[Purple Haize]

We have a kid here who garnered national attention by speaking out against Common Core. He was awarded a free ride to Yale, Harvard, and UVA. He was SGA president as a junior at his school. He also plays in the band and occasionally leads worship for our high school ministry and he plays in the worship band in our weekend services. I guess his public school didn't teach him how to learn, adapt, and be able to be successful in whatever he puts his heart, soul and mind to.

Yes but none of that prove he can read, write or do arithmetic

[BJWilliams]

If you go back and read my original comments PH, I said many public schools. that said, I don't think that he will get the best opportunity for that in that setting. I will say that I did see a video of an excellent speech by a young man (we may be thinking of the same one Jon) regarding the Common Core standards. Anyway, having spent time in the public school system the past few months, while I've met some wonderful students in my travels across Norfolk and Chesapeake, when the time comes, as I said in my original comments, Michael is not going into the public schools.

[SuperJon]

How are you going to be able to afford private school? It's cheaper to go to public colleges than most private schools.

[BJWilliams]

We've been saving for his education since we found out we were having a baby and a friend accelerated the process by gifting us with a college savings account for him as well which once he is 18, should be more than enough. also, he will be well versed in seeking out scholarships for that as well. as far as K-12, we will cross that bridge when we get to it as far as paying for it

[01LUGrad]

So, before you pass judgement on everyone associated with the horrible public school system, take a minute to think about where Jesus spent pretty much every moment of his ministry (hint: it wasn't with the religious people).

when he was a child he did.

Hold it. We've only got one story from his childhood. I have a hard time believing that he made it to his 30th birthday before he had any interaction with non-religious people.

[RubberMallet]

oh so now we just are making assumptions i see

[jbock13]

We get it. Nobody said all public schools are bad.

I will say this as well... some Christian education programs are about as laughable as a rotton school district.

[BJWilliams]

Agreed jbock...even with private schools. if we go that route, we will have to do due diligence in research in the years to come

[Purple Haize]

Agreed jbock...even with private schools. if we go that route, we will have to do due diligence in research in the years to come

If? I thought it was definite?

[BJWilliams]

Just because I said we wouldn't put our son in public school doesn't automatically mean we are sending him to private school PH...we have a few years yet so we will do our due diligence in researching our educational options

[Purple Haize]

Just because I said we wouldn't put our son in public school doesn't automatically mean we are sending him to private school PH...we have a few years yet so we will do our due diligence in researching our educational options

Ahh, Homeschooling. 'The Third Way'

[BJWilliams]

Thats a consideration, but whatever route of the two we take, and it could be a combination of the two over those 13 years from K-12, we want to make sure its the best opportunity for him

[PAmedic]

scintilating

[ALUmnus]

BJ, you're doing it right. Save for school while you can, and do what's best for your kids. There are some instances where that's public school, but most of the time other options are better.

[RubberMallet]

school. is such a fickle and entwined conversation.

public schools get a bad rap deservedly so in many instances. there are reasons to have your children in public schools but to be honest, those benefits most of the time don't outweigh the costs.

private institutions many times offer accelerated schedules that allow for faster learning but also the freedom in curriculum require constant review.

homeschooling is an avenue growing in popularity. but takes constant managment. Its a huge time consumer for the parent who has to prepare, but also doesn't have the luxury of the kids being gone 8 hours a day to accomplish other tasks. You also have to find other avenues for your kids to get to spend time with other kids but you have the opportunity to have more of a hands on interaction with that.

there are great public schools. its all about the teachers and who your children get. we have a few great schools around here. i'd have no problem sending my children to them if we had to.

the one constant in all of these things is the parents. its up to parents to guide their children's learning. school is a tool. this is one of the hindrances of public schools. the school day is too long and its too long because too many parents use it for free baby sitting. even the best of public schools are hamstrung by worthless parents who've created more "in the way" children who drag everything down. I can get around curriculum (lets be honest by curriculum we mean ZOMG EVOLUTION) but i can't get behind my kids wasting most of their days because of children who don't care being raised by parents who don't care. what you get are school staff who become apathetic and its hard to blame them.

your kids not being Christ followers after school IS A PROBLEM WITH YOU.....not because they attended X school.

[ATrain]

Mallett speaks the truth. The key, as I tell new trainees, when decided childhood disability cases is to be able to tell the difference between a dysfunctional child and a dysfunctional family.

[jbock13]

Agreed jbock...even with private schools. if we go that route, we will have to do due diligence in research in the years to come

You can put it on the board... yes!!!!!!

One point for me.

[flamehunter]

Has anybody on here gone the online route for school, like Liberty Online Academy? Do you think that will take off like it has for colleges and universities? My kids are grown and we tried homeschooling some early on; I wonder if we had that option back in the day if it might have worked better for us than traditional homeschooling.

[Purple Haize]

the one constant in all of these things is the parents. its up to parents to guide their children's learning. school is a tool. this is one of the hindrances of public schools. the school day is too long and its too long because too many parents use it for free baby sitting. even the best of public schools are hamstrung by worthless parents who've created more "in the way" children who drag everything down. I can get around curriculum (lets be honest by curriculum we mean ZOMG EVOLUTION) but i can't get behind my kids wasting most of their days because of children who don't care being raised by parents who don't care. what you get are school staff who become apathetic and its hard to blame them.

your kids not being Christ followers after school IS A PROBLEM WITH YOU.....not because they attended X school.

Which is why some kids NEED to be left behind

[fan00]

your kids not being Christ followers after school IS A PROBLEM WITH YOU.....not because they attended X school.

I was with you until this point. While this may be the case in some instances, I think you are painting the picture with an awfully broad brush! I have known plenty of parents who raised their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, only to have children walk away from the faith as adults. What about parents who have raised multiple children, all faithfully, and some of the children walk away while others don't. I know this conversation is mainly about public vs. private education, and parents' influence being primary regardless of schooling, but saying it was a problem with parenting isn't always accurate. I feel sorry for Godly parents who have Biblically raised seemingly faithless children-I think they put enough blame on themselves without the rest of us heaping it on.

[RubberMallet]

the one constant in all of these things is the parents. its up to parents to guide their children's learning. school is a tool. this is one of the hindrances of public schools. the school day is too long and its too long because too many parents use it for free baby sitting. even the best of public schools are hamstrung by worthless parents who've created more "in the way" children who drag everything down. I can get around curriculum (lets be honest by curriculum we mean ZOMG EVOLUTION) but i can't get behind my kids wasting most of their days because of children who don't care being raised by parents who don't care. what you get are school staff who become apathetic and its hard to blame them.

your kids not being Christ followers after school IS A PROBLEM WITH YOU.....not because they attended X school.

Which is why some kids NEED to be left behind

yes. eventually your children will have to deal with them. either as a hindrance to their education or as a social burden down the road.

[RubberMallet]

your kids not being Christ followers after school IS A PROBLEM WITH YOU.....not because they attended X school.

I was with you until this point. While this may be the case in some instances, I think you are painting the picture with an awfully broad brush! I have known plenty of parents who raised their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, only to have children walk away from the faith as adults. What about parents who have raised multiple children, all faithfully, and some of the children walk away while others don't. I know this conversation is mainly about public vs. private education, and parents' influence being primary regardless of schooling, but saying it was a problem with parenting isn't always accurate. I feel sorry for Godly parents who have Biblically raised seemingly faithless children-I think they put enough blame on themselves without the rest of us heaping it on.

you claim broad strokes brushed, then expand the statement to an all encompassing position. if a parent were to would say "my child stopped being a christian BECAUSE they went to a public school", the school is not the problem, is the point. In the end, when you combine all life experiences, the onus falls on the individual. there is no doubt.

[fan00]

That's why I prefaced the statement with "this may be the case in some instances." Regardless, you and I agree, that the onus falls on the individual.

[RubberMallet]

it would probably be the case in every instance in this specific scenario (a parent that would blame the public schools on their child's prodigal son moment).

[Yacht Rock]

The challenge with children is that it's scary to send your kids to an institution where the values that are commonplace and sometimes taught are against everything you are trying to teach your kids. It can make parenting much more difficult. Kids obviously as they mature need to be exposed to the world outside of a Christian bubble but sometimes at a young age they don't have the ability to discern.

Before we moved to Virginia we were homeschooling our daughter in California due to our experience with the public schools there. We had pretty much decided that by the time she reached middle school we would place her back into public school because we felt by then she would be better equipped to handle some of the challenges of maintaining and defending a Christian worldview among her teachers and friends.

Needless to say we moved out here and now have her in a Christian Private school which has been a blessing not only in her growing faith but in her studies as well.

When we lived in California I would volunteer at my high school alma mater for their theatre program for the last 15 years. I saw many things that were once forbidden by the administration and teachers that became okay over time. I was actually told at one point that I might be too Christian to help out anymore. It made some students feel uncomfortable. What was I guilty of you ask? I would read my Bible in my downtime. LOL