Implications of odd homeschooling comment?

[Nords]

A late contribution to a topic near & dear to my heart.

Thanks for the comments. I am far out of the loop onthe whole homeschooling idea. Mostly associate it with people who cannot stand the idea of their kids being taught about evolution, etc., but clearly that is a stereotype rather than likely reality. Personally, I cannot imagine homeschooling this kid. She thrives on the social interaction too much and devours information so fast it needs to come on a conveyor belt. Don't think I could keep up.

We've always homeschooled our kid-- in addition to public school. It's how she learned about Kumon math & reading, financial management, taekwondo, dressage, surfing, and a whole bunch of other subjects not taught by the state DOE.

Here's a handy test of your parenting skills as graded your offspring: next time your kid complains about school, tell them that they don't have to go to school anymore if they don't want to. After the cheering & applause dies down, follow that up with the statement "Yep, tomorrow morning we'll start Dad's Homeschool!" Then see which "school system" they prefer.

When our kid was a preschooler, I studied a lot of homeschooling & unschooling techniques because I figured the teachers would call us up any day to beg us to take her home. Then I figured our kid would "fire" the teachers as soon as she got tired of the rules & regimentation. But "Dad's Homeschool" always seemed to keep things in perspective.

BTW, the heck with the mean kids in the workplace. What about the mean [-]teachers[/-] bosses?

 

[Katsmeow]

Brewer -- There are many reasons to homeschool. Some parents do it for religious reasons. However, many secular parents homeschool for a variety of reasons. It is very common for parents of highly gifted kids to homeschool. Most public schools and private schools have a lot of difficulty educating these children because there are so few of them. Many public schools do well with average kids or with high achievers. In most public schools programs for academically advanced kids are geared to the kid who is a little bit ahead of most students. Most gifted programs are designed for these kids, who might be a year or so ahead of every one else.

We homeschooled our son for a time (in our case my husband and I both worked full time so we hired a tutor/nanny who did much of the daily teaching). When our son was 7 he skipped 2nd grade. He was in the 3rd grade GT classroom. They set up a pull out for a few advanced kids in math. He went to the pull out and was disappointed to find out they were learning things he already knew. By mid-year they skipped him to 4th grade math. By April, his teacher told me that he by then knew all of 5th grade math. He wasn't yet 8. The public school he was going to had good teachers and administration. However, that school had a lot of difficulty finding ways to teach him math. It was fairly clear that by the time he was 10 he would be ready for algebra and not many elementary schools can really handle that well (there are some, but not many). Many parents homeschool when there is a difference of several years between a child's acadmic level and the level of instruction available.

Another reason to homeschool is for children with some learning disabilities particularly when those LDs are uncommon or are coupled with academic advancement in other areas. My son was very advanced in math. He was also dyslexic (had difficulty learning to read) and dysgraphic (had difficulty with handwriting). The public school actually handled the dyslexia well and remediated his reading. He now reads very well (he is now 16). However, dysgraphia wasn't as common. And some teachers had difficulty with concept in a kid in gifted classes. I can still remember the history teacher who told me he didn't belong in the GT history classes even though he was making an A on all academic work. Why? He couldn't color inside the lines on his journal drawings....

Having said all that -- in our case homeschooling didn't work well for him. He is extroverted and likes to be with other kids and doesn't like being different. What ended up working better for him was a smaller self paced private school (all of which led to him graduating at 15).

 

[brewer12345]

Ineresting further comments. I can understand the homeschooling of the dyslexic and the gifted. My younger brother was clearly learning disabled but bright and he did OK through 8th grade, but by the time he went to high school the "not coloring inside the lines" became a major distraction from the academic work and he never made it to college. As for the gifted, I was bored out of my mind through 8th grade. The school/teachers tried, but they really did not have the resources to deal wih one or two of us (and this was a well regarded parochial school; hate to imagine what the bottom half of the public schools would have been like). Salvation came when I went to an extremely selective, highly challenging high school exclusively focused on the gifted (which kicked my butt). There was no possibility of homeschooling, as dad just about managed his GED in the Army (learning disabilities) and mom graduated HS and never had the chance to go to college.

We do effectively homeschool on top of public school. So far this summer with my older daughter we have done fractions, beginning orienteering (map and compass, old school), gardening, cooking, hiking, lots and lots of art, beginning financial literacy, etc. If I have the time and DW does not veto the idea, I will probably try krav maga with my oldest within the next year. I was about to wonder who does not do all this stuff with their kids, but then again I see them every day.