Hello, I am not a parent and I don't homeschool, but I was homeschooled from 7-12th grade. I now work at a public school as a Paraeducator in the special education department. For many people public school is the only option available, but I personally believe homeschooling should be a serious consideration for those who can. I have a different view than many homeschooling families and many public school employees because I've been on both sides and not just as a student. A few years ago I saw so many poor quality resources available for both public school and homeschooler's and knew I could make much better ones and so I began making worksheets for fun during my computer programming classes while in college. I put them on a website and it's been growing ever since. The reason I continue to support homeschooling even though I have no direct interest in doing so, is simply because I've seen how well it worked for myself and many of my friends.
This description from Wikipedia explains it fairly well: Many of the students I work with struggle with basic things like reading, writing and even simply math. Sometimes they are in a resource room which is a class designed specifically to provide extra help in a subject area. Other times they are in regular classrooms but because they maybe can't read well or they can't write they need extra help to keep up. We are simply there as assistants to provide this help.
So technically you're an aide and not a teacher? What kind of training do you need for that? (Am asking for my own curiosity...I have worked in the past with a variety of handicapped students, including teaching 10+ years with Orthopedically Handicapped children.)
Glad you joined us. One of our sons required lots of extra help in public school. Some of his teachers did the type of work you describe. They were all a blessing to us. Beth
No, I'm not a teacher. It's my understanding that the requirements vary in other states. The 'No Child Left Behind Act' requires that we all employees who work with kids be "highly qualified' which at a minimum is an AA Degree, 72 credit hours, or pass an equivalency test. The test I took was very easy and definitely not equivalent to an AA Degree. It was more like a college placement test and covered basic knowledge.
