Posted on 04/05/2008 3:09:38 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Madison Browning, 8, spent a recent school day coloring, playing on swings at a park and whirling to Japanese string music at a cozy dance studio. Caedyn Curto, 13, studied biblical scripture at his family's kitchen table before tackling decimals, completing a biology test and revising a journalism essay.
The Browning and Curto families, both of whom live in the South Bay, have embraced very different styles of education. But they now find themselves on the same side of a battle to continue teaching their children at home in the face of an appellate court ruling that home schooling in California must be conducted by credentialed instructors.
The February court decision is not being enforced pending appeals. The 2nd District Court of Appeal agreed last week to rehear the case in June, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to support new legislation allowing home schooling if the decision is not reversed. Meanwhile, the ruling has forged a rare alliance of religious and secular home schoolers.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I love how some people in here can’t STAND that some people think homeschooling sounds like being afraid to let go so they result to personal insults. Why? They are doing this because in order for them to be right about what they are doing anyone who disagrees has to be both wrong and mentally deficient. Which is pathetic.
petty lame attitudes. grow up.
I know grammar perfectly well.
Yes I am completely stupid because I didn’t bother to capitalize my internet posts after midnight.
Oh the humanity and horror! Weep for my future children!
Correlation does not imply causation. A fundamental rule of statistics.
In other words, just because the home school scores are higher does not mean its necessarily caused by home schooling’s superiority.
There might be underlying factors behind why home school kids would perform better on standardized tests. Perhaps such children come from nicer families who put more emphasis on education than other families.
I’m sure the kids of ability in public schools would be right up there with the home school scores. However, they are thrown in with every other child in the nation including those who have poor qualities of home life in which academics are not stressed at all
^ I left off a period from the end of that sentence as a bit of a personal statement against the internet grammar and capitalization nazis who pour out of the woodwork to make themselves feel better and “smarter” by picking apart an informal composition.
I think you are over estimating the skills/education level of most teachers. It would be rare for any school unless it was an upscale private school to have a “real” calculus teacher. Many Math teachers actually recieved a degree in something else entirely and are only teaching Math because no one else wanted to teach it. Those with a real grasp of Math are just worth too much in the private sector. My daughter’s Math teacher had a degree in sociology. While it is common here on the border to have Spanish teachers that have spent time in Mexico, I am not sure that’s the norm away from the border. Many teachers are teaching out of their field- it is so common that it is unusual to find one that isn’t.
I would strongly advise all parents with children in public or private school to check out which teachers have what degree. It is an eye opener and goes a long way toward explaining why many students are not getting an education at school.
I guess the posts mentioning hiring private foreign language tutors and joining a co-op for labs gave me the impression it cost a bit of money to equal the learning experiences available at the better public schools.
I think its great people have the freedom to homeschool and make it work. However, a few folks in here seem to want respect for what they believe while simultaneously putting down people who might not want to homeschool for their own reasons. Or at least it comes off like that.
I was asked if my parents were handicapped because I was not homeschooled which was an incredibly ridiculous and stupid thing to say.
The husband of an acquaintance of mine is taking classes to become a district superintendent. In one of his classes, he was told that, “brick and mortar” schools will soon be a thing of the past. Apparently, homeschooling, in one form or another, is the wave of the future and even public school bigwigs are bracing themselves for that major change.
Well I suppose my highschool’s quality was probably the exception not the rule. Looking back I believe I was lucky to have the opportunities I did for free.
There was a liberal slant at times however I never turned into a liberal. I think if someone wants to be a liberal there is very little that will stop them anyway. I am not sure how much control parents have over what their kids want to think about politics.
Before I have kids I will have to be ready to handle the fact that you cannot make every choice for any person you bring into the world.
Anyway, my highschool offered several different years of calculus with teachers who were qualified. They even had classes in chinese. I think most of these teachers really were working towards to goal of getting people ready for college.
I probably I look at my highschool years with rose-colored glasses because right after i graduated 911 happened and things never did feel quite the seem to me. I suppose i consider my highschool years the ‘good old days’.
I love that my 9 yo daughter can hug her best friends and hang out with them without being called gay or a lesbian. I love that she doesn't have to carry the burden of sexual knowledge she isn't ready for because she hears about it on the playground. I love that she and my 6 yo son invent new and more creative games every day. Last week they turned the playset into a Starship. (Yes, we are all Trekkies. All four of us.) I love that she can name her favorite Star Trek captains and episodes without being ridiculed by her peers because she isn't into boy bands and Hannah Montana. I love that I have the freedom to let my son go outside and play when I see he's had enough of sitting and doing schoolwork for a while. ADHD? Nope. He's just your typical little 6 yo boy. I love that when I see that our curriculum in a particular area isn't working for one of my kids, I can adjust it or change it entirely.
I love that we have TIME. Time for piano lessons, gymnastics, karate, a homeschool P.E. class, a dozen or more field trips a year, family travel, science classes, etc. TIME. Time to get to know each other, and time as a family. I am an “older mom”, and I know just how precious time is and exactly how quickly a 6 yo becomes a 9 yo in, what seems to be, just a moment.
I love that we can go to Disneyland any time we like. You'll never find us there during holidays or summer vacation! I love that we can turn just about any trip into an educational experience and go to the Grand Canyon when we're studying Arizona or geology. There's a depth and richness homeschooling can provide that no other school possibly can.
I taught in public school for 8 years and trained public school teachers for another 4. I know precisely what is out there in some of the “best” public schools. I used to think that all classroom teachers were like myself and my teacher friends: hardworking, creative, professional. Once I began my staff development career, I was shocked at the low caliber of teachers in so many classrooms. Some of the classes I visited epitomized the nightmares I had each year starting in August! (Fellow teachers will understand!) Yes, there are individual teachers and individual classrooms where good things are happening. The problem is the system itself that tries to fit every single child into the same mold. Read John Taylor Gatto if you haven't already.
Stephen Covey says that every organization is perfectly aligned to get the results it is getting. If you apply that to our public education, that's quite an indictment. We are getting the results, IN GENERAL, that the schools are set up to produce. I have two sisters still teaching. One of these threads I'll have to post some of what they tell me.
Is homeschooling for every family? No, but I do believe that every Christian and/or conservative family should keep an open mind about it.
well i understand about the star trek thing. I was one of the few (perhaps the only I can’t remember anymore) star trek fans in grade six. I liked some of the things everyone else liked but I won’t deny i had some classically ‘nerdy’ interests.
There were also some sad things about public schools. A girl i knew died of a drug overdose. I remembered thinking she was on an evil path a few years before she died because she listened to marilyn manson. I could just sense she was not right and was not surprised when she turned up dead.
There are some posts in this thread making a good case for homeschooling. However, I still think that it would probably make me feel better to send my kids to a traditional school
I am very interested in having a family someday but when I think about how I’d worry about my kids the idea is less appealing.
IMO, the main reason the data show HSers scoring better is the tutorial teaching method. Much better than the Prussian socialist method of jamming 20 to 40 children in a room under the authority of a single “teacher”.
Another reason is that the NEA has an agenda of leftist indoctrination they are trying to force down the throats of our children. Academics have a much lower place in most public schools today, but in home education, academics are one of the priorities (along with character building.)
A few years ago, we were leaders in a local home education group. We received calls from many parents of kids who the administrators at the public school had told to call us. These kids were low performers, usually with behavior problems. The PS was trying to foist them onto homeschooling. It happened so many times that I am convinced they were trying to make our group look bad, thinking the behavior problems would erupt into incidents that might be publicized.
Even so, you do have a point when you say the public schools have to take everybody, which tends to lower the average test scores. However, homeschoolers also have higher average test scores than private schools. So, there goes that theory.
Looking back I believe I was lucky to have the opportunities I did for free.
Public school education is not FREE! I pay for public school education which my children do not use through property, sales, and federal taxes every single day of my life. On top of that I choose to additionally invest in my childrens' education with monetary and time commitments.
I have to continue on your I love theme:
I love how neither of my teenage kids have said they hate me because I have to make parent decisions that disappoint them.
I love how neither of my teenage kids are embarassed by their geeky mom and actually seek me out for advice and don’t just mind being seen with me in public, but actually plan outings for all of us.
I love that I have a peaceful home for all of us.
You, sir or madam, are not telling the truth. I asked you why you wrote that your parents were not were *capable* of providing you with a good high school education (not why you weren't homeschooled). I offered being handicapped as one possibility that came to my mind. (I hope you don't imagine that I view that pejoratively.) Since you find the suggestion stupid and ridiculous, I'll take that as a no to the suggestion, but the original question is still unanswered.
I was just wondering whether there was some unusual circumstance that made them unable to let you pursue your education independently. My parents sent me to school too, but I wouldn't say it was because they were incapable of some other approach.
I also asked what you were referring to with respect to inadequate "socialization" possibilities and you ignored that too. If you decide to bring it up later, please write about what I actually said instead of some contortion of it.
I guess being asked to explain what you mean by what you write is just too stupid and ridiculous. For my part, I find a discussion without the possibility of clarification rather useless, although maybe not stupid.
If you think that is true, then the next question logic would dictate you ask is: Why do so many "nice families who put more emphasis on education" choose home education rather than public school education?
If education is a priority for them, wouldn't it be reasonable to conclude they educated themselves WRT to home education and concluded it is a superior method of education? Or did they just flip and coin?
Dear modest proposal,
I looked over my post, and I want to take back my writing that you were not telling the truth. Rather, I would ask you to not read my earlier post as a standalone but in the context of your post, which it responded to. I meant to ask you to clarify what you meant by “could not” etc, but when I read my post by itself, I can see that I didn’t make everything explicit. I hope my later post did help explain what I meant in the context of your post.
Jabchae
As the recipient of some of these students, I might have a better grasp on the reason for the "foisting".
Maybe these admin and parents were perceptual enough to see just the tiniest glint of hope in these kids' eyes. Maybe they understood that every child deserves a chance at an education. And, maybe they realized that formal schooling wasn't working, and they cared enough to try something new.
That's how I see my students.
Apologies for spelling errors, not enough caffiene yet, and the spell checker is CRAZY this am!
I do think in many cases a student will get out of public school what they put in. I know many get a good education at the same schools that many don’t. The effort has to be there on the part of the student and the parents whether the child is in public school, private school, or homeschool. Our local school system does a fair job of educating students; but is very weak in the Math department all the way through. Many parents tutor their children in Math at home in order to make up for it.
I went to a really lousy high school, and ended up being homeschooled by my mother when it was a pretty novel idea- 1970s- I got my GED and went to college. My two older girls did very well in public school; but I homeschooled my youngest because she struggled in school and the school didn’t seem to have the answers for her. Also to be honest the local high school principal got so crazy with the zero tolerance and other things that also played a big part in our decision.
I think choice is a great thing, I hope the freedom to homeschool is never taken away from parents. I also don’t think homeschool is the answer for every parent and child. Everyone has to do what they think is right for them- and I don’t think there is a one choice fits all solution.
There is a huge shortage of qualified teachers right now; many are teaching out of their field and many aren’t fully qualified to teach at all and are working on a waiver system. It does pay for parents to know what qualifications their children’s teachers really have.
Not in this case.
BTW, the CC on campus legislation that was brought up here in OK...has been abandoned. Too much whining, and wringing of hands by the Liberal elite.....
fwiw-
While I’m sure that some small number of homeschoolers engage expensive private tutors, I don’t actually know any at all. Not that homeschoolers don’t get private tutoring, but rather that it’s often done on a barter basis (”I’ll help your kid with math if you help mine with Spanish”) or often just as a favor (”I’m teaching my kids biology and I have a cool lab kit, if you want your kids to come over twice a week for lab, that’s fine.”)
I do know some homeschooling moms who tutor public and private school students on a part-time basis to make a few extra dollars. One homeschooling mom who is ABD (all but dissertation) for her Ph.D. in mathematics tutored students attending local public and prestigious local private schools for a while. It amounted to a few hundred dollars a month of extra household income, which was nice for a while.
But homeschoolers don't usually actually pay much, if anything, for tutors.
“...it cost a bit of money...”
If by a bit of money you mean a few dollars here or there, you’re correct, it does. If you mean many hundreds or thousands of dollars, I suppose there are a few folks who do that. It’s just that out of the hundreds of homeschoolers that I know, I don’t know any who spend that sort of money.
Regarding co-ops, usually each family pays for the materials they use. We belonged to a couple of co-op groups, and usually, the costs were $10, $20, or perhaps even as much as $40 per child per course.
I ran a chess class for three or four years, and initially, we charged $10 per family per quarter year. Once we built up a nice stock of chess sets, books, and other paraphenalia, we dropped the quarterly fee, and would just charge a few dollars for entry fees for tournaments.
“...to equal the learning experiences available at the better public schools.”
Actually, from what I’ve seen, we usually far exceed the learning experiences of most better public and private schools.
Most homeschooling families live on one income. Thus, the median household income for homeschooling families is substantially lower than the median household income for the general population. Thus, most homeschooling families have to be careful and creative with educational budgets.
“However, a few folks in here seem to want respect for what they believe while simultaneously putting down people who might not want to homeschool for their own reasons. Or at least it comes off like that.”
Well, homeschoolers are often put on the defensive, both in non-virtual life and here on these threads. We often have to deal with egregiously condescending and stupid remarks like this one:
“There may be some success stories with homeschooling...”
Frankly, posters like this deserve whatever comes their way by way of responses. It would not be unreasonable to question the general intelligence of a poster like this, nor the intelligence of their near ancestors.
sitetest
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