Home school vs public school?
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I just would also like to add that everyone seems to be using examples of people they know in their.
My brother who was homeschooled...
I know a girl who was home schooled and...
You can't make a generalization from one example. Please, let's think scientifically here and stop going off on a whim.
Thanks.
Signed, educational researcher.
Studies are always the best source of information when they exist. I did refer to one study in my posts, but there are few studies done on the subject of effectiveness of home schooling vs other models. Such studies as do exist are most frequently done by home schooling organizations, and even though I am pro homeschooling I would be careful about using these since they are likely to be call biased because of the organization that did them.
For the most part family experiences, both good and bad are what we have. I do understand your point, however. Certainly, if you have any studies on this subject, please let us know about them.0 -
Wow, lots of debating going on here...so I didn't read through the whole thread. But I'm going to throw in my two cents.
I was homeschooled my entire life (along with my 5 siblings). I never went to public school (well, not until college). I have seen homeschooling done "right", and I have seen it done "wrong". If anyone is considering homeschooling, I recommend taking the following into account:
1. (And this is priority #1) What is best for the child? What type of environment would they do better in? This isn't an easy question to answer, and it depends a lot on HOW you would be homeschooling them.
2. How much time do you have to spend teaching your child? My mom was a "stay-at-home" mom, and therefore we had a parent around to sit down with us and teach us.
3. How educated are you? Do you really know enough about a subject to teach someone? My parents were both smart and had college degrees. My mom was better with social studies and English, and my dad was better with advanced math and science. So when we were younger, my mom handled most of our schooling, and when we got to the high school years, my dad handled more of it. This arrangement worked out pretty well. But I have also parents that aren't very educated homeschool their children, and the result wasn't so great. On the flip side of the coin, depending on the subject, it can be fun to learn together! Example: maybe you don't know much about Greek or Roman history, but you can read and learn about it together as a family.
4. How structured will your schooling be? Will you have set classroom hours? Planned lessons? Or play it by ear? This will probably depend a lot on your family schedule and the type of environment your child works best in. Some families have set school hours, with specific subjects at specific times. Our family tried to have somewhat of a regular schedule, but we didn't do our schoolwork in any particular order. Also, since I am ADD, homeschooling allowed me to do more of my work when I was feeling focused. However, that's not always how it works in the real world, and having a regulated schedule might have helped me deal with my ADD better. Also, this is one of the things I often see done very wrong with homeschool families: I see a lot of families with no real structure and no curriculum, and the kids basically running wild.
5. What kind of social interactions will your child be getting? Very important! This is one of the highly debated issues with homeschooling, and is often done very very wrong...but it can be done right. When I was in college and people found out I had been homeschooled, they would say "wow! but you're normal!" We were involved in all sorts of stuff as a kid: church groups, scouting, sports, co-ops, etc. Check to see what kind of co-op groups are available in your area. We had co-op groups that regularly met for stuff like music, art, history, and PE. Some clubs at local schools are open to homeschoolers, too. I was on a robotics team in high school that was through our local high school, but also open to homeschoolers. You can also get involved with various camps that are run through public school programs or The Y. If your child wants to play a sport competitively, that might be an issue...but I think there are ways around that, too.
6. What kind of curriculum will you be teaching? I think some states have more specific requirements than others, and you may be required to follow certain guidelines. I remember when I was younger, my parents had to submit their curriculum for review, and we had to take standardized tests every year (these requirements changed at some point, though).
7. What subjects will you be teaching? There are standard subjects that everyone should know. And again, you might have certain state requirements. Colleges expect certain subjects to be taught in high school, and if you don't do it then you might have trouble in college, or even trouble getting in. But one of the great things about homeschooling is that you can tailor the classes to the child's interests. (This can be especially good for kids with asperger's or other forms of autism.) Example: my little sister is currently obsessed with everything Japanese...so she is working on learning to read/write/speak Japanese and studying Japanese history and culture.
8. Will you have other classes, or have someone else teaching your child? If you are not knowledgeable in a particular area, you can sign your child up for a class or get a tutor. Example: if you're not familiar enough with pre-calculus, you can sign up for a class at a local tech school.
9. I know I had more points in mind, but I can't remember them at the moment...I might add more later.
All that being said, I don't plan to homeschool my own children. Why? Firstly, both of us will probably be working, so we won't have someone at home all day to teach. Secondly, I know myself, and I would probably slack off on having a regular, structured curriculum. Thirdly, I believe public schools are just fine (maybe even better) AS LONG AS THE PARENTS ARE INVOLVED. I am not going to dump my kids into a school system and expect someone else to teach my child everything without me having to do anything. I will make sure my kids at least know how to read and count before they go to school, and I will be involved with their learning once they do.0 -
Homeschool programs containing curriculum decided by the state, monitored by teachers, and given by parents are the ONLY ones I approve of. The rest are dangerous and do not prepare a child for the real world.
Now, have I made myself TOTALLY CLEAR?
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I'm sorry. But my children are MY children. They do not and have not ever belonged to the state. The CREATOR of the universe entrusted ME with their lives and souls. I, alone, will be held accountable for their upbringing, not you and certainly not the state. It is my duty to protect them from harm, to raise them to be conscientious, to teach them our beliefs, and to love them unconditionally. If they have all the "education" the world has to offer, yet their souls perish, all is lost. So, as far as I am able, I will protect their hearts, souls and bodies from the nastiness of the world until such a time comes that they are ready to take on the world themselves with firm foundations set in place. I will educate them in the areas that I believe are important to their upbringing, which for us not only includes math, reading, history and science, but most importantly, the Word of G_d.
My oldest will graduated college a year early, my 14 year old has written and published a book, my 16 year old teaches himself chemistry and gets straight A's on all his exams. I'm really not worried about hoping for your or the state's approval.
PS To the moderator, remember how someone complained about skimpy photos and everyone jumped on the person, claiming that we are all adults here? Well, the same applies to this discussion and I would hope that you will not delete my post simply because I shared my reasons for homeschooling my children. Thanks.
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Aha - I see your point of view is based on religious principles. I'm curious to know if your science instruction interferes with your religious beliefs? I am not being snarky, but I really do want to know how the two are integrated into the instruction. I am Catholic but also an evolutionist. Fortunately for ME, the Catholic church recognizes evolution as a possible THEORY. And no, I am not going to turn this into a debate between the two, so please don't go there. I just want to know how you teach both simultaneously when both theories highly contradict each other.0 -
wordnerd-- I'm a Christian, but my kids are taught both theories.0
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Homeschool programs containing curriculum decided by the state, monitored by teachers, and given by parents are the ONLY ones I approve of. The rest are dangerous and do not prepare a child for the real world.
Now, have I made myself TOTALLY CLEAR?
I'm sorry. But my children are MY children. They do not and have not ever belonged to the state. The CREATOR of the universe entrusted ME with their lives and souls. I, alone, will be held accountable for their upbringing, not you and certainly not the state. It is my duty to protect them from harm, to raise them to be conscientious, to teach them our beliefs, and to love them unconditionally. If they have all the "education" the world has to offer, yet their souls perish, all is lost. So, as far as I am able, I will protect their hearts, souls and bodies from the nastiness of the world until such a time comes that they are ready to take on the world themselves with firm foundations set in place. I will educate them in the areas that I believe are important to their upbringing, which for us not only includes math, reading, history and science, but most importantly, the Word of G_d.
My oldest will graduated college a year early, my 14 year old has written and published a book, my 16 year old teaches himself chemistry and gets straight A's on all his exams. I'm really not worried about hoping for your or the state's approval.
PS To the moderator, remember how someone complained about skimpy photos and everyone jumped on the person, claiming that we are all adults here? Well, the same applies to this discussion and I would hope that you will not delete my post simply because I shared my reasons for homeschooling my children. Thanks.
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Aha - I see your point of view is based on religious principles. I'm curious to know if your science instruction interferes with your religious beliefs? I am not being snarky, but I really do want to know how the two are integrated into the instruction. I am Catholic but also an evolutionist. Fortunately for ME, the Catholic church recognizes evolution as a possible THEORY. And no, I am not going to turn this into a debate between the two, so please don't go there. I just want to know how you teach both simultaneously when both theories highly contradict each other.
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Although this was not addressed to me, I feel I should respond.
First, religious based home schools are fine, and my guess is they contain no more inaccuracies than non-religious public schools or religious schools. Everyone in our family does subscribe to evolutionary theory, and in fact my daughter is going to be majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (I should add, along with English.)
If you object to home schools that teach creationism, you should also object, for example to Catholic schools that teach the Caltholic version of history which gives a totally different version of history from the secular history books, particularly concerning the Crusades, the Inquisition, the St Bartholomew's Day massacre, etc, not to mention the early Christian church. Public schools for the most part ignore religion and religious ideas, so they are equally prejudiced in the opposite direction: they pretend the idea of God does not exist. Pedogogy of any kind cannot avoid errors. Sorry, but if you are about to say that one cannot learn physics if they are creationists, then I disagree. I strongly support a parent's to teach their children what they feel is correct, even if I personally disagree with it. Again, this is the essence of democracy.0 -
Homeschool programs containing curriculum decided by the state, monitored by teachers, and given by parents are the ONLY ones I approve of. The rest are dangerous and do not prepare a child for the real world.
Now, have I made myself TOTALLY CLEAR?
I'm sorry. But my children are MY children. They do not and have not ever belonged to the state. The CREATOR of the universe entrusted ME with their lives and souls. I, alone, will be held accountable for their upbringing, not you and certainly not the state. It is my duty to protect them from harm, to raise them to be conscientious, to teach them our beliefs, and to love them unconditionally. If they have all the "education" the world has to offer, yet their souls perish, all is lost. So, as far as I am able, I will protect their hearts, souls and bodies from the nastiness of the world until such a time comes that they are ready to take on the world themselves with firm foundations set in place. I will educate them in the areas that I believe are important to their upbringing, which for us not only includes math, reading, history and science, but most importantly, the Word of G_d.
My oldest will graduated college a year early, my 14 year old has written and published a book, my 16 year old teaches himself chemistry and gets straight A's on all his exams. I'm really not worried about hoping for your or the state's approval.
PS To the moderator, remember how someone complained about skimpy photos and everyone jumped on the person, claiming that we are all adults here? Well, the same applies to this discussion and I would hope that you will not delete my post simply because I shared my reasons for homeschooling my children. Thanks.
Aha - I see your point of view is based on religious principles. I'm curious to know if your science instruction interferes with your religious beliefs? I am not being snarky, but I really do want to know how the two are integrated into the instruction. I am Catholic but also an evolutionist. Fortunately for ME, the Catholic church recognizes evolution as a possible THEORY. And no, I am not going to turn this into a debate between the two, so please don't go there. I just want to know how you teach both simultaneously when both theories highly contradict each other.
Given that neither theory can be proven, and both are a matter of faith, how is it that one faith theory can be taught without the "religious" attack, while the other cannot? Why is faith in random chance okay to teach, but faith in an intelligent designer not? Why is theory A, which cannot be repeated or proven, considered "science", while theory B, which cannot be repeated or proven, considered "religion"? How can any thinking person not see the bias in this approach?0 -
I have made myself perfectly clear when it comes to home schooling children. I won't elaborate further, because someone will find a way to twist my words around, and I won't put up with that.
As for my comment "dealing with issues like bullying", perhaps I need to make myself totally clear: I DO NOT TOLERATE BULLYING BEHAVIOR AND WILL DEAL WITH IT IMMEDIATELY. And yes, I HAVE dealt with it in my school numerous times, and will walk over a pile of glass shards, nails and fish hooks to protect a child's welfare. Enough said.
I believe you, Wordnerd. But nonetheless your phrasing seemed to point out that bullying was overall something beneficial to students.
Also, there is plenty of evidence that homeschoolers do better than average. Here is a CBS report, for example:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505145_162-37242551/can-homeschoolers-do-well-in-college/
I chose this report so you could not claim it was a homeschooling organization that did the research, and was therefore biased. And, as I pointed out previously, homeschooling has two facets which teachers claim are vital to educating a student: Parental Involvement and small classes. There is considerable evidence in fact that homeschooling is the most effective educational model (but I am NOT saying it is for everyone.) It is particularly imporessive how well brighter students do in the home schooling model as compared to the public school model.
In fact I have frequently heard teachers excuse the poor perfomance of certain schools because the students there had little parental involvement. With home schooling parental involvement is 100%, and class size is as small as it can get generally. Based on the results, it is the best educational model. So why aren't you praising homeschooling instead of saying you only approve of it when..... (then comes your list)? Do you have any study or data to suggest that homeschooling doesn''t work as well as people claim? Bear in mind, aprophrypical data cuts in both directions and is not really scientifically valid. I am seriously asking if you have any HARD data or studies debunking the benefits of home schooling. I have honestly never seen any such data or study, and I would be interested if you have.
I'm not AGAINST home schooling, what more do you need from me to hear that? I am AGAINST parents who take a rather lenient approach to home schooling by NOT monitoring their children's work, teaching them irrelevant or incorrect information, allowing the student to learn "whatever" they want instead of what they SHOULD be learning, and parents who are unqualified to teach their children (regardless of having access to the internet). For example, I have seen shows where "homeschool" parents claim their children are learning music. How? They give them an instrument and say "make noise, that's your lesson." How can a parent with NO musical background claim to be able to teach a child all the intricacies of reading notes, doing scales, the circle of fifths, etc, WITHOUT ANY MUSICAL EDUCATION? Or, a parent who takes their children to ride rollercoasters and says "Here's your physics lesson today, up and down we go!" WITHOUT explaining the concepts of terminal velocity, potential versus kinectic energy, inertia, etc. THESE are the people who frighten me - the ones who aren't really "teaching their children" anything practical or in-depth.
Homeschool programs containing curriculum decided by the state, monitored by teachers, and given by parents are the ONLY ones I approve of. The rest are dangerous and do not prepare a child for the real world.
Now, have I made myself TOTALLY CLEAR?
Are the teachers who are going to monitoring the education the same ones that call in sick to protest as they did in WI?
See what I did there? I painted the whole profession badly based off an example of a few bad teachers, much like saying the state should not allow the parents to do what they think is best for their children.
Teachers do a hard job, but I'm really tired of people acting as though they are God-like and the highest from of human evolution. Not all teachers do a great job, in fact, it's hard to trust what your child is being taught when you look at where we are compared to the rest of the world.0 -
I have made myself perfectly clear when it comes to home schooling children. I won't elaborate further, because someone will find a way to twist my words around, and I won't put up with that.
As for my comment "dealing with issues like bullying", perhaps I need to make myself totally clear: I DO NOT TOLERATE BULLYING BEHAVIOR AND WILL DEAL WITH IT IMMEDIATELY. And yes, I HAVE dealt with it in my school numerous times, and will walk over a pile of glass shards, nails and fish hooks to protect a child's welfare.
BUT, I do believe children MUST be given the tools and tactics to deal with social issues like bullying, anxiety, etc. They need to learn how to face their fears, instead of retreat from them. How? I'm not sure, but hiding from the world is not the answer, nor is allowing the bullying behavior to go unnoticed and not addressed. The child must learn to stand up for himself/herself, tell a parent or adult, and not let it go. Bear in mind that MOST bullying behavior happens outside the view or control of a teacher (because, well, that's the best time and place to do it, right?) There is only so much we educators can do -- the rest is up to the child and the parents. If it is the teacher who is bullying the kid, that teacher should be immediately fired, to heck with the contract.
As a parent whose two kids were bullied, AND someone who was bullied herself all through middle school AND high school, I can assure you that my self confidence and self esteem continues to be affected to this day. One of the main reasons I became a middle school teacher is to help students in that age group find their voice and their courage to deal with their issues. That is my JOB as a teacher and role model, and I accept it happily.
A final note: I am also a black belt in tae kwon do. My teenage daughter (the one who has been bullied) takes martial arts as a way to build confidence and self esteem. She is very capable of handling herself in a variety of difficult situations. I totally advocate that children who feel weak and unempowered take confidence building courses, martial arts being one of them. It isn't a license to beat someone up, it's a way to teach discipline, control and empowerment.
How does one build self esteem and self confidence? By being confronted with bullies and learning how to deal with that behavior or by building that self esteem BEFORE having to confront the bullies of this world? Have there been studies done on this?
In my experience homeschooling allowed me to build my self-confidence and self-esteem PRIOR to being bullied. I emerged from homeschooling with confidence and swagger. The first time I experienced bullying was in my early adulthood and I was able to handle it just as well as anyone else who had experienced bullying earlier in life... if not better (judging by the people I know).
My siblings emerged from public school beaten down and socially crippled.
That's just my experience but the people in my family have the opinion now that if children are raised in friendly environments, where they aren't having to deal with conflict, they are able to more fully develop their sense of self worth and confidence. Of course this is probably highly dependent on the personality of the child.
I think it'd be an interesting thing to study. To figure out if children thrive BEST in environments devoid of inter-personal conflict (in the form of emotional, physical abuse from bullies) or if they thrive best when confronted with these challenges.0 -
"Homeschool programs containing curriculum decided by the state, monitored by teachers, and given by parents are the ONLY ones I approve of. The rest are dangerous and do not prepare a child for the real world."
Wow. Finally. Someone who was honest enough to say it. The STATE owns the children. The STATE has to decide what is taught to my children to make their education acceptable. Despite hundreds of years of parents educating their children, it is now only teachers who can truly validate a homeschool program.
I pray our country never comes to make your approval standards normative.
I just can't win, can I? Geesh. I'm OUT.
Well, when you express a viewpoint like that, how are people to take it? Personally, I understood what you meant, simply because it's what I've studied in the past. However, not everyone has had the "pleasure" of taking a college course in the history of education.
While every school, county, state, teacher, faculty staff, administrator, etc. is different, my beef with the public education, as a whole, is consistency. The state can try all it wants to, but it will never be able to make every student's learning consistent.
Also, I'm not a fan of big brother telling anyone how they must teach their child. I agree, for the well-being of the individual and the society as a whole, that basic things like reading, basic mathematics, grammar, writing, etc. need to be taught, there is no consistency otherwise. And there never will be. Otherwise, we'd all be able to take the same courses, at the same times. That just isn't possible. No matter how much anyone hopes for it to be otherwise.0 -
How can any thinking person not see the bias in this approach?
Because one is written in a religious text--the Bible. The other is not. However, it's your choice to teach what you'd like0 -
Homeschool programs containing curriculum decided by the state, monitored by teachers, and given by parents are the ONLY ones I approve of. The rest are dangerous and do not prepare a child for the real world.
Now, have I made myself TOTALLY CLEAR?
I'm sorry. But my children are MY children. They do not and have not ever belonged to the state. The CREATOR of the universe entrusted ME with their lives and souls. I, alone, will be held accountable for their upbringing, not you and certainly not the state. It is my duty to protect them from harm, to raise them to be conscientious, to teach them our beliefs, and to love them unconditionally. If they have all the "education" the world has to offer, yet their souls perish, all is lost. So, as far as I am able, I will protect their hearts, souls and bodies from the nastiness of the world until such a time comes that they are ready to take on the world themselves with firm foundations set in place. I will educate them in the areas that I believe are important to their upbringing, which for us not only includes math, reading, history and science, but most importantly, the Word of G_d.
My oldest will graduated college a year early, my 14 year old has written and published a book, my 16 year old teaches himself chemistry and gets straight A's on all his exams. I'm really not worried about hoping for your or the state's approval.
PS To the moderator, remember how someone complained about skimpy photos and everyone jumped on the person, claiming that we are all adults here? Well, the same applies to this discussion and I would hope that you will not delete my post simply because I shared my reasons for homeschooling my children. Thanks.
Aha - I see your point of view is based on religious principles. I'm curious to know if your science instruction interferes with your religious beliefs? I am not being snarky, but I really do want to know how the two are integrated into the instruction. I am Catholic but also an evolutionist. Fortunately for ME, the Catholic church recognizes evolution as a possible THEORY. And no, I am not going to turn this into a debate between the two, so please don't go there. I just want to know how you teach both simultaneously when both theories highly contradict each other.
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Although this was not addressed to me, I feel I should respond.
First, religious based home schools are fine, and my guess is they contain no more inaccuracies than non-religious public schools or religious schools. Everyone in our family does subscribe to evolutionary theory, and in fact my daughter is going to be majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (I should add, along with English.)
If you object to home schools that teach creationism, you should also object, for example to Catholic schools that teach the Caltholic version of history which gives a totally different version of history from the secular history books, particularly concerning the Crusades, the Inquisition, the St Bartholomew's Day massacre, etc, not to mention the early Christian church. Public schools for the most part ignore religion and religious ideas, so they are equally prejudiced in the opposite direction: they pretend the idea of God does not exist. Pedogogy of any kind cannot avoid errors. Sorry, but if you are about to say that one cannot learn physics if they are creationists, then I disagree. I strongly support a parent's to teach their children what they feel is correct, even if I personally disagree with it. Again, this is the essence of democracy.
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I think both should be addressed, because kids need to be able to ask and question both. I also believe if a person studies the bible, they should also study the Q'ran and other religious books. I'm all for a well-rounded, open minded approach to education. I can also say I do NOT give my opinion out in class to anyone who asks me "what do YOU believe or think?" That's a slippery slope when it comes to being a teacher. I might be opposed to or in support of things that go against my religion (because I have that right), but it's not a great idea to share those ideas if the focus of the school is different. Teachers in public schools have been fired for having bibles in their classrooms, or for quoting scriptures - and frankly, they deserve that because they are in a public school. Conversely, private school teachers shouldn't openly go against their faith's teachings -- for example, a private school fired an unmarried teacher because she got pregnant. I feel that's a fair decision as well.0 -
Public schools for the most part ignore religion and religious ideas, so they are equally prejudiced in the opposite direction: they pretend the idea of God does not exist.
Actually that is not true - my daughter has studied numerous religious philosophies: buddhism, hinduism, christianity, judaism, etc. but as a holistic approach. What they don't do is place emphasis on any particular religion - eg, Christianity. Our God is not everybody's God.
My daughter's high school also holds Christian prayer out at the flag pole every morning for any student who wishes to attend. These are NOT attended by school teachers.0 -
"Homeschool programs containing curriculum decided by the state, monitored by teachers, and given by parents are the ONLY ones I approve of. The rest are dangerous and do not prepare a child for the real world."
Wow. Finally. Someone who was honest enough to say it. The STATE owns the children. The STATE has to decide what is taught to my children to make their education acceptable. Despite hundreds of years of parents educating their children, it is now only teachers who can truly validate a homeschool program.
I pray our country never comes to make your approval standards normative.
I just can't win, can I? Geesh. I'm OUT.
Well, when you express a viewpoint like that, how are people to take it? Personally, I understood what you meant, simply because it's what I've studied in the past. However, not everyone has had the "pleasure" of taking a college course in the history of education.
While every school, county, state, teacher, faculty staff, administrator, etc. is different, my beef with the public education, as a whole, is consistency. The state can try all it wants to, but it will never be able to make every student's learning consistent.
Also, I'm not a fan of big brother telling anyone how they must teach their child. I agree, for the well-being of the individual and the society as a whole, that basic things like reading, basic mathematics, grammar, writing, etc. need to be taught, there is no consistency otherwise. And there never will be. Otherwise, we'd all be able to take the same courses, at the same times. That just isn't possible. No matter how much anyone hopes for it to be otherwise.
I'd like Big Brother to be more involved in assuring that our children are getting the exact same quality of education they deserve and are entitled to receive. There is such much disparity in this country.0 -
I think both should be addressed, because kids need to be able to ask and question both. I also believe if a person studies the bible, they should also study the Q'ran and other religious books. I'm all for a well-rounded, open minded approach to education. I can also say I do NOT give my opinion out in class to anyone who asks me "what do YOU believe or think?" That's a slippery slope when it comes to being a teacher. I might be opposed to or in support of things that go against my religion (because I have that right), but it's not a great idea to share those ideas if the focus of the school is different. Teachers in public schools have been fired for having bibles in their classrooms, or for quoting scriptures - and frankly, they deserve that because they are in a public school. Conversely, private school teachers shouldn't openly go against their faith's teachings -- for example, a private school fired an unmarried teacher because she got pregnant. I feel that's a fair decision as well.
I do not feel that Christian home schoolers should have to study the Quran, nor should Muslim home schoolers have to study the Bible. Since Christianity is the basis for Western Civiliztion, and the Bible is referenced in much of Western Literature, I think the study of both would be appropriate in public schools. Being a classics lover, I would also include study of the pre Christian classical world, particularly Greece and Rome. When I went to High School, fortunately, Classical Latin was required for the top academic track. I think understanding our civilization requires study of the most important books in our civilization including the Bible (but not the Quran - different civilization.) I certainly have no objection to the study of any religious text as a secular subject, but I would prefer the Bible since it is so basic to our culture.0 -
I'd like Big Brother to be more involved in assuring that our children are getting the exact same quality of education they deserve and are entitled to receive. There is such much disparity in this country.
I certainly hope you are joking. Those of us in the homeschooling community refer to "No Child Left Behind," as "No Chiild gets Ahead."
The last thing we want is Big Brother telling us what to think.0 -
I'm only serious in regards to the funding our schools need to be successful. As for what to "think", not at all. If you've been keeping track, I absolutely HATE NCLB and how it has really screwed things up.0
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I certainly hope you are joking. Those of us in the homeschooling community refer to "No Child Left Behind," as "No Chiild gets Ahead."
Haha, never heard of it that way--I'm totally using that from now on! :laugh:
I have so many friends in my age range (I'm 25) who have been hurt, education-wise, by NCLB from when it first started. I can only imagine how bad it is today.
Learning about NCLB, FCAT (Florida's state-wide standardized test...aka: bunch of crap), etc....are really disappointing. FCAT is one of the biggest reasons, if not THE biggest, for why my friends are homeschooling in Florida.0 -
I certainly hope you are joking. Those of us in the homeschooling community refer to "No Child Left Behind," as "No Chiild gets Ahead."
Haha, never heard of it that way--I'm totally using that from now on! :laugh:
I have so many friends in my age range (I'm 25) who have been hurt, education-wise, by NCLB from when it first started. I can only imagine how bad it is today.
Learning about NCLB, FCAT (Florida's state-wide standardized test...aka: bunch of crap), etc....are really disappointing. FCAT is one of the biggest reasons, if not THE biggest, for why my friends are homeschooling in Florida.
Believe me, I totally support your concerns! I teach in a school that doesn't have to follow NCLB guidelines. I get to TEACH!0 -
As a certified, licensed school teacher, I am always concerned when parents pull their children out of regular school and say they will be "homeschooling" their child from that point forward. I will share my reasons below:
1. Qualifications/educational level of parents - Can a parent reach and teach their child the important things that child needs to know? Do they know what "developmentally appropriate" is for their child's age? Are the parents knowledgeable enough about the curriculum to present it in ways the child understands?
2. Is the curriculum relevant? Is the child learning what should be learned, versus what the parents want that child to learn? (some HS programs offer "revisionist" history, where important truths are conveniently left out - eg, slavery, holocaust, etc) There are certain skill sets/requirements all children MUST know in order to be well rounded adults. Slanted or inaccurate information can negatively affect a child's future.
3. Is the parent willing to sit by their child, invest the time, and hold their children accountable for their school work? Many parents nowadays have to work, and trusting their young child to stay home and do their school work all on line is a recipe for disaster. My daughter's friend is now being homeschooled (due to bullying) and guess what? This girl only gets 5 hours of weekly school work, which is less than one full day's worth of schooling. In a WEEK.
4. Schools provide the opportunity for children to learn HOW to get along with others, even if the children are being bullied. Instead of retreating into a "safe" world, it is better to learn how to handle the bullying and work on developing self esteem. Running away from it doesn't build self confidence, it only pushes the real issues aside.
I hope this provides you with some real information to make a very educated choice. I'm not anti-HS, I am against homeschool programs that end up causing more harm than good. Make sure your child is being monitored on a regular, weekly basis, by qualified school teachers, and is learning STATE curriculum standards. If those criteria are met, then a HS program should be okay overall.
Ditto to the above!0 -
I do not feel that Christian home schoolers should have to study the Quran, nor should Muslim home schoolers have to study the Bible. Since Christianity is the basis for Western Civiliztion, and the Bible is referenced in much of Western Literature, I think the study of both would be appropriate in public schools. Being a classics lover, I would also include study of the pre Christian classical world, particularly Greece and Rome. When I went to High School, fortunately, Classical Latin was required for the top academic track. I think understanding our civilization requires study of the most important books in our civilization including the Bible (but not the Quran - different civilization.) I certainly have no objection to the study of any religious text as a secular subject, but I would prefer the Bible since it is so basic to our culture.
I agree with this wholeheartedly.
Many of our words, morals, laws, etc... are founded off of the Christian faith. That's just how it works when you live in the Western world. It doesn't hurt to learn a little bit about what Christianity believes, even if you're not teaching children it's necessarily true.
It would also be nice to teach kids a little about the First Nations people and their faith systems as well though.0
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