Anyone here homeschool?

relynne wrote: »

GlassAngyl wrote: »

texteach66 wrote: »

I'm not sure why choosing to home school means that you have to denigrate public schools. I've taught in public schools for 25+ years and I've seen great teachers, good teachers, mediocre teachers, and very few teachers who were truly incompetent or cruel. The overwhelming majority do their very best every day to provide a good education in a nurturing environment to students with a wide variety of needs.

Most parents I know who home school do a fabulous job with their children. I think it is a great choice, especially for students who have special needs or special talents. I've also seen students who show up in my classroom having been "home schooled" who seem to have never been schooled at all.

The few good teachers can't make up for the load of BS that goes on in the system.

My kids went to a wealthier school district where my son learned that boys can wear dresses if they want.. while he was in the first grade. Talk about damage control. And they refused to accept that he was gifted. They wanted to medicate him and told me he was ADHD. Second school he attended said the same thing. He wasn't gifted, he had ADHD. Only his teacher in that school tried to fight for him because only she saw how fast he was advancing.

The principle refused to accept it and even told me that I was imagining my sons genius.. If my son was genius HE'D know it because HE was a genius. Then the AIG teacher tested my son at the end of 3rd grade.. and he beat 6th graders scores who had been in AIG since the beginning. Once they placed him in advanced classes, his "symptoms" went away.

My daughters teacher told her she was stupid and would amount to nothing.. She was helping the AIG students with their assignments because they didn't understand them. But she wasn't advanced because she was one point below the scores thanks to testing anxiety. Her scores now? She tests two to three years ahead of her grade level.

No, I'm not against public schools at all..

Yes, there are crap parents out there who only "homeschool" to prevent their kids from being influenced. My daughter has a friend her age (15) who didn't know what pemdas was or how it worked, has no idea how to solve basic pre-algebra, has a terrible vocabulary and can't write one essay. She says her mom is gone all day and leaves her and her siblings alone and they have no assignments EVER. My daughter has been teaching them online. She is the oldest she she is keeping up with my daughter now. She wanted me to create them assignments so I told her to just email hers. They actually do them..

Not all teachers are bad. My sons AIG teacher.. I wish I could bottle her and keep her. She ignored the "rules" and taught 5th graders calculus. She believed as I do. You can learn anything at any age.

I don't know that I'd be bragging about your homeschooling skills since you used the wrong version of principal/principle. And what does it matter how a kid dresses?

cjv73 wrote: »

I am a schoolteacher who taught in private schools for five years before having our five children. The first two attended school for K-2, then we decided to try homeschooling for a year to deal with some somewhat minor medical issues our son was facing. We loved the experience and carried on for the next ten years. However, we have always supported our schools (our church federation has our own parochial school system) by remaining fee paying society members, volunteering at school events, participating in school functions, etc. So we are definitely not anti-school.

Having grown up in a Christian home with private schooling, I have no first-hand experience with the public system, but I must admit it saddens me to read such overly harsh criticism from my fellow home schoolers. I really feel the accusations are painted with hugely broad strokes and are mostly unwarranted, and shed a really negative light on home schoolers. I believe the majority of public school teachers (I have met many) have a true love for their students and their profession. We have to be honest and self-evaluative and recognize that in all school / parent interactions, there is a two-way street. I've been on both sides of the equation, and both personalities involved bear equal responsibility for how the interaction proceeds.

Last year, due to many ongoing changes in our business and some personal family difficulties, we chose to send our kids back to school. They entered in grades 4/6/9/11/12 and did fabulously! Our dyslexic son achieved almost all Bs, our middle child is pulling straight As and makes honour roll each semester, and we have received nothing but praise for their kindness, gentleness, politeness, and work ethic. I have a very difficult time believing that any "study" demonstrating a lack of socialization, introversion, and lack of persistence in home schooled children was done within the last 15 years. There are soooo many homeschooling organizations out there now - - we were part of a huge group with which we did Art, ballet, gymnastics, swimming lessons, track and field, drama, music, even graduation ceremonies, over the ten years! Our kids experienced real-life socialization every day with people outside of their age, gender, social, and economic circles while doing errands with me, helping me with photo shoots, driving to the quarry or a job site with Dad - - something that students in a classroom with a group of peers do not get to experience on a regular basis usually until much later on. My experience with home schoolers was certainly never what that "study" determined.

To the OP, my kids love the math program Prodigy for some fun practice, and Spelling City is great too. As a language major, I love Duolingo!

Oh, and now that my kids are back in school, I am too -- substitute teaching about 3 days a week, everything from K-8, and loving it!