Wednesday, January 17, 2007

nuts are out

I got a lovely comment to a post I wrote concerning unschooling and the recent Dorktor Phil dust up. Apparently Angry Mom, because she has a master's degree in education is now completely knowledgeable about homeschooling, and she's willing to troll the internet to some extent and whip barbs at at least a couple of us.

Of course after publishing her comment I went to her blog and found a post that insulted another homeschooling family because the mother dared publish her daily schedule. Ms. Angry had commented to that mother as well and had even been complemented by a commenter of her own. Such a brazen act to comment to a blogger when you don't have a clue.

Anyway, Ms. Angry has very little to say. What arguments she does have against homeschooling are things that have been said before by much smarter people than she, and those statements were just as wrong and proven so by us, those homeschoolers she doesn't have even the tiniest clue about.

I almost posted a second comment at her blog, but that would just get me stuck in a war with idiots that use words they don't understand, people who view assumptions and vague notions as fact. I'd love to hear her point of view, but I know that she is only fighting from a position of fear, one that we've all dealt with. I have a feeling that it's her degree. She's upset at homeschoolers because we actually understand childhood education without every having attended years of classes to do so. She's still paying off the college loans, is probably not a very successful teacher, and is frightened that we do with no degree what miles of certification aren't doing for her.

I could be wrong. Perhaps she's an outstanding person and educator. I'm sure she loves her children very much as parents are want to do. Maybe she wants to know more about homeschooling but is afraid to ask. However, it's been my experience that those who are most willing to throw their credentials in your face are generally the least likely to have benefited from the attainment of those credentials and degrees.

And finally, I will answer Ms. Angry's question. She asked in her comment, "What qualifies you to be a teacher?" This kind of question can only come from someone so married to the current educational system that they don't recognize or even trust the ways in which children actually learn. I'm qualified to teach because I am able to learn. The problem with that question is assuming that children can't learn without being taught.

And so we end for now leaving to our imaginations what is to come from all this. Anyone willing to actually learn the truth about homeschooling could easily do so making it doubly sad and frustrating that so many dumbasses still assume knowledge they don't actually have.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am with you totally on this one. No use arguing with this one, anymore than arguing with a Biblebeater about the myriad of issues in the church. They cannot get to a place of objectivity.

By our very existence, as successful homeschoolers, we are undermining the system which she has committed all her focus. It is a scary thing to admit that all those classes in classroom dynamics and education theory all support an unnatural learning environment.

Jess said...

Thank you for your response to all this. I stumbled on Angry Housewife and was kind of floored when I read her post, as I'm homeschooling my four year-old, and trying to work up the guts to shift to unschooling.

Anyway, I appreciate how articulate you have been in your response, and plan to start reading your blog as well.

Jessica Gottlieb said...

Angela, I was curious about your site so I Googled it and found this:

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:w4Be53JOoJMJ:mothercroneshomeschool.wordpress.com/+%22angela,+mother+crone%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=firefox-a

I understand that you want it to be private but Google cache has your site available for all.

I don't know how it would be undone but it's worth investigating in Google groups if you truly want it private.

I know you don't agree and I sincerely hope you are the "successful homeschooler" it's much easier to eyeball the (obvious) failure.

Good luck to you.