Comments on: Our School Decision, and How We Got There

By: Brad

Brad — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:39:23 +0000

Do keep in mind that a lot of what is peddled as science today (including a bunch in the area of “Evolution”) is a lot of theories and ideas parading as firm understanding. Some has even been disproven, yet is still pushed in government school texts and such. Modern science is far less “scientific” than we are led to believe.

Instill a love for learning about things will do more to make them truly good scientists than any amount of propaganda from the classroom. Start taking junior college classes in high school if an “academic” version really is necessary for the direction they want to go.

Instill a healthy questioning attitude, even of the scientific elite and your child will be much better prepared to filter through the tripe we get in the name of science today.

Brad

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:08:07 +0000

Go for it with the homeschooling. As a public school teacher, I have seen home schooled kids who were socially awkard because they lacked socialization and ones who had been involved in church groups, sports, scouts, etc. who were comfortable with their peers and usually better than usual with adults. I have seen kids who excelled academically and ones who struggled either because of poor teaching (their parent should never have been home schooling) or because of undiagnosed learning difficulties that needed more skilled intervention. But I have seen more positive than negative. As to the letter writer who was concerned they would not be exposed to philosophy and literature, most home schooled and privately schooled kids actually read a far wider variety, although admittedly they do get less of the modern. (And avoid Lolita, kids are exposed to sexualization far too soon, and a book about an adult and underaged girls has no business in a kids hands, even if it is considered a classic.) Many of our elementary kids read more written for school books than classics.
The one area that I have seen home schooling very consistantly weak in, is science, but so is the public school these days. And I am not talking about the creation/evolution debate. As one person put it after listening to a homeschooling mother at our church spouting off all the “proofs” for creationism that she had gotten out of her children’s curriculum, “Kinda makes you wish she would switch sides, doesn’t it?” As to dealing with bullying, what part of being an adult does verbal and physical abuse from another kid or kids prepare you for? For every child who learns to deal successfully with bullies, there are many more who are seriously harmed emotionally and in self-esteem. Schools are aware of this and it is a major goal in many to stamp it out. Bullying by kids is not the same as difficult adults, it is the same as abuse and/or assault depending on intensity.
Once you have built a foundation, don’t be afraid to move them back to public schools or a good private school if you find they need a more qualified teacher than you; say you got them through algebra, but they need calculus, or they excel in science and really need someone who is more expert in physics or chemistry. Not knowing their limits is a major weakness for parents homeschooling. A computerized HS biology program won’t cut it for the kid who wants to go premed, although your future business major might be fine with it.
Expose your kids to many different kinds of people through volunteer work, mission trips, etc. which will no longer be limited because of school schedules.

By: C W

C W — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 01:27:03 +0000

I am a public school teacher with 10 years of teaching experience, 2 masters degrees, and National Board Certification. I am, and have always been, a strong supporter or homeschooling and unschooling. Teachers are not the only folks who can provide a quality education to children. With the changes in legislation (testing, bureauracy, etc.), teachers have less time to devote to individual students. We spend an alarming amount of time redirecting behavior and testing. I applaud any parent who has the time and dedication to take the reigns and educate their own children. When my husband and I have our children, I intend to homeschool them, too. I do worry about the children in poverty (whom I teach) that are not able to receive the quality of education that they deserve, but I would argue that failure is a cultural, political, and familial failure, and not something that each teacher and parent that can change. The “brain drain” from public schools is disheartening, but I owe it to my own children to give them what they deserve… Good luck and kudos to you!

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:03:03 +0000

Wow, not to be completely critical, Rozella, but do you know how to use punctuation?

These posts are about homeschooling and you don’t even capitalize your sentences – did you attend public school?

I totally disagree with your comment about dealing with real world pressures. If anything, I would think homeschooling would give a parent the opportunity to open up their child’s world to the “real world” so much more than having them attend public school for nearly a third of their day.

I am a public school graduate. I went on to earn two bachelors (architecture and civil engineering) and a masters (civil engineering) from two “big ten” schools. I believe a love of learning instilled by my parents helped me to succeed in both school and life after. That said, I stopped by the junior high school I attended to pick up my niece one day about 8 years ago. I walked down the hallway to hear students using foul language (f-this, f-you, etc.) and not one teacher anywhere in sight. When I attended that same school – 18 years earlier – teachers left their classrooms between classes to monitor behavior. If we’d so much as yelled something across the hall – foul or otherwise – we’d have been warned to behave. I would much rather homeschool my children and be able to teach them appropriate behavior then have them exposed to what other people may feed is “real world”. It IS NOT appropriate to behave as those children were in the “real world”. If they yell an obscenity across the hall at a co-worker someday, they will be fired. If they bully or harass co-workers someday, they will be fired. Children can be shown “real world” experiences without being subjected to the sub-par public schools as they exist today.

My nephew, now 16 and a junior at the high school I attended, told his mother one morning “just don’t look anyone in the eye and they’ll leave you alone”, meaning the other students. My nephew is nearly 6 feet tall and is an athletic kid – and yet he worries about attending this school with other kids known to carry weapons, beat up other students, etc. I DO NOT want that for my kids someday. I don’t want “real world” for them to include a knifing by another student who barely speaks English.

By: Nikole

Nikole — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:59:56 +0000

I support your decision to homeschool your children. McGraw-Hill put out a program called Aleks that is very helpful with teaching math, since it will identify any weak areas the children may have and quickly bridges those learning gaps. If I could go back in time and with the right family situation, I would have begged my mom for homeschooling. Public schools waste massive amounts of valuable time, and I firmly believe that most of a person’s necessary education can be done in 4 to 5 hours a day. As your kids get older, helping them to fill some of their day with a job or a personal business would really be neat.

By: Rozella

Rozella — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 21:52:55 +0000

sorry that your daughter is feeling bad about herself but by taking her out of school wont help her give her the tools too feeling good about herself and teach her how too deals with the pressures of the realworld instead of sheltering her

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:45:06 +0000

Hi There! Yeah! I’m so happy that you have made the decision to homeschool! We are in the middle of our third year ; we pulled my oldest out at the end of first grade. I feel blessed that the Lord has called me to homeschool and I know it can be a blessing in your life (and the kids) too.
That being said, it is not easy. It is good that you are not starting right away. I felt convicted after I attended a seminar (Carole Joy Seid, but more about that later) in October of 2006, I went home and proposed to the hubby that we should homeschool. In his wisdom, he thought that we should wait till the end of the school year. I was so glad I did because I read all I could get my hands on about homeschooling. One of the books that I first read was: “The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling” by Debra Bell. Then, I read most of the books , etc., referenced in her book. Of course, I used the library for most of this! Also, I would hook up with your local homeschooling organization. They can help you find a homeschool mentor if you don’t have one who can answer all types of questions for you! I would also recomend attending one of Carole Joy Seid’s seminars (check out her website) – she has some great (frugal) ideas of what to use and how to get yourself ready to educate your children (like you haven’t been doing that already).
Don’t worry about the socialization thing. Both of my girls are well adjusted and have friends to play and hang out with.

By: Julie

Julie — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:49:00 +0000

Hi,
I will look forward to reading your input on homeschooling. I have two children, aged 18 months and almost 4 months. (God-willing, we will have more). I have just started thinking about home-schooling and whether it something I would like to do. There is not much of a homeschooling culture in Australia (where we are), though it is growing in popularity.

Two specifics I would like to observe:
(1) How you choose curriculum and whether you can “afford” to be frugal with homeschooling resources (weighing up the money saving without sacrificing your child’s education)?

(2) How you do cope with the age disparity between your children and making best use of the time for both of them?

Thanks for your wisdom.

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 28 May 2009 17:11:25 +0000

Such an interesting topic! I just found you today and had to chime in. I am planning on homeschooling my kids (ages 4 and 2), and I was homeschooled myself. The most common reaction I get when I tell people my plans is “you are a redneck who doesn’t value education”. On the contrary, academics are extremely important to me and frankly I don’t think that public school can give my kids a quality education. Math and science are incredibly important in the world we live in. All you have to do is look and see how U.S. students stack up against students from other countries and you can see we are not doing a good enough job. Furthermore, most parents I know who send their kids to public school for hours a day have to come home every night and do hours of homework. Six or eight hours a day and they still can’t teach the kids? Not very efficient, and I know a lot of kids that are completely burned out by age 11 and do not enjoy learning. I want my kids to love learning, get a good education, and still have time for other activities and just being a kid.

As to the socialization arguements, I agree with Linda Dobson (The First Year of Homeschooling Your Child). She points out that the socialization is basically 28 other kids the exact same age as your kid, from the same neighborhood as yout kid. So your six year old will be getting the majority of his social cues from….other six year olds. If socialization is such a concern for anti-homeschoolers, they should realize that there is much more value to trips to the grocery store, library, church, museum, 4H, swim lessons, sport, music lessons, etc, interacting with wide variety of people of different ages, professions and ethnicities. Real people doing real work in the real world. That is a better and more realistic way to socialize children than by locking them in a building with 28 of their peers for 8 hours a day. Which still doesn’t seem to actually educate them.

Anyway, sorry to get on a soapbox for my first post! I will definitely be adding you to my Must-Reads! Good luck with the homeschooling and I am looking forward to reading about your adventures.

By: Pokeberry Mary

Pokeberry Mary — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:59:08 +0000

I wanted to pop in a bit about the black and white and slavery issue. It is TRUE that there has been slavery throughout the history of the earth and that blacks were not the only slaves, nor were whites the only slave owners. TRUTH should be taught. The way things are taught there are certain ‘cherry picked’ ideas (pardon my use of a term someone else used against homeschooling) that are absolutely pushed in public schools. The entire culture in the US is being pushed in a certain direction are we to believe it ISN’T happening in the schools? Come on-get real!

I would certainly teach my children (as I did in the days I hs’ed) about the slavery issue in the US but yes–I would also point out that slavery has always existed and still does–and that some of our own white ancestors were probably slaves as well.

That said–its been a long time since the emancipation of blacks in America this issue should be behind us now. Even the Jim Crowe laws are close to half a century in the past.

I don’t want to minimize the impact slavery had on the US –but I get so tired of America always beating itself up for every thing and I do not want to teach my children or grandchildren that they come from some uniquely evil country. ITs not TRUE!

Pokeberry Mary’s last blog post..Workt In My Garden..