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Debate clubN
Debate club
Nora's and Dragon Girl's debate clubs died, so I'll start a new one. The only rules are that there is no judging, and you have to respect other members.
Here's the first debate topic: homeschool vs. public school.
Have fun!
submitted by Bookbug
(October 31, 2014 - 5:12 pm)
(October 31, 2014 - 5:12 pm)
Here are the members so far:
Indigo- Public
Ellie- Public
Butterfly- Home
Savvy- Home
Xxxx- Home
BHR- Home
Katie- Home
S.E.- Home
Abigail- Home
Bookbug (me)- Home
You guys can go ahead and start!
(November 5, 2014 - 1:36 pm)
First of all, in public school, you get to eat lunch with friends and there are more people to become your friends.
Gordon says kiaf. Really you like public school because your teacher Mrs. F. owns a Kia? Let's pretend that's not weird...
(November 5, 2014 - 6:54 pm)
Well that's a lot of homeschoolers.......
(November 5, 2014 - 6:57 pm)
Public is better than homeschool because you can learn with others, seeing their mistakes and avoiding them. You also learn many social skills, including:
- Learning with someone who does not speak English (not everyone gets this opportunity, but my class does), which will help you communicate with other people who have a first languge other than English.
-Learning how to help each other learn by showing others important details they may have missed.
-Learning about how to react to others being bullied or being bullied yourself.
You also learn Physical Fittness first hand with experts who do this for a living, and in some districts, about drugs and how dangerous they are from POLICE.
Yes, your parents can teach P.E., yes, your parents can (and obbviously have) teach you subtraction and all that stuff, but here's the thing: I'm pretty sure none of them have the qualifications these professionals do. Do they have the experience of a POLICE OFFICER? I know my parents don't. A P.E. teacher? A regular teacher with years (decades even) of experience behind him/her? That's a pretty high standard.
(November 5, 2014 - 8:20 pm)
I prefer homeschooling for many reasons.
- First off, the customized education. I've heard a dozen different stories on how the public schools don't adequately teach their students. Yes, this often depends on the school, though as a general whole, public schools aren't concerned with teaching for life, they're concerned about making sure you past the next test. Plus, as a Christian, I like knowing the full story on things, like whether or not Christopher Colombus is really someone worth looking up to, the truth behind global warming and any true evidence behind evolution, and other things like that. With homeschooling, I pick my education, how I learn it, and what I learn. I can determine whether or not the curriculum is biased or not for myself.
- To go along with customized education, there are a TON of options and electives out there for homeschoolers. Often times in schools, you are forced to take what they order or offer. Many don't have time to go outside of that and learn something else. Homeschoolers have the options of lots of different languages, home economics like sewing and cooking, accounting. Plus, yes, we can learn what kids in school learn, even physical education! The amount of curriculum and learning opportunities is quite extensive for homeschoolers.
- Many people act like homeschoolers are locked away in closets and never have social interaction, and frankly, this is one of the biggest things that tick homeschoolers off. WE DO IN FACT HAVE SOCIAL INTERACTION AND HAVE FRIENDS. I go to dance, many do sports, there are communities of homeschoolers and homeschooling families that get together for classes, or just to fellowship. Plus, many places offer deals or special days or events for homeschoolers, like museums, living history reenactments, libraries, and many other places that public schools go to for field trips or use for other educational purposes.
- The priviledge of at home learning. You can learn in the comfort and safety of your home. I've been to school before, and I know again not all schools are the same, but no matter what or where you are going to face social cliques, bullying, and peer pressure, and other things. Also, I have one of my parents there to help if I need tutoring in a certain subject. For me it's math, so my parents allow me to go slower in this subject so that I'm sure to grasp the concepts. Plus, there's always the option of outside tutoring, which homeschoolers and public school kids alike both use.
- Bullying is an issue, but let me tell you, I've been to school, and I've faced more peer pressure and bullying outside of school more than I ever did in school. I know how to stand up for myself and stand up for others without having to go be in school and be bombarded with it all the time.
Some people do well in a classroom environment, I grant that. I personally do terribly. I like the options and choice granted me for what is best for myself that comes with homeschooling. We still stay up to standards, but we're not uniformed or restrained by the public school system.
(November 5, 2014 - 10:48 pm)
BHR, I totally ditto you on all that!
Adding on, its been proven (and I don't mean to sound stuck-up here) that most homeschoolers get better grades and do better in college. Why? It comes down to time management. In public school EVERYTHING is planned out for you. There's no choices of what to do and when you'll do it. But in homeschool, usually you are the one who manages your studies. Get them done quick, and you'll have the rest of the day free. Or, you can chose to spread them throughout the day. It doesn't matter, as long as you get them done. This makes it easier for homeschoolers to adjust to college life than public school children do.
As for the whole homeschoolers-are-anti-social, guess what another study showed? Homeschoolers are more involved in their community throughout the rest of their life. Thats because we grow up in a wider, divers-er sense, but also have greater family ties.
Public schooling can be work if both the kid and parent are happy, but unfortunately that rarely happens. WHen it does, I congratulate you, but I am not one of those people myself. I prefer my freedom.
(November 6, 2014 - 8:08 am)
I don't have time to debate all your subjects, ( NanoWritmo ) so I'll just debate the second bullet point right now.
True, we generaly do not have much choice of what we learn in Elementray school, but I know of a middle school where you have one period to choice to learn Woods, Metals, Arts And Crafts, Sewing, Cooking, Spainish, French and some others which I don't know because I didn't bother to look them up. In this same middle school, you have an option to go to school early so you can have two electives. Yes, it does have required classes ( Math, Science, L.A. , P.E. ) but the schedules are not set in stone. In a high school in the same district, they have even more choices- a wider varety of langues, Swimming, and more.
(November 6, 2014 - 8:33 am)
Ah, the issue of socialization. First off, you can make a ton of friends when homeschooled by going to extracurricular activities. And second, you can go to P.E. and have social skills by going to Co-op classes. It's where all the homeschoolers get together, have classes, have lunch, and stuff like that. So I'm completely against all this "homeschoolers don't have social skills" thing.
(November 6, 2014 - 1:30 pm)
I'm definitely in for homeschooling.
(November 6, 2014 - 3:33 pm)
Homeschool
1. recess options.
Would you rather be trapped in a little playground or reading, writing a NOVEL, writing anything else, drawing, watching tv, or like anything else
2. the dog ate my homwork....
What if this really happened? What if you don't have a dog? Your parent would know these things, but a teacher might do the wrong thing.
3. pace
What if school is really hard, or easy for you? Rather then falling way behind, or feeling like every one else is, learn at your own pace.
4. lunch
No more wasting time and money to buy and pack a lunchbox or spending time and money waiting in line and buying lunch
5. let's get technical
If you look it up, adults who were homeschooled generally have more sucess then the ones that went to public school.
NOTE- no hard feelings or anything. I go to public school and it's good too... so no hard feelings, it's just a fun debate
A few points in favor of public school from Admin (who was public schooled), because so many more homeschoolers than public schoolers have entered this debate:
1. Public school students are likely exposed to a greater variety of people, both classmates, upper and lower classes, and teachers, than homeschoolers. They can learn a lot about communicating and getting along with all kinds of people.
2. In a public (or private) school, the better students motivate others to work harder and achieve.
3. Public schools are more likely to have multiple levels of music and sports groups, a group that's right for each skill level.
4. Attending school develop a pride in the institution and in public eduation in general, the right of access to a good education for every child in the world.
5. Someone already mentioned access to many great, experienced, professional teachers. I remember them all, how inspiring they were!
Admin
(November 6, 2014 - 4:05 pm)
THANK YOU ADMIN !! ( Home schoolers, I would [ and I think Ellie might too ] appreciate if you gave us some time to counter debate before adding more debates )
@Abigail Please see my earlier post. Also, when you finish your work, teachers will let you do anything you want with your time ( unless it's distracting others or something loud ) .
You are not anti-social. Yes, I say it. You are merely not quite as social as us public-schoolers. We can merely know someone for a few years and easily slip into a realationship while yours take more, well, arranging. Neighborhood relationships are easy, but other relationships can quietly end without much fuss. Public schoolers see their friends nearly every day. As far as I know ( please correct me if I am wrong ) you don't.
@Savvy :
1. I suggest trying staying inside, perhaps, doing your writing in there ? Personally I join an opportonity to relax and stop working over that Nano Novel ( On which I am horrendously behind)
2. Your parent would know these things, yes, but has it occured to you that because they know you better they might go easy on you, letting you slack off and spend most of the day doing other things instead of your work ( I'm not saying you homeschoolers do do this, I'm saying this can happen ) .
3. I generally think of school as a building block. You can add other specialized classes. Lots of my BFFs at school have piano, karate, ballet, extra tutoring for subjects like math, L.A, or whatever they're weak at.
Other points :
- I think that we're overlooking a big thing : the parents. Do they have the time, or do both have full-time jobs ? Do they have the patience to drill multipication into a third-grader, day after day ? Do they need to wash the dishes and do other chores most of the day ? This could be a horrible load of work for a parent.
- To add on from the point above, what if you have sibilings ? The regular household work, teaching you, AND them ? And if you don't have your sibilings taught home schooling ? The jealousy, the longing stares at the homework-free desks- painful.
(November 6, 2014 - 10:50 pm)
Indigo, I totally get what you're saying about everything not being set in stone. That is very true, but what I'm saying is that even if you have electives, once you choose them your scheduale is managed by outside forces. And your are definitely correct on the "homeschoolers don't see their friends every day"- at least in my case. But let me put in a really great quote here about why someone pulled their kids from public school : "We want them to be social, not socialized."
That's words of wisdom.
Thanks for bringing up some great points Indigo- you're really good at debates!
Spammy says "vvan". Uh oh, Spammy, do you need to go to school?
(November 7, 2014 - 8:27 am)
Pkay, Indigo. First of all, parents can work full-time and still teach the kids. We are living in age of technology. There are so many options that can help parents. For example, a program called Teaching Textbooks is a computer-based curriculum for math. It works like a charm, and all the parents have to do is look at the kid's grades. Also, kids can help with chores. Why should it all be on the parent, you're right. Each kid can have a different chores.
As for the siblings, that one's a no-brainer. There's something called the Weaver method or something. It's where the parents teach lots of subjects at once with all the kids. So what if they're different levels? Remember the time of the pioneers. Kids of all different levels were in one classroom, and the older kids helped the younger kids with their work. For example, the parents can make a unit study about Ancient Egypt. You can integrate history, science, math, and language arts for all levels. Piece of cake. And the older kids can help the younger ones with penmanship, math, or grammar. Not only does it help the parents, but it also reinforces concepts and develops social skills.
(November 7, 2014 - 1:38 pm)
If you go to public school, you can do Teaching Textbooks and get help from teachers, instead of just doing Teaching Textbooks without having anyone explaining it to them or helping them.
Also, public school is better because it prepares you for the real world. In the real world, you'll have to deal with working in groups or with partners on a daily baises, trying to get slackers to do their work, etc. The real world will only slightly consist of staying home. Mostly it's work. School isn't just teaching you things, it's getting you ready for life by teaching you LLLS ( Life Long Learning Skills ).
(November 8, 2014 - 9:13 am)
In that comment of Admin's, 2 is not true. It is assumed that it is, but most of the kids who do better in school make others feel stupid or depressed.
In the schools with which I've had experience, the better students are role models, inspiration, and motivators for others. I'm sorry if you have evidence that the reverse is true elsewhere.
Admin
(November 18, 2014 - 6:40 am)