Vent: Complete and total lack of respect towards teachers on here

[Judy]

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With all due respect, I'm sure you are a wonderful teacher, and it is obvious in your postings about it that you do take your job seriously, but this paragraph is not really fair.

Not all of us homeschooling parents are drunks, lazy, or uninterested in our children. Nor are we all uneducated.

Huh????

She wasn't talking about parents who homeschool in this passage.

 

[FrizzleFreak]

My best ever teacher was Ms. Heather Anderson. She was my math teacher my 8th grade year, when I was a 13 yr old in an accelerated 10th grade class, with seniors, sophomores,and a few freshmen. Needless to say, I was scared witless, but she was the best math teacher I've ever had, perfect for my learning style.
She is now being laid off in favor of a person who should not be teaching. He has been accused of a few inappropriate touchings, and he just isn't the kind of teacher who will push you, which is what I need. He just doesn't seem to care, and when you're teaching something as important as highschool math, you need to care.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

There are bad teachers and there are good teachers and no I don't believe that everyone should homeschool just because they don't like the school. Most parents aren't qualified enough to homeschool. On the other hand, some are, that's all I have to say!

If it helps, I want to be a teacher.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

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Maybe I should have included the paragraph before that, because that paragraph referred to us that homeschool, so I took it to mean her entire post is aimed at homeschooling parents who complain about their schools, teachers, etc. and then choose to homeschool.

I do believe WoW has deep compassion for her job and her students, and I don't feel it is fair to lump all parents together, just as she doesn't feel it is fair for parents to lump all teachers together.

 

[WriterofWords]

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With all due respect, I'm sure you are a wonderful teacher, and it is obvious in your postings about it that you do take your job seriously, but this paragraph is not really fair.

Not all of us homeschooling parents are drunks, lazy, or uninterested in our children. Nor are we all uneducated. I am not sure about where you live, but where I live, parents must prove they have graduated highschool to homeschool until 8th grade, and college education to homeschool their highschool age children. I have both.

I chose to homeschool because my children were being bullied at school, being forced to throw their lunch out before they were finished eating so they wouldn't miss recess, and being kept at school when they were so sick they could barely stand.

No, parents shouldn't attack teachers, but nor should teachers attack parents. And neither group should be lumped all together as being the same ie Not all teachers are bad, and not all homeschooling parents are uninvolved, uneducated drunks.

Some of us have a real interest in knowing what our children are learning, and those of us who are want to be a part of that learning process, not the one who gets to hear at the end of the day, "Mom, I learned to read today!"

You, as a teacher, get to experience the excitement and the awe a child feels when they finally "get it" or they learn something new. I want to share that with my child. I was there when they learned to sit up, crawl, walk, talk, and potty trained. Why shouldn't I be the one to watch them learn to read, write, to count, and unlock all the secrets of science? Why shouldn't I, the parent, be the one to witness the wonder and awe in their eyes when they learn something new?

I, the parent, am their first teacher.

No where in anything I've written does it say that home schooling parents are drunks or lazy. I've also said that I home schooled my son for several years. That paragraph you centered on is one of many, and an example aimed at certain parents not all of them. It does not lump them all together in any way.
I firmly believe that all parents should be albe to experience exactly what you've described and if more were active in their children's classrooms they would get to experience this every day.
Yes, you the parent are their first teacher, that is wonderful to say isn't it? It's a shame that some can't or won't take the time to teach their children isn't it? Just think that if all parents were able to sit down with their children and help them with their homework, and see that it gets turned it, they would have those wonderful opportunities of seeing their children grow in knowledge.
But,,,, it's much easier to blame the teacher for not teaching their children the respect and management skills they need to do that work isn't it? The parent is the first teacher, SOME parents do a lousy job of it, just the same as some teachers.

 

[WriterofWords]

THIS THREAD IS NOT AIMED AT HOME SCHOOLING PARENTS. THIS THREAD IS MY OWN RANT ABOUT THE CONSTANT ATTACKS ON TEACHERS AND LACK OF RESPECT FOR WHAT WE DO WITH THE TOOLS WE ARE GIVEN AND THE LACK OF PARENTAL SUPPORT IN MANY CASES. I IN NO WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM, AM AGAINST HOME SCHOOLING, I DO FEEL HOWEVER THAT MANY WHO HOME SCHOOL ON HERE ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO DO IT ANY MORE THAN SOME TEACHERS ARE NOT QUALIFED TO DO IT.

 

[Chick_a_dee]

In Ontario I don't believe you can get your OSSD through homeschooling, I think you have to take the equivalency test, may of the kids I went to high school with in my last year were homeschooled kids whose parents sent them to school for the last semester or last year to get their OSSD.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

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Couldn't have said it any better!

 

[Rolsjo]

Great story, WoW! It perfectly illustrates what I think is wrong with schools today . . . the parents of the children! Unfortunately for you, you have chosen a thankless profession. There will be many students and parents who will not appreciate the time you put in for their children. I hope that there will be some gems in your classes that will grow up and have stories about you, their favorite teacher, the one who made a difference.

I haven't been on BYC long enough to see much teacher-bashing, but I'm not surprised it's there. People like to generalize and stereotype. We also are guilty of making our experiences the standard that all things are measured by.

Everyone just needs to relax a bit. Rants are for getting things off your chest. This isn't about being anti-homeschool or broadcasting the perfection of ALL teachers. It is a rant. Take it as such.

Those of us that do homeschool have a wide variety of reasons for doing so. For some, it may have been a bad experience with a teacher. But I'm guessing for most of us it is because of ideological differences regarding education. Isn't it great to live in America where we have the freedom to not only disagree, but follow our convictions?

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

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Please accept my apologies, I misunderstood your post.

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I wish all teachers felt this way. My experience with teachers and our school system was quite the opposite. They wanted parents to stay home, show up for parent teacher conferences, and point blank told us that once our children are on the bus, they are no longer my concern. One teacher accused me of being a "helicopter mom" because I liked to know exactly what my child did all day at school.

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Yes, it is a shame, because they are missing some wonderful, and I do mean wonderful, learning experiences.

My kids are experiencing things they can't at school. For science class, one of our experiments included going outside and turning over rocks and logs and comparing the sun starved grasses under them to the grass that was never covered.

We put eggs in the incubators and when we candled them, the kids drew pictures of what they saw, then got to watch the eggs hatch.

We've watched tadpoles grow into frogs.

We make shopping for groceries our math lesson.

They are learning how to grow a garden, how to recognize weeds from good plants, and how to operate a hoe properly.

The best part of all, is knowing they learned it from me.

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Personally, I think parents tend to put too much on the teachers, because we're responsible for teaching them the proper manners and people skills, not the teachers. Nor do I believe that certain subjects should be taught by the schools (like sex ed, religion, etc.). I believe there are certain subjects that should be left to the parents, and the parents should decide when to discuss those.

I hope I haven't offended you, that honestly was not my intentions.

edited for typo.