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Michelle Duggar Pregnant with 18th Child

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Miranda

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Date: 5/27/2008 8:10:11 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
One more thing. Those who are hung up on the number in that family, are you in favor of limits on the number of children a family can have? Sort of like China? I personally enjoy the freedoms we have in this country and hope people remain free to have 0 or 18 kids if they wish (and can take care of them).
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You win the prize. Don''t be talkin'' all logical DS!
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FrekeChild

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I don't think that I was to get started in on really any part of the school system. I live with someone who has had to tolerate the worst of it (Stats instructor) in a public university of one of the poorest states in the Union and one that consistently has one of the worst education education "No Child Left Behind" scores and lowest drop out rates. A lot of the students that have gone through FFs class (and other graduate student's classes) have expected to pass regardless of if they go to class, pass the tests, turn in homework or participate in class discussion. This is a direct result of our poor education system-and our hideously poor state's even worse school system. Don't get me wrong, I love New Mexico, but I have nothing but disdain for the public school system here.

Luckily I went through private schools that had very strict rules about passing or not, attendance, homework and test taking. What is still sad though is that I did barely over the bare minimum and still got out of high school with a decent GPA.

What's even more sad? That if I had gone to a school in the public school system, I would have been a straight A student.

I often think that home schoolers have a distinct advantage-their parents pay attention to them. Which is something that is sorely lacking in todays society.
 

diamondseeker2006

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Date: 5/27/2008 9:18:18 PM
Author: brazen_irish_hussy
I have NO problem with home schooling in general. I have known many people who do well with it. The Duggars are different though. There are 18 kids at 18 different levels and to cover that, they cut short the education of the older kids so they can teach the younger ones, that I have a problem with. She simply cannot devote a full school''s day worth of time to each and she cannot teach the specifics to all since they are in vastly different places.
Yeah, a public school teacher may have 25-30 kids with IQ''s from 60 to 140 and non-readers to kids reading well above grade level. I can assure you that everyone''s specific needs are not met. I see this every single day. I imagine some of the Duggar children are on the same level in certain subjects, and if they can read well, they can do some things independently. And not all of those children are school age anyway.
 

iheartscience

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I personally do have issues with homeschooling. Of course there are issues with public schools as well-neither is perfect.

The difference in my opinion is that in a public school, a student has more opportunities than when he or she is homeschooled. I highly doubt that Michelle Duggar (or her older kids) can teach her children Spanish well. Or Statistics...or even just Algebra, probably. They can''t work on the school newspaper, write articles, do page design using Quark and Pagemaker, etc. Or play field hockey and soccer on a competitive team. You''re exposed to people of different races, classes, religions, intelligence levels, etc.

I went to public school, and it certainly wasn''t ideal. I was at a much higher level than almost all of my peers. I could read well before kindergarten and I always read at a much higher level than the grade I was in. I did participate in the gifted and talented programs, which helped, and I also took AP and advanced classes once I got to high school.

But I really excelled in field hockey and soccer, I was an editor at the school newspaper, which got me a "real" job one summer when I was in college the first time around, and my AP classes prepared me for college. I just don''t think the Duggar kids will be even remotely prepared for college. Even if they attend a Christian college where they might fit in socially, it seems clear that they won''t be prepared.
 

TravelingGal

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Date: 5/27/2008 8:00:38 PM
Author: somethingshiny
TGal~ What you stated was so eloquent, but I have a completely different opinion. I thought all of those things when I first had my son, especially because we tried for so many years to carry a child. But, then I got to thinking a bit more.

First off, how can it be selfish to be responsible for putting a good, kind, intelligent, compassionate person into the world when we need them so badly?

Going to school, admissions letters, finding a career--those are wonderful adventures that a young person gets to have. Falling in love for the first time, well, there''s nothing like it. Heartbreaks--without them would we ever know the depth of the love of which we''re capable? Burying parents (I''m sorry you''re going through this right now), knowing that you''ve made their life better by being in it and seeing them safely to eternity is a blessing. Knowing that life is limited is also a blessing. Without that knowledge, would we ever strive to meet our potential??

So, in my opinion, it''s not selfish to have a child. You are spreading joy and blessings just from raising Amelia. She will spread joy and blessings throughout her life.

Maybe it''s just because I''m a ''glass is half full'' kind of girl, but I also don''t worry that my son will be okay. I KNOW he will be because he will have a solid structure to build a life on. He will know the depth of love and forgiveness, and to me, those are the two most important things in life, and, both are unselfish.


ETA- thanks freke, I don''t know who I was thinking of...Tacori maybe...
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I''m always a glass is half full kinda gal...but I know I will always worry about Amelia. Perhaps the two don''t go together, I don''t know, but it is what it is.

I think a lot of people have kids for selfish reasons...not many have kids because they want to bring in good people into this world. Amelia has TGuy''s and my genes...there''s definitely potential that she may end up kinda screwy!!
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diamondseeker2006

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Date: 5/27/2008 9:42:37 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I don''t think that I was to get started in on really any part of the school system. I live with someone who has had to tolerate the worst of it (Stats instructor) in a public university of one of the poorest states in the Union and one that consistently has one of the worst education education ''No Child Left Behind'' scores and lowest drop out rates. A lot of the students that have gone through FFs class (and other graduate student''s classes) have expected to pass regardless of if they go to class, pass the tests, turn in homework or participate in class discussion. This is a direct result of our poor education system-and our hideously poor state''s even worse school system. Don''t get me wrong, I love New Mexico, but I have nothing but disdain for the public school system here.

Luckily I went through private schools that had very strict rules about passing or not, attendance, homework and test taking. What is still sad though is that I did barely over the bare minimum and still got out of high school with a decent GPA.

What''s even more sad? That if I had gone to a school in the public school system, I would have been a straight A student.

I often think that home schoolers have a distinct advantage-their parents pay attention to them. Which is something that is sorely lacking in todays society.
I soooo agree with you on this post!!!
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iluvcarats

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We are putting this family in the context of our own lives, and they are clearly different.
They want to live the way they believe they should. Our country was founded on freedom of religion, and freedon from religion.
I''d rather have them home schooling their children then trying to insert their agenda into the public schools.
There isn''t one clear cut answer for everyone.
It is certainly without a doubt not the way I would choose to live, but thankfully, it is a free country.
It is definitely excessive, and I think that the tv show is rather exploitative, but that is just my opinion.
For all the people who don''t want kids, I don''t think you are selfish at all.
I think the people who don''t want them and have them anyway are selfish.
And I can''t image what 18 pregnancies will do to your bladder.
It takes about 10 seconds in a bounce house for me to remember that I have had 2 pregnancies.
Michelle Duggar must have a bladder of steel, or a really great urologist!
 

mimzy

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Date: 5/27/2008 10:27:01 PM
Author: thing2of2
I personally do have issues with homeschooling. Of course there are issues with public schools as well-neither is perfect.


The difference in my opinion is that in a public school, a student has more opportunities than when he or she is homeschooled. I highly doubt that Michelle Duggar (or her older kids) can teach her children Spanish well. Or Statistics...or even just Algebra, probably. They can't work on the school newspaper, write articles, do page design using Quark and Pagemaker, etc. Or play field hockey and soccer on a competitive team. You're exposed to people of different races, classes, religions, intelligence levels, etc.


I went to public school, and it certainly wasn't ideal. I was at a much higher level than almost all of my peers. I could read well before kindergarten and I always read at a much higher level than the grade I was in. I did participate in the gifted and talented programs, which helped, and I also took AP and advanced classes once I got to high school.


But I really excelled in field hockey and soccer, I was an editor at the school newspaper, which got me a 'real' job one summer when I was in college the first time around, and my AP classes prepared me for college. I just don't think the Duggar kids will be even remotely prepared for college. Even if they attend a Christian college where they might fit in socially, it seems clear that they won't be prepared.

i'm no expert on homeschooling, but if the children are gifted, wouldn't it be easier for them to get the advanced instruction that they would benefit from, since they can choose their own curriculum and work through it at their own pace? If anything, I would put money on kids that are homeschooled would be at an advantage academically. there is also always duel enrollment at local community collages, which i know that a lot of people take advantage of.

also, at least in our town if kids were homeschooled then they were still welcome to take AP classes, electives (like spanish or theater) and participate in school sports and clubs. I had two friends that were homeschooled but they played on the soccer team, were in the French club, etc. Besides, at least until age 14 or so there are usually town or city parks and rec programs for kids to join sports teams, etc which kids generally play on first before getting to high school sports, and these kids are at no disadvantage when it comes to that.

i'm not for or against it one way or the other, but academically speaking, i don't think that homeschooling is a disadvantage for the kids. and it might not be as convenient or obvious, but there are lots of ways for children to socialize and prepare themselves for the real world other than attending a traditional school.

ETA - thing2of2 i have no idea if you are for homeschooling or against homeschooling or just wanted to share your experience. so if it was the first or the last, then disregard my post!
 

iheartscience

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Date: 5/27/2008 10:50:13 PM
Author: mimzy
Date: 5/27/2008 10:27:01 PM

Author: thing2of2

I personally do have issues with homeschooling. Of course there are issues with public schools as well-neither is perfect.


The difference in my opinion is that in a public school, a student has more opportunities than when he or she is homeschooled. I highly doubt that Michelle Duggar (or her older kids) can teach her children Spanish well. Or Statistics...or even just Algebra, probably. They can''t work on the school newspaper, write articles, do page design using Quark and Pagemaker, etc. Or play field hockey and soccer on a competitive team. You''re exposed to people of different races, classes, religions, intelligence levels, etc.



I went to public school, and it certainly wasn''t ideal. I was at a much higher level than almost all of my peers. I could read well before kindergarten and I always read at a much higher level than the grade I was in. I did participate in the gifted and talented programs, which helped, and I also took AP and advanced classes once I got to high school.



But I really excelled in field hockey and soccer, I was an editor at the school newspaper, which got me a ''real'' job one summer when I was in college the first time around, and my AP classes prepared me for college. I just don''t think the Duggar kids will be even remotely prepared for college. Even if they attend a Christian college where they might fit in socially, it seems clear that they won''t be prepared.


i''m no expert on homeschooling, but if the children are gifted, wouldn''t it be easier for them to get the advanced instruction that they would benefit from, since they can choose their own curriculum and work through it at their own pace? If anything, I would put money on kids that are homeschooled would be at an advantage academically. there is also always duel enrollment at local community collages, which i know that a lot of people take advantage of.


also, at least in our town if kids were homeschooled then they were still welcome to take AP classes, electives (like spanish or theater) and participate in school sports and clubs. I had two friends that were homeschooled but they played on the soccer team, were in the French club, etc. Besides, at least until age 14 or so there are usually town or city parks and rec programs for kids to join sports teams, etc which kids generally play on first before getting to high school sports, and these kids are at no disadvantage when it comes to that.


i''m not for or against it one way or the other, but academically speaking, i don''t think that homeschooling is a disadvantage for the kids. and it might not be as convenient or obvious, but there are lots of ways for children to socialize and prepare themselves for the real world other than attending a traditional school.


ETA - thing2of2 i have no idea if you are for homeschooling or against homeschooling or just wanted to share your experience. so if it was the first or the last, then disregard my post!

I guess I''m more against it than I am for it, although I do think it''s probably not that bad, and is possibly even good, for younger children. But once they get into the advanced subjects, it''s likely that the students will surpass the parents'' knowledge base, and I think that''s problematic.

I do think that academically speaking, homeschooling is a disadvantage for many kids, and it seems like it definitely is in the Duggar kids'' case, which is compounded by the fact that the older ones have to teach the younger ones, and can''t focus on their own education. I also don''t see the Duggar kids participating in anything with the public school system, like the sports teams, electives, AP classes, etc.

Plus, I know that I need to be taught by a good teacher-I couldn''t learn statistics through a textbook alone, and I bet most people couldn''t, either. I know there are special homeschooling academic programs, but I''ve always really gotten into a subject when I''ve had a great teacher who loves his or her work and is very knowledgeable. I''m not saying that Michelle Duggar is a bad teacher, but it''s doubtful that she''s an expert in any subject. (Except making babies and popping them out, obviously!
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)

And there are so many classes that I would imagine are very difficult to do at home. Chemistry and Biology labs are one obvious example that comes to mind. Not to mention the fact that these kids are only around people exactly like themselves-white, economically stable Christians. It''s good to be exposed to other types of people. It opens the mind and causes you to really think about your values and beliefs.

I did see a show where they met up with other homeschooled families, but the other families were EXACTLY like them-girls in long dresses, all white people, etc., and I''m sure all of them were the same type of Christian. I just think that in order to function in society it''s good to be around people that are different from you.
 

diamondfan

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Date: 5/27/2008 9:36:37 PM
Author: Miranda
Date: 5/27/2008 8:10:11 PM

Author: diamondseeker2006

One more thing. Those who are hung up on the number in that family, are you in favor of limits on the number of children a family can have? Sort of like China? I personally enjoy the freedoms we have in this country and hope people remain free to have 0 or 18 kids if they wish (and can take care of them).
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! You win the prize. Don''t be talkin'' all logical DS!
28.gif


Well, I am not here to judge, but would think logistically when you get into such large numbers, the quality and quantity of time has to be lessened somehow. Financially, too, I mean, it takes so much to rear ONE child, let alone 18 or so. Does not mean the kids will not be good kids, but mathematically it seems tough. Also the older ones end up almost rearing the younger siblings, along with possibly having to get jobs and help out in other ways. Plus I do not want to even think about her uterus right about now!!

That said, god bless her, and if she can rear that many and they are great members of the community at large, I applaud her. And I know plenty of people with one kid and financial resources and they are not doing so well...

In China, the recent earthquake coupled with the one child only mandate has left many couples with NO kids. Granted, not ALL Chinese people complied, some might have had two, but risked government sanctions. However, China is now considering changing the law, however, those who lost their only child might be too old to have more and have no guarantees that they can conceive or have a healthy baby. How sad for all the people in China who lost their only child.
 

Kaleigh

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The Duggar''s are free to do as they want. It''s a whole other culture, can''t speak to that. But sure seems as though they are raising their kids to be repsectful, loving and decent human beings. I''d rather be a product of a loving enviornement than one that is neglectful and abusive.

As far as homeschooling goes, my daughter went to a pricey private school, was an AP student. She had to teach herself AP biology and Chem, because her teachers sucked. It was a rough 2 years, but she did better on her own than with teachers that didn''t know how to teach. The kids in her class banded together and taught themselves, tons of extra work for them, but they did it. Very well I have to say.

So just an example of what the thirst for knowledge is, and what can be accomplished.
 

ksinger

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Date: 5/27/2008 9:42:37 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I don''t think that I was to get started in on really any part of the school system. I live with someone who has had to tolerate the worst of it (Stats instructor) in a public university of one of the poorest states in the Union and one that consistently has one of the worst education education ''No Child Left Behind'' scores and lowest drop out rates. A lot of the students that have gone through FFs class (and other graduate student''s classes) have expected to pass regardless of if they go to class, pass the tests, turn in homework or participate in class discussion. This is a direct result of our poor education system-and our hideously poor state''s even worse school system. Don''t get me wrong, I love New Mexico, but I have nothing but disdain for the public school system here.

Luckily I went through private schools that had very strict rules about passing or not, attendance, homework and test taking. What is still sad though is that I did barely over the bare minimum and still got out of high school with a decent GPA.

What''s even more sad? That if I had gone to a school in the public school system, I would have been a straight A student.

I often think that home schoolers have a distinct advantage-their parents pay attention to them. Which is something that is sorely lacking in todays society.
With the educational level and economic level of the parents being probably the 2 largest predictors of academic success, is it any wonder in a state as poor as yours that the schools systems don''t fare well? My FI deals with kids who are children of illegals with a 2nd grade education, kids who cannot read on level, or kids who are 2nd and 3rd generation gang. What chance does he stand? What chance do they stand? Yet he is the bad guy when these kids don''t "succeed".

Here''s one on I''m sure you don''t know about the No Child tests - while they may be standardized at the state level, they are not standard nationwide, second, they have NO impact on the kids'' graduating or not, at least not here in Oklahoma and in many states. There is no incentive for kids to pass these tests, yet the teachers and the schools are held accountable for the scores. How screwed up is that?? How motivated were you to work extra hard for something that had virtually no impact, good or bad, on you?? Let''s just discount human nature, or worse, let''s lie to the kids and tell them these tests mean something to them. No. They don''t.

The unpleasant fact that we will all lie to ourselves until doomsday on, is that not all kids are going to be college bound. GASP! Not every child is going to be a rocket scientist. Some really will be ditch diggers. But NO parent wants to hear that, so they wail and gnash, and blame the schools for not properly motivating their little darlings, even when their own IQs are in the toilet. Who do you think are the ones screaming the loudest and trotting out the most excuses when the schools and teacher try, and they do try, to not pass the poor performing students? The parents.

Freke, I''m glad you had such a good education, but that education that was sacrificed for, and paid for by your professional level father with the means to do so, and who thought it was important, just proves my point - which I suppose, after this rant, would be that the schools and teachers are the perpetual fall guys for all of society''s ills. It annoys me no end.

I will repeat like a mantra, it''s the parents it''s the parents it''s the parents.......the level of the parents determines most of what the schools do. They respond to the parents. Is it any wonder that inner city school teacher is now ranked the most stressful job in the country?

Background - FI is history teacher at inner city highschool - the same highschool where his father taught history from ''63 to 95. He knows the issues involved, believe me.
 

Delster

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Is homeschooling ''checked on'' by the State where you are? Over here, homeschooled children are checked on regularly and the parents can be compelled to send them to a ''formal'' school if they are not making progress in accordance with the State''s education targets.
 

ksinger

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Oh...and I feel compelled to add, neither FI nor his father were coaches. For our non-US folks (the Americans will know this) coaching and history teaching has become inextricably linked. So much so in fact, that many men and some women, who want to be history teachers, are almost held at gunpoint to do double-duty as sports coaches. My FI refused and got banished to the middle schools for 5 years. (And middle school IS a penance, I assure you....) Then they discovered their history program was in the toilet, and asked him back to rebuild the AP program.

My apologies to the good teacher-coaches out there. I know there are some, but the sterotype of the dumb jock who wants to coach but has to teach (drat!), has a basis in fact. I know the stupidest teacher I had in highschool was a history-teaching coach. Flat top, floods, and could barely read. But hey! He was a good coach.
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diamondfan

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I think each state has specific curriculum. The child must be proficient in the subjects taught but not sure how they monitor on a state level.

I know people who home schooled but hired private teachers or tutors to do it as they felt they personally were not qualified. If you have to do this due to extenuating issues, the state sometimes has to help pay for it, since all kids are entitled to be educated and the state has to provide for it.
 

ksinger

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Date: 5/28/2008 8:19:18 AM
Author: diamondfan
I think each state has specific curriculum. The child must be proficient in the subjects taught but not sure how they monitor on a state level.

I know people who home schooled but hired private teachers or tutors to do it as they felt they personally were not qualified. If you have to do this due to extenuating issues, the state sometimes has to help pay for it, since all kids are entitled to be educated and the state has to provide for it.
Semi-related observation: The fact that each state has it''s own curriculum, and standards, means that the standards are...not. If we all want No Child to actually mean something, national guidelines and standards will be necessary. Otherwise, we are mostly comparing apples and oranges. But of course that would mean federal oversight of something that the states jealously guard as a states'' rights thing....
 

FrekeChild

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Date: 5/28/2008 6:43:21 AM
Author: ksinger
Date: 5/27/2008 9:42:37 PM
Author: FrekeChild
I don''t think that I was to get started in on really any part of the school system. I live with someone who has had to tolerate the worst of it (Stats instructor) in a public university of one of the poorest states in the Union and one that consistently has one of the worst education education ''No Child Left Behind'' scores and lowest drop out rates. A lot of the students that have gone through FFs class (and other graduate student''s classes) have expected to pass regardless of if they go to class, pass the tests, turn in homework or participate in class discussion. This is a direct result of our poor education system-and our hideously poor state''s even worse school system. Don''t get me wrong, I love New Mexico, but I have nothing but disdain for the public school system here.

Luckily I went through private schools that had very strict rules about passing or not, attendance, homework and test taking. What is still sad though is that I did barely over the bare minimum and still got out of high school with a decent GPA.

What''s even more sad? That if I had gone to a school in the public school system, I would have been a straight A student.

I often think that home schoolers have a distinct advantage-their parents pay attention to them. Which is something that is sorely lacking in todays society.
With the educational level and economic level of the parents being probably the 2 largest predictors of academic success, is it any wonder in a state as poor as yours that the schools systems don''t fare well? My FI deals with kids who are children of illegals with a 2nd grade education, kids who cannot read on level, or kids who are 2nd and 3rd generation gang. What chance does he stand? What chance do they stand? Yet he is the bad guy when these kids don''t ''succeed''.

Here''s one on I''m sure you don''t know about the No Child tests - while they may be standardized at the state level, they are not standard nationwide, second, they have NO impact on the kids'' graduating or not, at least not here in Oklahoma and in many states. There is no incentive for kids to pass these tests, yet the teachers and the schools are held accountable for the scores. How screwed up is that?? How motivated were you to work extra hard for something that had virtually no impact, good or bad, on you?? Let''s just discount human nature, or worse, let''s lie to the kids and tell them these tests mean something to them. No. They don''t.

The unpleasant fact that we will all lie to ourselves until doomsday on, is that not all kids are going to be college bound. GASP! Not every child is going to be a rocket scientist. Some really will be ditch diggers. But NO parent wants to hear that, so they wail and gnash, and blame the schools for not properly motivating their little darlings, even when their own IQs are in the toilet. Who do you think are the ones screaming the loudest and trotting out the most excuses when the schools and teacher try, and they do try, to not pass the poor performing students? The parents.

Freke, I''m glad you had such a good education, but that education that was sacrificed for, and paid for by your professional level father with the means to do so, and who thought it was important, just proves my point - which I suppose, after this rant, would be that the schools and teachers are the perpetual fall guys for all of society''s ills. It annoys me no end.

I will repeat like a mantra, it''s the parents it''s the parents it''s the parents.......the level of the parents determines most of what the schools do. They respond to the parents. Is it any wonder that inner city school teacher is now ranked the most stressful job in the country?

Background - FI is history teacher at inner city highschool - the same highschool where his father taught history from ''63 to 95. He knows the issues involved, believe me.
Hi Karen!!!

One of the problems with NM is that while we are incredibly poor, and the median income was around 38,000 in 2004, we have a higher than you''d think rate of higher degreed individuals because of such places like Sandia National Laboratories, University of New Mexico, and Los Alamos National Laboratory. Not to mention Intel. So what this causes is the engineers, the professors, etc. make far higher than then median income wages, while there is still a huge population of people whose income borders around the poverty line, but is often much much lower. I hesitate to say that we even have a significant middle class. Seriously, our state is screwed up.

Something interesting BF and I have talked about (me being a people person and him studying people) is that when you consider the older educated Caucasian generation, none of them are from NM. Most of them are from a different state, and came here for one reason or another. Hispanic people are a totally different story-generations and generations were born and raised here, and never left. But that''s off topic.

I totally agree with you that schooling (and so much more) is dependent on parents. But I''m not blaming the schools or the teachers. My thoughts are that it lands firmly in the hands of the government. I don''t know how to fix it, nor have I truly given it as much thought as it deserves, but that is what I see on a macro level. Yes, it is the parents responsibility on a micro level, but the whole thing is so intricately woven that you can''t turn a blind eye to the rest of the of the system. Did you hear about the teacher who made the little boy stand up in front of all of his peers and had them all tell him why they hated him?

My mom''s best friend is a Spanish teacher. She worked for the public school system, specifically high school and then middle school, for about 30 years before she earned her retirement. She then went to teach at a private elementary school where she made almost 50% less than her public school salary (much less than the NM median salary from 2004), where the tuition for one child, for one year, is over $10k. Now she is going back to the public school system, taking over an administrative position and bringing in about the same amount that she made in the first place. Something is wrong here.

But trust me when I say that teachers and schools are far from being the true fall guys of the education system. Yes I happened to have 2 parents who value education (my mom more than my dad, truth be told), but that is no chance of fate-this was a requirement of my biological mother.

I don''t think we need to discuss the No Child Left Behind. It costs plenty and doesn''t do jackshiz, I am pretty sure this is a well known fact.

As for every parent thinking that their child is perfect and bound for nothing but greatness, I disagree, I know plenty of parents who don''t give a rat''s patootie about their child''s education. I''ve heard numerous stories from my mom''s best friend about parents who don''t show up for some reason and don''t care one way or another about their child''s education. I''ve also heard stories of parents being all over the teacher for not giving their darling child good grades, even though their child is a monstrous individual who disrupts the class and probably has ADHD and an IQ of about 65. All different types of parents are out there.

My mom made sure that when I was young, that she read books to me everyday. When I was older and could read myself, she would let me borrow from the library as many books as I could carry, but I wasn''t allowed any video games or a tv in my room. They were interested in my education but they also taught me that I had to fight my own battles-only once did my mom need to come to my aid in a battle for a grade-my teacher plainly didn''t like me, but the school wouldn''t transfer me to another teacher. She had a conference with the teacher (that was set up a week before) specifically to look at all of my homework and grades. My mom showed up and my teacher wouldn''t produce anything I had written (English-I should also mention that my best subject was English and I had an F in her class, and that my mom was an English major). My mom offered to come back in a week so she could produce the papers, and my teacher refused. My mom and I talked to the Dean of Academics, and halfway through the year I was able to transfer to another teacher-where I ended up getting a B+ as a final grade.

But all of this is totally off topic. The education system is screwed up on multiple levels. Enough said.

As for homeschooling with the Duggars, I just don''t agree that having the older kids teaching the younger kids is a good idea for either''s education. And I believe that they do need to be exposed to other races, cultures, religions and types of people in general, to negate the safe bubble that their parents have created for them. The world isn''t a safe place where the only people you spend time with are your parents, siblings, fellow church members and tv producers. I worry what would happen to them if you took them out of the bubble for just a day or two, put them in normal American clothes, and dropped them into an inner city school-say in the Bronx or maybe Harlem. What happens when that bubble isn''t there anymore?

And homeschooling- I don''t really know enough about it, but I do know that my SIL will be homeschooling her and my brother''s 3 children. So I''ll get back to you on that when the oldest *graduates* in 13 years. (But that''s an entirely different situation from the Duggars-my SIL has a Masters in English and until recently was head of the English department at her high school, and a published author, while my brother is a math teacher and basketball coach at a different school.)
 

diamondfan

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I know. It SHOULD be across the board, but sadly is not. It really is not fair to the kids. They are missing out on the social aspect of school, which may be necessary, BUT, they should all be somewhat in the same ballpark as to what is being taught.
 

partgypsy

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"...coaching and history teaching has become inextricably linked." Hmm in my high school the gym teachers were the ones who taught Drivers Ed. I don''t think they could have handled History and to think of it they weren''t too hot at Driver''s Ed either
3.gif
 

HollyS

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Date: 5/27/2008 4:55:03 PM
Author: brazen_irish_hussy

Date: 5/27/2008 3:21:35 PM
Author: saltymuffin
Like I said, I am not saying that choosing not to have children is selfish. But it certainly does seem more selfish than giving your life to a large family. Maybe people are defining selfish in a different way than me. We live in a very ''me'' driven society. Perhaps we don''t even know what selflessness is anymore? To me Mrs.Dugger is selfless, not selfish.

Environmental impact is not based on a shear number of people, but how those people live, and how much resources they each consume. Each of the Duggers consume far less resources than the childless couple I described. Where is the idea coming from that the US is over populated? It isn''t over populated, immigration is still encouraged. What Americans are doing wrong isn''t having too many babies but consuming too many resources per capita. The answer isn''t to decrease numbers, but to lessen our individual environmental impact.

Lets compare the Duggers not to a childless family, but instead to a wealthy family of 4 living in the same size of home, and owning the same number of cars. Who between them is selfish?
The Duggars are still selfish from an enviromental perspective. Even if none of them own a car in their lives and all live in crowded houses, which I doubt, the sheer amount they, eat, drink, excrete, wear, use in heating, etc, is still an enviromental disaster, especially when they move out.

I think it is selfish to make their children a freak show by putting them on tv to support their lifestyle. I think it is selfish to seriously reduce your kids chance of a good future because you are too religious to send your kids to regular school and too overburdened to teach them properly yourselves. I don''t mean without a proper education you are ruined, but looking at their website, the oldest two want to be an attorney and a midwife. It takes being accepted into a reputable school to do this and it isn''t going to happen or it would have by now. Instead, they are still at home, raising children that aren''t even theirs. To me, stiffling your kids dreams so they can help you live yours is selfish.
Yes indeed.
 

HollyS

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Date: 5/27/2008 5:24:40 PM
Author: part gypsy
Logically people (myself included) would view their actions as less selfish if they didn''t live in a first world country. As the Duggars are ''first world'' citizens in particular the US, the worst offender, they disproportionately consume more resources than individuals in developing countries, up to 32 times more!. Even if they let''s say consumed 50% less than the average American (which I''m not sure they do, reading about their laundry habits) each of their family members would still consume 16 times the resources of an average Bangladeshi. So when people say they are selfish, what they mean is that they are concerned with their family, to the exclusion of other people, meaning the rest of the world. The world is a finite space and even if their actions are not directly felt there is definitely an indirect impact in resources consumed. And I agree, that also means single people who don''t have children but consume bunches of resources according to this definition are also selfish. This is a free country so both groups are entitled to do what they wish but to call the Duggars actions ''selfless'' is a bit myopic.


http://webserve.govst.edu/pa/Advertising/Wrongs/jared_diamond.html
And again, yes.
 

HollyS

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Date: 5/27/2008 8:06:10 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
I keep telling myself that I won't comment on this thread anymore, but I see one more thing I need to address. I am frankly astounded by the negative and uninformed comments about homeschooling! As a public school educator for 20+ years, I can tell you that public education just isn't all that great!!! Truly, as a private educational specialist, I do consult with some homeschoolers and I have found their children to be articulate, well-mannered, and extremely well educated overall. The children are more comfortable talking with adults than any other children I know. Many of them have special classes on Fridays where experts in different areas work with groups of children on special projects. Some learn Latin and other languages. They recently had a public speaking event in our area where more than 500 children presented oral speeches. If you want to check, many years the national spelling and geography bees are won by homeschoolers. I have seen older ones go on to college with no problems whatsoever.

I dearly love the students I teach in public school. However, the regular classroom teachers deal with serious discipline problems on a daily basis, and plenty of instructional time is wasted. With a large percentage of American public school students reading below grade level, I would go so far as to say that homeschoolers overall probably beat out public school kids on achievement. My own child is gifted in art but has a learning disability (but above average in intelligence), and I am always considering the option of educating her at home so she can get an education suited for HER needs as opposed to the cookie-cutter education offered by the public schools. (She goes to a public charter school at the moment which is a pretty good school.)

There are good and bad public school teachers and there are good and bad homeschool teachers. I really hate to hear the negative stereotypes about homeschooling.
Home schooling, done well, is fine. No problem. A mother with 18 children, two or more babies, a few toddlers, and a heck of-a-lot of school age kids of different ages and grade levels, will not have the time to do a bang-up job of home schooling. And I believe I read somewhere that the older children are basically 'teaching' the younger children. Completely unwise, and certainly not a quality education.
 

diamondseeker2006

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Date: 5/28/2008 6:38:14 PM
Author: HollyS

Date: 5/27/2008 8:06:10 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
I keep telling myself that I won''t comment on this thread anymore, but I see one more thing I need to address. I am frankly astounded by the negative and uninformed comments about homeschooling! As a public school educator for 20+ years, I can tell you that public education just isn''t all that great!!! Truly, as a private educational specialist, I do consult with some homeschoolers and I have found their children to be articulate, well-mannered, and extremely well educated overall. The children are more comfortable talking with adults than any other children I know. Many of them have special classes on Fridays where experts in different areas work with groups of children on special projects. Some learn Latin and other languages. They recently had a public speaking event in our area where more than 500 children presented oral speeches. If you want to check, many years the national spelling and geography bees are won by homeschoolers. I have seen older ones go on to college with no problems whatsoever.

I dearly love the students I teach in public school. However, the regular classroom teachers deal with serious discipline problems on a daily basis, and plenty of instructional time is wasted. With a large percentage of American public school students reading below grade level, I would go so far as to say that homeschoolers overall probably beat out public school kids on achievement. My own child is gifted in art but has a learning disability (but above average in intelligence), and I am always considering the option of educating her at home so she can get an education suited for HER needs as opposed to the cookie-cutter education offered by the public schools. (She goes to a public charter school at the moment which is a pretty good school.)

There are good and bad public school teachers and there are good and bad homeschool teachers. I really hate to hear the negative stereotypes about homeschooling.
Home schooling, done well, is fine. No problem. A mother with 18 children, two or more babies, a few toddlers, and a heck of-a-lot of school age kids of different ages and grade levels, will not have the time to do a bang-up job of home schooling. And I believe I read somewhere that the older children are basically ''teaching'' the younger children. Completely unwise, and certainly not a quality education.
Holly, let me ask you how many people do you personally know who homeschool? Do you know much about various homeschool curriculums? You are extremely judgemental about a family''s education that you really have no first hand knowlege about.

Considering what I see daily in public education, it would not suprise me if the Duggar children are better educated than the average child in public school.
 

diamondseeker2006

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Date: 5/28/2008 3:08:38 PM
Author: FrekeChild


But all of this is totally off topic. The education system is screwed up on multiple levels. Enough said.

As for homeschooling with the Duggars, I just don't agree that having the older kids teaching the younger kids is a good idea for either's education. And I believe that they do need to be exposed to other races, cultures, religions and types of people in general, to negate the safe bubble that their parents have created for them. The world isn't a safe place where the only people you spend time with are your parents, siblings, fellow church members and tv producers. I worry what would happen to them if you took them out of the bubble for just a day or two, put them in normal American clothes, and dropped them into an inner city school-say in the Bronx or maybe Harlem. What happens when that bubble isn't there anymore?

And homeschooling- I don't really know enough about it, but I do know that my SIL will be homeschooling her and my brother's 3 children. So I'll get back to you on that when the oldest *graduates* in 13 years. (But that's an entirely different situation from the Duggars-my SIL has a Masters in English and until recently was head of the English department at her high school, and a published author, while my brother is a math teacher and basketball coach at a different school.)
Freke, I agree with a lot that you have said about the problems in public education and the difficulty in fixing it. But I will say this, every child is in the bubble that the parents create for them! I can safely say that few of us here have dropped our kids into an inner city school in the Bronx or Harlem! In fact, I am old enough to have two kids that have finished college at this point, and I haven't ever been dropped into the inner city of NY!!! So I live in a bubble too, I guess! I work with people who chose the same career as me and have similar education, and my friends are mostly people I work with or who go to my church (plus some great PS friends!). On the other side of that equation, not too many of those inner city kids have been dropped off at Kaleigh's daughter's private prep school either. That might be pretty uncomfortable for them. It's just the way life is. We tend to spend our time in our own communities with people who probably aren't nearly as diverse as you are inferring. While the Duggar's lifestyle probably isn't the choice of anyone here, I think those kids will be just fine in terms of adjustment and especially education. As I said before, the homeschoolers I consult with seem to be better educated than the public school kids.
 

miraclesrule

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I''ve been quiet too long...what is up with me??
31.gif


Homeschooling. It''s a hot topic in California right now because a recent legal case has just ruled that homeschooling parents need to be certified with the same teaching credentials as public school teachers.
32.gif


I don''t think it will be upheld on appeal...after appeal...

It''s a damned if you do, damned if you don''t proposition for parents who know that the public school system is in shambles. Heck, just ask Google as to how many Americans they recruit into their ranks. Their executive team had to start their own program in order to teach Americans so they could hope to bring some diversity, but most of them are foreign graduates and/or foreign students who made it into MIT.

I don''t know if "socializing" a child is a prerequisite to ensuring a healthy future. Perhaps in the future, the cost of travel will be so out of the reach of ordinary citizens that bringing community back will be the social model of the future. Besides, when 13-yr old girls are beating each other up and filming themselves for YouTube, I tend to think homeschooling has it''s social advantages.

I for one look back on my education...and I have to look pretty far....but it irks me that I was never taught how to balance a checkbook. I was never taught what criteria affects my credit rating. I was never taught a lot of the thing''s that I needed in order to live in this society. I had to learn them myself in the "School of Hard Knocks" and through my own curious nature and ambition. Talent can''t be taught. Identifying and fostering talent can be done. And sometimes, the best person for that job is MOM.
 

brazen_irish_hussy

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Messages
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Date: 5/28/2008 10:21:50 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006

Date: 5/28/2008 3:08:38 PM
Author: FrekeChild


But all of this is totally off topic. The education system is screwed up on multiple levels. Enough said.

As for homeschooling with the Duggars, I just don''t agree that having the older kids teaching the younger kids is a good idea for either''s education. And I believe that they do need to be exposed to other races, cultures, religions and types of people in general, to negate the safe bubble that their parents have created for them. The world isn''t a safe place where the only people you spend time with are your parents, siblings, fellow church members and tv producers. I worry what would happen to them if you took them out of the bubble for just a day or two, put them in normal American clothes, and dropped them into an inner city school-say in the Bronx or maybe Harlem. What happens when that bubble isn''t there anymore?

And homeschooling- I don''t really know enough about it, but I do know that my SIL will be homeschooling her and my brother''s 3 children. So I''ll get back to you on that when the oldest *graduates* in 13 years. (But that''s an entirely different situation from the Duggars-my SIL has a Masters in English and until recently was head of the English department at her high school, and a published author, while my brother is a math teacher and basketball coach at a different school.)
Freke, I agree with a lot that you have said about the problems in public education and the difficulty in fixing it. But I will say this, every child is in the bubble that the parents create for them! I can safely say that few of us here have dropped our kids into an inner city school in the Bronx or Harlem! In fact, I am old enough to have two kids that have finished college at this point, and I haven''t ever been dropped into the inner city of NY!!! So I live in a bubble too, I guess! I work with people who chose the same career as me and have similar education, and my friends are mostly people I work with or who go to my church (plus some great PS friends!). On the other side of that equation, not too many of those inner city kids have been dropped off at Kaleigh''s daughter''s private prep school either. That might be pretty uncomfortable for them. It''s just the way life is. We tend to spend our time in our own communities with people who probably aren''t nearly as diverse as you are inferring. While the Duggar''s lifestyle probably isn''t the choice of anyone here, I think those kids will be just fine in terms of adjustment and especially education. As I said before, the homeschoolers I consult with seem to be better educated than the public school kids.
Then why aren''t they educated? The oldest make it seem as though they want to be, but are still at home, teaching younger kids and not getting higher education. If they had gotten a proper education, why is the 20 not in college so he can go to law school and reach his dream of becoming an attorney? If he wants to and has the good education you think he does, why hasn''t he?
I have the sneaking suspicion he may not have the trigonometry, for example, to do well on the SATs. According to their website, the older kids have to teach themselves math and English. Maybe it is different where I am, but I the two major public colleges in my state would not accept bible study instead of solis SAT scores.
 

miraclesrule

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Messages
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*trigonometry*


Dang Irish, don''t go getting all educated on me. At least I know how to say it... (Seriously at my job, I got in trouble for using more than two syllable words because I was intimidating people)
But honestly, how many lawyers do you know that have ever needed trigonometry in their entire career?
 

diamondseeker2006

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I certainly have no idea why he is not in college, nor do I think it is anybody''s business but his and his parents. As long as he isn''t out on the streets doing drugs and robbing people, I think I can allow him the freedom to choose what he wants to do and when. Our friends'' homeschooled daughter just graduated from college two or three weeks ago. That was her choice. I just don''t think everyone has to fit some preconceived mold that some of you are setting up.
 

diamondseeker2006

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Date: 5/28/2008 11:11:23 PM
Author: miraclesrule
*trigonometry*


Dang Irish, don''t go getting all educated on me. At least I know how to say it... (Seriously at my job, I got in trouble for using more than two syllable words because I was intimidating people)
But honestly, how many lawyers do you know that have ever needed trigonometry in their entire career?
Lol! Thanks for pointing that out! I am probably a failure because I never took Trig!!! I did manage to get a master''s, and I do all of our taxes myself. So I guess I''ll have to rethink how my lack of Trig has negatively affected my life!
 

iheartscience

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Date: 5/28/2008 11:11:23 PM
Author: miraclesrule
*trigonometry*



Dang Irish, don''t go getting all educated on me. At least I know how to say it... (Seriously at my job, I got in trouble for using more than two syllable words because I was intimidating people)

But honestly, how many lawyers do you know that have ever needed trigonometry in their entire career?

I totally agree with b_i_h. And miracles, a lawyer probably doesn''t need trigonometry, but they do need a college education and a law degree. b_i_h''s point was that Bible study doesn''t sub for good SAT scores, and these kids are unlikely to get into a good college without good SATs, which they''re unlikely to get without a strong academic background.
 
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