Customer Reviews

Homeschooling: A Parents Guide to Teaching Children

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am an aide in an Illinois school, and I was appalled when I first started by how DUMBED-DOWN things are! Fourth graders are doing single digit addition and subtraction! I read this book and realized that my children are not going through such agony and boredom as the other unfortunate children in the public schools. This book gives reasons for shortcomings of the public school system, and makes for entertaining and enlightening reading. It is not a 'guide,' but it is certainly worth reading.

I don't know of much of anyone besides the NEA who think that the public school system is working. I suspect that teachers and principals would want a lower student to teacher ratio. Just because you don't mind the govenment controlling what your kids learn doesn't mean that the rest of us have to.

The book is written by a Christian, and therefore Christian opinions and principles shouldn't and can't be avoided with regards to this topic.

Just what parents need today. This book is not for the left thinking, anti-religious, politicaly correct type. Mr Blumenfeld discusses the need for parents to get thier kids out of the public school system, and keep them from being brainwashed by the government.

Unlike the subtitle suggests, this isn't much of a guide for parents to help them teach children, but rather a discussion about the concept of homeschooling and arguments for homeschooling.

I found that the book tended to ignore the value of children's emotional growth (rather than academic/intellectual growth), is US-centric, anti-sexuality education, pro-conservative religious education, and resorts to emotional arguments to support homeschooling.

Despite these attitude problems, the foundation of the book is good; it gives good reasons and supporting argument for homeschooling, encourages parents to do so, and supports the idea that all parents can homeschool if they choose to; you don't need to be a qualified teacher, you merely need to have the love and respect for your child to do what is best.

215 pages, no illustrations.

This book is more of a rant than a helpful resource. Blumenfeld seems to think the schools are out to kidnap our children. Granted, they are pretty awful, and homeschooling makes good sense, whether you are a Christian or just a parent interested in a decent education for your child (or both!) But there are so many better books on this subject, and if one wants a really good rant, read John Taylor Gatto's "Dumbing Us Down".

I don't know why the word "Guide" is in the title of this book. The whole thing reads out as the author's personal opinions and ramblings. He appears to be ultra conservative and sometimes down right backwards in his views. Not helpful in the least!

I was surprised that a book with the name "guide" was based so heavily on this author's personal religious convictions and idealogies. Couldn't get through it.

I hate to call any book a bad book, given the work it takes to put one together, but I can't in fairness say anything better about this one. I couldn't finish it. The first chapter was so full of unsubstantiated opinion and clear error as to make anything that followed utterly suspect. For instance, the author says that public schools teaching methods "...cause reading disabilities which are later diagnosed as dyslexia or attention deficit disorder." There are so many errors in this statement. First of all, ADD is not a reading disorder. Next, dyslexia can not be caused by any teaching method, and to say so is not only a completely unfair attack on every caring, hard working teacher in America, but is a cruel dismissal of a real problem faced by millions of students all over the world. I would agree that the public school system is unable to adequately deal with the problem of dyslexia, or to take advantage of the visual/special learning styles of these students, and I would encourage any parent of a dyslexic child to consider home schooling. But to blame dyslexia on the school system is ludicrous. By the way, he goes on to say that the schools us of "whole language" instead of "phonics" is to blame. I don't know about all schools, but my children were both taught phonics in school. Besides, there is some evidence that whole language may work better with dyslexic kids because they are so visual/special. This guy didn't do his homework.
I also don't like the way the author constantly introduces his ideas by saying "many suspect" or "there are those who" instead of giving some real basis for his ideas. Who are those "who" and "many"? After all, there are "those who" and "many believe" that the world is flat.

I wonder if the author had bad experiences in school. This is nothing more than a conservative rally around a VERY BAD idea...homeschooling. He sounds cynical & bad-mouths teachers & sees them as the "enemy." In fact, this book is an insult to the millions of teachers, principals, & educators who get up five mornings a week & teach our children to read, write, do math, understand right & wrong, & to think critically (even if it questions traditional beliefs). Come on...will there be a more civilized tomorrow if we were to pull our kids out of school, abolish formal education, & put the entire burden on parents? Parents may be the primary caregivers of their kids, but they do not raise children alone; they share the job with the community & schools whether they like to admit it or not. It sounds as some homeschooling advocates, mostly conservative Christian right-wingers, feel threatened by anyone or anything that challenges their narrow beliefs & think that kids should be kept at home in isolation as so not to be "corrupted" by different beliefs. Sounds like a perfect recipe for intolerance & prejudice. It also implies that kids are the personal "property" of their parents when the book hammers home the concept of American "freedom" for parents to do as they please with "their" kids. Moreover, it is a disservice to kids to fail to expose them to differing lifestyles, religious beliefs, & values, even those you may not agree with. If the homeschooling pundits had their way,, the States would surely decline, child abuse would go up, illiteracy would skyrocket, & bigotry & ignorance would destroy the freedom of this nation! If you cherish what America is supposed to stand for-freedom & justice for all, don't buy into this awful idea of homeschooling...back teachers & schools & mandatory school attendance so that tomorrow's genration can keep this country free & tolerant for all its people!