tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post1271281580553813466..comments2024-03-22T18:43:00.710-04:00Comments on Unam Sanctam Catholicam: Homeschooling and CollegeBonifacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10672810254075072214noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-64144026905722086832014-05-15T12:19:31.647-04:002014-05-15T12:19:31.647-04:00I think that the years between finishing the bulk ...I think that the years between finishing the bulk of high schooling and going off to college should be filled with work. Entrepreneurial work. Not flipping burgers, but going out, learning a skill, and selling it. It could be gardening, mowing lawns, housecleaning, errand running, or such like. It could be buying broken and free things from craigslist, fixing them and selling them. It could be learning a trade or doing handy man work. You can learn light plumbing (fixing a drippy faucet, leaky toilet, or replacing a garbage grinder) and advertise for that. Can preserves & pickles and sell them at a farmers market. Grow a garden and market the produce to local restaurants. But spending two years learning a skill and selling it will do much for the kid, and will help mature his/her sense of responsibility and put him/her in a situation where the immoral allurements of college life seem much more childish.<br /><br />You do not have to make money at these jobs. That is not the point. Live at home, and learn to build a business with your own hands. That is the point.<br /><br />PaulAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-89691598523491185912011-03-04T19:04:37.039-05:002011-03-04T19:04:37.039-05:00Joe,
Sorry, I do not have a paid subscription to ...Joe,<br /><br />Sorry, I do not have a paid subscription to GN's site. The previously linked "study habits" and "college finances" are free (except for your time).<br /><br />COCOnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-55299760533459348102011-03-04T10:53:10.121-05:002011-03-04T10:53:10.121-05:00Joe-
Yeah, the debt is terrible. I just finished ...Joe-<br /><br />Yeah, the debt is terrible. I just finished my second bout of college last year...I think my accumulated debt is somewhere around $19,000, but it may be higher; one document I saw said $49,000...I'm still sorting through everything. This is even more debilitating if you plan on being a single-income family. Unfortunately, many homeschooling families I know seem to imagine that their kids are ALL going to get full-ride scholarships and never need to use loans at all. This may be true for some, but it is imprudent ti just assume your kid is going to get a full-ride, 4 year scholarship somewhere.<br /><br />Regarding 17 year olds not being able to know what they want to do in life, I totally agree that this state of affairs has been exacerbated by the artificial extension of adolescence. However, now that we are in this state of affairs, we have to deal with it.Bonifacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10672810254075072214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-83158080469123239732011-03-04T09:39:58.918-05:002011-03-04T09:39:58.918-05:00Boniface-You make some very compelling arguements....Boniface-You make some very compelling arguements. My wife and I have had similar thoughts for some time now with our two oldest currently racking up college debt and our next one ready to graduate highschool this spring, we have been seriously questioning the wisdom of going the typical route of 4 years of college right out of highschool. A couple of additional points I would add:<br /> 1. The university environment, almost without exception, is dominated by femenism and political correctness and tends to emasculate the male student and foster a mine field of moral hazards for both men and women.<br /> 2. Students are now leaving college with considerable debt. As they enter marriage, not only are they handicapping their marriage with the financial burden, they also find , in their indebtedness a reason to delay starting a family. Contraception is often seen as a sollution until that far-off day when the loans are paid down, the house of their dreams is mortgaged, both husband and wife are settled into their respective carreers and "the time is right".<br /> Entering marriagewith $50-$200,000 in combined student loans has probably done more to make one and two child catholic families so common than any other single factor.<br /> I also found your contention that 17 year olds are not mature enough to know what to do with their lives interesting. For the most part I agree with you, but i think that that is a more recent cultural phenomena, one that we should not view as unavoidable or desireable.Adolescence has been extended later and later and as a result the average age for marriage has been climbing as well.In a dozen different ways, our culture sends the message to our youth that they don't need to grow up and become adults any time soon. Better to enjoy their young years playing video games, hanging out at the mall,go to college and party for 4+ years with spring break trips to warm beaches where they can hang out with thousands of other peers who also cant change a flat tire, fix a leaky faucet or cook a meal without a microwave. I have often thought that a society that encourages its sexually active members to delay marriage and adulthood for 10+ years is asking for trouble. Contrast our societal transition to adulthood with that of the Amish whos young people are ready to earn a living and be married by their late teens or early twenties, and avoid frustrating their sexual drive by abstinance, or giving in to it by fornication which is all too common among our young.<br /> I am not advocating the Amish model but i do think we could learn a thing or two from them. I will advocate for seeing the prolonging of adolescence, as it is today, as neither normal or desireable.Joenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-85839689919012104102011-03-03T06:39:44.334-05:002011-03-03T06:39:44.334-05:00Boniface, it seems you have it all figured out. Pr...Boniface, it seems you have it all figured out. Problem is, kids aren't that simple. When I read your plans I thought they came off as quite harsh and absolute. Speaking as a pastor of a parish with home school families, I see the reason for home school as a chance to protect then and teach them the Catholic Faith until they are old enough to go out into the world. At 18, I hope they're old enough to go to college. If not, you've missed something in their Catholic home school education. As Nick said, the work place can be just as bad (if not more so) on a young person than school. Some young people really need to continue school or run the risk of not going back. I'm not going to try and convince you that you're wrong, but good luck with this.Fr. S.A.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-20031810478090576272011-03-02T22:00:24.662-05:002011-03-02T22:00:24.662-05:00CO- Have you seen Gary Norths material? Ive hesita...CO- Have you seen Gary Norths material? Ive hesitated purchasing it because Its kind of pricey and I'm not sure its worth it.If you have read it i would appreciate your opinionJoenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-73267432643101772502011-03-02T15:34:39.689-05:002011-03-02T15:34:39.689-05:00Boniface,
Good points. I concur with the Liberal ...Boniface,<br /><br />Good points. I concur with the Liberal Arts comments. My following comments are more towards the career side of your post.<br /><br />Rule #1: Pick an actual productive career. I suspect the 4yr+ state university model is not sustainable much longer; good riddance! (This is coming from a State University Ph.D student. Over-education is not productive. Ouch....) <br /><br />Rule #2: If your career is not productive, refer to Rule #1. :)<br /><br />You might be interested in what Gary North has to say about education: <a href="http://www.garynorth.com/public/department89.cfm" rel="nofollow">here</a>, <a href="http://www.garynorth.com/public/department95.cfm" rel="nofollow"> here</a>, etc. He advocates some ideas differing from yours (mainly to reduce the time spent at college and thus the final college cost). In the end, the decision just depends on the *informed* child's interest and dedication level...<br /><br />An aside: When my younger brother was deciding on a career, my father took him on a walk (maybe "trek" is a better description) around a university. <i>"Son, just look at the buildings. Which departments have more space? That's where the demand is."</i> He chose engineering. He loves it.COnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-53689939747430045322011-03-02T15:10:33.415-05:002011-03-02T15:10:33.415-05:00Nick-
You know, that is a very valid point and I ...Nick-<br /><br />You know, that is a very valid point and I accept that critique. In that statement, "they will move out on their own and support themselves with steady employment," the emphasis was meant to be more on the "steady employment" rather than on the moving out. I wouldn't mind my kids staying home if they were (or were trying to be) gainfully employed.<br /><br />Great comment on community college.Bonifacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10672810254075072214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086833995941525990.post-69178305771027487892011-03-02T13:24:19.495-05:002011-03-02T13:24:19.495-05:00I'd like to comment upon something you said:
...I'd like to comment upon something you said: <br /><br />"Upon graduation, they will move out on their own and maintain steady, full time employment for a minimum of two years"<br /><br />Just as with the pressure to force kids to go off to college is a simultaneous pressure to "get them out of the house." But this "parenting" is just as disastrous as forcing them to chose a major when they're still not mature enough for such a big decision. It's pushing the young bird out of the nest prematurely either way. <br /><br /><br />As for your main thesis, I totally agree. And even though I don't have children yet, I thought those very things when I was in high school. I looked at myself and others and realized I had no idea what I wanted to major in, nor the maturity to know how to approach the situation. All too often those pushing you for college don't tell you the potential for massive debts, which in itself is the sin of neglect on their part to hide that information from kids. <br /><br />And I've seen first hand homeschoolers who come to college and are simply too young to be hanging around much older people, especially when many of these young adults are living sinful lifestyles since the parents aren't around. It will scandalize the homeschooler. On top of that, the homeschooler can be more easily manipulated by professors and other students.<br /><br />One final but very important point: many people look down on community college and encourage kids to go directly onto universities. This is wrong for many reasons, for example it's too fast of an academic leap for many kids, and it costs many times more for what are essentially the same first two years of classes you can take at community college. Further, at community college you CAN STILL learn trades for relatively cheap and usually smaller classrooms. <br /><br />Community college allows kids to go at their own pace without committing to anything big (be it a major or financial costs). So you very well could modify your post to encourage community college to some extent.Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01453168437883536663noreply@blogger.com