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<<schools by their design are to educate the masses and get them ready for
factory work, not hold the community together. >>

I have to comment on this. I realize this is becoming one of the mainstays
of homeschool rhetoric, and from a myopic NYC point of view it must be true.
I read it in a Gatto book so It Must Be True (a Garfield joke...).

During the industrial revolution and the huge influx of immigration from
Europe and the Ellis Island days, yes--in that small part of the country, we
are told, schools wanted to socialize people (teaching them English was NOT a
bad thing, y'know, if they were speaking 35 different European languages) and
prepare them for jobs (NOT a bad thing, y'know, as there was no such thing as
welfare and few of them could afford to get on a train and find some farmland
out where they couldn't speak English). The oversimplification that schools
were preparing factory workers for meanness somehow grates on me.

But much beyond that, my parents and grandparents and great-blah-blah-blahs
never ever saw Ellis Island, never ever saw New York City, and their stories
of school are one-room schoolhouses in West Texas and southeastern New
Mexico, in little farming communities like Carizozo and Roby in which the
parents were the school board and the teachers were young local women who
weren't yet married, and the schools were teaching them what was happening
outside their time and town, which is not a bad thing, y'know, but has not a
lick of anything to do with factory work. There wasn't a factory for
thousands of miles, yet thousands of kids were in schools.

I'm not defending the oppressive methods some schools used. They were
protestant farm folk without much use for mysterious fancy city stuff, and
psychology itself didn't even exist yet, or hadn't gotten to Rotan, Texas for
sure.

When I think back to school in the history of my family, whether it's the
1960's or the 1860's I try to be compassionate and fair. People were doing
what they thought were best. They were going out of their comfort zone and
sacrificing time and money to do what they thought was good for their
children, just as we all are.

Villifying our parents and grandparents isn't the way to go here. Villifying
the schools is an easy path to making ourselves feel better about what we're
doing, but I think there are other ways which are better for our souls and
psyches and better for our children. If we tell them (and ourselves) that
our parents made the best choices available to them given their means and
knowledge and beliefs, I think there will be more peace in our families and
in our hearts.

Sandra

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In a message dated 6/6/99 9:23:00 AM EST, SandraDodd@... writes:

<< If we tell them (and ourselves) that
our parents made the best choices available to them given their means and
knowledge and beliefs, I think there will be more peace in our families and
in our hearts. >>
Sandra,
applause, applause!! I think you are so right.
Teresa ; >

Lois Hoover

>From: SandraDodd@...
>
><<schools by their design are to educate the masses and get them ready for
>factory work, not hold the community together. >>
>
>I have to comment on this. I realize this is becoming one of the mainstays
>of homeschool rhetoric, and from a myopic NYC point of view it must be
true.
>I read it in a Gatto book so It Must Be True (a Garfield joke...).
>
>During the industrial revolution and the huge influx of immigration from
>Europe and the Ellis Island days, yes--in that small part of the country, we
>are told, schools wanted to socialize people (teaching them English was
NOT a
>bad thing, y'know, if they were speaking 35 different European languages)
and
>prepare them for jobs (NOT a bad thing, y'know, as there was no such thing
as
>welfare and few of them could afford to get on a train and find some
farmland
>out where they couldn't speak English). The oversimplification that
schools
>were preparing factory workers for meanness somehow grates on me.
>
to prepare a person for factory work, the way I see it, simply means that
you aren't needed to think something through for yourself. You are
shown/told how to run a machine and it's repititious. So to prepare a
person for factory work to me would be to get them used to something not
necessarily stimulating. I never thought of meanness.

WE don't see a lot of imagination coming out of the school educated
children, nor do we see life skills being very sharp when they graduate.
How many understand the finances behind those credit cards or better yet,
how many leave school with the desire and knowledge to start their own
businesses? WE've got the school to work programs in place here now, I
don't see this as a better solution either.

>But much beyond that, my parents and grandparents and great-blah-blah-blahs
>never ever saw Ellis Island, never ever saw New York City, and their stories
>of school are one-room schoolhouses in West Texas and southeastern New
>Mexico, in little farming communities like Carizozo and Roby in which the
>parents were the school board and the teachers were young local women who
>weren't yet married, and the schools were teaching them what was happening
>outside their time and town, which is not a bad thing, y'know, but has not a
>lick of anything to do with factory work. There wasn't a factory for
>thousands of miles, yet thousands of kids were in schools.
>
WE don't see much of the one room school house theory in place in many ps
today anymore. I do believe that one room schools had one thing going for
them, they could actually say that socialization was a factor as they
didn't segregate the ages into separate rooms. But do you actually see
this type of education in the ps system today or even a private one?
>
>Villifying our parents and grandparents isn't the way to go here.

I wasn't villifying my family or the system, simply stating that the model
for todays ps isn't one which is in place to teach real life skills. But my
family (as far back as you'd like to go) was never involved in making
decisions about schools.

Villifying
>the schools is an easy path to making ourselves feel better about what we're
>doing,


I don't understand this. I feel wonderful about the choices my children and
I came to concerning taking charge of education. This is probably the one
thing that we did decide to do which helped our family survive.


but I think there are other ways which are better for our souls and
>psyches and better for our children. If we tell them (and ourselves) that
>our parents made the best choices available to them given their means and
>knowledge and beliefs, I think there will be more peace in our families and
>in our hearts.
>
My children are older one almost 15 and I don't see how anything that my
parents/grandparents did would sink in in relation to their lives. Schools,
even when I went which was't all that ancient, were totally different than
they are today. My sons are constantly telling me how lucky I was to grow
up then. But when they bring that up it covers much more than school. They
are talking about the economy, societal rules and so on. They don't see
past generations as having been horrible.

I believe that finding peace in our families has nothing to do with school
or past generations. It simply comes from growing together. And the only
way to grow together is to be together. For our family that came about
through leaving school, not getting ourselves so wrapped up in outside
activities that we don't have time at home (yes we even make family dates
since the boys are older and have more freedom to make plans with friends.)

The trouble we see today goes much deeper than schools. Whether we are
talking about the school shootings or the number of children being
diagnosed as ADD to gangs or whatever. The answers aren't in past
generations, they are right here. We've lost something and unfortunately
the signs are showing up at the schools. I don't want my children to return
to schools simply because I love knowing them again, but I also don't want
to see them finding themselves in any situation which makes them unhappy.

Lois

Andi Kaufman

schools werent just preparing factory workers but all of society for the
american dream. to be able to speak the same language, feel the same and do
the same. they wanted to make good citizens.

by saying this i am not blaming anyone. i think that most people actually
thought it was for the best. the probably thought they were giving their
kids better then they had. and they didnt necesarily teach algebra in
western schools. many times the small schools taught what needed to be
taught for everyday life.

I think many people now think that they are doing best for thier kids byt
doing what everyone else is doing. I am sure glad I got over that one and
thought about what we needed.

Andi...domestic goddess and active volunteer
mom to Isaac
tl2b@...

Never Underestimate the Power of This Woman!

Diana Asberry

Well put, Sandra.
:>
Counting our blessings is a habit that needs to be established in this
world!
For me, it's been Realllly hard to accept that people Do what they Know. I
just wish more people would take an active role in their happiness, not a
passive one... I, personally, am a survivor and it's been very difficult to
follow my path of life when it's up hill. I come from a family that was so
scared of change, that they (she/my mother) forgot that change can be for
the better.
I hope that you all can feel comfortable to change the things in yourselves
for the better, for YOUr sake...not anyone elses--you all deserve the best!
Diana



>>>Villifying our parents and grandparents isn't the way to go here.
>>> >>Villifying
the schools is an easy path to making ourselves feel better about what we're
doing, but I think there are other ways which are better for our souls and
psyches and better for our children. If we tell them (and ourselves) that
our parents made the best choices available to them given their means and
knowledge and beliefs, I think there will be more peace in our families and
in our hearts.

Sandra



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