Brainteaserfan

Brainteaserfan, I have no doubt that some home schoolers are motivated by academic excellence, but many are motivated by religious belief and or bigotry. What does it matter if one small part is different from what is widely accepted? Evolution, is the foundation of modern biology, while it is called a theory most who say that have no understanding what a theory is but the real situation is that evolution is a fact, evolution is the best supported theory in modern science. There is no doubt that evolution is responsible for the biodiversity we see today, nothing about biology makes sense with out evolution and if you deny evolution in favor of creationism you have to deny cosmology, geology, astronomy, biochemistry, physics and in fact pretty much all of the science that has given us this first world civilization we enjoy so much. The simple idea of humans coexisting with dinosaurs ignores pretty much all of science. How can you say someone is getting a real education if they ignore the very things that have brought us to this world we call civilization?

Biology is the scientific study of life, right? Knowing where life came from is only a small part of that. If for an analogy we replace life with cars, we could learn all about cars, their parts, how they work, etc, without ever knowing how they are manufactured.

Your situation seems better than average, and I'm not sure it's representative of homeschooling in most areas. I think you have a well thought out program that lends itself to creating great potential.

 

 

Again, you may be an exception. Most young-earth creationists I've had discussions with believe all of science is suspect since they think it's deceiving everyone about the true age of the earth. And it's not just one small part of one subject. Geology, history, astronomy, biology, so many areas of education are affected when you ignore evidence of an ancient Earth.

 

And not all homeschools are for religious reasons. In fact, some people in areas where religion takes precedence over education homeschool their kids to keep them away from public schools where the teachers fudge the curriculum in favor of their religion.

Ok, I'll see if I can get anyone from my online classes (in different parts of the country) to chime in and see whether my situation is different from most.

I hate people that say lol instead of just laughing!

Lol

I think it varies as much as any educational environment. Great experiences and horrible ones, and everything in between. And like the environment, the students can vary the same way. I don't think there is an optimum way for everyone.

 

Socialization definitely needs to be augmented, imo, but there are lots of after school activities, organizations and groups that can do that.

 

 

Look at your average textbook and think about having to remove anything that talks about the world before 4000 B.C.E. Your books have to have pictures of dinosaurs and early humans co-existing. You can't get those in public schools.

My point was that if I'm not socializing or in a class, I'm either studying, eating, sleeping, or on here (which I could make an arguement for being extra writing). There is no more time for augmenting socialization.

I still don't understand why it matters whether one small part of one subject is different from what is widely accepted. It seems almost irrelevant to pros and cons of homeschooling, does it not?

In my area home schooling usually means "white people" teaching their kids creationism, and keeping their kids away from black kids but far and away it's the religion part than has driven the home school craze. We do have a couple of private schools here who tout they give a good christian education to their students I don't know what a christian education is but when i was in grade school, public school, they actually taught that Noah's ark was real and i was punished for not swallowing the fairy tales of the bible but that was 50 years ago....

I have some black homeschooled friends.

Is creationism really that big an issue for why people homeschool??? I can't imagine anyone homeschooling for that reason.

Well that doesn't make sense, chimps are still pretty different from humans, the process of evolution is very very slow, and its because the way it happens is completely random mutations just happening to be successful. So lets say 999,999,999 times out of 1,000,000,000 a dinosaur is born with no feathers, but once in a while, that 1 time out of 1,000,000,000 a dinosaur happens to be mutated either from radiation or some chemical or etc, and that mutation allows the dinosaur to be more likely to survive cold weather, and its offspring will also have that same genetic trait, so its offspring will also be more likely to survive cold weather, and then another 1 time out of 1,000,000,000, a dinosaur grows more feathers than usual, which allows it to be more resistant to even colder weather. So now within the same species, there's dinosaurs with feathers and dinosaurs without, and a gigantic blizzard sweeps through. The dinosaurs without the feathers die, and the ones with feathers survive, and thus species is wholly changed.

As you can see, a dinosaur never just gives birth to a bird.

I acknowlege that it could be interpreted that way, but I don't get the sense that that is what the Bible meant, because ultimately we would be coming from a far different species.

Firstly, several have mentioned concerns about socialization. I can't speak for all parts of the world, and I am sure that some homeschoolers are undersocialized, but I find that to be no problem for most homeschoolers. Near DC, there are thousands of homeschoolers that are involved in activities and coops with each other. I'm a homeschooled 9th grader, and I think that I am relatively typical (in terms of socialization) of most of my homeschool friends. On Monday I am part of a homeschool science team; there are about 20 kids. Tuesday I have a wind ensemble and jazz band; about 25 kids. Wednesday; orchestra with around 40 kids in it. Thursday, I have a biology class with around 20 children. Thursday afternoon I have a golf lesson with around 20, and Thurs night, bible study; only a few kids, but 15? adults. Friday is PE coop, and there are around 30 there. Sometime Fri evening we go play chess at a local chess club, although recently, that has gotten rarer. Saturday I have a science class in the morning with around 80 kids. Sunday is church, and usually we go to someone else's house afterwards. (note, I didn't include my spanish lesson taught by my grandmother, trumpet lesson, or other activities where I don't see many people.)

Is that undersocialized?? Public schoolers seem to often be uncomfortable with someone a few years older or younger then themselves; homeschoolers are usually fine with any age. When I first did activities with other public schoolers, I was surprised to find they always ask your grade first.

As to specialization; my dad does computers and finance, and my mom is a former music teacher. But with homeschooling, we form classes and each parent teaches their specialty. I want to note that in "elementary school," my mom helped me a lot, but now it is pretty much only on my trumpet. I take a few online classes, do some on my own, and have some physical classes.

Someone said in this thread something about it being cheaper than public school?? Actually, usually a parent stays home, in which case the cost is the lost salary.

I know several who have gone to public school for a semester (no doubt, not all schools are equal) and said that it was a enormous waste of time as compared to homeschooling.

Lastly I want to state that my test scores are not lacking, in fact last year on a standardized test I had 99th percentile. (haven't gotten this years)

Well then your not an extremist are you?

I think most would concur that some small level of evolution has occurred. From my reasoning, God created animals with an ability to adapt slightly to their surroundings.

I suppose you will have to define "extremist." I believe that God created me -- I certainly don't think we evolved from chimps.

mooey said it nicely, but to state it in simpler terms:

A living organism must be able to SENSE changes in its enviroment AND respond to those changes.

And some may use the counter, "Not all stars go supernova."

 

A reply to that is, not all humans can reproduce either.

Our cells still are reproducing.

I don't get what the debate is. Couldn't god have just wanted evolution to happen?

 

But unfortunately, what tends to happen is the extremists on both sides think they are better than the other side for their set of beliefs, which I find very ironic because evolution is neither a religion nor a mystical force that says you have to do anything, its just a process that happens to happen. With evolutionists, they tend to think they accept science and therefore they are mentally superior as a result of evolution as well as somehow regressing to some archaic state like they "accept" animalistic tendencies and think they have to act on them, and with religious extremists, they tend to think that because people of other religions are not protected by their divinity that the God(s) of the religious extremists consider the religious extremists more important and the lives of people of other faiths to be meaningless.

Ok, I'm speaking generally now, and not about my own beliefs.

You said you don't get what the debate is. Since christians (again, generally speaking) believe God created every terrestrial animal, and every water animal, and told them to "bring forth after their own kind," then that seems to defy evolution, where animals would not be "bringing forth after their own kind." Does that help?

PS- I don't believe that I am better because of my belief in Creationism. If I did not hold a Christian viewpoint, I am pretty sure that I would accept evolution (meaning that we all came from a common ancestor and the rest-- I do believe that some small level of evolving has occurred over time)

Because dead cells have no energy to expend to carry out osmosis.

It doesn't require energy.

Edit: that's wrong, it requires potential energy I guess. No energy on the part of the cell.

Osmosis doesn't occur in dead cells.

Why not?

Why write a haiku?

A limerick is better.

And quite likely lewd.

Haikus are simpler

Lim'ricks are quite difficult

So we write haikus

Ok, now I'm wondering how this forum got started. I imagined someone started the website, and convinced a few people to come as mods. Now I find out most of the staff only know each other virtually.

btw, the layout seems to be similar to other forums. Is there a template that the site came from?

Do the mods all know each other in real life? Just the admin? You should have an "about SFN" page with all the reasons y'all created it.

Heh. You have to admit those were some pretty awesome pictures, though.

?????

Science blogs generally aren't selling news, or at least sensationalism, which is what currently passes for news.

Ok, I see your point.

What is it about internet forums that attracts control freaks as moderators? Is it the sense of POWER they feel possessing the 'banned' 'suspended' buttons? Do they enjoy total control because they have none over anyone in the real world? Were they robbed of a happy childhood, had an unhappier teen age hood, moved up to a miserable adulthood? Why can't they control their vicious instincts? Should they seek psychiatrict help or go to a churh where they will hear words like "Love" "Truth" "Honesty."

Posters on this forum, we need to have compassion for these moderators. They can't seem to help themselves, so let's help them through prayers.

A look at the list of banned and suspended posters on this forum shows the depth of the problem .. it seems to go on into near infinity. Solving the problem might take a LOT of prayer.

Are you trying to get banned? I can tell you that several of the last ones needed it. Stick around awhile without getting banned, and see if you still think that way of the mods. Most of the time they make good calls.

Edit: did you notice that this thread is falsifying your post?

It can also be poor design.

A properly made unit would mute audio during switching on and ramp up the level after.

Bad design of the AirPlay device?

Yes, in an attempt to be brief I'm afraid I worded this badly. The truth is that I wonder about the whole concept of a cyber-friend. I feel it must be very different to a "proper" friend. Someone you know ,who you like as a known person. Someone you trust and would want to help should they be in difficulties. Someone you would stand back to back with to face danger . As quite an old man I am proud to say I have a handful of true friends. I don't really get the significance and practical benefit of having, say, a couple of hundred "friends" that you don't really know on forums and sites such as Facebook. On a forum such as this is it really no more than a gesture that you like and agree with the views expressed in their posts?

I'll use it as "I like your posts a lot" from now on.

Creationist posts are all junky.

Their arguments get kind of funky.

"Science sucks! You're all pimps!

WE are better than chimps!"

Which is really a slight to a monkey.

Umm, S-F-N Rule 1-C

Has been violated, see?

By no less than a mod

I do not applaud

Generalized attacks on me

----------

Phi thinks humans are equal to chimps

I seem to catch a glimpse

Of monkeys engaging in science??

Evidence falls in defiance!

Of such an idea of wimps

#Are these actually limericks?

Because we're running science blogs.

I still don't get it.... according to your argument, it is old, so it isn't news, so why would a science blog write about it? My point is if people don't get bored reading old news on blogs, why do they get tired of it on news websites?

I think what the OP meant by "what is a friend" was, when is it thought that you should add someone as a friend? After discussing many threads with them, finding them nice, and "friending" them? Do you do it as a compliment when you think their posts are well said? Do you do it only when you actually know them in real life? Or when you have spent time "chatting" online with them?

See your doctor, please.

Sometimes it is nice to have ideas to discuss with your doc, and getting your problem written out can help too.

I have a set of speakers plugged into an apple AirPlay unit. When the AirPlay device boots up and successfully connects to the network (when the light turns green) there is a "pop" or a noise like your ears popping. Is there a reason for this, or is it a sound effect maybe that apple designed the AirPlay device to produce when it was ready for use?

Right, but why would they continue with a "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" type of story?

Why do your (and my) science blogs continue then?

That. I haven't seen mention of neutrinos on finance news, either, but it's not like I'd expect to.

Drudge does carry some level of science and technology news too. When it first happened, it was posted.