Posted on 01/18/2002 2:20:59 PM PST by Thoeting
I have a question to homeschool advocates.
I teach English to students with learning disabilities in a small (500 students) middle school. I work mostly with 6th graders. These are students who are 11-12 years old.
This September, we had 6 students enroll who were previously home-schooled. Each set is coming into the public school system for different reasons. In 2 families, the parents have split up and both parents must now work. The others either just wanted to try it, or were tired of home. or moved from a large city. Of the 6, 1 enrolled in the school's gifted/talented program. Of the others, all 5 are coming in with deplorable skills. 2 of them (siblings) are unable to recognize all letters of the alphabet, and are also quite weak in math. They can count to 100, and do 1 digit addition and subtraction. Of the other three, 1 cannot recognize cursive, 1 can spell nothing beyond four letters, and the last one reads at about a 2nd grade level.
Everyone one of the 5 that I work with have "iffy" social skills. None are comfortable around large groups, and 3 of them are actually afraid of the other kids. All of them prefer to be with the adults.
I work with these 5 in an English class. Because of their discomfort with large groups, I requested to have only these five for this year. I enjoy their personalities greatly and I am thrilled every day to watch them grow. However, even though they are of normal intelligence, it is likely, that most of them will not learn to read at a 6th grade level before leaving middle school, which means they will continue to be behind considerably into high school.
I know that there is a large homeschool contingent that read FreeRepublic and I would like to know if anyone here has seen a situation like this before. Is there anyone out there looking out for kids to make sure they are actually being instructed? At what point do homeschool parents start to get worried? Is there any type of agency that oversees homeschool parents? As I have conferenced with these parents over the course of the year, NONE were aware that there was a problem! Yet some of these children were up to 6 years behind.
Please don't take this as a slam against homeschooling. Obviously something went wrong in these situations, but I think (or at least hope!) that the majority work well.
The problem we keep wrestling with is socialization. There are few children in our immediate neighborhood, and we have no nearby family members with small kids either. We would try to get involved with a homeschool group, but, frankly, some of the people who homeschool strike us as fanatical, to speak charitably. I think many of the responses to your very thoughtful post more than confirm our worst nightmares.
Just because you find some homeschoolers to be radical you have doubts about your ability to raise your own children properly. Your first thought is that maybe the government knows best. You don’t belong in the homeschool movement because you want your children to be socialized into a liberal Marxist society. This is because you want them to accept what society has to offer. Many homeschoolers do not want their children to blend in with society, they want them to change it.
You have to ask yourself whose values do you want instilled in your child? You have a tremendous opportunity to mold and shape your child and prepare them for their future.
The teacher bashing gets a little old sometimes. When do the parents have responsibilities?
If all teachers took the advice of folks here and left the system for an "honest job" as I believe it was referred to, who would teach the children--those without wonderful parents like those here. Just let them out on the streets?
Think about this--if all Christian teachers such as myself quit, the last little bit of "salt" leavening the bread would be gone.
1. To give to every citizen the information he needs for the transaction of his own business;
2. To enable him to calculate for himself, and to express and preserve his ideas, his contracts and accounts, in writing;
3. To improve, by reading, his morals and faculties;
4. To understand his duties to his neighbors and country, and to discharge with competence the functions confided to him by either;
5. To know his rights; to exercise with order and justice those he retains; to choose with discretion the fiduciary of those he delegates; and to notice their conduct with diligence, with candor, and judgment;
6. And, in general, to observe with intelligence and faithfulness all the social relations under which he shall be placed.
-Thomas Jefferson
These objectives were apparently not under consideration in the cases you mention. Must it be a law that all homes and families adopt education objectives? We need folks who cheerfully engage in grunt work. They are no less precious than the mighty, sexy, perfectly educated ones.
Thanks, twyn1.....take note Thoeting. Take note. Personally, I'm kinda wondering about the honesty of this thread and the scenario presented. Just a feeling, nothing to base it on....
From their parents and privately employed teachers, who would be responsible for their actions, unlike government school teachers.
I've home educated my daughter for six years. I also lead a homeschool support group of 32 families...5 years running. I've seen plenty of evidence quite the contrary to what you're sharing.
I do know of one family whose children could benefit from a traditional education rather than being homeschooled. I know of countless public schooled children who could benefit from one on one schooling with a committed parent in a home education environment. Children who can barely read much less spell...who don't receive proper tutoring from teachers or aids due to class size and other administrative obligations.
True socialization does *not* mean chumming with a peer group of ill mannered children seeking attention. I'm not saying *all* public schooled children are this way...
We have one child so it's very important to us that she spend regular time with friends of all ages, attend coop classes, activities, sports, etc. She's a shy girl but has no problem in social settings, finding her way around and making friends after careful examination. Why is she careful? She would rather make a good friend than to get aquainted with the wrong crowd.
My daughter is in 6th grade. Can she add? lol! She'll be starting Saxon Algebra I in June. Can she read? She just finished "Last of the Mohicans"...a true classic. She built, along with her father, a radio out of a tp roll, foil, wiring, and an ear receiver. My daughter is the norm of homeschooled children I know.
One other thing. My daughter looks forward to her weekly visits with the elderly in a convalescent home. She brings neighbors flowers from our garden...which she helps till. Her postion in a community (not homeschool oriented) basketbal league is guard. Don't mess with her on the court. ;o) She plays guitar quite well and has begun writing songs. I'd say she's very well rounded as a homeschooler...a kid...and as a preteen girl.
Our commitment to her education is #1. This is very typical of homeschool families.
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