question.

For example, I remember a question a while back where some homeschool student was soliciting ideas for a science project. There were many, many "answers" that did not even address the question but simply slammed homeschooling.

So... here you have a kid asking a perfectly legitimate question and is bombarded by meaningless insults.

My understanding of the idea behind YA is that it is a place to get and share knowledge. It is not a place for off-topic proselytizing.

But... I have a confession!

I kind of like it when the nay-sayers post their gobbledygook. It says a lot about them and sometimes generates some interesting discussion and gives an opportunity to debunk myths and misconceptions.

They are trolls. The troll around answering questions for points and not really caring if they address the question at hand. They are all over Y!A, not just on homeschooling. If the question asks, "What do you think about homeschooling." Then I expect to hear from both sides, but if the question is, "Can you recommend a good Algebra curriculum for my homeschooled child." Then it is rude to answer, "Don't homeschool it will......blah blah blah."

Maybe they just want the points to answer questions or they are posing to know about Home Schooling and try to make themselves sound smart with answers with intelligent words, so they can get the best answer

i think answering questions on here is helpful to people. Just because i don't believe in homeschooling it doesn't mean that i won't aid people that do, and that im actively against it either.

I believe that the socialization function of school is important.

Because that is what this section is for. So that people can answer questions about homeschooling.

Yahoo answers is not running a homeschoolers bulletin board.

Well first off

Parents don't have to put their children in Public schools, there are these things called private schools that you pay for to go to.

Second

Homeschooling is still "controlled" by the government to some extent, there are certain criteria and education requirements that parents must abide by.

Third, I do think it's the place for our government to set standards for our children to live up too.

Fourth, Kids who are home schooled lack that interaction with other children on a day to day basis, and don't learn how to respect authority besides their parents.

I believe home schooling robs the child of many very valuable life lessons and how to deal with stress and drama and all the stuff that makes us stronger as adults. You learn by mistakes and you make a lot of them in high school...

answering questions on this site is hardly the school curriculum information is it?