Shirley A Richardson-McCourt

Shirley says:

Thank you, Melissa. Homeschoolers are not all white middle-class
suburbanites. We are all colors of the rainbow, from every socio-economic
strata, from all over the country and throughout the world. We are college
educated, high-school graduates, doctors of philosophy, beauty school
graduates, farmers, and mechanics (among others). We are male and female. We
are married and single. We are employed outside our homes...or not. We are
every religion and belief system imaginable. But the one thing that we have
in common is a loving concern for our children that was strong enough for us
to decide to take their educational future into our hands. Most of us did
not remove our children from public school as much to get them "away" from
things, as to move them toward things....things like acceptance for people
as they are, not for what they have...things like exploring the world and
gathering the knowledge therein for the joy of it, not for a letter
grade...things like getting to truly know themselves as valuable people,
even if they are not "team players"....things like having a mind open to new
ideas and new people,no matter where they live, or what accent they have, or
how they earn their living, or where they or their ancestors were born. At
least these are some of the things that we hope our children will gain from
our decision to homeschool them. Otherwise, what's it all for? So the
implication that "some" people haven't the motivation or ability or caring
to homeschool disturbed me deeply.

We can do better than this, folks.

We MUST do better than this.
----- Original Message -----
From: Melissa Wood <bbsmum@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, September 04, 2000 2:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Spanking


>
> I have been on this group for a while and have just read everyone's post
and I
> am appalled at what I have been reading. I joined to get ideas and help
with
> unschooling my child. Some of the name calling I have read is childish.
I know
> that everyone has different opinions on spanking and abuse. It is a very
> difficult subject for everyone to discuss, but come on. As far as someone
who
> is a "hick" and someone can't believe they actually homeschool. As far as
I am
> concerned, the Lord has directed me to homeschool. You have to be an
> intelligent, loving parent to want to stay home with your child and be in
charge
> of their future as far as working at McDonald's or as an attorney. To do
such
> an important and amazing thing, you are by far, not a "hick". To even
decide to
> do this, you are in a way, above others who don't. All of us on here care
about
> our children. I am not saying we are better than anyone else. We just
love our
> children. Therefore, this list should be a loving helpful group of
friends who
> talk about how there day is going and an occasional debate is fine, but
this
> name calling is for the public school system. We should all be there for
each
> other and help with the day to day problems of homeschooling. How would
you
> look to your kids if they got on here and read the name calling? Would
you not
> set such a sorry example for them? Just speaking my opinion. Tired of
the junk
> I am reading. Melissa
>
>
>
> Valerie wrote:
>
>
>
> >
> > >>One time I was hysterical because my
> > finger was profusely bleeding. I wouldn't stop screaming and flinging
blood
> > all over the bathroom. She spanked me sharply and I immediately calmed
down.
> > I was glad she did it.>>
> >
> > and the problem with having such strong emotions is????? Also the
problem
> > with having blood in the bathroom is???? So what, there's blood in the
> > bathroom... Ah, just like another mother I know, maybe your mother
didn't
> > want to have to clean it up and all her control issues came to the
> > surface...
> > Very classic Psychology 101,
> >
> > Dawn F
> >
> > No, no, no.....you're not getting it. I was hysterical. I needed to hold
> > still so she could stop the bleeding. I couldn't even hear her saying
"Stop!
> > Hold still!" over my own frightened screaming. (I cut myself trying to
make
> > lunch.) She gave me one simple stinging swat on the tush and it brought
me
> > back to earth. She didn't care about cleaning up the mess. She knew she
> > needed to stop the bleeding. And she was certainly used to my strong
> > emotions. If she had had a problem with that, I would have received a
lot
> > more than 3 spankings in my entire life. Not a control issue at all,
unless
> > you count first-aid as a control issue. The spanking was a simple
attention
> > getter. No ill effects and no therapy needed.
> >
> > ----Valerie
> >
> > Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> > Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
> >
> > Addresses:
> > Post message: [email protected]
> > Unsubscribe: [email protected]
> > List owner: [email protected]
> > List settings page: http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
>
>
>
>
> Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
>
> Addresses:
> Post message: [email protected]
> Unsubscribe: [email protected]
> List owner: [email protected]
> List settings page: http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom
>
>
>

Dawn Falbe

Very well put Shirley... I didn't want to cut and paste because the
entire message was well written and thought out.

Dawn F