Government meddling always has unintended consequences

Home schooling isn’t easy. It requires much preparation time, research into daily/monthly/yearly learning objectives, homework assignment and testing, and especially learning how children learn. I homeschooled my oldest child, but stopped after a year. I was able to create a much more advanced curriculum than the school curriculum, so my daughter jumped 2-3 grades, in three subjects, after that homeschooling. But, honestly, it was far too much work for both of us. I now see no advantage in rushing a child through grades. My children both have/will earned almost 1/3 to 1/2 of their college credits, while in high school, but I also now see that was unnecessary. Why rush them through college? The teen years should be enjoyed.

After that one year of homeschooling experience, I enrolled both of my children in a charter school. I was very pleased with the results. Before charter school, I carefully paid attention to my children’s public-school educations. The leftist indoctrination really is as severe as you’ve been reading, because teachers are rather social creatures, so they are quite impressionable, adopting the socialism they learn in college. But, even worse than this indoctrination is the toxicity of children in public schools. Stand by the front doors of any American Middle School and High School and listen to the childrens’ conservations (I did this, because I had to wait for my children when I picked them up). You’ll be shocked by the language and topics. Most children are not properly parented, so they end up quite depraved. Drugs and psychological problems are rampant. Charter schools have this too, but they are not nearly as toxic as public schools.

Private school are teaching this garbage, too. How about those two mothers at Columbus Academy? And those expensive private schools in Manhattan?

No doubt there’s that, Sir Canning, but at least you have a choice in the matter. I am against all government supported schooling. Do you realize how much tax money gets wasted in Government Schools? In some place it’s $10,000 to $15,000 per student. It could be done better for 1/4 of that by people who have a vested interest and aren’t uncaringly wasteful. I’ve seen it and could relate an anecdote if you want to hear it.

I have talked to former teachers, and without exception they say the school system crushes the spirit of dedicated teachers, so they went and did something else.

So much of this article is purely delusional.
As Ilana Mercer has demonstrated CRT has nothing to do with “socialism”. Quite the opposite — it’s part of elites’ “divide & rule” tactics.
Dr Paul really is pretty far gone — his views are not ideological in nature —
“The government and history sections of the curriculum emphasize Austrian economics, libertarian political theory, and the history of liberty. However, unlike government schools, my curriculum never puts ideological indoctrination ahead of education.”. [my italics]
Noooo — “Austrian economics ” is not ideological at all… give me a break….

General education should end after sixth grade, when the population can read and do some complex calculations. Thereafter, entry into the profession should begin with an apprenticeship program.

There are more problems than Rep. Paul thinks. Keeping all young people together with their peers from adolescence to adulthood in the absence of adult wisdom in society greatly distorts their worldview, excluding the elderly and creating their own new cultures unlike their parents’. In addition, since adolescents do not work with their parents for long, they begin to perceive them only as inconveniences.

Homeschooling by the parents themselves is good, but it’s also complicated and not for everyone.

Why not hiring private tutors like in olden times?

Or create your own non-leftist unofficial community school, something like a shared homeschooling initiative. I don’t know. There are options. If people don’t look for them, it’s because they don’t want them.

I think the mistake started with compulsory education. The sad truth is that most people were and are happier being illiterate or semi-illiterate. And those that aren’t , in current times, you can’t tell much of the difference…

As someone said, a few hundreds of years ago, most children’s education would not go beyond the 12 years of age… But it was still better than current education.

What’s better, an empty glass, or a glass filled with contaminated putrid water?

I was able to create a much more advanced curriculum than the school curriculum, so my daughter jumped 2-3 grades, in three subjects, after that homeschooling. But, honestly, it was far too much work for both of us. I now see no advantage in rushing a child through grades.

In theory, if your daughter studied two or three times faster than her peers, you could have spent half the effort to keep her on par with her peers, with much time leftover in order that “The teen years should be enjoyed.”

Stand by the front doors of any American Middle School and High School and listen to the childrens’ conservations (I did this, because I had to wait for my children when I picked them up). You’ll be shocked by the language and topics. Most children are not properly parented, so they end up quite depraved.

Also, try comparing the behavior of children on television shows today with those of children in years gone by. Children of the sixties show are respectful and nice. Kids in modern TV shows are sassy and disgusting creatures, and much of the humor comes from wise young people overcoming their parents’ madness. And now, of course, TV shows are directly promoting sodomy and genital mutilation.

After a quick perusal:

The programme looks a bit amateurish, and the lack of active involvement by trained educators of any sort during a student’s studies should worry prospective ‘customers’. (from the website: “This is a self-taught curriculum. If a student gets stuck, another student may be able to help him.”)

Also: no mention of any standardized assessments such as the internationally accepted IGCSE? See the section entitled “What Does a College Admissions Committee Want to See in a Homeschooler’s Transcripts?” for a bit of double-speak.

Sorry Dr. Paul. I would need to see a much more detailed curriculum framework rather than the individual course syllabi.

The price is right. If a group of bright parents got together to share teaching and guidance tasks, then this would be a decent foundation to build upon provided that the students were working towards passing the IGCSE.

Just my 88 cents worth.

In theory, if your daughter studied two or three times faster than her peers, you could have spent half the effort to keep her on par with her peers, with much time leftover in order that “The teen years should be enjoyed.”

In theory, yes, but practically, no. To teach to children of differing abilities, schools have replaced instruction that avoids higher cognitive function, with instruction that mostly requires a child to memorize. They’ve done this to reach all students. Some students have higher IQ (a numerical measure of many cognitive functions that also includes memory “functions”), but all students have roughly the same ability to memorize. Common Core equalized the students, by replacing thinking with memorization. I had to meet the state objectives of the present common-core curriculum that relies almost solely on memorization, but I supplemented it with my own objectives. The common-core part required 40-70 hours per week of instruction and homework.

My supplemental content included “new math” from the 1960s, that emphasized the rigor and mathematical advances over the past 200 years. Common Core teaches very archaic math — almost everything dates from Euclid Geometry to Newton’s Calculus, yet mathematics has undergone a revolution, in the past 150 years. “New Math” in the 1960s, was an attempt to update the math taught in K-12, to include set theory, group theory, and other foundational concepts in the newer math. Common core also has eliminated much of the grammar, logic, and rhetoric in English, so I had to supplement that. In the mid-1970s, the NCTE (National Council of English Teachers) began eliminating grammar and rigor from the English curriculum, because of the notion that it doesn’t respect e.g. black’s use of language then. Today, there is almost no formal instruction in English, so I supplemented the common core curriculum with old instruction in this. In Math, English, and Science, my daughter shot up 2-3 grades in one year, by this approach. It’s not hard to do — most average and beyond students (students that can think and don’t need to memorize) can easily do this.

Critical Race Theory is just a variant of Marxist Critical Theory. It’s a Marxist approach to overthrow a power structure that is opposed to Marxist principles. The “Critique (Critical)” is the use of language to help overthrow the power structure. In Critical Race Theory, the Marxist use language and behaviors, such as white guilt and virtue signaling, to oppose the power structure, by claiming whites have been systematically oppressing blacks. The Marxists know that’s not true, but they know that guilt and virtue signaling are highly effective in controlling the Intelligentsia in the Media, Government and Corporations. It’s been effectively used in countless Marxist revolutions, since the first in Tsarist Russia.

Yes, that’s why I wrote “in theory”. 🙂

The types of further education you mentioned (as well as attempts to equalize IQ) are one of the reasons I would consider alternative schooling. Have you found there are good charter school options out there that also aim to meet these goals? Or were they hindered by the requirements of state educational programs?

There are lots of options for homeschooling now. I know some families who do what is called “tutorial” where the student goes to “school” with tutors for 2 days and then does homework for 3 days.

I have visited a certain private Christian school that I was very impressed with. They taught the “trivium”. Students learned latin and greek and spent a lot of time reading the classics – the illiad, Herodotus, Caesar, as well as the English classics. In their art classes the students painted copies of European masterpieces. The history classes are based- students roll and shoot their own musket cartridges. I wish that my education had been like that. Reading garbage like Raisin in the Sun, To Kill a Mockingbird, etc., was not fun.

‘General education should end after sixth grade, when the population can read and do some complex calculations. ‘

I am of the opinion students can graduate from High School and still not be able to do complex calculations.

‘Or create your own non-leftist unofficial community school, something like a shared homeschooling initiative.’

I think this is a good idea, but keep in mind big government can invalidate this.

‘To teach to children of differing abilities, schools have replaced instruction that avoids higher cognitive function, with instruction that mostly requires a child to memorize. ‘

Right! Schools do not teach students to think, they teach not to think.

Charter schools, in my state, must be accredited. To do that, they must follow the State Standard, or some standard, with auditing. I wouldn’t recommend deviating from the state standards though, because if you replace it, you need to develop your own. That’s a huge effort in determining learning objectives and a curriculum to support it. When your child applies for a college, the college will likely chose their candidates from a pool of students that meet basic educational standards set by the State, as proven by their accredited K-12 schools.

My children’s charter school has about 100 students per grade. It specializes in Classical studies. I highly recommend classical studies. My children just loved learning in-depth classical works. Through it, they become self motivated and enthused about that subject, which gave them the self motivation and joy of learning, to study in other subjects. The charter school was able to tailor the classical studies to meet State standards for K-12.

You really have to experience classical studies to see why that educational model is superior to the common-core model. For mathematics, the 1960’s New Math model is even more superior, because it teaches children the foundations of modern mathematics, rather than the archaic math they learn in Common Core. You can’t get both of these in any Charter School that I know, but I taught it to my oldest child in homeschool.

Right! Schools do not teach students to think, they teach not to think.

Yes and no. More than 3/4 of school children would struggle in a curriculum that required thinking instead of memorization. American schools, at least the ones that I’ve seen, don’t segregate children by abilities, so to create a curriculum, you have to use a skill that ALL children can use proficiently. Even charter schools are not allowed to select students by ability, so they also must rely on memorization.

Yes, schools have to use objective criterion because that is easier then subjective.
Translation – Common Sense and Good Judgement take a back seat.

I didn’t have any [Agree]s left, but how about a [Heartedly Agree], Dumbo?

Well, if you believe Ilana Mercer, there’s no hope for you.

Rand Paul (like his father before him) is a STATIST. He clearly thinks that the FEDGOV is legitimate… when it no longer is. As Market Ticker has noted of the Arizona election fraud:

” the Trump voter’s idol was a limp-dick ego-obsessed nutjob unwilling to commit when faced with what he claimed to believe was a direct violation of the most-sacred of alleged rights protected in the United States — the right of the people to choose their representatives in government.

Without that this is not a Republic, it is a dictatorship.

Hyperbole? What are Biden’s calls for organized censorship directed by the White House of anything he deems “misinformation”? That’s wildly-unconstitutional and anyone with a shred of honesty knows that even the threat of such is justification for a revolt standing alone.

This is no different than Hitler coming across the ocean (or Xi for that matter) and seizing power. If in point of fact Trump believed that was occurring as President he had an obligation to stop it by any means necessary, including at the cost of his own life.”

Damn straight.

I no longer think this nation is legitimate. I augur for Secession from Yankeedom. A White, Christian Ethnostate- with no Darkies, no Jews, and NO SODOMITES.

In addition, Compulsory Education without an explicitly Christian Religious basis is ANTICHRIST education… which means it’s SATANIC indoctrination.

No taxes for Public Schools: Religious establishment, First Amendment Violation.
No FEDGOV telling us that Trannies are some tertium Quid; they’re not- they’re just men in a dress.
And Bruce Jenner is not only ugly, he’s SICK.
That the Blacks are NOT inferior (IQ, sexual restraint, anger management) in so many areas. Because they ARE inferior.
That “for us and our Posterity’ does NOT mean White, Anglo types… Because it does.

Done. Put a fork in it.

I used to be regularly active in public school projects and support. At one time I served on the school board. One of our children became a teacher whom for years the parents requested to have as their children’s teacher. After 10 years our child resigned from teaching. Not dis-spirited with teaching children, but totally disillusioned with the direction of education and the numbness of school administration and its effect on the children, teachers and community. I became dis-spirited, defeated by group think and frankly minds that substituted theory and idealism for reality and critical thinking.

My efforts lasted for 20 years. Our child figured it out in 10. Smarter than me.

What do you mean, $10-15K “in some places”?

Across 50 states + DC, the average must be ~$19K. That’s right. In the inner city (i.e. most crappiest) districts, the figure is probably closer to $30K.

The oft-quoted (political) figures always deliberately fail to count very real expenses such as capital costs, interest, and PERS; also, increasingly and alarmingly, federal outlays. They also neglect to impute the costs involved with school tax collection itself, e.g. half of what keeps the the assessment offices operating, 2% of what the private sector collects in sales tax, and so forth.

Like you, I disagree with Dr. Paul. A_p_e and almost overnight the private sector will come in to deliver all the effective education services that parents desire, during operating hours convenient to them, at price points they can afford.

We’d have a lot less government, too.

‘Rand Paul (like his father before him) is a STATIST.’

Absolutely not! Rand, like his father, believes the government has exceeded its legitimate role.
This is not the position of a Statist. A Statist would contend the government has not exceeded it role enough.

Let’s rewrite history. Let’s pretend we are God’s chosen people and deserve everything we have taken by force. There is no sense in visiting this issue from any other perspective. Besides, everyone knows everything that is wrong in this world can be pinned on the Jews, like Catholic pedophiles and Ted Bundy.

Bully for you rural guy — you are so far out there’s no O2 left.
If you actually think CRT is about changing the Capitalist mode of production, then, well — enjoy your navel gazing.

ruralguy has a point. CRT may or may not be true, but the people proposing this consider truth to be irrelevant.

“CRT may or may not be true,”
Er…. not true?
But, yes, correct, it’s boosters are, shall we say, “truth ambivalent ” ?
Nar, let’s not say that — let’s call them: cynical liars. Much more accurate.

Private schools also teach this garbage. My Son was enrolled at a posh Manhattan Protestant school with chapel every morning. Super old school yankee Conservative appearing on the surface, but …

By 3rd grade it became very clear the place was a ideological driven madhouse with the kids pumped full of the most preposterous ideas. We pulled him out after the 4th grade.

If one can homeschool, do it. You will be thankful later.