Homeschooling our children

[cerebus]

Cheaper? Only if you don't consider the value of time. The average family nowadays simply cannot afford homeschooling, because they can't afford for one spouse to not have an income. There's absolutely no way I, as a single parent, could afford homeschooling.

As a single parent .... of course you couldn't homeschool. Good grief someone has to put bread on the table. But we ARE an average family - probably below average actually. HS isn't for everyone, not even remotely.

Edit: If it were possible, I'd be in favour of my kids being homeschooled. One-on-one attention will almost always be better than the one-on-twenty attention my kids get at school.

Yeah that's my view.

 

[Nerfherder]

I think at a push I would have my kids educated in a home group type of school with a hired teacher.

 

[chris2.0]

Was my thinking as well - get a good teacher, and then get 2 or 3 kids the same age to join up. Much better teacher/kid ratio & you can pick and choose who your kid goes to school with...

And that way you can share the costs with the other parents of the best teacher you can afford! Good at least for the lower grades!

 

[noxibox]

Given an hour to study entirely new subjects, I think they'd fare quite well, to be honest. People aren't stupider today. Just our education is dumber, on the whole - we expect less of our kids, and demand less. They suffer for it, I think.

I think it's just the opposite.

Well you know many times it is the teacher's fault. I have no problem acknowledging teachers I had who did a brilliant job, exceptional in their breadth and depth of knowledge as well as their ability to teach and willingness to put in the time. I see no reason not to also criticise those teachers who were lazy or ineffectual or ignorant of their subject.

Cheaper? Only if you don't consider the value of time. The average family nowadays simply cannot afford homeschooling, because they can't afford for one spouse to not have an income. There's absolutely no way I, as a single parent, could afford homeschooling.

It would depend on the hit to income versus schools fees, which can easily run R25,000-R50,000 per year.

 

[Alan]

I think at a push I would have my kids educated in a home group type of school with a hired teacher.

Having been to one myself that was the best option

 

[Arthur]

I think it's just the opposite.


Well you know many times it is the teacher's fault. I have no problem acknowledging teachers I had who did a brilliant job, exceptional in their breadth and depth of knowledge as well as their ability to teach and willingness to put in the time. I see no reason not to also criticise those teachers who were lazy or ineffectual or ignorant of their subject.

This is also true. The comic was only from a whole series on Then and Now, and not really hugely relevant to the specific point I was making, just a chuckle.

It is shocking that our teachers are so poorly paid by us.

There are also really outstandingly good teachers in SA - for example as eulogised by their students in this book. Sadly, in anything other than the most elite schools, these are largely the exception. The lucky ones among us remember fondly the enormous impact a really good teacher had not just on our education but on our formation and menschification.

All that is true.

But today, if I could do it over again, I would homeschool.

 

[Arthur]

Race To Nowhere movie link. Coming later this year. Trailer. CNN report. CNN: Teachers watch The Race To Nowhere.

Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people across the country who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids, Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired.

Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.

In a grassroots sensation already feeding a groundswell for change, hundreds of theaters, schools and organizations nationwide are hosting community screenings during a six month campaign to screen the film nationwide. Tens of thousands of people are coming together, using the film as the centerpiece for raising awareness, radically changing the national dialogue on education and galvanizing change.

Featured in the film:
•Dr. Madeline Levine, Clinical Psychologist and author of the best-seller, The Price of Privilege
•Dr. Wendy Mogel, Clinical Psychologist and author of The Blessing of a Skinned Knee
•Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, Adolescent Medicine Specialist, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
•Dr. Deborah Stipek, Dean of the School of Education at Stanford University
•Dr. Denise Pope, Co-Founder, Challenge Success, Stanford University
•Sara Bennett, Founder, Stop Homework

Also, Alliance for Childhood.

 

[Nicodeamus]

well I for one feel that our education system has become outdated. I learned out of the same textbooks that my grandfather used, here and there something changed.

 

[veethree]

The curriculum Footprints is a South African one based on the Sonlight format. No curriculum is perfect, of course, but we like the way this one looks to get things across engendering a love of learning.

Good luck with the HS. One thing we've found, having had our son at conventional school and then homeschool, is that conventional schooling just can't compete when it comes to following a kid's passion and offering the flexibility to go where that leads.

 

[zippy]

This has already been refuted. It's an urban legend.
Read the thread.

I have read it. I disagree. They might get a better academic education, im not disputing that. Education in a group is important for the development of a child's social skills

 

[veethree]

I have read it. I disagree. They might get a better academic education, im not disputing that. Education in a group is important for the development of a child's social skills

The only social skill it really develops is the ability to work in a school environment. And since that bears very little resemblance to the adult world, the value of developing it is moot.

 

[BeVonk!]

Read this and then tell me how this is bad for my kids?

 

[Claymore]

It would depend on the hit to income versus schools fees, which can easily run R25,000-R50,000 per year.

Maybe that would be relevant if the job being given up was paying only R4K a month, but that's rather low.

 

[cerebus]

Read this and then tell me how this is bad for my kids?

Who said schooling was bad for your kids? For sure I didn't.

 

[BeVonk!]

Who said _____ schooling was bad for your kids? For sure I didn't.

You left out the word "public" there cerebus.

 

[BeVonk!]

When you read that article of Panorama Primary don't you think a kid would do well there? It is a public school. Why not put a kid in such a public school?

I'm sure in your area there are equily good public schools, possibly even better. But we have to listen to "ouvroustories" about how dysfuntional public education is. Fact is, there is a lot of good school out there that is doing great and the kids are doing great. Please tell your fellow home schoolers that when you get together again to discuss the state of government schools. That will be most helpful. Balance is never a bad thing.

 

[cerebus]

You left out the word "public" there cerebus.

Obviously I meant public.

When you read that article of Panorama Primary don't you think a kid would do well there? It is a public school. Why not put a kid in such a public school?

I'm sure in your area there are equily good public schools, possibly even better. But we have to listen to "ouvroustories" about how dysfuntional public education is. Fact is, there is a lot of good school out there that is doing great and the kids are doing great. Please tell your fellow home schoolers that when you get together again to discuss the state of government schools. That will be most helpful. Balance is never a bad thing.

Where do you get this idea that I think there are no good public schools? I'm sure there are plenty. And we could probably get our boys into one of the good ones here in SSW. It's just another choice that we've made.

 

[Thugscub]

When we sail around the Indian Ocean we meet up with a lot of yachties kids from 2 years old to teen agers. These children meet up with other children on any given island. The parents all take turns teaching them about their countries and lives and everything else they have knowledge about. The 4 to 7 year olds normally speak 4 languages or more, amazing to say the least. What I saw was very balanced, happy wonderful children. From about 14 the teens want to move off and spend more time on land with their peer group.

 

[zippy]

Pro's and cons'

http://school.familyeducation.com/home-schooling/parenting/29861.html

 

[noxibox]

When you read that article of Panorama Primary don't you think a kid would do well there?

No, but not because it is a public school.

But we have to listen to "ouvroustories" about how dysfuntional public education is. Fact is, there is a lot of good school out there that is doing great and the kids are doing great.

Something I have said many times on this forum and elsewhere.

This is also true. The comic was only from a whole series on Then and Now, and not really hugely relevant to the specific point I was making, just a chuckle.

I have the whole joke here. But it is somewhat true. I remember my parents being completely unable to accept the idea that my marks did in fact depend on the quality of my teacher. And I think there probably is a tendency today to just blame the teacher. I can certainly understand my parents incredulity at my assertion that the teacher was the problem. How does a supposed premium quality white school hire a teacher that has barely any knowledge of her subject?

It is shocking that our teachers are so poorly paid by us.

In the UK the pay is quite poor too. It has been improved, but is still quite low. I almost took up teaching, but was put off by the pay.

I get the impression that somewhere along the way the US forgot what education is about. For a country that so often has someone going on about protecting childhood they appear hellbent on taking it away through school. They seem to drive their children ever harder, with hours of homework daily and drilling so they can get good marks on standardised tests. The latter because they're something measurable which then determines funding. But that again gets me wondering how we can measure the quality of a teacher or the education children are receiving? Are grades enough?

For instance if you have a student who spends 3 months on a course and gets 80% in an exam versus one who spends a weekend and gets 50% which is the more capable learner? What if someone is able to get 50% in an open book exam on an engineering subject without ever having looked at the material before again versus someone who gets 80% after consistent effort over a period of time?

well I for one feel that our education system has become outdated. I learned out of the same textbooks that my grandfather used, here and there something changed.

Schooling definitely has not kept up with advancements in what we know about how children learn. We've actually probably gone backward.

We covered more, particularly in maths and science, than my parents did according to my dad. My mom wasn't even allowed to finish school. Apparently pretty standard for girls in her. But the way teaching was done and the beliefs about what worked best had certainly not changed at all from their school days to mine.

School is definitely outdated. Today though we know a lot more about how children learn, how their brains operate, so it makes sense that many aspects of education could turn out to be wrong or inadequate.

Education in a group is important for the development of a child's social skills

They need social opportunities. Why would those need to come from a very limited time with a very narrow range of others?