lgbt, does anyone know...?

I'm not a huge fan of homeschooling either but I understand that if you are unable to send your children to private school and the public schools in your area are not good (like they aren't in mine) then if you have the ability to stay home and homeschool your child that becomes a viable alternative.

My objection has always been that the children don't learn social skills as well if they are home schooled but now we have school districts that offer programs for extra-curricular activities to those who school at home. They have athletic teams, bands, clubs, the whole deal. Its still not the same as being in school on a schedule but its closer and there is more interaction possible.

The truth is that if the kids who are home schooled can perform on the standardized tests then you cannot argue with their education from an academic standpoint.

Are their parents as well trained as teachers in the public schools? Maybe, maybe not, but its also possible that the fact that the parents have a vested interest in the child's education makes up for some of that lack of training (not to mention the much increased one-on-one time, the availability of outside resources, etc).

I have a family member who home schools her children. She does it wrong. The kids stay up until the want to go to bed, wake up when they wake up and do school when they feel like it. These children don't know there are two seven o'clocks in a day. They've never had to meet a schedule. I fear for their college careers if they choose to pursue higher education. She is not doing them any favors. But I also think she is in the minority. The other parents who home school their children appear to be as horrified as I am at the way she allows her children full run of their schedule. If they don't wish to do school on a particular day they don't. That's great for making her their friend but it does not teach them that they will one day have to go to work every day if they want to or not.

Not that it matters, according to her, because the children are all geniuses and will be running Fortune 500 companies at 25 so they can set their own schedules *eye roll*. But she is not, as I said, the norm.

The fact that you (or your parents) pay taxes for schools is not a meaningful argument in the debate. It doesn't give you a voice in other people's educational choices aside from that the government normally plays. If you want to see crime skyrocket then stop funding schools. There is a well-documented connection between lack of education and violent crime. That isn't to say that people who have diplomas or degrees or even PhD's don't commit violent crime. What it speaks to is a lack of opportunity based on a lack of education causing people to have smaller perspectives, fewer choices and more frustration.

Tax dollars to schools is a good thing, if some people choose to home school or not.

Because every minority seems oversensitive until of course it's your minority being generalized, mocked, or just completely ignored. And the reason T is in LGBT is because they are discriminated against by people who can't tell the difference between a gay or a transgender person. And they are both discriminated against for going against what a "real" woman/man is and the reason why we're so "Oversensitive" and "Whiny" when you try to cut trans* people out of the community is because this is not the gay community, this is a community for those who are discriminated against for not conforming to expectation of what a man or a woman should be If you're angry that you have to share the community with people who are not cisgender don't worry, it seems the LGBT community has become the gay community. If you're not a gay man or woman you will be completely ignored (to the point where people actually use LGBT community and Gay community as synonyms). For example you never see a trans* flag or the Bisexual flag on LGBT sites and whatnot, you just see rainbow flags and pink triangles. The "It gets better" project was created with gay men and only gay men in mind, Dan Savage has actually said some very transphobic, monosexist, and even lesbophobic things. Also you never hear about all of the trans* folk who kill themselves (about 31% and about 1 in 2 trans* youth will attempt suicide at least once before their 18th birthday) but whenever a gay man kills himself that's all you will hear on the news. You never hear when bisexuals are murdered or kill themselves, you never even hear when that happens to lesbians. <- I'm sorry I just had to say it <_<

The one kid in my extended family that is home schooled is kept home because of two reasons (according to me): First, his parents are religious nut cases and they think the Bible is the only textbook he will ever need. Second, the family lives on a farm in Mississippi and none of the older kids have shown the least bit of interest in running it as they get older. This last kid, who only studies the Bible will never be able to get a job doing anything away from that farm which is quite convenient for his parents.