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 ...
filing
Pretty good article, for the Slimes.
i would never homeschool my kids. Then again i wouldnt send them to public school in alabama.
So my plan is to wait until i can afford a great private school to have kids.
Why “never”?
I think teachers trained in different subjects could offer more to my children than i could. I am not fluent in a foreign language, i do not care much for mathematics and I do not have a science lab.
I suppose this really applies more to highschool than anything. I had a great quality of highschool education and i know my parents could not have provided that.
Also i think kids need to be socialized more than homeschool would allow. Sort of a gradual ‘getting an introduction to how much the real world sucks’ sort of thing.
Why do they need to be socialized “more than homeschool would allow”? What is the limitation imposed by homeschooling? Are all the people that make the real world so miserable confined to schools?
Also, were there extraordinary circumstances preventing your parents from finding resources for your education? Why wouldn’t they be able to find a science lab or a language teacher? Were they disabled in some way?
Teachers trained in different subjects do come in handy—homeschooling parents are always happy to find them—but most teachers in government employ don’t seem to be trained in the subject they teach. They are trained in teaching, at least in theory. My honors high school teacher was the basketball coach: “Ever hear of that book, High Expectations?” He apparently had heard of it, but not ever read it or seen an actual copy whereby he could learn the exact title.
My husband used to think the same. However he has changed his mind after reading many articles on here & seeing how many people do home school. I had 5 children in high school & from that alone I know I don't want our 8 yr old going there. There are plenty of ways you can get your children to be socialized without the school.
But not Elementary through 8th grade. There are lots of resources available, particularly online, for science kits and general teaching aids.
And as far as socializing, that's up to you to provide. Our kids have friends over along with sleep overs often. They participate in sports, the Girl Scouts and other clubs. So socializing really isn't an issue for them. You don't get to be a kid long, especially in this day and age. I want my children to have a happy and normal childhood. There's too much garbage in public schools forcing children to grow up faster than they need to - from sex to global warming. They don't need the weight of the world on their shoulders at age 10 and 13. They'll have the rest of their lives to contend with that...
DB, what is your home school plan for the typical high school socialization activities such as homecoming, prom, etc? Do you substitute other activities, similar activities? just curious.
Homecoming and prom are what I used to call “much ado about nothing.”
Our homeschool teen group organized a Fall Dance and a couple other area groups have proms in the Spring. There are all kinds of activities for homeschooled students. Our son was active in church (acolytle and layreader), our community (as a docent at the museum and as a reading tutor at the local elementary school) and he was active at the county level in the Republican party. He also went to 4-H summer camp and NC Boy’s State where he was the first homeschooler to be elected governor.
My son has since graduated and is a junior at college, where he is active in student government and an officer in various clubs. Trust me he’s never lacked for social skills.
We live on the edge of a small city who's public high school we would like to avoid. We are physically closer to a nearby town's public school that we feel much better about but might not be able to get a transfer to when the time comes. The home school program we use is through this same school so that should help.
We are still on the fence regarding public or private schools. If we choose the public school but can't get a transfer to the one we want then it will be private school.
The main lesson I “teach” my kids is how to learn. Not math, or science, or any specific subject, although I do teach them those things. But how to learn. You will never cover everything, no school can, private, public or home. But I teach them how to learn and they are given the tools with which to learn whatever they need at any time.
Not to sit in a chair and be fed information, but to seek it out themselves.
We do. There is nothing good that is offered in the gov’t school that isn’t offered in our homeschool group.
oh wait, yes there is. (cringe) lots of things. all bad.
My kids have nice graduation ceremonies, class rings are available, yearbooks, proms, etc.
Oh, dear.
Hope you don’t mind me chiming in here, as the rush to try to duplicate high school activities such as prom and the like makes me crazy.
Having been to several, and seen what goes on with kids attending them these days, I have never understood what in the world is so valuable to a child’s “socialization” about going to a prom.
Really, what is the child supposed to learn from that experience that it becomes a stumbling block for some people in making choices about the child’s entire education?
Please understand: I’m not ranting at you, not at all. But it’s a pet peeve of mine and I hope you don’t mind me saying so.
Or worse!
Of course, I didn’t go to a public high school, not that I would have wanted to.
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