Homeschooling Headache

Termlimits.org ^ | 9/19/03 | Jacob

[pabianice]

Big problem. They're doing too well.

Cassandra Stevenson of Connecticut has just started college. She's 15. Her sister, Samantha, is 19 — and has a master's degree in astrophysics.

"Homeschooling is more like college than a public or a private school is," says Cassandra. "You learn what you want to learn and what you need to learn. The curriculum is fitted to you."

That's exceptional. But your average homeschooler still does pretty well. A National Home Education Research Institute study found that the typical homeschooler's academic achievement easily tops that of the typical public-school student. The Institute estimates that as many as 2.2 million children now benefit from homeschooling.

See the problem? Robert Rader does. He's the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education. Call it Status Quo United for short. Rader agrees that "parents have the right to educate their children at home." On the other hand, he worries that "children don't always get the rigorous structure and up-to-date educational techniques, which are applied in public schools."

Uh, hello. It's that so-called "rigorous structure" that parents and kids are escaping from! Mr. Rader doesn't seem to realize that he and other educators might learn from the homeschoolers — if effective education is really their goal.

If you want process, call Mr. Rader. He'll process your kids for you. If you want results — well, a great many families have figured out how to get those . . . at home. Mine too.

This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Hmmm... I didn't really do any soldering until 7th grade shop class...

I never tried building my own telescope - we bought a computer-guided Meade for christmas a few years back that the kids love, but maybe building one just for fun would be interesting. It certainly would provide a good lesson in optics etc...

[Aquinasfan]

"children don't always get the rigorous structure and up-to-date educational techniques, which are applied in public schools."

I think he meant to say "rigorous beatings."

[MortMan]

On the other hand, he worries that "children don't always get the rigorous structure and up-to-date educational techniques, which are applied in public schools."

I'll leave the "structure" to be commented on by others, but...

Homeschoolers deliberately avoid the "up-to-date" educational techniques - We'd rather use a teching technique that works!!!

[Aquinasfan]

My hubby says that the vast majority of students in the country are Public Schooled.

Yes. Around 90%. But, so what? 90% of all kids are watching "Sponge Bob Squarepants."

I say that that trend is greatly changing.

For homeschooling. Estimates range from 1-2% of all school age children, up from 0 or statistically insignificant ten years ago.

More kids are homeschooled, charter schooled and private schooled.

No big movement to private education. Charter schools are relatively new.

He says no way. Does someone have the stats on this and how many of these kids go to college?

I don't know about college, but test-wise, homeschoolers rank higher than private schoolers, at around the 85th percentile.

But that's not why we homeschool. We homeschool first so that our children can learn about God, secondly so that they can learn how to think.

[Aquinasfan]

I want him to go to college for an education, not for an experience.

Good post (#34)

[Aquinasfan]

I figure 13 years of my life were wasted being locked up in a prison.

And at 18 you're thrown, bound and gagged, onto the street of life. It's sad that children are imprisoned for 13 years for having committed the crime of being born.

[Domestic Church]

My father graduated from a university at 16 and passed the NY bar at the age of 21 with a perfect score (after first entering medical school.) He was educated in a small private religious boarding school which essentially was tutorial by the small size of classes, not classroom oriented as we think of classes. This approach was the preferred way of educating for centuries. Also home education goes back thousands of years and has been the standard and the backbone of civilization. It is only our brainwashed, NEA influenced culture that thinks it is abberant.

[goodseedhomeschool (returned)]

Yes homeschoolers do score higher.

[SuziQ]

Our local community college allows homeschoolers to take classes, but it is certainly not free. They pay $115 per credit for the courses. But it can be a bargain because that is certainly cheaper than the State colleges, so taking a few courses before you head off to a 4 yr. college helps lower the overall tuition bill.

[SuziQ]

Speaking of Chemistry.....I made a 36 on my final exam and that was with cheating. I should have sat by someone smarter.

Growing up and going to Catholic elementary school, I learned to cover my paper during tests so as not to tempt anyone into cheating off my paper.

When I was in Geometry class in 10th gr. I sat in a back corner with several friends. Once the teacher made a remark that they could be doing better because I did so well. They said "How can we, she covers her paper during tests!". The teacher just laughed and said that's not exactly what she meant!

[SuziQ]

We'll start Algebra next year.

Check out Harold R. Jacobs's Elementary Algebra. Our kids really enjoyed that book.

[Ogmios]

Hello again, I think that I saw you on another thread.

Yes, statistically Homeschoolers always score higher, I believe it is due to the parents personal touch with their children.

The child wishes to please the parent, and the parent wishes for their child to excel, and the parent actually cares about the future of the child, unlike the teacher in a public school, who basically moves onto another set of students the next year.

Homeschooling is the best thing for the child, and the best thing for the parent, not only does the child learn as they need to, the parent/child relationship grows as well.

If I ever have children, it is a little late for that, but you never know, I will try my hardest to make sure that I am able to homeschool them.

[TEXOKIE]

Thought you might like to see this. Be sure to check out commentary on the thread about 15 year olds in college. Pretty mind bending!

[dawn53]

Yes, we are very fortunate to have the program in place that allows free tuition. Basically, a 10-12th grader could earn 90 credit hours (15 per term, and more than 90 if they attended summer session), free of charge. However, only about 60 are transferable to other universities, but now that this college offers 4 year degrees, if a student were to choose one of the degrees they offer, about 3/4 of their college tuition would be free.


If the student goes on to another state university they can also qualify for a Bright Futures scholarship that pays most of their tuition, that is if their grades and SAT score are sufficient.

[SuziQ]

Massachusetts used to have the Dual/Enrollment program, but with the recession in 2000, the state budget couldn't support it anymore. We may use the Community College anyway, our daughter was interested in taking Psychology, and maybe Sociology, so she could do those at the CC, we're not sure yet. We were going to use it for lab sciences, but we decided to buy a microscope and go in with another family for supplies to do the labs together at home. It looks like that might pan out ok.

[SpookBrat]

LOL

[HighWheeler]

"See the problem [with home schooling]? Robert Rader does. He's the executive director of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education."

Here's more proof that home schooling is simply substandard and such a glaring failure. You just can't afford an "Executive Director of a Board of Education" at home. How can a kid possibly learn anything without The Standardized Massive Institutional Bureaucracy™ ?

[FourPeas]

The Standardized Massive Institutional Bureaucracy™

We plan to institute a SMIB next school year so we more closely follow the government school model. At the same time, we'll incorporate the standard government school smut and scum, too.

[FourPeas]

I was dual enrolled in college and government school when I was 16. The atmosphere was completely different than high school -- in a good way. For the most part, students were there because they wanted to be, not because they were told to be. Although most of my classmates didn't know I was 16, those who did treated me with respect. My experience, as a child, was a positive one.