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Denying Your Child an Education with Critical Thinking Skills

Troublemane

Well-Known Member
There, and in places where people are just plain scared to send their kids to public schools that need metal detectors at the doors. Whoa! Not everyone can afford a private school, so, I would think home schooling might seem an attractive alternative. :D
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Nothing like raising kids to be idiots. As if that don't happen often enough, anyway.
 

xkatz

Well-Known Member
To be fair, there is little to no emphasis placed on critical thinking skills in education in the US at all.

As a US high-school student, I concur. One of the biggest issues is being "taught to the test". We just learn what we need for the test and we don't really learn much else.
 

MysticSang'ha

Big Squishy Hugger
Premium Member
Home schooling textbooks are short on the theory of evolution. If I had to bet, I'd be willing to gamble that the percentage of home schooled kids living in the Bible belt is much higher than the percentage living in the more enlightened areas of our country.

Think Progress » Home-school textbook market dominated by books skeptical of evolution.

Sadly, this is true.

There are secular homeschooling consortiums, of which my daughter and I are members of in St. Louis. It's always refreshing to be around other families who educate their children for the very reason to teach them to think critically.

Our daughter looks at Creationist material and usually says, "Seriously? What are they thinking?" :D
 

The_Evelyonian

Old-School Member
Home schooling textbooks are short on the theory of evolution. If I had to bet, I'd be willing to gamble that the percentage of home schooled kids living in the Bible belt is much higher than the percentage living in the more enlightened areas of our country.

Think Progress » Home-school textbook market dominated by books skeptical of evolution.

Well, to be fair, we wouldn't want worldly wisdom to interfere with the children's spiritual growth. :sarcastic
 

Panda

42?
Premium Member
I have always found the ideal of home school plain odd. In general I have always been against the idea unless the parent is a qualified teacher even then I don't like it.
 

MysticSang'ha

Big Squishy Hugger
Premium Member
I have always found the ideal of home school plain odd. In general I have always been against the idea unless the parent is a qualified teacher even then I don't like it.

Well, for millenia, informal education happened in the home as a result of the parent-child bond. Kids learned largely what the parents immersed themselves in. Boarding schools and private tutelage was entirely the realm of the elite classes.

There are plenty of studies showing that homeschooling itself does not cause a child to grow up uneducated and/or unable to work with their peers upon entering adulthood. It's what is indoctrinated into the kids' heads that is contrary to the adult social realm is what cripples them.

I agree, homeschoolers who teach from a religious perspective are a group that I part ways with, but their material is rarely much different than what is taught in many parochial schools....only difference is that it's a LOT cheaper. :D
 

Gabethewiking

Active Member
What makes a Parent think they are Qualified to educate their kids about Math, Science and History?

These people seem to just lie and make it up as they go along, whiles If I do not know or are uncertain about something, I TELL ME KIDS "I dont know, I can have a look at it and see what I find if you want".. But these people actually know.. EVERYTHING...

Whiles knowing nothing.. Amazing.
 

TheKnight

Guardian of Life
Home schooling textbooks are short on the theory of evolution. If I had to bet, I'd be willing to gamble that the percentage of home schooled kids living in the Bible belt is much higher than the percentage living in the more enlightened areas of our country.

Think Progress » Home-school textbook market dominated by books skeptical of evolution.

You know, as a non-political Theistic Evolutionist, one of the things I've always hated about those who are political evolutionists is their sincere belief that children must learn about evolution. You speak about evolution like fundamentalist baptist ministers of the fifties would speak of the Bible.

Just as the Bible is not necessary for obtaining a successful life, neither is knowledge of evolution.

So what if home school text books are short on evolutionary theory? I don't know if you knew this, but the theory of evolution is not the embodiment of all critical thinking. It is not necessary to develop critical thinking, and the chances that your average person entering the work force will need to know more than the basic ideas of evolution are slim to none.

Please do us all a favor and get off your high horse.

The fact that a type of education lacks extensive or favorable mention of evolutionary theory does not mean that you are depriving a child of an education with critical thinking skills. Give me a break.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Evolution is surely among the top dozen or so theories in science. I don't think ignorance of it is anything to condone. That's like condoning ignorance of the Germ Theory of Disease. Do you really want to do that?
 

The Voice of Reason

Doctor of Thinkology
You know, as a non-political Theistic Evolutionist, one of the things I've always hated about those who are political evolutionists is their sincere belief that children must learn about evolution. You speak about evolution like fundamentalist baptist ministers of the fifties would speak of the Bible.

Just as the Bible is not necessary for obtaining a successful life, neither is knowledge of evolution.

So what if home school text books are short on evolutionary theory? I don't know if you knew this, but the theory of evolution is not the embodiment of all critical thinking. It is not necessary to develop critical thinking, and the chances that your average person entering the work force will need to know more than the basic ideas of evolution are slim to none.

Please do us all a favor and get off your high horse.

The fact that a type of education lacks extensive or favorable mention of evolutionary theory does not mean that you are depriving a child of an education with critical thinking skills. Give me a break.
If you think that these people are withholding the theory of evolution for their kids, but teaching them critical thinking skills in other areas, I'd like to hear it. Do you suppose these parents are telling their kids to simply hold their critical thinking skills in check when the subject is evolution, but to kick them back into high gear when they need to work out issues of morality? Discrediting evolution is only one step in the efforts of fundamentalists to try to drive this country toward a theocracy.

Do me a favor, and try not to act like the rest of us are so naive that we can't see where the bus you are driving is heading. If you want to deceive your own kids and thwart their minds, that's sad. If you want me to turn a blind eye, you're out of luck.
 

Riverwolf

Amateur Rambler / Proud Ergi
Premium Member
To be fair, there is little to no emphasis placed on critical thinking skills in education in the US at all.

Yeah. Many parents simply don't have the luxury of providing their children with critical thinking education, seeing as public schools do nothing but shove facts (some of which are twisted, if not downright false, when it comes to history), and many parents are too tired to help their children.
 

TheKnight

Guardian of Life
Evolution is surely among the top dozen or so theories in science. I don't think ignorance of it is anything to condone. That's like condoning ignorance of the Germ Theory of Disease. Do you really want to do that?

Anything more than a basic knowledge of evolutionary theory is bound to be superfluous to the person not entering a scientific field. Extensive knowledge of evolutionary theory is not necessary for every child to learn.

If you think that these people are withholding the theory of evolution for their kids, but teaching them critical thinking skills in other areas, I'd like to hear it.
Do you honestly think that teaching critical thinking can only be done through teaching evolution? If that is the case then there really is nothing to discuss with you.

Do you suppose these parents are telling their kids to simply hold their critical thinking skills in check when the subject is evolution, but to kick them back into high gear when they need to work out issues of morality? Discrediting evolution is only one step in the efforts of fundamentalists to try to drive this country toward a theocracy.
You are reading into my post what was not there. My point was that a person doesn't need to learn about evolution to learn critical thinking. Critical thinking can be learned in subjects like linguistics, philosophy, mathematics, etc. Evolution is not the be all end all of critical thought.

Do me a favor, and try not to act like the rest of us are so naive that we can't see where the bus you are driving is heading. If you want to deceive your own kids and thwart their minds, that's sad. If you want me to turn a blind eye, you're out of luck.

How nice that someone complaining about a lack of critical thinking in education does not seem to care for the use of critical thinking in the formulation of his opinions. Thank God for rational people like you.

[/sarcasm]
 

blackout

Violet.
Not all "homeschoolers" use prepackaged "homeschooling" cirriculums either.

Many people pull their own resources from varied places.

Just saying.
 

Riverwolf

Amateur Rambler / Proud Ergi
Premium Member
Well, to be fair, we wouldn't want worldly wisdom to interfere with the children's spiritual growth. :sarcastic

Oh, yeah, because, as we all know, spiritual growth is completely incompatible with knowledge of the material world; I mean, after all, it's not like you have to be intelligent to be a highly respected spiritual teacher.:sarcastic:sarcastic (Oh, wait. That does often happen. :facepalm: Seriously, there's a difference between a spiritual teacher who knows what she's talking about, and is actually knowledgeable on the subject at hand while admitting to certain faults, and a person who claims to know God and/or be fully enlightened, while spewing out total nonsense dressed up in pretty garb.)

(having two sarcastic smiles automatically releases me from copycat status. Right? Right??)
 
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