count me as "not surprised" that fringe elements on either end of the spectrum share lunatic/conspiracy/"freedom" views on things like avoiding innoculations, the benefits of home schooling, and the fact that the government is out to get you.

and i say " okay - go for it". just sign a waiver that if your kid catches swine flu, he can't get government subsidized medical care. if he's home schooled, he can't collect unemployment because he lacks the skills to get hired. if you want to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, show proof of medical and burial insurance to ensure society won't end up paying for your "preference"

the freedom to run away from government rules the rest of us follow should also mean the obligation to avoid being compensated by taxpayer dollars for such shitty decisions.

The easiest image? "Tea Partyer" holding up a sign saying "Keep Your Gov't Hands Off My Medicare!"

You just know that these people are thinking this, and are afraid.

>>if he's home schooled, he can't collect unemployment because he lacks the skills to get hired.<<

Can you point to any study that shows that home schooled students either a) lack skills, or b) have difficulty finding employment? I would be very interested if you do.

neither can i point to a study showing they have average, or above average job skills.

"many" home schooling aficionados are religiously oriented. they want to keep their kids "safe" from evolution and science

other parents simply have an unrealistically high impression of their ability to teach world history, literature, calculus, trigonometry, physics . . .etc.

i actually know a family which is "home schooling" - not to avoid contact with evolution (even though they are "faithful people"), but rather to spend more time with their kids. the mom is a very nice person, but i doubt her kids are going to "graduate" with a grounding anything she doesn't know or care about.

baltimore aureole

Home schooling is a viable option for many and from my exposure to those who are or who have home schooled, their kids are at either at a par with or head's and shoulders above the average public school student.

Often they choose home schooling out of necessity. Their public options are poor, private is too expensive and their child has a mild to moderate learning disability that the public system cannot adequately address. I've also noted that many choose to enroll their children in the public schools on entering the ninth or tenth grades to get the rest of their educational credits, socialize in that environment and then move on to college.

Again, the ones I am familiar with tested well above their grade levels on entering the public system - sad, but true. Moreover, I think I understand why. The disruptive elements are not present, the slowest members of the herd do not drag down the progress of the rest, the politics and bureaucracy are not present and more time is actually spent learning. If schools actually focused on the learning process instead of all the peripheral BS the school day and year could be 20% shorter. (My estimate.)

If you are not aware of any research to indicate that homeschoolers are less employable than others, what possible reason could you have for saying that they should be denied unemployment benefits?

I have some experience with homeschoolers, and I have never heard anyone say that they are homeschooling to avoid having their children exposed to evolutionary theory. I guess it's possible, I've just never heard of it.

In any case, there is a lot of research about homeschooling. If you are interested you can go to www.nheri.org.

*** If you are not aware of any research to indicate that homeschoolers are less employable than others, what possible reason could you have for saying that they should be denied unemployment benefits? *** Because BA is BA, and BA is apparently required by law to have a lengthy response to each and every article that appears on Slate. When you're cranking out that much gas, quality can't really be your highest concern.

So.... exactly how did Jim Carrey become "far left"? To my knowledge, he's never shown any public participation in political discourse whatever. And "affluent California parents" are far left too? Jeeze! isn't that just a BIT of a stretch?

Perhaps today we're defining "far left" as "whatever agrees with 'far right'"?

I suppose circular logic does have its comforts -- like, avoiding all those pesky contradictions when you start testing it against reality.

"if you turn left often enough, its the same as turning right"

Apparently you've never used a screwdriver.

lol!

creationism and biblical refutation of science - resources for homeschoolers <link>

i'm unpersuaded that the average mom has the skills to teach topics as diverse and challenging as:

• high school physics
• chemistry (with lab work)
• calculus
• trigonometry
• algebra
• computer science

my fear is that the lessons will begin with US History and conclude with Biblical History, and eschew any broader exposure to science, math, international events . . .

Obviously you didn't read my post... so much for open minded discourse.