What Kind of School Do You Do?

[mechana2015]

I must have been to the only public school on the planet where there actually was neutral when it came to religion (never came up, ever, unless we were reading stories that had a basis in it, and it was never disparaged, though we did have serious discussions about what people did in the name of religion), and only the evolution in science class could be construed as contrary to Christianity (which I don't believe as I don't feel they're contrary).

This was my school as well. The only time it came up was when the on campus christian club was meeting, and that was a religiously oriented group, so discussion was to be expected.

[Syreth]

Maybe it's because I grew up in an area with lots of religious folks around but I never had any classes that taught anything contrary to the Bible in the school I went to either. Religion pretty much never came up. Even in my world history class they completely skipped over anything religious. Including the Catholic church. Don't ask me how you teach a world history class without mentioning the Catholic church but they did it.

That's essentially what I experienced too. I never heard anything from a teacher in the classroom that ever caused me to seriously question my Christian faith or upbringing.

[ShiroiHikari]

I don't recall anything being taught that was contrary to Christianity either, but then I went to school in small town Oklahoma. Maybe this is a problem in less "Christian" areas? I don't know.

The reason I'd want to homeschool my future children is not so much because of theology or religion or whatever, but because I hate the public school system and think it's totally broken. I think learning is a pretty individual thing, and in public schools, oftentimes kids who don't learn the same way as the rest get kind of left out. Also I don't like that classes seem to teach with the goal of passing standardized tests, rather than the goal of enriching kids' lives. And so on and so forth.

[Cognitive Gear]

Eh, generally speaking public schools stay as far away from religion as possible, since no one working there wants to lose their job. You can't really teach at a public school while promoting or oppressing a religion during class without facing public backlash.

The notable exceptions come when a religious belief is at odds with where the evidence points, or is actively harmful to others. Additionally, if you live in a small town where everyone shares the same beliefs, the schools will be more likely to teach whatever the community sees fit. These are usually pretty fringe level exceptions, though.

[Edward]

I don't recall anything being taught that was contrary to Christianity either, but then I went to school in small town Oklahoma. Maybe this is a problem in less "Christian" areas? I don't know.

The reason I'd want to homeschool my future children is not so much because of theology or religion or whatever, but because I hate the public school system and think it's totally broken. I think learning is a pretty individual thing, and in public schools, oftentimes kids who don't learn the same way as the rest get kind of left out. Also I don't like that classes seem to teach with the goal of passing standardized tests, rather than the goal of enriching kids' lives. And so on and so forth.

This. I could learn so much more and get done faster if I were homeschooled. As for homeschooling my kids, if I ever do have children, I don't know if I would be able to do it. I could send them to a private school, if I had the money, as long as it isn't a religous school. I'd much rather teach them the Bible at home, instead of at a catholic school.

[samurai10]

>_>

<_<

I'm homeschooled and I don't get my work done nearly as fast as public schoolers. >_> Perhaps it's just me....

But homeschooled preschool to 8th grade.

If I ever have children, I will never send them to public school. The Secret Life of the American Teenager made me make that decision.

Homeschool...eh...I'm not sure if I'll have the patience to do that. So Idk

[Cloud500]

If I ever have children, I will never send them to public school. The Secret Life of the American Teenager made me make that decision.

Yeah, but that's...a T.V. show. And although things like that occasionally happen in public schools(well, pretty much any school for that matter), not every teenage girl who attends public school is going to get pregnant.


So anyway, I went to public school up through my freshman year of high school. I finished high school at a private school.

I liked the smaller class sizes at the private school, but compared to the public school this place was severely lacking in terms of academics; the textbooks we used were awful.

[ich1990]

I was homeschooled throughout my K-12 education, but the latter half consisted more of self-taught subjects and community college courses than any specific homeschool educational plan.

Overall it was an overwhelmingly positive experience for me, although Abeka did screw up world history in my mind for a while. I certainly wouldn't recommend it for everyone (I know at least two families whose home-school attempts exploded spectacularly) but when it does work it is a great way to learn.

[TGJesusfreak]

Homeschooled! =D

[Yuki-Anne]

Did anybody ever participate in the evil that is Christian Liberty Academy?

My family did it until I finished 8th grade. We started calling it Christian Slavery Academy because they were so exacting and gave us so much work we were doing homework for 10-12 hours a day, and then we had to work on Saturdays a little just to keep up. It was awful, absolutely awful.

[Atria35]

If I ever have children, I will never send them to public school. The Secret Life of the American Teenager made me make that decision.

Cloud500 has the right of it. That's tv, and while it happens occasionally, it's a gross exaggeration and dramatization of what happens in most public schools. It's like making the decision to send them there based on GLEE.

[Yuki-Anne]

I want my kids to go to public school so that maybe, just maybe, they can save the world from the ravages of hell.

I saw it on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[Cloud500]

If only I had stayed in public school. Then I would sing all the time and have superhuman abilities.

Darn.

[FllMtl Novelist]

But homeschooling for college/university? I don't understand that one. Surely parents don't have the resources and the know-how to provide such a high-level of education (unless ofcourse, they're professors or lecturers themselves).

Well you could take online courses or study for CLEP tests from home, I guess. For a Business degree at a local college, my dad learned I could take practically an entire semester through CLEP tests. (But only for core requirements.)

I know a woman who's almost done with her business degree, which I think she's been doing entirely through online courses. (She's a stay-at-home mom right now.) So I guess, depending on the intended major and various other factors, you could do a lot of college from home.

[Seto_Sora]

Did anybody ever participate in the evil that is Christian Liberty Academy?

My family did it until I finished 8th grade. We started calling it Christian Slavery Academy because they were so exacting and gave us so much work we were doing homework for 10-12 hours a day, and then we had to work on Saturdays a little just to keep up. It was awful, absolutely awful.

O.o Eh!? I graduated from CLA. :/ Yeah, they are tough, but I thought it presented good results. Most of the homeschool grads are either working the system or are really successful in life... except me of course! ^_^ lol

SDG

[Radical Dreamer]

If I ever have children, I will never send them to public school. The Secret Life of the American Teenager made me make that decision.

Not that it matters; I went to a private Christian school and two girls were pregnant by our senior year. Oh also 7th graders were making drug deals. It doesn't matter what school you go to, people will make bad decisions regardless of what school they're enrolled in.

[Seto_Sora]

[quote="Radical Dreamer (post: 1461166)"]Not that it matters]

I will add there Dreamer, that this is not limitedly to public or private schools. I've seen some pretty twisted people in the homeschool movement too. Both relations outside of marriage and drugs. The simple fact is, man is sinful. Homeschooling is by no means a sanctification of the holy. We are who we are because we are Christians! Our identity is Christ! Not homeschooling! whoa, I'm getting excited. LOL ^_^ I just mean that being homeschooled is literally nothing special, thats how I feel about it anyway.

SDG

[samurai10]

I was just kidding. I am still not going to send my children to public school though.

Like my parish priest said, the hardest and most important decision that parents can ever make is where to send their child to school. (Ok, that might not be true, but it mostly is. )

Ditto, Patrick.

[Nate]

the hardest and most important decision that parents can ever make is where to send their child to school

Sweet, I guess I'll never have to make the hardest and most important decision.

[Davidizer13]

I must have been to the only public school on the planet where there actually was neutral when it came to religion (never came up, ever, unless we were reading stories that had a basis in it, and it was never disparaged, though we did have serious discussions about what people did in the name of religion), and only the evolution in science class could be construed as contrary to Christianity (which I don't believe as I don't feel they're contrary).

Pretty much this. Of course, I was only in real public school until 5th grade, where it wouldn't be as much of a problem, and even in the secular homeschool curriculum I did, the only classes that dealt directly with religion were the history and the biology class. And even then, the history class had a very balanced view on religion, dealing respectfully with issues such as the Hebrews, the Catholic/Orthodox split, the Muslim conquest, and the Crusades.

As for the biology class, it dismissed creationism (as well as panspermia) when evolution was taught, but only because they weren't repeatable and thus can't be talked about in a scientific context, which, well, you can't ask God (or aliens) to create the earth again. What's more, its descriptions of the diversity of life painted this picture of a God who loved his creation so much that he slaved over every detail. So really, even learning about Godless Heathen Worldwide Darwinian Evolution (tm) pointed back to God.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Did anybody ever participate in the evil that is Christian Liberty Academy?

My family did it until I finished 8th grade. We started calling it Christian Slavery Academy because they were so exacting and gave us so much work we were doing homework for 10-12 hours a day, and then we had to work on Saturdays a little just to keep up. It was awful, absolutely awful.

Bah, I never understood why any school gives out so much home work. You don't get to spend any time with your family.

[Yuki-Anne]

Bah, I never understood why any school gives out so much home work. You don't get to spend any time with your family.

Unless you're homeschooled, in which case all that homework makes it so you're around your family all the time and never see anybody else.

[QtheQreater]

I went to public school kindergarten through first grade, but then mom found out about some things happening at school and took my brother and I out. I remember something about having rocks thrown at me, but I don't remember what else was going on.

I was homeschooled until college, with the last year of high school dual-enrolled at the community college. After that, I went to a private university.

I'd like to homeschool my kids if there's a good enough homeschooling group around. Not that my experience was amazing (it wasn't) and I feel like it's the only way to lovingly educate (I don't). Some kids actually need to be in the public or private school environment; some do better with homeschooling. There's no perfect way.

[Atria35]

I probably should have been homeschooled for elementary school but with our particular family situation it was impossible. But I was deeply unhappy for those grades, what with the severe emotional bullying and harassment that went on. I had no coping mechanism for dealing with it.

Of course, I suspect I would have been even more unhappy at home, because of entirely different reasons, and would have been even more emotionally and socially stunted than I was.

[Shao Feng-Li]

Unless you're homeschooled, in which case all that homework makes it so you're around your family all the time and never see anybody else.

I dunno. We mostly focused on reading, writing and math. Everything only took a few hours. My brother and I took martial arts classes, we had friends inside and outside of church. (Besides, I've never really felt a need for lots of friends or company anyway- I guess I'm kind of a loner) Not like we stayed inside from morning 'til night doing lessons XD I'm not opposed to traditional schooling though- I just don't like that you spend 6-8 hours there doing work and get another 5 hours worth at home. A friend of mine went to a Christian school like that. Just hours and hours worth of homework. Just have school go from 8AM to 8PM, you know? lol

and would have been even more emotionally and socially stunted than I was.

Personally, I don't think any of the schooling I went through had much bearing on my social interacting. I work in retail anyway, so I get all the social lessons I need real fast XD If anything, public school just made me dislike people,

[ShiroiHikari]

Yeah, the amount of homework that public schools give nowadays is kind of ridiculous. In kindergarten, we didn't have homework. My friends' daughter is in kindergarten and they give her like four freaking pages every night. Freaking seriously? If they don't have enough time to do work while they're at school then I think that's a problem.

[Ella Edric]

[quote="Radical Dreamer (post: 1461166)"]Not that it matters]

Agreed. But, I do think it's lessened a fair amount at Christian or private schools.

[mechana2015]

Agreed. But, I do think it's lessened a fair amount at Christian or private schools.

Actually the private christian schools where I lived were the place that quite a few of the students who were expelled from the public school attended, so that's where a lot of the kids that dealt drugs went. As far as I could tell my public HS had the same rate of pregnancy as RD's private school (about 2 people), unless I didn't see the rest of them somehow. I think the only private schools that actively reduce the risk of pregnancy are all boys or all girls schools.

[Cognitive Gear]

Agreed. But, I do think it's lessened a fair amount at Christian or private schools.

As someone whose entire network of friends and relatives went to a private Christian school, I can safely say that it does not. In my specific case, the statistics are actually slightly skewed towards the Christian school being worse once you start adding in the post-high school issues.

[Radical Dreamer]

Agreed. But, I do think it's lessened a fair amount at Christian or private schools.

Well, not necessarily. XD My entire private school, from 5k-12th grade, only had about 350-400 students in it. Given the number of drug problems, alcohol problems, and premarital sex/pregnancies, it's probably not too far off from a much more well-attended public high school, percentage-wise. Walking through my high school's hallways in 9th grade, I overheard kids using the same coarse language you'd hear at a public school. XD

The thing you have to remember about Christian schools is that a lot of the time, parents will send their kids there to "shape them up," thinking, "he behaves badly now, but that school will put him in his place!" So really, you get a mixture of people who want to be there and people who don't want to be there. Add to that a lot of unnecessary rules and regulations that private Christian schools tend to have, and the rebellious spirit grows very quickly. XD