Thad Martin

hi,

our local homeschool group (aah - austin area homeschoolers) covered
this article and the following was sent by peggy to
dbiggers@.... thought you might find it interesting.

-susan
austin,tx
Mr. Biggers:

Please forward this letter on to Mr. Tom Danehy who is not listed as
part of your staff, nor does he have listed an
email address link from your page. Might this lack of information be
due to his intolerance to email which would in
all probably, contradict his articles?

I read the above referrenced article via the internet. I am sure you
are receiving numerous letters opposing the
ideas of Mr. Danehy; so what's one more?

I am very sorry for Mr. Danehy. His life must be extremely closed off
from "real" (and very interesting) people and
his mind just a miniature, darkened forest of slow synaptic action.
Anyone, who in his apparent sincerety, believes
that all homeschoolers educate the same and for the same reasons is,
<grin, tongue in cheek>, grossly uneducated in
this particular subject. However, the real problem I see is that he
has the temerity to produce such quibble on a
world-wide forum so that his ignorance is not only on display to the
inhabitants of Tucson, but now, just envision
the multitude of people who have seen what type of person (possibly the
Tuscon) public school system has
produced.

I would like to give you a little education, Mr. Danehy. I have been
home educating my sons since I was pregnant
with the first one. My oldest is 9 and the younger son is 5. My
husband and I both believe that there can be more
to education that what traditional schools are able to offer. When a
child is in a classroom for most of the day, they
come home, are required to continue their education at the kitchen table
and then get ready for another day, just
like all the other ones; and thus, there is really no time left for
additional activities that the school is unable or
unwilling to provide. Surely you could not argue that the influence of
the other students and the teacher would
outweigh the fundamental ideas of the child's parents. This you might
be saying is good. Well it isn't. I will assume
also that you do not have children or do not have the luxury of "really
knowing" how and what your child thinks
and feels. Most home educators are open minded and alert to the needs
and desires of their children. We do not,
generally, want our children to have any predudices towards others. As
a matter of fact, my boys do not yet, and
hopefully will not ever, have first hand knowledge of anyone being made
to feel inadequate because of their race or
their religion or their disability. They are exposed, on a daily
basis, to many different life styles. At this point in
their lives, a difference is only a difference; it is in their minds a
natural co-existance. They are not educated at
home in order to instill far right wing (or left wing) ideas. We are
not "religious wackos" with an anti-government
agenda to fulfill. I own my business( Plum Creek RV Resort ) and am not
a die-hard developer but not an extreme
environmentalist. I have succeeded as an entrepreneur in my name
without assistance from anyone, except for
the people who I employ. My husband has done the same. And our
children are raised to believe in the "American
Dream" and that with hard work, it will come true. I believe in
free-speech, free-will, and hopes for a life of
happiness. I am a christian who takes my children to Sunday School, but
that is not the basis for home educating.
When, what I call concentrated schooling, only takes up 3-4 hours each
day, the doors are opened to other, equally
educational opportunities. My sons both participate in theatre class
with 2 productions each year (all of the cast
members are also home educated). The oldest plays two instruments,
piano and guitar, both of which he performs
publically. He is able to take lessons during the day from musicians
(two of them go out on world tours). These
activities would be greatly hindered should he be stuffed away in a
school all day, every day. The youngest son is
learning to play the violin but due to the difference in interests (one
that I might be unaware of if I weren't his
teacher), we will focus on fine arts and allow him lessons with an
artist when he is ready. They have quality
educational materials. Some are purchased curriculums (just like the
public system school uses, by the way) and
some of the academics just come from our own imagination that we build
on, which requires some research from
the child and the parent. I am qualified as a teacher because I am
their mother. Noone wants a quality of life for
my sons as much as me. I would not, in anyway destroy their mind or
their opportunity to succeed in their goals,
all of which require an education to obtain.

My children can keep up with any child and surpass many, both
academically and socially. Our schools, by the way,
may need a little of the fabric torn away. Why, if the schools are in
such good shape, are so many people arguing the
the entire educational system in America needs serious attention. Why
are there so many drop-outs? Why are
SAT scores in low income neighborhoods so much lower than in white
collar neighborhoods? Why, if the system is
as good as you purport, are so many parents enraged by what their
children are learning. Why is there school
violence? Think about these things when you open your mouth in public
or put your pen to the paper.

Peggy Griffin

Quote for you for the day, "Better to be silent and thought a fool,
than to speak and remove all doubt".

Mr. Biggers:

Please forward this letter on to Mr. Tom Danehy who is not listed as
part of your staff, nor does he have listed an
email address link from your page. Might this lack of information be
due to his intolerance to email which would in
all probably, contradict his articles?

I read the above referrenced article via the internet. I am sure you
are receiving numerous letters opposing the
ideas of Mr. Danehy; so what's one more?

I am very sorry for Mr. Danehy. His life must be extremely closed off
from "real" (and very interesting) people and
his mind just a miniature, darkened forest of slow synaptic action.
Anyone, who in his apparent sincerety, believes
that all homeschoolers educate the same and for the same reasons is,
<grin, tongue in cheek>, grossly uneducated in
this particular subject. However, the real problem I see is that he
has the temerity to produce such quibble on a
world-wide forum so that his ignorance is not only on display to the
inhabitants of Tucson, but now, just envision
the multitude of people who have seen what type of person (possibly the
Tuscon) public school system has
produced.

I would like to give you a little education, Mr. Danehy. I have been
home educating my sons since I was pregnant
with the first one. My oldest is 9 and the younger son is 5. My
husband and I both believe that there can be more
to education that what traditional schools are able to offer. When a
child is in a classroom for most of the day, they
come home, are required to continue their education at the kitchen table
and then get ready for another day, just
like all the other ones; and thus, there is really no time left for
additional activities that the school is unable or
unwilling to provide. Surely you could not argue that the influence of
the other students and the teacher would
outweigh the fundamental ideas of the child's parents. This you might
be saying is good. Well it isn't. I will assume
also that you do not have children or do not have the luxury of "really
knowing" how and what your child thinks
and feels. Most home educators are open minded and alert to the needs
and desires of their children. We do not,
generally, want our children to have any predudices towards others. As
a matter of fact, my boys do not yet, and
hopefully will not ever, have first hand knowledge of anyone being made
to feel inadequate because of their race or
their religion or their disability. They are exposed, on a daily
basis, to many different life styles. At this point in
their lives, a difference is only a difference; it is in their minds a
natural co-existance. They are not educated at
home in order to instill far right wing (or left wing) ideas. We are
not "religious wackos" with an anti-government
agenda to fulfill. I own my business( Plum Creek RV Resort ) and am not
a die-hard developer but not an extreme
environmentalist. I have succeeded as an entrepreneur in my name
without assistance from anyone, except for
the people who I employ. My husband has done the same. And our
children are raised to believe in the "American
Dream" and that with hard work, it will come true. I believe in
free-speech, free-will, and hopes for a life of
happiness. I am a christian who takes my children to Sunday School, but
that is not the basis for home educating.
When, what I call concentrated schooling, only takes up 3-4 hours each
day, the doors are opened to other, equally
educational opportunities. My sons both participate in theatre class
with 2 productions each year (all of the cast
members are also home educated). The oldest plays two instruments,
piano and guitar, both of which he performs
publically. He is able to take lessons during the day from musicians
(two of them go out on world tours). These
activities would be greatly hindered should he be stuffed away in a
school all day, every day. The youngest son is
learning to play the violin but due to the difference in interests (one
that I might be unaware of if I weren't his
teacher), we will focus on fine arts and allow him lessons with an
artist when he is ready. They have quality
educational materials. Some are purchased curriculums (just like the
public system school uses, by the way) and
some of the academics just come from our own imagination that we build
on, which requires some research from
the child and the parent. I am qualified as a teacher because I am
their mother. Noone wants a quality of life for
my sons as much as me. I would not, in anyway destroy their mind or
their opportunity to succeed in their goals,
all of which require an education to obtain.

My children can keep up with any child and surpass many, both
academically and socially. Our schools, by the way,
may need a little of the fabric torn away. Why, if the schools are in
such good shape, are so many people arguing the
the entire educational system in America needs serious attention. Why
are there so many drop-outs? Why are
SAT scores in low income neighborhoods so much lower than in white
collar neighborhoods? Why, if the system is
as good as you purport, are so many parents enraged by what their
children are learning. Why is there school
violence? Think about these things when you open your mouth in public
or put your pen to the paper.

Peggy Griffin

Quote for you for the day, "Better to be silent and thought a fool,
than to speak and remove all doubt".

[email protected]

from another list:

<<There is an article -- supposedly about highschool sports -- by Tom Danehy
in the Tucson Weekly, totally blasting home/unschooling. I'm outraged at
this guy's unthinking closed minded veiws. A lot of people from
homeschool.ca are writing letters, but I think it would be good to have
some other teenagers (besides me) writing too.
You can find the whole article at

http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/1999-11-11/danehy.html

The article is under copyright. Here are some juicy quotes. PLEASE go to
the sight and read the whole article.

"Poor Sports

By Tom Danehy

...I consider home schooling to be a subtle form of child abuse.
Furthermore, I believe that every single case of home schooling involves
certain amounts of either racism, paranoia, religious intolerance or
combinations thereof...

"If a home-schooling parent were to search her soul (assuming she could
locate it), she'd realize that the only reason she's keeping little Jacob
at home is so that he won't have to associate with my Hispanic daughter or
my Catholic son or my straight A's kids who are actually allowed to watch
TV and read dangerous books like 1984 and Huck Finn...

"...there isn't a parent alive who could educate a kid fully and properly
in all subject areas. The reason there are so few home-schooled kids is
that most parents are smart enough not to even try...

"Then you've got entire teams of kids who get up around 10 a.m., go to the
gym for a couple hours, hang out for lunch, then go to school practice with
an enormous edge over the kids who have been busting their butts in the
classroom all day. What does that teach a kid? ...

"This is a disaster in selfish yuppie clothing, me-first thinking which
will tear at the fabric of our schools and, in turn, our society.">>

Joel Hawthorne

I sent a letter off to the CEO for lack of a more appropriate address seeking to
educate him and Mr. Danehy. Actually I had to laugh when I read the article
because it was such an example of the kettle calling the pot black. It is always
startling when the bigoted are outraged by bigotry. In this case I would say
profound ignorance coupled with foot in mouth disease made for a deeply stupid
article. Yes of course there are some families like Mr. Danehy describes just
like there are schools like Columbine.

Strandbe@... wrote:

> From: Strandbe@...
>
> from another list:
>
> <<There is an article -- supposedly about highschool sports -- by Tom Danehy
> in the Tucson Weekly, totally blasting home/unschooling. I'm outraged at
> this guy's unthinking closed minded veiws. A lot of people from
> homeschool.ca are writing letters, but I think it would be good to have
> some other teenagers (besides me) writing too.
> You can find the whole article at
>
> http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/1999-11-11/danehy.html
>
> The article is under copyright. Here are some juicy quotes. PLEASE go to
> the sight and read the whole article.
>
> "Poor Sports
>
> By Tom Danehy
>
> ...I consider home schooling to be a subtle form of child abuse.
> Furthermore, I believe that every single case of home schooling involves
> certain amounts of either racism, paranoia, religious intolerance or
> combinations thereof...
>
> "If a home-schooling parent were to search her soul (assuming she could
> locate it), she'd realize that the only reason she's keeping little Jacob
> at home is so that he won't have to associate with my Hispanic daughter or
> my Catholic son or my straight A's kids who are actually allowed to watch
> TV and read dangerous books like 1984 and Huck Finn...
> snip

> best wishes

Joel

For a wonderful gift possibility and to support a great cause check out:
http://www.naturalchild.com/calendar_pictures.html

All children behave as well as they are treated. The Natural Child
Project http://naturalchild.com/home/

Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall

Yes of course there are some families like Mr. Danehy describes just
>like there are schools like Columbine.

Hey Joel,

I hope you are referring to the social/peer situation at Columbine, which
seemed to be the major cause of the recent tragedy there. If not, please
elaborate about what you mean by "schools like Columbine." Thanks!

Nanci K. in Idaho

Joel Hawthorne

I am mostly referring to the dangers of generalization. To equate all
schools with Columbine (as in you will get shot if you go to school) is as
accurate as treating all homeschoolers as if they were ultra-conservative
racist, bigots because there are instances of that kind of homeschooling
families. Probably a poor choice of analogies but do you get what I mean?

Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall wrote:

> From: Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall <tn-k4of5@...>
>
> Yes of course there are some families like Mr. Danehy describes just
> >like there are schools like Columbine.
>
> Hey Joel,
>
> I hope you are referring to the social/peer situation at Columbine, which
> seemed to be the major cause of the recent tragedy there. If not, please
> elaborate about what you mean by "schools like Columbine." Thanks!
>
> Nanci K. in Idaho
>
> > Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com

--
best wishes
Joel

For a wonderful gift possibility and to support a great cause check out:
http://www.naturalchild.com/calendar_pictures.html

All children behave as well as they are treated. The Natural Child
Project http://naturalchild.com/home/

[email protected]

In a message dated 11/27/99 10:48:52 AM Eastern Standard Time,
tmartin@... writes:

<< I read the above referrenced article via the internet. I am sure you
are receiving numerous letters opposing the
ideas of Mr. Danehy; so what's one more? >>


I think this letter is wonderful! Very well written.

Laura

Lynda

This was shared on AHA-Networking a bit ago and some interesting letters
were sent in response. Don't know if any were published or responded to.
Know mine wasn't and I think if Mary's had been she would have said.

He really goes off on homeschoolers being paranoid. Which leads me to
believe that he may have gotten his hands on some H$LDA paranoia/fear
encouraging garbage. Am I ever grateful that NHEN is now here and will be
making REAL information available to the public and homeschoolers alike so
that this continue misinformation that is self-serving from H$LDA will be
seen for what it is!

Lynda

----------
> From: Strandbe@...
>
> from another list:
>
> <<There is an article -- supposedly about highschool sports -- by Tom
Danehy
> in the Tucson Weekly, totally blasting home/unschooling. I'm outraged at
> this guy's unthinking closed minded veiws. A lot of people from
> homeschool.ca are writing letters, but I think it would be good to have
> some other teenagers (besides me) writing too.
> You can find the whole article at
>
> http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/1999-11-11/danehy.html
>
> The article is under copyright. Here are some juicy quotes. PLEASE go to
> the sight and read the whole article.
>
> "Poor Sports
>
> By Tom Danehy
>
> ...I consider home schooling to be a subtle form of child abuse.
> Furthermore, I believe that every single case of home schooling involves
> certain amounts of either racism, paranoia, religious intolerance or
> combinations thereof...
>
> "If a home-schooling parent were to search her soul (assuming she could
> locate it), she'd realize that the only reason she's keeping little Jacob
> at home is so that he won't have to associate with my Hispanic daughter
or
> my Catholic son or my straight A's kids who are actually allowed to watch
> TV and read dangerous books like 1984 and Huck Finn...
>
> "...there isn't a parent alive who could educate a kid fully and properly
> in all subject areas. The reason there are so few home-schooled kids is
> that most parents are smart enough not to even try...
>
> "Then you've got entire teams of kids who get up around 10 a.m., go to
the
> gym for a couple hours, hang out for lunch, then go to school practice
with
> an enormous edge over the kids who have been busting their butts in the
> classroom all day. What does that teach a kid? ...
>
> "This is a disaster in selfish yuppie clothing, me-first thinking which
> will tear at the fabric of our schools and, in turn, our society.">>
>
> > Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com