Implications of odd homeschooling comment?

[brewer12345]

We had a pleasant trip this weekend, but I heard a puzzling comment and was wondering if someone more in the know could decode it. DD (age 6) and I were at a preserved/recreated historical site (with easily the nicest natl park rangers I have ever met) and watching a blacksmith demonstration. Since we were the only ones there, he was chatting with us in very friendly fashion. After speaking with DD for a while, he turned to me and said,"she is very bright, do you homeschool her?". Ummm, no, she goes to public school, but thanks for the compliment.

Any clue what the implication of the homeschool comment was? It was not in any way motivated by any negative sentiment, as the blacksmith was as friendly as everyone else (never had a natl park ranger tell me to go ahead and dunk my beagles in the creek if the heat was too much for them). This was not far from Lancaster County in what I think of as a more conservative area of PA, so perhaps there is something in the milleau I am missing? Genuinely curious and not intended as political in any way.

 

[Rustic23]

I have never given this much thought, but, I am going to assume the blacksmith was trying to say that when you find really bright kids at a younger age he believed them to be home schooled. It could say more about the area. Does it make since? My guess the answer is, it depends. Based on the results of spelling bees around here, home schoolers rule. It could also be that home schoolers start earlier and therefore bright younger kids might be seen as home schooled. Anyway, interesting topic.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Maybe the blacksmith's kids are homeschooled. Or he just had a class of kids come in (do they have year-round school in Lancaster, or maybe a summer program?) who were rowdy and inattentive as any group of kids might tend to be.

Funny comment no matter what. It sounds like a compliment, at least.

 

[FIRE'd@51]

This was not far from Lancaster County in what I think of as a more conservative area of PA, so perhaps there is something in the milleau I am missing?

Lancaster County is home to a large Amish population, who pretty much don't rely on the government or big business for much of anything. Perhaps that was the source of his comment.

 

[MichaelB]

I also suspect home schooling is big in that area - rural plus lots of Amish - and the smithy was paying you and your DD a compliment.

At age 6 there is a big difference between home schooled compared with public schooled children. Public schooling focuses much more on human interaction and social relationships, while home schooling is much more focused on reading and numbers. A home schooled child is also more likely to learn how to ask questions and then have them answered.

I'm not aware of any evidence that shows one method to be superior than the other by college age.

 

[Westernskies]

A genuine compliment to your daughter and a sad commentary on what he is accustomed to seeing with kids from the public school system all rolled into one. You got a two-fer.

Let me guess; she was inquisitive, respectftul, paying attention and genuinely interested in learning about the subject matter at hand- as oposed to unruly, spoiled, bored, totally distracted by texting/playing a computer game...

 

[brewer12345]

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.

 

[BigNick]

Let me guess; she was inquisitive, respectftul, paying attention and genuinely interested in learning about the subject matter at hand- as oposed to unruly, spoiled, bored, totally distracted by texting/playing a computer game...

I guess she is. And she goes to a public school. Which would mean...

 

[MichaelB]

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.

[FONT=&quot]Hi Brewer. Lots of homeschooling takes place in rural and lower density areas where schools are not close by or adequately funded. It also does not mean parent taught - it might be a small group of families with a qualified adult teaching that’s also a parent . I have a good friend with home schooled children - through grade school - because they wanted to control the curriculum content and sequence. I’m sure for some there is religious or cultural motivation, but it still needs to meet state standards and the children have a hard time with college acceptance if they don’t do well on standardized tests. That said, effective homeschooling demands a highly qualified adult leader.
[/FONT]

 

[bhoferp]

My granddaughters mentioned when they were at my house last week that they might be homeschooled. Also in the same conversation my oldest (age 11) said she'd like to go to Harvard. She certainly is bright enough, although I doubt she'll have the economic means to attain that. Anyway, I about had a heart attack when she said that the plan was that her dad (my son) would teach them a couple hours in the morning when he gets off work (he works nights as a cop), then they would help another adult babysit their new twin brothers while their dad sleeps and their stepmom works, and then there would be some other learning opportunities at other times during the week (I'm assuming evenings and weekends). I mentioned to my son that I hope he'll keep the girls in public schools and I was sure we both had their best interests in mind.
Any other suggestions?

 

[youbet]

The owners of one of the fishing camps we stay at annually home school their 4 kids. My DW (retired public school special ed teacher) has been extremely impressed with the kids based on conversations with them.

It was interesting to watch DW's opinion change over the years. She was an outspoken anti-home schooling person before the first encounter with this family, but changed as we got to know them and watched the kids grow up.

Brewer, I think it's safe to assume your daughter was being complimented by the question regarding her schooling. Home schooled kids, according to my DW, at that age are often very well spoken, polite, curious and confident when communicating with adults. They look at every encounter as an opportunity to ask questions and learn.

Given the chance for a do-over, I'd still choose to not home school my family. But having gotten to know these folks and having an open mind about acceptable, reasonable life styles in our society, I support the home schoolers right to do so and think most are doing a fine job.

 

[Westernskies]

I guess she is. And she goes to a public school. Which would mean...

And I went to a public school, too!
Which would mean...

 

[Sarah in SC]

A genuine compliment to your daughter and a sad commentary on what he is accustomed to seeing with kids from the public school system all rolled into one. You got a two-fer.

Let me guess; she was inquisitive, respectftul, paying attention and genuinely interested in learning about the subject matter at hand- as oposed to unruly, spoiled, bored, totally distracted by texting/playing a computer game...

This is my take exactly. Homeschooled kids here win all the prizes open to students like spelling bees and the like. It was an extreme compliment. If I had kids, homeschooling would be the ultimate sacrifice to ensure they were properly educated, something that rarely happens in our public schools.

Kudos to you, Brewer. There are far worse things to be mistaken for than a homeschooling parent.

 

[brewer12345]

I support the home schoolers right to do so and think most are doing a fine job.

Lest ye be misled, I don't disagree. So long as they meet state standards, good on them. IMO, there would appear to be tradeoffs in doing this are not necessarily best for us, but I suppose if I were in an area with abominable schools and could not move I would seriously consider homeschooling myself.

 

[Westernskies]

Kudos to you, Brewer. There are far worse things to be mistaken for than a homeschooling parent.

Perhaps:

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/who-do-you-write-like-51155-3.html#post959328

 

[jIMOh]

We had a pleasant trip this weekend, but I heard a puzzling comment and was wondering if someone more in the know could decode it. DD (age 6) and I were at a preserved/recreated historical site (with easily the nicest natl park rangers I have ever met) and watching a blacksmith demonstration. Since we were the only ones there, he was chatting with us in very friendly fashion. After speaking with DD for a while, he turned to me and said,"she is very bright, do you homeschool her?". Ummm, no, she goes to public school, but thanks for the compliment.

Any clue what the implication of the homeschool comment was? It was not in any way motivated by any negative sentiment, as the blacksmith was as friendly as everyone else (never had a natl park ranger tell me to go ahead and dunk my beagles in the creek if the heat was too much for them). This was not far from Lancaster County in what I think of as a more conservative area of PA, so perhaps there is something in the milleau I am missing? Genuinely curious and not intended as political in any way.

Political rant... LOL... this is a symptom of how we perceive (as a country) our public education system. The perception is we don't want a country of idiots, so we teach to some basic level, but 90% of the people which are above that basic level (or so the perception is) must have gone to a school which is private or home schooled.

No child left behind means everyone achieves a basic level. This just creates an environment of mediocrity (IMO). If the program were named "it takes only 1 genius to change a generation" and the programs were designed for the smarter kids to thrive and be challenged, then I think the whole perception of public education would change.

Genius is not learned or established in schools- the biggest genius of our generation might be Bill Gates- and he dropped out of college to follow his passion and $$. Thomas Edison would be an example of 1 genius which changed a generation. If you are reading this on something which is electric and plugged into a wall, you can trace that back to the invention of the light bulb.

So my rant here is in rural areas especially, education comes from places outside the public classroom.

 

[haha]

Any other suggestions?

Keep your own counsel?

When you want your son and his wife making your decisions consider making his?

Ha

 

[samclem]

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.

While homeschoolers have a hard time matching the quantity of peer-to-peer interaction that "regular school" kids get, many don't see this as a problem at all. After all, kids learn a lot from watching and interacting, and they are bound to learn more successful strategies by imitating behaviors modeled by successful, responsible adults than from their peers (do we all remember how gradeschool kids treat each other?). Homeshoolers often get the kids together from several families in order to give the kids some them together, but you can bet the disruptive, mean, etc ones are soon excluded.
Regarding the volume of info--a lot on homechooling families have no trouble keeping the spigot turned on as much as the kids can handle. When one studies the amount of time devoted in a typical classroom to actually teaching material and skills, it's a very low percentage of the day. The especially bright kids pay a price while the rest of the class gets more instructions.

I'm sure some people homeschool for the "wrong" reasons, but there's are a lot of potential upsides to it. It takes a lot of dedication, and I doubt that most people can do it successfully without a significant re-prioritization of their lives. (For the record--I'm a public school product, and our daughter attended public and then private schools).

 

[REWahoo]

I realize anecdotal evidence is just that, but my experience with two families' four home schooled kids isn't that favorable. While they were obviously very bright and probably got an above average education, it appeared to me once they got into the real world they would be eaten alive. No street smarts whatsoever.

 

[brewer12345]

While homeschoolers have a hard time matching the quantity of peer-to-peer interaction that "regular school" kids get, many don't see this as a problem at all. After all, kids learn a lot from watching and interacting, and they are bound to learn more successful strategies by imitating behaviors modeled by successful, responsible adults than from their peers (do we all remember how gradeschool kids treat each other?). Homeshoolers often get the kids together from several families in order to give the kids some them together, but you can bet the disruptive, mean, etc ones are soon excluded.

I guess my worry would be that in real life the mean kids are not removed, unfortunately. Remember what most offices are like?

 

[youbet]

I realize anecdotal evidence is just that, but my experience with two families' four home schooled kids isn't that favorable. While they were obviously very bright and probably got an above average education, it appeared to me once they got into the real world they would be eaten alive. No street smarts whatsoever.

Anecdotal evidence is OK as long as it's clearly spelled out as being such. Maybe it's not really evidence but rather just pointing out the attributes of one sample from a population which may or may not be indicative of the mode of the population.......

Interestingly, our experience with the fishing camp owners who are home schooling is that the kids seem especially street smart. They're part of the family business and even the youngest seemed to be tuned into providing a postive experience for customers, what a profit is, etc. They just seem to have a general sense of our economic system beyond their years.

I can't think of any educational situation where anecdotal examples pointing to one conclusion or another can't be had. Private schools, public schools, home schooling........ But your point is well taken in that you can't generalize a system or method based on a small sample size.

 

[bbbamI]

I think I'd rather begrudge a teacher than my mom for giving me homework. Of course, my mom made sure I did my homework.

I have a friend that happens to be a speech therapist. Her daughter has problems with speech; however she takes her daughter to a different therapist as she does not want her daughter to think of her as a 'doctor'. She just wants to be momma.

 

[haha]

Anecdotal evidence is OK as long as it's clearly spelled out as being such.

My kids were both homeschooled. Neither had any problem getting into difficult university programs, or excelling once there. They both married very attractive intelligent women. They both have excellent careers. Neither is money obsessed. (Or for that matter particularly frugal. I think they saw more of that they would have liked as children. )

They are both athletic and very pleasant to be around.

I think home schooled children will naturally reflect their parents and other adults and kids in their immediate circle more than the average kid will. Whether that is good or not depends lot on who the adults are.

I spent a lot of time driving them to meet (mostly) men who were accomplished in some area in which my sons had interests. This was also very pleasant for me. I met a lot of guys that I felt privileged to know.

Home schooling is highly dependent on the resources that the parents can bring to bear. We had money, brains, education and time. I didn't have any worries that what my very intelligent ex and I and the people we knew and the people my kids came up with for mentoring would likely be inferior to the best that high school might offer. All my wife's sibs and many of my friends were New England boarding school products, and although these people do get an excellent education and are often very high class men and women, I would not wish boarding school on a dog who had bitten me.

And of course the worst that high school can dish up keeps parents awake at night.

One thing home school families must face-many of the kids are ready for the big world by age 16 or so, and if you do not live in a big city with university opportunities they will likely be on their way before mom and dad are quite ready. I was just getting myself ready for the big sex education moment that I had missed earlier when my teenage “boy” brought home a 23 year old woman. So I figured I could just pass on that trial.

As an aside, I was friends with John Holt, possibly the spiritual father of home schooling in modern America. He was in every way a beautiful person.

Ha

 

[Purron]

Brewer, IMO this indicates you must be doing a great job with your daughter. I think he sensed she was intelligent and well behaved.

Even though she's isn't home schooled, I suspect you spent a lot of quality time with her to help her learn and deal with social situations. Hats off to you - I'm sure you must be very proud of her.

I have three nephews that were home schooled by my sister in law. She started this because the middle boy has a learning disability and the school system in the rural area they lived in could not provide him with the special eduction he required.

All three boys turned out very well. They had plenty of social interaction through church and community activities. I am very proud to be Aunt Purron to these fine young men.

 

[Amethyst]

I have no opinions to offer on homeschooling, per se. But when husband and I were investigating real estate in PA, we spent a day with a RE agent in Lancaster County who was a very unusual RE agent - very open about what he saw as good and bad in the county.* (Most RE agents try to convince you that their neck of the woods is Paradise).

He was on the school board where his kids attend school, and was very unhappy with the quality of schooling. In fact, he was considering homeschooling them - not, he said, to keep them away from other points of view, but to ensure they were being challenged academically.

He felt the other parents cared little whether their kids went on to higher education, and the majority of students just wanted to get out of school as soon as possible. Of course, this was just his perception, but perhaps the park ranger shares it.

Anyway, sounds like you have a neat kid.

Amethyst

*He also may have assumed that since we are older, we don't have any kids in school.