Brenda Voydatch has battled her ex-husband, Martin Kurowski, over the education of their daughter Amanda since she began home-schooling her in first grade. Last month, a Laconia (N.H.) family court judge adopted a marital master’s recommendation that it would be in the girl’s best interests to go to public school in the 2009-10 academic year.
“[T]he Court is guided … by the premise that a child requires academic, social, cultural, and physical interaction with a variety of experiences, people, concepts, and surroundings in order to grow into an adult who can make intelligent decisions about how to achieve a productive and satisfying life,” the master, Michael Garner, said in his order.
Kurowski had testified that “exposure to other points of view will decrease Amanda’s rigid adherence to her mother’s religious beliefs.”
Parents that are highly involved with their children’s education usually means the child getting a good education — there’s a high correlation, at least.
Homeschool parents have a high involvement with their children’s education, and there are those who say that that’s what makes homeschooled kids successful, not the fact that they’re homeschooled. It’s the same with private schools — parents motivated enough to send their kid to private school usually have a high involvement with their kid’s education.
Public schools, on the other hand, have to take all kids, including those whose parents don’t give a rat’s ass about their kid’s education. Thus the low scores public schools produce — the unmotivated kids bring down the average.
If that mother stays highly involved with her kid’s education, that kid will get a good education whether she’s homeschooled or not.
Now, if she wanted to homeschool the kid because of religious not educational reasons… that’s a different matter. If the mother thinks secular school is evil but the father doesn’t, they have an irreconcilable difference, and that’s what the courts are for. Of course, that’s just speculation on my part.
I mean whether she thinks secular school is evil, is speculation on my part.
Wow. This hits home in so many ways.
Whatever you think of homeschooling vs. private vs. public this is not about that. It’s also not about the government stepping on parental rights.
This is about 2 divorced parents not agreeing about how to educate their child and forcing a judge to decide for them.
This kid has problems that are much bigger than whether they go to a school or not. One of the jobs parents perform is to work through their value differences to provide a consistent message to their kids.
When they get divorced more often than not they quit doing this job and the kids are left to resolve the conflicting messages on their own.
Couple of points.
1. The divorce court system in NH is horrible! “Marital Masters” regularly make appalling decisions. It costs a fortune, but their rulings are often overturned by real Judges. I know this first hand.
2. Laconia is a 5h!t hole of a place that no person in their right mind would send a child to school if they had a choice.
My heart breaks for that family.
Dr. Dodd — no comic hyperbole for you, I see.
I’ll try another tack:
It DUM to say divorce kids NO GOOD
Dr. Dodd — no comic hyperbole for you, I see.
I’ll try another tack:
It DUM to say divorce kids NO GOOD! Dum!
#34 Agreed, fundimental, but it’s not surprising the parents don’t have a consistent message to send their kids — they got divorced, after all. Judging from the article, I suspect different attitudes about religion may have been part of their problem.
#35 NH schools are underfunded, but NH has no income tax, so they get to keep more of their hard-earned dollars… giving their kids a crappy education is a small price to pay! (sarcasm)
How about a compromise. The father doesn’t like the fact that their daughter is being tought by their religious mother.
The mother doesn’t want the daughter to go to substandard government schools.
Well, since the father has the problem with the religious bent, how about the father pays for a private secular school. That way bother win.
This is madness, if the father has less custody of the child does than the mother does I think it should be the mother’s choice were the child goes to school. The only reason why the father is doing this is he probably jealous that the mother got to see the child more than he did. Now he wants to try to take the time away from her.
I can see the father being very controlling, I don’t blame her for getting a divorce.
Also to those people who say home schooling makes kids socially messed up.
I’m home schooled and I’ve got a ton of friends. Same with my cousins who are also home schooled.
#40–marylamb==”I’m home schooled and I’ve got a ton of friends. Same with my cousins who are also home schooled.” /// Hah, hah. Can you spot the unstated admission?
But to your main point, as far as I know the only measure of home school performance is their superlative testing on mandated tests.
Any other “objective” data points out there besides your family experience?
Catholic schools produce children merely riddled with guilt and shame. Home schooled kids will kill their entire family or become serial killers. I kind of lean toward the home schooling on the chance that the kid becomes the lifeguard in the gene pool.
#40 – How many people have you killed?
Shouldn’t the state be serving families, and not the other way around?
#41 Yes that is true but it’s not like SAT’s and such really don’t matter these days. More and more collages are not recurring them. Sure when I go into collage I’ll have to take some tests but it’s not really a big deal for me. Plus my mom meets quarterly with someone who reports to the state and they tell me and my mom what I need to improve on.
#43 None, bring up some instantiates when a home schooler killed someone.
Jewish kids go to their own “Hebrew School”s. Catholics can go to their own private schools. And nobody’s hassling these groups about public school “socialization”. They wouldn’t dare! Even the Quakers aren’t hassled about sending their kids to the state’s schools. But come anyone else, who isn’t grandfathered out of the system, that wants to home school their kids. And the government acts like the children have been kidnapped by an anti-social cult, of two (mom and dad). Not much more than a 100 years ago, some kids were home schooled simply because there were no schools where they lived. So why are the bureaucrats so worried that little Johnny or Mary won’t turn out right, if they don’t get a year of public school. Could it be because of the federally mandated curriculum that ensures exposure to things like Evolutionary theory, and alternative sexual lifestyles. The US government really has a huge worry that not enough children will be made to swallow Darwinism, and perverse sexual behaviors. Not to mention, hooking them on Football, Baseball, and other moneymaking spectator sports. Plus they need to allow the military to get a whack at them. “Career day” is just a front for military recruitment. There are no other career choices exposed to them.
If every parent put their kids thru home schooling. You can bet the Pentagon and Congress would have something to say about bring the kids around on “Career Day”, as mandatory! And of course, exposing them to Darwinism, makes it easier to sell the idea that the enemy is “less evolved” or inferior, and deserves to die. What does teaching about Jesus ever gotten this country, Peace?! Can’t have that, it’s not as profitable.
#46, Glenn,
What does teaching about Jesus ever gotten this country,
Alphie.
#40, maryland,
Ignorance is usually blissful. Especially for those in denial.
Your post is indicative of a non inquieing mind. You make lots of “I think”, “ifs”, and “probably”, that you use to form a concrete opinion. No facts, just conjecture.
Well, here is something to add to your blank mind. And it is from FOX Spews.
So the judge objects to home-schooling itself. Hasn’t JCD posted about how computers can revolutionize education?
The whole diversity benefit is bogus. Used to be they were saying that black kids can only do well if they are sitting next to a white student. Now anyone can only do well if they are sitting next to other students? I thought smaller class size and one-on-one instruction are good things?
#45 Maryland157, if you’re going to brag about the higher quality of your home school edumacation, you might want to spellcheck your posts (“collage” for college, “instantiates” for instances). 🙂
#51 You realy expetc me to have perfeck engrish for a blogg comment.
#53 When you’re bragging about your superior education, yes.
#54 I was not bragging nor do I think my education is superior.
RE #46,
Gee, somedays are worse than others. Here, I just can’t spell.
Second paragraph, first line should read,
Your post is indicative of a non inquiring mind.
Geeze, I can’t even get my correction right. #56 should refer to #49.
#45, maryland,
While some colleges do not insist upon passing your SATs for entrance, most do. Unless you wanted to attend Liberty u, Oral Roberts U, or some other Fourth Tier school, then I would study a few things your mommy didn’t teach you.
Posts #56, #57 and #58 … the product of a Government education.
If daughter is in public school, daddy can’t compete with the young svelte boys there.