Re: Many Muslims Turn to Home Schooling, NYT article?
Hareem there are always two sides to every story, some advocating and some nay-saying. Choosing home-schooling can be a great choice - IF its done right. It can also be a really poor choice when its not. If a girl is raised in the west but kept hidden at home to shield her from the "evils" of western society, the parents had better make dam certain that the girl is OK with that choice. **Because once she turns 18, she's free and legal to do whatever she wants. **And a girl who is at that age, completely unfamiliar with but very determined to discover all the freedoms and choices - both good and bad - that she can make....well thats kind of a recipe for disaster yeah?
Do you honestly think in these families whose primary concerns for home schooling are cooking, cleaning and not mixing in, the girls who turn 18 have that choice?
Re: Many Muslims Turn to Home Schooling, NYT article?
TDW, all it takes is a bit of determination and "brass balls" if you'll forgive the expression. At age 18, girls are legally free from whatever influence their parents might have - to the point of being able to seek legal protection from them. So if you arent careful, if you've closeted a girl with a free spirit, be prepared to pay the piper, kwim?
Re: Many Muslims Turn to Home Schooling, NYT article?
You know what? I went to a public school, and my present state of affairs is pretty dam* good. I graduated high school with some of the brightest people I know to this day. Folks who are now enjoying good careers or good graduate school programs.
True - many people who go to public school in the US don't come out all too well, but lets lay the responsibility on the right people. I taught in the American school system for one year, and I can tell you for fact that how involved a parent chooses to get in their kid's education makes a big difference. Our educational system has massive problems, but the solution to that isn't hiding in your home with your kids. Parents should be 100% involved in their kids' education, and you CAN accomplish that while having your kid enrolled in a public school. Muslims in America have to grow up working with non-muslims in their communities, period. And that's not going to change whether you homeschool your kids or not. I think the issue isn't how many studies you can find that show homeschooling is best, but rather - is homeschooling a good technique for muslims in this day and age?
I don't think so. I think our communities need to stop being so segregated from their non-muslim neighbors. There's no reason to separate your kid from other non-muslim kids. And if its an issue of quality education at the school that you're worried about, I'd rather applaud the parents who get involved with the school system to make a pro-active change. That way other children and families benefit too, and we're doing something for our community. Homeschooling your kid is like staring a problem in the face and saying "I'm not going to deal with it and I don't care about the futures of the people around me - I only care about my family's future".
Muslims are being criticized for not being proactive, for segregating themselves, and its no wonder. This article is just embarassing for us all. And to be quite honest, this must be some unique community in California, because from what I hear and what I've seen, MOST - like 99% - of muslim kids go to public or private school. I've never met a family that is home-schooling their kids, nor have I heard of one. This is the first time.
Re: Many Muslims Turn to Home Schooling, NYT article?
& that's fine, PyariCGudia.
this is your experience that you have not met anyone home-schooled in your life till now.
some eople have or some people are home schooled. the debate is not whether is it better or not, but whether a more frequent amount of Muslims choose to keep their children at homes and teach them there.
for everyone, thanks for presenting your points. each and everyone of them can be valid to suit a certain context.
the outcome seems to be that there are merits of both kinds of schooling - at home as well as through out of home schooling. people need to be careful about what can train children to transition from home schooling to out of home schooling at some point in their lives.
best,
Dushwari
Re: Many Muslims Turn to Home Schooling, NYT article?
Dushwari,
This is a critical issue with potentially major future problems and probably not something one should say let's agree to disagree too easily.
I think if it is just home schooling we are discussing, it is one thing.
But immigrant communities, particularly muslims, with a bad record of non-integration and ghettoization, resorting to home schooling as a technique to avoid cultural contact is recipe for disaster.
On top of that when you read about it affecting girls mostly, adds yet another dimension to the problem.
If this happened in Hindu communities, my advise will be exactly the same.
I hope muslim parents will put the future well being of their kids before their own compulsion to preserve their notions into the next generation. The next generation lives in a different world.