I think the fact that we are all on a forum called Homeschool Spot speaks to our preferences. All of the reason listed here are good ones and there are many others. Homeschooling families should not have to justify their decisions. Others should accept our right to choose this form of education as we accept others' right to choose goverment education. While we may not agree on issues, most just want what's best for our children. There are those who drop their kids off at the government babysitter every day, these parent do not care about their children's education, only that their kid has somwhere to go for 6-8 hours per day. I am glad that we live in a country where we have these rights.
As a preschool teacher, I can tell you, it IS a joke. It had very good intentions behind the original concept, but along the way was extremely misconstrude (sp?) and picked apart. It's the idea that was great, but the way it is carried out is completely ridiculous. The whole original concept has been completely lost now in the way it is used.
I hope you don't mean that everyone who uses a public school doesn't care about their kids. I read it a few times and want to make sure I am not reading it wrong.:angel:
Notsure: You might benifit from checking out some of your local homeschool groups, they can help you with your local standards and laws. (In Arizona we do not have to have the kids take the standardize tests and really the laws are minimum). However if you spend some time around a homeschool group you will see how the kids react, how they can be social (even the high school aged ones). In my homeschool group, we have "athleets in training" its a PE group taught by a real coach. They are split up by age level (upper and lower so that they can all play with kids their own roughness level). And in some states you can also join school sports teams as is the case in WA state, my cousin is WA state wrestling champion and he homeschools (as does or will the other 7 brothers) he wrestles with the local high school team and they have excepted him and his brothers very well. also there are a number of homeschool magazines, if you are interested in reading articles on homeschoolers, their success and such. My 6 year old daughter just won an art competition put on by NASA/Boing for a confrence they have for future space exploration, when we recieved the phone call the lady just then descovered that she was homeschooled! And by the way, if you think homeschooling is something you would like to do, try it! if its not working out for you for some reason, send them to public school. The amount of outside classes you do is up to your family, you can check out the "Y" to see if they have swimming classes, gymnastics, etc if you think you want more social or structured training for your kids, there are community art classes, scouts, music lessons, classes at museums, parks etc..... And as far as choosing the "right" curriculum, its trial and error (sometimes an expensive result) but finding what type of curriculum you and your children like may take some time. Don't feel you are failing your kids if the first type doesn't work for you. When my kids were about 3 and we did some simple projects, reading, math stuff, I called it school. That got the idea of doing school early on. And at the age of 3 or so, its not always going to go "your" way! Be flexible. Some times your child will become cranky and you just agree its nap time, other times when you think a simple lesson will only take a few minutes but the child really gets into it it may last a half hour or more. -- those are the "ah Ha" moments we all love about homeschooling. And they don't happen every day.
by the way if you check up on the very top of the page you will see "quick links" click on the AtoZ teacher stuff, that is a forum of public, private, catholic, charter school teachers, it may also be a bennificial site for you to check out, to see the perspective of a teacher's point of view, the trials and tribulations of any type of teacher. And though it is their job to tell you why public school is the best choice, you still may learn something from them.
I can answer some of these for you, but mind you, they are still from my standpoint! 1 There are homeschool sports where I am at for the younger kids, and for ANY child in our state, if they want to play sports at the ps, then they are allowed to by law. So, you can put your kids into either. 2 In the state that I live in, standardized testing is manditory, so I really have no choice in that one. 3 I have no hard core studies on how homeschoolers adjust to the real world except my own experience. I was homeschooled, and I feel that I adjusted better than most because I had some solid foundations. 4 and 5 These both do kind of go togther in a way. I have stated before that there are several kids that gratuated with me from the public school that couldn't read. Therefore, how will a child who cannot read adjust to the "real world?" Also, the state values were a major part on why my sister and I were pulled out of ps. They began to teach my sister how to channel spirits. Now, I believe in freedom of religion, but explain to me how that is seperation of church and state? This wasn't happening in just our school. My hubby was pulled out of ps the same year I was for the same reason, and he lived two districts over! hope this helps!
OH yes, I forgot to mention my kids do get involved in sports, they do baseball mostly because they love it, but that runs from end of Febrary through the middle of August, two different leagues, with options to join other ones as they desire. We have a park up the street now that has Tennis, basket ball, baseball, soccer, football and volleyball ot to mention a path to run walk or bike on. so we are well covered in that so far, we have had gymnastics, baseball, football, soccer etc. so yep!
So, my questions are: 1) Do people who homeschool get their children involved in sports? If so, is it as intense at high school? Emma is involved in Ballet as her PE. This covers dance. As it has been mentioned, every parent is different as to how they homeschool. To me, PE isn't about sports rather it is about being healthy and having a healthy heart, muscles and a healthy mind. We can take a walk and cover it as PE. I am wondering, who has the right to tell us what is the best way to be physically healthy. We play tennis, basketball, and other sports but it isn't so much to learn the sport as much as getting us moving. 2) How flexible are parents on standardized tests? As it has been said, it depends on the state, homeschool groups, and the parents. The program I am in requires it. I do not base who my child is or how much she knows according to the score. It is done because it is required as part of my program. 3) Does anyone have statistics on how children adapt to the "real world" after they go to college? I think I saw one study that showed HS vs PS were about the same. To me, that doesn't seem very positive for HS. I welcome more studies. Homeschoolers are in the real world everyday. They learn to adapt to it a lot faster then children in a class most of the day only learning how to relate to children around them. HSLDA is a great place to go. They can give you much of the information you need and it is legal. 4) Outside of religion (I was crucified and burned at the stake in another tread for posing questions about religion in another thread), what are rthe easons for homeschooling? I'm looking for hard data, not he said she said or crap that Jon Stossel spews. I homeschool for religious reasons, sorry I can't help you here. I know their are some who don't so maybe they can be of help. My life is lived for the Lord. 5) I hear a lot about people being against the "state" values. Could someone give me examples of "state" values? I do not approve of the state teaching my child, or any others how to slide a condom down a banana or asking my children questions of a sexual nature. I do not approve of the government thinking that I should not be the sole educater of my child when it comes to sex. You can read up on these stories on HSLDA. It is still going to court. Look up Palmdale District. My children are a gift from God. When I gave my life to Christ, I gave him my all. I do not feel comfortable calling myself a Christian but then handing my child over to a godless teacher to bring up my child for at least 6 hours a day. Patty
No, not everyone, but I'd say there are a lot of them. I used to teach for a public Pre-K program. 1/2 of the parents couldn't care less what we were doing in class, just how early theu could drop them off and how late they could pick them up. They had no idea how to spend the summers with their kids and couldn't wait for the school year to begin.
I am a pre-k teacher, and honestly, I have seen the exact opposite. Not all perfect granted and there are always some in every bunch that are clueless, but most have been very interested and caring about what is best for their children.
I have recieved samples of homeschool magazines but don't remember the names. I did a search and here are some I found online: http://childstoryhour.com/homeschoolmag.htm http://www.home-school.com/ i think I've gotten this one once: http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/ http://homeschoolinformation.com/Resources/homeschool_magazines.htm
Today is Dog's Day, in our house. Emma has one every few months or so. She loves animals and has Horse Day, Cat's Day, Zoo Day, etc... This is where I see her doing things she could not accomplish in a public school setting. She takes construction paper and cuts out the animal of the day. She actually cuts out a lot. Some are shadow pictures, some are painted, some are colored, some are collages. She has no idea that shadow art is a real thing but today she learned this. She is also in the process of writing a story for us to read at dinner when Handsome gets home from work. She will proofread it and then I will help her correct any errors. Then she will rewrite it. She wants to learn about a specific dog, we will look it up and she will find it's history. She wants to be a Vet. when she grows up so today we will look up dog illnesses and how they treat it. She also wants to read about dogs. So my point is, today she is covering art, writing, proofreading, history, science, and reading. This is something she loves to do and granted it isn't done on a regular basis, but she is learning hear strengths and passions. She decided to do this early last year and I fell in love with it because she is using her imagination, not the imagination the ps teacher plans out for her for the day. She couldn't do this at ps and although she could do it after, chances are she wouldn't want to open up another book to read. She even has on her puppy costume she wore for the Harvest Festrival. To her it is fun, at the same time she is learning. Patty
This is not meant to pick on any one person, it's just the latest in some of these remarks. I'm just frustrated with these comments! I find it interesting that people, even ones that know so much about homeschooling, still say stuff about ps and outside of homeschooling being "the real world"! I agree with what Patty, I think it was, said about how the hs children are the ones in the real world! It's the schooled kids that are in an artificial setting and learn "the pecking order" by either being mean and picking on others, or by being picked on. There often isn't an in between, it's usually one or the other. WHY do we feel okay sending our young children into that environment when they don't have all their values down yet? WHY is it okay to send our child out to be bullied or picked on by mean kids? It doesn't HAVE to be the real world!!! I refuse to knowingly "feed my kids to the wolves" when they're young because they might run across wolves when they're older! If we keep our children home and teach them positive values, including how to treat others with respect, then when they're older and have these things learned well, maybe to the point of it being second nature, THEN they're ready to go out. THEN if they end up coming across someone that treats them that way (which doesn't happen nearly as much as adults as it does in a school room or during recess!), they'll be older and wiser and more far-seeing, and have a better idea how to deal with it in a positive manner! And they won't have had to go through years of pain and unhappiness from being picked on, laughed at and/or getting in fights and/or sent to the principal! Okay, go ahead and throw the tomatoes. I like tomatoes anyway.
Deena, when I said the real world I am talking about life outside the home when children grow up to be on their own, as adults. As adults they will have to face conflict, deal with intolerant people, etc. I did not say that by keeping kids home they can't cope with the real world. I simply stated that is one reason I am not worried about my child having to deal with these conflicts at an early age. I was picked on in elementary school, but it made me stronger and wiser and I learned from it. It didn't ruin me. It made me tough. No, it doesn't have to be the real world, but the sad reality is that it is.
It does depend on the child though. A lot of people get hurt and scarred for life because of what happens in school by other kids. I still stand by what I said: Being picked on by other kids does NOT have to be the real world! As mentioned above, if you homeschool your children, they don't have to go through that kind of stuff! I didn't enjoy at all being teased and bullied when I was younger! I had a sensitive personality and it was very hurtful to me! It doesn't make everyone tough, it can hurt some people deeply! When I was older and people I worked with said hurtful things, which didn't happen often, I was better able to handle it because I was older. In school though, it happens daily or almost daily. At work or other places, it happens rarely. So why is it a neccessity (I'm just throwing this out in general, not asking just Jen or any one person) to have your kids go through that if they don't have to?
I will chose hs. Vicki is a very active child. She is high maintance. We can break when needed. I can give her one on one contact. If she gets bored with something we can move on. I have a say so in what she learns. I want my child to learn the bible. I also have a bible class for her. I always have. That is my choice and I like be able to do it. I have gc in ps and they are really good kids. They are intelligent. I have seen my daughter in law bless out a teacher because of so much homework. She wonder what they did in class. The teacher called her one morning at 6:00. You don't do that. She hadn't even woke up. She was talking about my gs doing homework on the weekend. He was in the 3rd grade. My daughter in law told her weekends were family time. She told her he wouldn't be doing any homework on the weekend. I'll keep hsing as long as I can.
I'm not saying it's necessity by any means. I don't want to sound like I'm saying kids have to go through that kind of thing in life. My only point was that it's not something that will scare me away from sending my child to school. I would however be concerned if it was something that truly made his life miserable, was interferring with school, or truly made him depressed. There are different levels. On the normal every day level though, I think it's just something I feel kids need to learn from. I see what you're saying though Deena, and I mean no disrespect. I think in a way, I'm not explaining myself to the fullest, because I do agree with the things you are saying. I don't know how else to explain what I'm trying to say though.
Patty that is this years Christmas pictures. She has cut her hair since last year. It curled up after we cut it. Thank you for the sweet comments.
