Well, I have often gone back and forth about how I feel about homeschooling. I remember as a new teacher, I felt indignant that some untrained parent thought they could do better than people who took YEARS to learn about and train in the craft of teaching. Then as I gained experience and age (hopefully wisdom came in there somewhere), I began to see how beneficial home school could be for some kids and for some families. One of my best friends home schools her child and is so active in it. She has always made sure that her children are exposed to the best things that life and the community have to offer. She takes them to community centre groups, to swimming lessons, to library story times and all kinds of educational events that students in public and private schools simply don't have the time to do. But she is also a trained teacher and nutritionist. She is exactly what home schooling should look like, but as I've come to find out, often doesn't. Recently a received a new student. She had been partially home schooled and partially in school. She is in Kindergarten and I don' t know what the standards were for where she was from or for home school, but mid way through April she can only write her first name, doesn't know the names of most of the letters or their sounds. She has no sight words, no math skills, no understanding in science or social studies. Basically, she came in like she had NEVER been exposed to school at all before. At first I excused it as being in Kindergarten but her grade one and grade three brothers and her grade 5 sister are in nearly the same boat. And so my pendulum of thoughts on home school is swinging back into the negative.
I know that home school is really in the hands of the parents who avail of their right to home school but it makes me nervous. I almost wish that there was some evaluation of those parents and if they couldn't meet state/province/national standards, then they would not be allowed to home school or that they would be put on probation for a time period.
Okay... I am getting off my high and mighty teacher soap box now. Thanks for reading/listening. It feels good to vent it out.
4 comments:
I have to agree with you on the whole thing where Parents should pass some kind of test or something. Personally I think home schooling is depriving your child of certain life skills and social skills you will NOT get a home. Sure you shelter your children from all the bad stuff but it's the bad stuff that gives you "thick skin" in order to deal with the real world.
So yeah that's basically all I'm going to say. Home schooling I think is depriving your child of the social skills they will need.
I would like to share the following post made by a professional teacher to illustrate a point to your readers:
"GRADUATED!!! ALSO WE WORKS SO HARD AND HERE I AM LAYING OFF. WHY IS SCHOOL BEEN LAYING OFF THEY CAN'T AFFORD US. SO I WENT TO COLLEGE AND BECOME TEACHER FOR DISABILITY KIDS AND NOW I CAN'T FIND A JOB. THAT WAS ALOT OF WASTING TIME AND CAN'T LAY THESE TEACHERS OFF THAT DOESN'T DO THE JOB. I VOTED FOR OBAMA!!!! I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON IN THAT SCHOOL. YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT. WHAT YOU SEEN IS YOUR WIFE IN THE BED....PEOPLE TEASED KIDS AND TEACHERS ARE IN THE LOBBY TALKING NOT TEACHING KIDS. HAVE YOU BEEN THERE TO WATCH TEACHERS TEACH THOSE KIDS????I WAS IN IT AND I FELT BAD NOW THESE DAYS, TEACHERS SAYS TURN THE PAGES 47 READS THE INSTRUCTION AND DO THE PROBLEMS AND TEACHERS TALK ON THE CELL, HALLWAY OR THE LOBBY. ALSO YOU MAY WORK YOUR A** OFF BUT MY MAN IS A SHERIFF AND I DON'T NEED OBAMA TO SEND ME A CHECK. HAVE A GOOD DAY SEXY BABE."
My point is that testing and credentialing isn't the sure answer that some may suppose.
Also, I highly recommend the book, written by a Harvard educated attorney, "The Harsh Truth About Public Schools".
Let me be straight in saying that not all trained teachers make good teachers (that's for sure!!), and that I don't think that public schools the way they are run now are the answer. I could write another whole blog entry about my feelings about the failings of the public school system and how horrendous I think the testing is.
Anyway, I welcome the discussion, the different opinions and the education I can gain from others. :)
I've flip flopped on the home schooling front too. We've considered doing it ourselves (but won't because we don't have the time to dedicate ourselves to it like we should). I know a wonderful family here that homeschooled all 4 of their kids (the last one graduates this year) and can see the positive and negative effects it had on them (but probably shouldn't comment further on that online). We also had a homeschooled family who are doing extremely well academically this year (kids are in gr. 2, 3 and 5) but had many social difficulties in this year of transition (but they were very sheltered prior to entering public school). I guess any educational path (public, private, homeschool...) has to be judged on what is best for the child(ren) involved. There is no 'one size fits all' model.
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