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DP and I live in the UK and were both home educated here, and we intend to home educate our kids too. It's not as prevalent as in the US, but it's not so unusual that it's seen as weird or anything, and it's becoming more popular. You shouldn't have a problem finding other home educating families to hang out with!
Just want to add a different perspective here. We homeschool, always have and so far my oldest is reading fine. BUT- we live in a neighborhood where K'ers are in after school tutoring (after a full day Kindy) and after that they all go to a special math program 2xs per week after school.Originally Posted by Imakcerka
Is this the blame game? Yes public schools can be bad. I was home schooled up until 8th grade and I have to say that in our homeschool group there were kids that were so far behind they didn't test to even make it into highschool and had to go a different route to attain their GED... not a diploma. Not that there is anything wrong with a GED.
It's not blaming the parents but there are a lot of parents that do not participate in their childs education. Our neighbor girl comes over a few times a week with her homework. She's in the same class as DD2 and they're both struggling with reading. I've been helping them both a lot and both have moved up a in reading requirements. Which is a big accomplishment. Her mother is a great lady but feels the school needs to do their job. She's turned down two different opportunities for extra help. Because it's after school tutoring and not during school hours. This kind of thinking is hurting her daughter. They have something for her but she won't allow it. Again she's not a bad parent but she refuses to see gray.
I wish they would do a study on home schooled children. I could bet you a years wages that there is a 50/50 split on those who measure up to the supposed grade level. If that's what the real concern is.
As far as your oldest son is concerned it very could have been learning issues. And since it was so long ago they didn't do as much then as they do now to ensure kids are getting where they need to go. Why would that even be your fault? I would consider not being so sensitive about the matter as there is much more research out there that helps us understand what is going on.
Originally Posted by briansmama
Just want to add a different perspective here. We homeschool, always have and so far my oldest is reading fine. BUT- we live in a neighborhood where K'ers are in after school tutoring (after a full day Kindy) and after that they all go to a special math program 2xs per week after school.
This is a huge reason why we chose to homeschool- that is a lot of focused sitting down time for a child. The research shows that kids who are given plenty of free time to explore their interests are the kids who grown up to enjoy learning.
I can't even imagine putting a child through 6+ hours a day in school and then adding to that workload with tutoring and more class time! It really makes me wonder, what do they do there all day?
So, personally, I see your neighbor's point. Her kid needs a life and childhood outside of academics. Much to traditional school's dismay, children learn on all different schedules. A child who learns to read at age 5 is not usually reading any better than a child who learned at age 8, if you compared them later. The difference? The child who learned in her own time usually grows up to actually enjoy reading, isn't that the goal?
I think the fear comes when we picture a child struggling with reading the rest of their life. But if you remove the fear, the research shows that kids living in a literate-rich household, with parents who read in front of them and to them, will eventually learn to read. And the process is so much easier if we wait til they are ready!
Thanks for sharing! I read so much about the benefits of homeschooling and see how my own hs kids are thriving that I often don't see children who are not thriving in a hs environment. I think it must have a lot to do with our hs community- the parents are all so invested, so motivated, so involved with their kids that I forget there could be situations where hs kids are not getting what they need.Originally Posted by Imakcerka
You're absolutely right. I completely agree. What troubles me is that I'm an adult with adult friends and we were all homeschooled. I get emails and facebook messages I can't imagine an adult would write. My mother recently turned in her friend because her daughter was 14 and read at what my mom considered to be the same level I read at in 1st grade. Homeschooling is not always better than traditional school. I am in no way saying that homeschooled kids are lacking but for every story someone has about a kid falling through the cracks in public school I have two that include homeschooled kids. Heck, I'm a terrible writer and my comprehension is sometimes lacking. This has hurt me quite a bit. I would like to point out again this is from a Homeschooled kids perspective.
There actually was a study done recently, I forget by whom... the sample size was fairly small, but the basic results were that homeschooled kids who followed a curriculum fared just as well as or better than public schooled kids, but unschooled kids tested 'behind'.I wish they would do a study on home schooled children. I could bet you a years wages that there is a 50/50 split on those who measure up to the supposed grade level. If that's what the real concern is.
1 - Check public school stats and find out how many 14yo's are reading at a 1st grade level. Not a huge majority, of course, but there are some. It's not unreasonable to expect a similar ratio in the homeschooled community.My mother recently turned in her friend because her daughter was 14 and read at what my mom considered to be the same level I read at in 1st grade. Homeschooling is not always better than traditional school. I am in no way saying that homeschooled kids are lacking but for every story someone has about a kid falling through the cracks in public school I have two that include homeschooled kids.
I currently home school my daughter. She spent a year and a half in public school and because we were moving around a lot I decided it would be best for her to stay home. Now I honestly don't think I would ever send her back. Anyway, I think this quote is funny and just goes to show that even rigorous academics can't make you do something "noble." I was always a very smart child, in high school I was in the honors programs and had a very high GPA. I enjoyed learning, but I hated school. After several attempts at college I decided that it probably wasn't for me and I am okay with that. What I found humorous and it just reaffirms that I am making the right decision is even after graduating with a high GPA and all of my honors classes I still needed to take remedial classes in math. So I figure if I bomb at this homeschooling thing and my child isn't an "honors" student, that she won't be any worse off than the other students that went to a "proper" school and got a "quality" education, kids like me. Honestly, that is okay with me. If my child is going to go to Harvard then she's going to go. If she doesn't, that is fine too. She can be a cashier or a hairdresser, as long as she's happy and healthy. I don't care what she does. Her father is a truck driver, hes a smart man, he just enjoys his job. Sure he could be something "grand" but hes happy with his life and his job. I think children will be who they are meant to be and in the end they will all be okay.Some people are destined to be the mechanics and the hairdressers and the welders and the road crew and the construction workers and the truck drivers... they are not 'failures' if they are not academically gifted, they're just gifted in different and ESSENTIAL areas!
Thank you for saying this. My dad was a furniture mover, and retired a few years ago, after more than 40 years in the industry. He was happier in his job than almost anybody else I've ever met. He liked getting to see every part of our city, and large portions of our province, and get paid for it. He liked meeting new people all the time. He liked knowing that he was doing something that eased people through a tough time (a good moving company/mover can make a world of difference to someone packing up the belongings of their deceased parents or moving into a smaller place after a divorce). He liked the chance to see so many different homes and styles of furniture and everything else. He just loved the work. He was also a high school dropout (partway through 11th grade, I believe). But...he also used to read really heavy, difficult books, with a dictionary beside him, and had a bigger vocabulary (in terms of comprehension, not that he used it all) than most people...and he was very gifted at math, which he mostly only used for calculating invoices. He loved his work. (And, you know...while I'm sure his genes and the quality of diet he ate through most of his life are a big part of it....the level of exercise involved in his job also doubtless contributed to the fact that he's 67 years old, has been smoking since he was in his early teens, drinking too much since his early 20s...and has no hint of heart or lung disease, at least as of about 4 years ago, when he had his hip replaced. A job you love, and that keeps you healthy despite your best efforts, isn't to be sneezed at.)
Originally Posted by tankgirl73
Honestly, though -- you say 'all your friends' are homeschooled, and you find their writing skills (and yours) lacking sometimes. But if 'all your friends' were homeschooled, then how do you know what the public schooled adults' writing is like in comparison?
It doesn't take a lot of looking around to see that there's a huge number of american adults - graduates of the public school system - who are functionally illiterate, or nearly so. Looking at the posts on 'failblog' and related sites is an interesting place to start heh. Talking to university professors is another interesting activity -- they are quite universally shocked by the poor writing and comprehension skills of the current cohort of students.
So in other words... these 'poorly performing' homeschool graduates are pretty *average*. That's not really a failure of homeschooling -- it's a demonstration that it really doesn't take much to achieve the same level of mediocrity that a huge number of publicly schooled adults have reached. And those publicly schooled adults spent 12+ years 6 hours a day with little to show for it. The homeschooled kids who are no *worse* off academically, had tons of free time to pursue other interests. Maybe they're not great writers, but maybe they are great parents, or great counselors, or great artists, or great athletes. Or maybe they're just regular people who are no worse off than they would have been if they'd gone to school.
There actually was a study done recently, I forget by whom... the sample size was fairly small, but the basic results were that homeschooled kids who followed a curriculum fared just as well as or better than public schooled kids, but unschooled kids tested 'behind'.
The problem with this kind of study, though, is that it only tested standardized test-taking skills. And we're not talking about comparing 18yo's either, these were younger kids. Unschoolers, in general, have decided that philosophically, creativity and child-led learning is a higher priority than reading and doing math on any particular schedule. 'Better late than early', avoiding The Hurried Child, proven benefits of delayed academics, etc. So if a family has DELIBERATELY delayed academics, knowing full well that the vast majority of 'delayed' kids 'catch up' effortlessly by the time they're adults, then any testing done before that 'catch up' is complete will of course show them as 'behind'. But just because they're 'behind' according to the GOVERNMENT's schedule, doesn't mean they are *suffering* or *incompetent* or being denied a good education, or that they're not following their own curve perfectly.
You could liken it to kids' growth and development patterns... not a perfect analogy, of course, but if you look at a group of 14mo babies and see that most of them are walking, but a few aren't, then by the public school's system you'd say the non-walkers need remedial walking training. Then a curriculum of walking expectations would be established, whereby all babies would receive walking training starting at 10mo, with the expectation that by 11mo they would all be standing independently, 12mo taking a few steps, 13mo walking 4 feet, and 14mo starting to jog a bit. Those parents who don't engage in rigorous walking training, who prefer to wait until their child walks 'on their own' would be considered negligent in their educational duties. Kids who received all this training but still refuse to walk would be labelled as oppositional and/or learning disabled.
Of course this seems patently silly, it's well understood that there's a wide range of normal for starting to walk. Why can't the same be true of academic skills? Why must we compare our kids to some arbitrary schedule which is put together by government bureaucrats? Why should we care how our kids perform on standardized tests which only measure test-taking skills and material which was taught because it was going to be tested -- and do not measure *real life* skills, thinking skills, learning skills, etc.
Anyway, it's just something that gets my goat a bit, the idea that *academic* success is the only valid measure of achievement. Or that just because a kid doesn't write their name yet at age 8 means they're going to be illiterate adults... Most of us get the basic skills we need when we actually need them, and if a homeschooled kid turns into an under-performing adult, at least they're no worse off than the MILLIONS of under-performing adults out there who also wasted thousands of hours of their lives for no benefit...
1 - Check public school stats and find out how many 14yo's are reading at a 1st grade level. Not a huge majority, of course, but there are some. It's not unreasonable to expect a similar ratio in the homeschooled community.
2 - Homeschooling might not always be *better* but that doesn't mean that it is *worse*. There's no reason to believe that the 14yo poor reader would be doing any better in school. Maybe she would, but maybe she wouldn't. And maybe she'd be a better reader, but as a tradeoff would have lost some other skill or passion that she's been involved with otherwise.
3 - That's just anecdotes, though. And interestingly, it's the tactic that anti-homeschoolers often take. "I knew a homeschooled kid once and they were weird and slow and awkward" yadda yadda yadda. It ignores the staggering number of kids in the public schools who are not merely 'falling through the cracks' but just being horribly underserved by their educations. I think the number of kids doing poorly in public schools is much higher than you realize.
I think it comes down to... if my child is going to be underperforming, would I rather he spend thousands of hours sitting in a boring classroom that he can't keep up with anyway, dulling his wits and stifling any interest in learning and taking time away from other passions... or would I rather he at least have the free time to explore his true interests? Of course ideally I'd rather my child NOT be underperforming, but the fact is that not every person is cut out for academia. Some people are destined to be the mechanics and the hairdressers and the welders and the road crew and the construction workers and the truck drivers... they are not 'failures' if they are not academically gifted, they're just gifted in different and ESSENTIAL areas!
(I'm saying this as an adult who was publicly schooled, had great academic and career success, homeschooling 2 kids who are performing at or above grade level and we use curriculum, though not absolutely on a strict schedule. So my perspective is not just defending my own life and skillset -- it's saying that my path is not your path or anyone else's path. Academic success is not the only measure of success and it bugs me how it's lauded as the most important thing to aim for, which devalues other types of success, other important life goals, which is grossly unfair to those people whose ideal paths lie in another direction!!!)
I get emails from my adult cousin who went to school and can barely write.
Originally Posted by kathymuggle
I get emails from my adult cousin who went to school and can barely write.
At the end of the day I think engaged parents in a resource rich environment increase a child's likelihood of success - no matter the childhood education path taken.
Schools vary. Some are good, and some are horrible. Some kids and families are a better fit for school or homeschooling than other. At the end of the day, I felt homeschool was the best choice for my children in the younger grades for a variety of reason (and some of them ideological) so that is what we did. I don't think either choice is automatically awful, though.
I know, I want to always think that homeschooled kids will do better.. but a lot of the ones I know don't.
Hippiemombian, I completely agree and also want to support my dc in whatever they decide to do later in life if it keeps them healthy, happy, and self-suffiicient. I'm raising my dc to think for themselves, and I feel that by exposing them to a liberal arts education and lots of real-world careers and needed work in our day to day outings that they will find something they actually want to do.Originally Posted by hippiemombian
I currently home school my daughter. She spent a year and a half in public school and because we were moving around a lot I decided it would be best for her to stay home. Now I honestly don't think I would ever send her back. Anyway, I think this quote is funny and just goes to show that even rigorous academics can't make you do something "noble." I was always a very smart child, in high school I was in the honors programs and had a very high GPA. I enjoyed learning, but I hated school. After several attempts at college I decided that it probably wasn't for me and I am okay with that. What I found humorous and it just reaffirms that I am making the right decision is even after graduating with a high GPA and all of my honors classes I still needed to take remedial classes in math. So I figure if I bomb at this homeschooling thing and my child isn't an "honors" student, that she won't be any worse off than the other students that went to a "proper" school and got a "quality" education, kids like me. Honestly, that is okay with me. If my child is going to go to Harvard then she's going to go. If she doesn't, that is fine too. She can be a cashier or a hairdresser, as long as she's happy and healthy. I don't care what she does. Her father is a truck driver, hes a smart man, he just enjoys his job. Sure he could be something "grand" but hes happy with his life and his job. I think children will be who they are meant to be and in the end they will all be okay.