As a teacher with an M.Ed. in Secondary Education who had to go through major hoops to get certified as a business education and CTE teacher in Minnesota, I have a lot of mixed feelings about home schooling. I've met kids who have been home schooled successfully and who have small businesses of their own after high school or have gone on to college -- and I've met kids who were home schooled and they don't know how to read or spell well, and neither do the parents who home schooled them.
One thing I will say about home schooling is that typically the student is very respectful of adults and others. If they are from a Christian home they are often well-grounded in their faith. I do believe that home schooling protects children from the taunting and bullying that can take place in public schools and thus their self-esteem will be stronger.
A previously home schooled student signed up for one of my online courses. The parent called and complained to the school counselor that my course was too difficult and required too much time and they wanted to drop it. After talking with the parent and student, I discovered that they were only used to spending 5 hours per week on their studies for all of the subjects the student was learning. Certainly it was overwhelming for my student to suddenly have six courses and spend six hours per day studying. It was at this point that I began to seriously question whether home schooled kids get a quality education, particularly during the upper grade levels when math and science courses in the traditional schools contain geometry, trig, calc, physics and chemistry. Personally I would not be qualified to teach these courses to my children and I doubt whether all of the parents home schooling their children are qualified to teach those subjects. So how do they handle those subjects? Do they have someone else teach their children those subjects. Would that be legal if the person doing the teaching isn't certified to teach?
It is my opinion that the success of home schooling depends on the education levels of the parent(s) and their willingness to continue lifelong learning along with their children. It requires a lot of discipline and organization on the part of the parent(s) to set a schedule and stick to it when other things come up that may distract them during the day. The kids I know who are successfully home schooled also have a portion of their home dedicated as a classroom with educational decor and supplies. This helps to set the atmosphere that they are now doing their schoolwork rather than just playing in the home. Taking advantage of every educational resource available, learning to play an instrument, and participating in social activities at church and in the community will also help to contribute to home schooling success.
Posts
hi there! Just reading your blog for the first time. A few thought on the homeschooling thing...it doesn't matter what kind of education the parents have because you get teacher keys along with your child's workbooks, so you really can't screw up there. It helps you explain the questions your child might have and whatever else you might need to get through it. I, personally, have not needed the teacher keys yet, since I was only teaching 3rd and 4th grade so far, but plan to use them next year. Also, the wonderful thing about homeschooling is that your child does not have limits put on them for learning! Zian was always tested up to a certain level and then that's it...no further testing to see exactly how far she could go! So sad. When I had her take the placement tests online before ordering her courses for homeschooling, she tested quite a ways ahead and in subjects where you don't miss much by skipping a grade, she did. And the ones that have critical learning material, she can get done quickly and move on to the next grade! Makes us excited to see how far she can go!
ReplyDeleteI am plenty sure there are parents out there that are homeschooling for the wrong reasons, but the ones who are out to give their child a much much better education (one based on God's word)and all that it entails are really getting ahead of the rest of the crowd. When I first mentioned homeschooling to Johan, the discussion didn't get far as he didn't know there was such a thing and didn't think there could come any good from it. But as he allowed me to anyway, we have both been blown away at the subject matter and we are learning things about this world and the Bible that we didn't know before!
Another key ingredient(and a great one) is that we, as parents, get to be the prime influence in our kids lives... instead of teachers, other kids, and society (which have some pretty scary ideas about all things great and small)! We, as Christians, are to stay disconnected from the world and the teachings of man and to cling tightly to the Word of God and His teachings. Biblically, WE are to "train up our children in the way they should go"...not someone else. I still very much loved Zian's Charter school and the way they did things, but along with the good, there is the bad...teaching yoga in class, studying evolution, the reading of books that contain so-called "facts" that go directly against God's Word, along with the potty mouths of undisciplined kids teaching trusting & innocent minds of things meant for adults only or twisted/warped things meant for no one at all!
I believe we are to protect their minds from the things of this world but also to prepare them to come up against them in all circumstances so they are not left naive to what is going on around them. Our homeschooling curriculum focuses BIG TIME on Godly standards and characteristics. There is a Bible verse memorized and studied in each subject & in each workbook to help them keep the Word of God in their heart also.
When we decided to take that first step toward schooling our kids ourselves, we did not know where to start. But, God really guided us to the right material for us and we all have been so blessed by it! :)
Just wanted to share a few of my thoughts on this matter and knew you wouldn't mind listening. :) It was a very successful year for our first and Zian tested in the 9th & 10th Grade for some of her subjects on her C.A.T.'s last month! That is encouraging and exciting.