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2nd Trimester
homeschooling??? yes or no
I am a 9th grade Algebra teacher and I had a meeting today with a parent of a student who is really struggling both socially and academically this year. He just doesn't seem to have the social skills to make friends or the study/notetaking/listening skills to understand how to succeed in school.
When talking to his mother today I found out that not only is he an only child but he was homeschooled until this year. She told me that she always gave him as much time as he needed on an assignment and she was always there whenever he needed her. She did say that she was not the best person to teach him math.
What are your views on homeschooling? What do you think i beneficial or detrimental about it? Would you homeschool your child?
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Re: homeschooling??? yes or no
I think homeschooling, in 99% of the cases, is not properly preparing a child for the real world. And most of the kids I've met who were homeschooled had poor social skills that made it harder for them to make friends.
It's obviously a very personal choice, and to each their own. If every child that was homeschooled had a dedicated parent to teach them who actually know what they were doing, it might be different. Unfortunately I don't think that's the case.
It's not something I would do for my kids. I wouldn't want them to miss out on all the fun of school...it's such a huge part of who I am, I wouldn't want to take that away from them!
It all depends on the kid.
I would not do it as a long-term plan but if my child was at-risk in some way, I would consider it for a year or so. I was a teacher for 6 years so I feel a bit more qualified.
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Sorry I had to reply to this one!
I was homeschooled 4th grade through high school. I never had any kind of social problems or anything, but my parents made sure my sister and I had lots of interaction with other kids our age. We moved a LOT, so it was just easier to homeschool. We were not "those people" who homeschooled because being uber religious or anti-world or whatever.
I will say that even though I had a "good" experience, I will never do that to my kids. I missed so many experiences that i will never have an opportunity to repeat, like prom and homecoming etc. I was fortunate to have two parents who had been teachers. I would not want to be responsible for ruining my child's education due to my lack of education. If I disagree with or think he/she is not getting what they need from school, I will complement it with educational activities at home! There are people far more qualified to teach my child than I am!!!
No.
I grew up across the street from a family of 5 girls that were all home schooled (due to religious reasons). As many people have stated above, these girls may have done okay academically (their parents were both teachers at one point), they suffered greatly in their social skills. They did spend time with other home schooled kids and of course hung out with us and other neighbors, but it was always obvious that they were "different." The oldest one, especially, wouldn't/couldn't even look you in the eye when she talked to you. From having grown up with that family for the majority of my childhood, I think my home schooling opinions have been jaded.
I have to agree. I was homeschooled from 3rd grade all the way through high school. I had a good experience and would never go back and change it for myself, but I also would not homeschool my kids. It did give me some opportunities that I wouldn't have had if I went to public school (I was working part-time during the day as a secretary at 16 and I was able to do my school work there whenever it was slow). I had several friends who were homeschooled as well so we would socialize and have fieldtrips and that sort of thing. I also had lots of other social outlets and friends in public school so I would still go to some of the school functions, but it still wasn't the same. I would consider homeschooling my child for pre-school through kindergarten, but otherwise, I want them to go to a regular school private or public.
I completely agree with all of you, I didn't want to sway the vote based on what I believe.
I think that half of the education kids get in a school is their social education - how to deal with different things that they will have to deal with in their future.
The other half of their education comes from educated teachers who are educated in the specific areas in which they teach. Yes, there are some crappy teachers and some crappy schools but for the most part most teachers are teachers for the right reasons. I believe I could provide my child with a decent education but I wouldn't want her to miss out on something just because I was not fully educated in the topic.
I think the student I talked about before will struggle all year and require tons of one-on-one help - something I am not always able to give.
Yes.
I was homeschooled and I think the institution of homeschooling is really changing. I'm definitely a success story, but I think that there are many, many more successes than people realize. I don't think people know enough about homeschooling to pass judgement. It's a bit like bad service. You always remember a bad experience and are willing to spread the news, but the good ones tend to be overlooked.
I don't think the public school system is up to par, period. I will probably be homeschooling Lucy because I personally feel that the NCLB Act is a crock and gifted children are being held back and repressed "for the common good." There is a lot of time-wasting in the school systems and I feel like it would be better spent outside of a building. I suppose some could make the case for "socialization," but I think that's a ridiculous reason to send your kids to school. Good socialization doesn't come from spending 8 hours a day with your peers. Good socialization happens when you interact with different age groups and generations and make an effort to reach outside of your social circle. Children in schools are consumed by their social circles, if nothing else.
So, yes. We're homeschooling.
"Good socialization doesn't come from spending 8 hours a day with your peers. Good socialization happens when you interact with different age groups and generations and make an effort to reach outside of your social circle. Children in schools are consumed by their social circles, if nothing else."
Good socialization comes from exposing your child to a wide variety of people as well as letting your child experience good and bad social situations so they can learn how to deal with it in the real world. Good education comes from being exposed to different cultures and viewpoints. So in keeping your child away from that I do believe they are missing out.
I do agree with you partly on the NCLB act but it doesn't sound like you really understand what it is. NCLB provides more teacher accountability which is a good thing to an extent and it also provides a course for rigor in the classroom. Also, it gives the schools an important goal to work towards every year. However, I believe there is way too much government in it and people making decisions that don't fully understand how the school system works. NCLB needs to be revampted - the school's score should not be based solely on test scores but a wide variety of things.
Homeschooling reminds me of those women on that freebirthing show last night who wanted to deliver their own babies because they believed they were the best person to do it.
We pay thousands of dollars in taxes to our school district every year so yes, I am going to get the education for my kids I've been paying for. This is why we moved to a good neighborhood with good schools.We could have bought a house in the ghetto for $150k instead of paying to live here.
If I feel they need more then I can always teach them more at home or send them for additional classes. I know some kids who took additional language classes outside of school because they are not available at the grade school level.
My personal experience with homeschoolers is that they have been socially awkward, and I often have seen peers who've been homeschooled struggle academically. It seemed to me that their biggest disadvantage was a lack organization/ planning and little/no discipline in sticking to a schedule.
I think that parents who want to homeschool should be required to take a course on tips/ techniques. I know that there are networks of people who homeschool to help their children get opportunities they would have recieved in school (fieldtrips/dances/"socializing"), and I think that having a course that helps prospective homeschooling parents make the best of the homeschooling experience would be beneficial for all. I also think that parents should have a certain level of education (though I'm not exactly sure what the level should be), and that the children should have to take some sort of assessment so that they are on par academically with their peers.
I also think that children should be screened for special needs and the home-education of children with special needs should have more stringent requirements.
i am also a teacher. i prefer public or private school. however, if texas testing gets more stupid and we were financially able for me to be a SAH, then i would send my kids to private or homeschool.
as far as socialization, if i joined the homeschool groups that are around in my area, my children would be exposed to groups of the same as us. in public school, you get an array of children: for example: poor, rich, abused, disabled (ED, LD, PD, etc.), kids who have horrible home lives, etc. What a great opportunity to teach my children and let them view in a safe environment the many different people that make up America and be able to interact with them. i can guarantee you that i will let them work pr play with a student at the school whose dad is a drunk and then probably abuses them at home, but i will not let them spend outside time out of school with them unless i am supervising. not that child's fault, i just need to protect my child.
as far as academics, by viewing the school i teach in, we are doing just fine. we are an all-inclusion campus. in one of my five classes, i have 3 gifted students, 1 severely autistic, 1 5th grader on a pure 1st grade level, 1 severely ED child, and the other 22 range in ability on a 5th grade level. i manage to teach all of them what their specific goals are...even the two life skills kids....in a 45 minute class each day. i will say that i could see how gifted students are not being met on a higher level, but if the teacher is doing the job they are to do, they can meet the crappy conditions of NCLB. i feel the academics in public schools has to do with the quality of teacher your school hires.
i think the advantages of a public/private school outweigh those of homeschool. we have some close friends whose parents work in the public school as principal, teacher, etc. but then homeschool their kids. to me, that is an oxy-moron type thing.
ok, enough of my opinion...it's gotten long.
well said!
I think what you've said about this boy sums up why I would not 100% home school my child - I am not qualified to teach, social interaction is a necessary part of development, and there's not such thing as home-college or home-real world. (Well I guess there is, but you'd still have those problems.)
A coworker of mine home-taught his child pre-Algebra because the school she was in had no difference in the 6th and 7th grade math cirriculum, and she was a very bright, very bored child and he's an engineer. I would only ever consider home schooling my child in a specific case like that.
As a 1st grade teacher I am not totally against homeschooling, every situation is different. HOWEVER, I do believe the parent doing the home schooling should be required to obtain the same credentials that I had to.
Wow...amazing how ignorant some people are. Homeschooling doesn't keep your child from respecting authority, playing sports, socialization, or any of the above mentioned. I am also a teacher and no homeschoolers don't have to have a degree but they do turn in lesson plans and provide documentation of student work. I would absolutely homeschool my child. There are a lot of positives to it. School isn't for socialization, I don't want my kids being taught as curriculum that its ok to have 2 mommies and yes its coming to that. Do your research before you make judgements on others. Just because you think its weird doesnt mena its wrong or that theyre depriving their child of anything.
btw, it is okay to have 2 mommies. Do your research before judging others.
I was homeschooled kindergarten through twelfth grade.
I think that basing the decision to homeschool kids purely on a social standpoint is sort of ridiculous. Yeah, a lot of homeschooled kids are anti-social and awkward, but since when have all of the kids who attended public school come to be considered the paradigm of intelligence and social grace? There are different kids in both sectors. I never felt as if I didn't get to socialize. All of my siblings (there were 7 of us altogether) have been homeschooled, and when most people hear that, they automatically assume that we were the Duggars- wearing long skirts, bad perms and hiding from boys.
I had a large, diverse group of friends, I played on three competitive traveling sports teams, I did music lessons. I got to complete some high school courses through the community college which was awesome because they counted towards an undergrad degree. Being homeschooled really allowed me to focus on what I really was interested in and wanted to learn about. I felt like it gave me the freedom to explore options that I might not have been able too otherwise. Both of my older sisters have their MBA's, and my other sister (who is 20) is finishing up her undergrad degree. The rest of them are still in highschool. I also don't feel as if my education suffered; I feel like I got a great education; and was a lot better prepared for college and the real world because of homeschooling.
However. That being said, I'm not planning on homeschooling my own kids, but for purely selfish reasons. I want to switch careers and go back to school and do the nursing route. I also don't think I'd have the patience for it.
So my kids are off to public school when they are of school age, but you betcha, if they hate it, or I at any point feel as though they are not getting a great education, I'll homeschool them!
No, I wouldn't. I think it will be difficult for the whole family if DS is gifted, as I was in reading and math, at a young age. I had a lot of issues with boredom and apathy even in a gifted program, and the programs in my area are full of average kids with pushy parents instead of the actually gifted. We'll see how it goes, though!
I do know that my parents, who are both intelligent and educated, would never have been able to keep up with me. I could teach basic calculus to a pre-teen or teen now, but I'm skeptical that I'll still have that ability in 12 years, and most non-engineers I know barely remember algebra. I'd also be little help with chemistry anymore, and would have to rely wholely on DH for history and social studies.
I'm pretty skeptical that the average homeschooled kid is getting solid basics in science and math, and I 100% agree with pp that many of the previously homeschooled kids I met in high school and college were lacking some social skills.