Are HS kids missing the "Other" perspective? - Page 2

[ikesmom]

The moms in our homeschool group take turns teaching for certain subjects or co-ops. Some of them were teachers prior to homeschool . We have art, music, science, geography, p.e all through the moms in our group.

Dh and I do a lot of activities with our kids. We put the extra effort to expose them to things since they are learning at home. We feel like the time we have to be their teachers is some what limited and that they will probably get to an age where they don't want to learn from mom and dad ..hopefully that is a long way off

My ds (10) will go to cub scouts and tell his friends about a lesson he learned that week. His favorite activities usually involve science..His cub master is a science teacher and loves to interact with ds because he is so passionate about his lessons. I don't see many of the boys raving about their lessons from school ..so something is right in my pov.

[accidental_hs'er]

Clarifying

Originally Posted by WhiteHorse

What I meant by other perspective isn't necessarily the subject matter, but the personalities and social styles of the people they are under the authority of in school. For instance, your very sweet timid child might be challenged by a dynamic teacher and become inspired to do something they might never do or even think of.

I still don't see this as an issue. I can think of 1 high school art teacher that really inspired me and made me love his craft - not being an artist myself. I had many public school teachers that I liked and worked well with. I am sure they taught me things above and beyond the subjects we were learning at the time. The majority were not very memorable and a few were pretty rotten. Most of the people who really inspired me came along in my late teens and early 20s. I had some amazing university profs and I think it changed me to a certain degree.

Learning from other people is a life long skill that really isn't monopolized by schools. I am learning from the people all around me all the time. Your timid child example can just as well be inspired by an outgoing Scout leader or dance teacher.

Maybe it is a perspective thing? I have never had my dks in school and feel like one teacher per year would be a disservice to them. My ds has really bonded with his piano teacher, for example, and she is nothing like me. She is better at pushing him out of his comfort zone and getting things out of him that I can't. She is sugary sweet where I am no-nonsense, lol. There is a real bond and he has learned so much from her.

Plus, I suspect (if we go back to that timid child analogy) that said child is learning a lot more from the peers in the class than the teacher.

In all the parts of homeschooling where I worry about what my dks are missing out on, this has become one of the least problematic issues. In is intentional on our part but my dks have many teachers with many styles and personalities. They are learning to work with others and are growing nicely. This is really all I can ask for.

[umbrella]

My kids do have a lot of teachers, even though we're homeschoolers. Between sports, dance, music, co-op, scouts, and just living life and being a part of the community, they are exposed to various adults who have influence and positional authority.