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Originally Posted by janebert I have very strong views on schooling. I don't believe in sending children to boarding school because I think they should be being socialised by their family and neighbourhood peers not suffering identity crises being in school 50+ miles from home and effectively being brought up by older boys/girls who often sexually or physically abuse them. Likewise, I'm not keen on private day schools UNLESS you can promise them a life of privilege when they leave school. If you can't, then you're setting them up for a fall when they finally have to face the real world. |
There are definitely differences in schooling in the US and UK -- for instance, sending your kid away to a distant boarding school is very rare in the US. Also, while private schools can be quite expensive, they're not exclusively patronized by upper-class bluebloods in the US.
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But neither of you have answered the question of how parents can teach stuff that they themselves don't understand. Can you explain calculus to me, and can you demonstrate Young's modulus? Could you teach the covalence of carbon atoms, or demonstrate the instability of magnesium when faced with oxidisation? Can you explain a transitive verb, or the subjunctive tense in French? Are you capable of dissecting Macbeth and explaining the alliterations, metaphors, similes etc., or teaching Homer's Iliad. Can you teach advanced drawing to your kids or explain a diminished 7th? Can you teach them modern dance, how to play tennis, the techniques of soccer, or the paleolithic period?
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The point I was trying to make in my previous post is that very little of the subjects you listed above will be taught until a student is at least 16 years old or later -- No one is expecting parents to teach university-level courses at home to their kids. There's no reason an average intelligent set of parents can't educate small children for at least the first seven or eight years of schooling -- basic arithmetic, learning to read and write, basic history and science, etc. It's not as complicated as you're making it.
Sure, if you want the kids to learn a musical instrument or play a team sport, you'll need some outside help.