I expect to get flamed for this, but here I go.
I am a teacher. I teach English Literature. I firmly support a person's right to homeschool their children. That said, here is my one problem:
My cousin is a lawyer and a good one. He wants nothing more than to homeschool his children, but he has serious problems with mathematics. Algebra was a foreign language to him and forget about anything above that. (He made one 'C' in college...in College Algebra). Since he has such issues with mathematics, and the standardized tests put such emphasis on math, how can he, an obviously intelligent person, be reasonably expected to prepare his children for the rigors of math?
This may be an isolated incident, but does shed a big light on some more serious homeschool issues. Do most homeschool parents have the necessary skills to teach some of the more difficult courses? What about languages, which are often required for entrance to college?
Please do not get me wrong. I am 100% for your right to do what you will with your children, only that I question how well you can provide all the time.
"Do most homeschool parents have the necessary skills to teach some of the more difficult courses? What about languages, which are often required for entrance to college?"
Not all do, which is why they hire me, I teach advanced math. I know a couple of people who offer both Latin and French clases, as well as kids who take courses at the local community college.
However, most homeschooling parents are college educated themselves, and just teach the language they learned such as Spanish or French.
His kids can watch MIT open courseware for free. MIT offer full course lectures for algebra, cal, trig, physics, bio.
It's not just that they have the right to do so, it's that they see that public schools are dangerous, left-wing dominated institutions that teach things they do not believe and do not want their young skulls-full-of-mush to be taught. I'm sure your cousin will find a solution if he's that concerned about the environment his child is forced to endure.
Exactly. You're preaching to the choir on this, shag...I also endorse a parent's right to teach his/her kids at home but SO many of them are SO unqualified in all the disciplines needed to prepare students for college. Homeschooling parents are the most arrogant lots you'll ever find, in always knowing what's best in educating their children, and in the end do their kids a disservice. I fully understand the angst against public schools but they would help their children a lot more if they abandoned the idea of homeschooling and opted instead for a job to pay the tuition for a good private school education.
There are so many answers to your question that I could write a book on the subject. Here's the short version:
1) You can get terrific resources (textbooks, DVDs, software) that will allow your child to master the subject on their own
2) use online courses/online tutors
3) send child to class anywhere for the subject
4) hire private tutor or use homeschool co-op
I'd like to answer your questions.
At the high school level, many students supplement their home education with community college classes or with other sources. My 16 year old daughter is taking an honors english literature class from a retired teacher who offers this sort of class. In January, she will be taking American Sign Language (foreign language) at a community college (High School and college credits combined) and will continue with other classes as well.
Perhaps your cousin attended public school and therefore was never taught math in a way that stuck with him?
I too struggled mightily with Algebra in H.S.
Years later, I took college Algebra and had a wonderful teacher. I made an A. I worked HARD for that A!
Let me follow the logic here --
P1) Dad went to public school.
P2) After instruction by "trained professionals" this person, that later proved a high baseline intelligence by passing the Bar, could not pull higher than a "C" in algebra.
C) Therefore, his children will be better at Dad in math if they get the same "professional training" that Dad did.
Yep, you're a publik skool teacher alright.
If dad has a weakness in math, that's what live tutors, computer based math courses, and co-ops are for.
He does'nt need an "education major", which from my recollection were the dumbest collection of students on my college campus, to teach his kids algebra.
Who knows? Maybe his kids will beat Dad's "C" after they get proper instruction.
But, a parent can always ask another homeschooling parent to tutor a student in a certain subject. Currently, I am supposed to be tutoring a young lad in spelling.
My HS Algebra teacher was a drunk that sipped 'coffee' all morning, and mostly slept through his classes before 10am. It took my algebra II teacher (who was a whiz) to make up for all the lost time.
My point is that there's no guarantee in the school systems, either.
Less than 10% of the working population makes use of any math skill past fractions in a given work day; let's say you have an irregular room that you want to carpet and you know that it measures twice as long across the largest wall as the shortest wall, how do you estimate the amount of carpet needed?
I sucked at math. I spent a LOT of time looking for a good curriculum that could help me overcome my handicap. I found Saxon. Every night I'd read the next day's lesson and learn it for myself. By year 4, my daughter was frustrated with my slow pace and started learning the lessons on her own. My son followed suit shortly after.
You must ask yourself, why do so many public-school-educated people have difficulty with math? Does it make sense to send our children to the same institution that failed us?
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. If something isn't working, try a different approach. What's the worst that could happen? The parents could suck as much as the schools?
To sum up: You're saying that she will not be able to teach math. Obviously the public school system can't do that either! Her kids may not be math wizards, but I'll bet dollars to donuts that'll they kick PS butt in history, reading, writing, spelling, vocabulary, Latin and science.
I agree. I'm also all for homeschooling, if the parent has a solid grasp of the core aspects of education. I once heard a friend of mine- very nice lady, but not the sharpest knife in the drawer by any means- proclaim "I'm gonna homeschool my kid", and I shuddered over that child's future.
You understand that homeschooling parents don't teach their children college-level classes, right?
I doubt your lawyer friend will be able to teach addition and subtraction just fine.
I attended a public high school. When a family situation took our Algebra teacher out for several months, our school pulled in an English teacher for the Algebra class.
I'm sure the attorney will do just fine. Especially if he has the wisdom to hire a tutor for any of his own weak areas.
"This may be an isolated incident, but does shed a big light on some more serious homeschool issues. Do most homeschool parents have the necessary skills to teach some of the more difficult courses? What about languages, which are often required for entrance to college?"
One can argue that most public schools don't have the teachers with the necessary skills either. My world history teacher was so bad I offered to teach the class for her. Geometry was a joke, and Physics and Chemistry were so slow it was pathetic. My 11th grade English literature teacher was also terrible.
The only reason I succeeded was because I would read the text books on my own. And that I had five teachers (out of the almost 30 I encountered in my four years at public high school) that were excellent.
You appear intelligent....I'm sure you could help him....figure out his many options.