Someone in the classifieds dept. of my newspaper just emailed me this amusing little anecdote.

This woman wanted to sell her home schooling materials she no longer needed, but didn't have all the information with her. She borrows a phone from the sales rep to call home and get what she needed to properly describe the materials.

At one point in the conversation, she asks the person on the other end of the line, "Okay, but how do you spell 'curriculum'?"

I don't get it. The person who does the home schooling asked how to spell curriculum? If so, why would that be a case for hs? (i read it as a pro to home school) Explain.

Am I over-analyzing? Probably.

np: still bumpin the new Nada Surf

I was home schooled.

that explains so much!

How did you feel about it?

I must admit that I have my own prejudices against it but haven't really spoken to someone who has been home-schooled so I'm interested to hear about how you felt about it growing up.

Curriculum is a tough word to spell.

I was home-schooled, and probably would pause over curriculum (2 r's? 2 l's?).

The person on the other end of the phone is so smart, that they don't need home schooling.

I mean, it could have been worse:

"What do you mean, how do you spell school?"

I was homeschooled as well, 6th grade through high school, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm not sure I understand what the point is; haven't you ever heard a publicly or privately educated person ask how to spell a fairly simple word?

Hypersensitive home-schooled people?

Not really hypersensitive, but it does get annoying to hear the same bullshit criticisms over and over. "How can you make friends?", etc. My favorite is when someone describes a homeschooled kid that started back at public school; usually the kid does very poorly academically and/or socially and thus all homeschoolers must be idiots. Of course, if said kid was one of the "good" homeschoolers then odds are that they wouldn't go back to school.

That's funny....I've always had those stereotypes about home schoolers. I'm wrong? I think one should be around their peers growing up. School (in a building with one's peers) is a part of being a kid. Word!

np: Fear of Music-Skin & Bones (HOW IS THIS RECORD??)

you grow up with your peers, but you end up hanging out and working with people of different ages, so it doesn't really matter that you need to grow up with people your own age.

i wish i was homeschooled. i didn't like my highschool friends. i only keep in touch with 1 friend from high school. and we weren't really friends in high school.

HOMESCHOOLED KIDS ARE SMART AND WEIRD and have a surprising amount of resistance to peer pressure. or are the source of, depending on the reasons they're homeschooled.

I know a lot of homeschoolers. Girls end up much better than the guys... which makes sense (not trying to be mean, just sayin). I haven't developed a clear opinion for or against. Public school chews kids up and spits em out... private school gets knocks cause kids are kids and they're gonna be bad regardless and for some reason it's supposed to be different... home school allows the kids to accel at their own rate but requires a lot of attention to be effective...

No kid should go through modern public school... no funds, bad teachers, and a horrific enviroment equals a horrible learning system... Private school is probably the way to go but it takes some serious looking into to find a good one and nothing's guaranteed, still better than most public schools...

as a product of both private and public schools I can say this is nonsense. Far more rests on the student's desire to learn and determination to excel. there were many oppurtunities I had at each school that I would've never had at the other. Both had a lot of shitty teachers and a few that were capable of really changing your life. In both if you didn't care about what was being studied they gave half a shit about you. as it should be.
Granted, the public school I went to wasn't and Lean On Me shit by a mile, but it was still a pretty shoddily-funded overcrowded public school. the private school was one of the snottiest.

I always thought home school was foisted on us by molos/bizarre sexual deviants...Or the types of people who brought us Senior Citizens Centers, day camp for the handicapped, or Animal Shelters.

<-----Proud product of public school

Well, there does seem to be a disproportionate amount of crazies that homeschool. As far as being around your peers, I hung out with all of the kids from my local high school; I just had a more flexible schedule.

I'll know to completely ignore everything he/she says from now on.

Whatever... all i speak from is what i've seen from here in the south. We have high schools with up to four thousand students with classrooms that are holding up to fifty kids each. It's insane! The practicallity issue alone shows that smaller classrooms allow for better education. Education standards are dropping to criminal lows to say nothing of the continued lack of support from our government. I'm not saying private/prep schools are perfect... but at least they offer an alternative, and each one is different... some are nazis and then there are some that are actually teaching kids.

What country do you live in? In GA and AL there are constitutional limits on class size. Education standards and requirements are going through the roof, and college is nearly free or completely free for those who qualify.

Here in the South the states regulate their educational systems individually just like in the North. There is no "we" to speak of, moreover some public schools in a town suck and some don't.

just because there are constitutional limits does not mean that they are followed. there are all kinds of technical ways to get around meeting these requirements. and the fact that standards are rising is a joke to me. sure, the scores are getting higher because the teachers are teaching kids to the test not creative thinking or reasoning. they spend up to half the school year preparing, yes, even second and third graders, for the stuff they need to excel on the test. so if one's idea of a good education is higher test scores then the educational system is improving.

as for home schooling...i'm having a first hand experience with my son in this respect but i'm running late and shall return.

Well said.