For all the parents that are homeschooling your kids, what makes you consider yourself a great teacher to teach ALL subjects? Do you read a lot? Have education degrees and backgrounds? Can you understand anything immediately once you read it in a textbook? Do you think that homeschooling is more appropriate for lower grades and less appropriate for high school? I just want to hear your opinions.
In my case, when we were homeschooling, I felt quite comfortable with the physical sciences and math (because I have degrees in them), music (had formal training), and with English language (because I've taught communication courses). My wife was more at home with some other subjects. Where we knew nothing (e.g., Spanish) or knew others could do better (e.g., art), we found other parents who were good teachers. There weren't really any areas where we felt lacking - even if we'd continued through the end of the high school years. When you consider that many science teachers in PS don't have the relevant science degree, and that they are teaching maybe 30 students for a few hours a week, homeschooling parents can often make up for their lack of formal training by putting in the hours of preparation and spending quality one-on-one time as needed. Plus, we used to take a lot of field trips to museums and historic sites and other places where our children could learn in a hands-on manner. It's great to have the freedom to do that and adjust coursework quickly if things aren't working out. If a child really wants to take an advanced course in a subject that parents really don't know much about, there remain plenty of other options. In addition to working with friends and other parents, we can join networks and online support groups (such as this one), for example. In many locations, there are homeschool support groups and co-ops - or private schools who'll allow students to take just one course or online schools run by the county, the state, or private companies. In short, because of the number of options available, I don't see much of an issue here - which is why homeschooled children have such as excellent record at winning the national spelling bee and obtaining a perfect score on the SAT. And, if even more help is needed, there are tutoring companies, right?
I consider myself a good teacher to my kids for several reasons. I'm smart and educated. I am very good at finding information needed to educate my kids. I have the ability to research different curriculum and decided what will fit with our family. I know my kids better than any public or private school system could ever hope to know them. I know their strengths and weaknesses, and have a good idea about what they will find easy or difficult, where they will succeed easily, and where they will need extra support to succeed. I also feel like I can be flexible in how quickly they move through material. If they find a subject easy, I don't require them to fill time with tons of busy work, but if they need to take more time in a different subject, they have the option to stretch out their curriculum through the summer or even into the next school year if necessary. I don't think I know ALL the stuff they will be learning, but I am able to learn myself all about different topics, and bring an adult's knowledge and experience to concepts that are new to my children. Edie
In short, I educated my ds' from K-12 and they graduated last year and are very successful. When they were administered the required standardized tests their comp scores (average) were always above the 90th percentile. I feel that I am a good teacher and role model for my sons.
No. I handle some better then others. I'm good at writing because I enjoy it. Good at math because I enjoy it but am so lacking in understanding that I can show my kids stuff from the perspective of a novice. Bad at art because I'm so good at drawing and can't see how things I think are sooo obvious are difficult for my kids. Yes. No. I graduated high school and that was it for my formal education. Not at all. Most textbooks confound me. Neither and both. I don't think grade level is important in determining how appropriate homeschooling might be.
Have you ever worked or considered working with tutors when your kids had difficulties you could not address?
I don't know that I consider myself to be a 'great' teacher, but I am comfortable teaching because of my degree and my experience teaching professionally on the secondary level. I have English, history, classical history, philosophy, logic, biology, and art covered while my husband--- an electrical engineer--- has math, physics, and chemistry covered. We're both well-studied in apologetics. That said, all of that has just made me more comfortable navigating the waters of teaching. I actually think I'm a worse teacher with my own kids than I am with others' kids. I find I have more patience with other people's kids than I do with my own. And that's really not so great.
I think I am a good teacher. I believe just because you have a degree, does not mean you are good at some thing. When I was in High school, we were given a new math teacher(my old one had passed away) this man did not know how to teach! He know how do it, but could not explain it towhere we could understand. I believe I am the one to teach my girls bc I will sit with them and explain, explain, and work with them until they get it. Now some of the stuff I have forgotten how to do it, but I will brush up in it and then teach them. (you know pre alg. and higher english)
I KNOW I'm a good teacher, and not just with my kids. That's not an idle brag; it's a realistic assessment of my strengths and weaknesses. I've a gift, especially with younger kids, and my oldest daughter has it, too. I can get just about any group of kids to listen, and I can make the material interesting. Having said that, I also know realistically when I'm out of my league. Like with higher level math and science. So I've found curriculum that allows my kids to be more independent in those areas. I don't think a degree in education is a benefit for homeschooling. For some, it can actually be a disadvantage. You need to be able to think out of the box, to expand your definition of school, learning and education. And most educrates (and, no offense, but probably you, too, from what I've read of your posts) havea VERY difficult time doing that. That's one of the main reasons hs'ers meet such resistance. Even your questions show a very distinct lack of understanding of homeschooling as a LIFESTYLE, not just as a means of education. My oldest is going into 10th grade. She will be taking chemistry and pre-calculus this year. No, I'm not even going to attempt to read the textbook. But neither did I read it last year when she took biology and algebra 2. But she pulled an 87% in biology (she did take a lab at the co-op, but the book learning was independent), and a 92% in the algebra 2. So no, I don't think it is more appropriate for younger grades. We've many friends that are doing it very well with older grades. Oh, and there's NO WAY I would hire a tutor for my child, unless it was one I knew VERY well, and they came highly reccomended by the homeschool community. Someone who I knew had a good understanding of what homeschooling was, and what it was NOT, someone who would respect me as a parent AND as my child's educator.
Oh...I just noticed your sig. Regardless, Catherine does have a violin teacher and I am sort of thinking of a French tutor for her so she has an opportunity to learn the language from someone who can speak it. Otherwise, no. I haven't found a problem I couldn't address by learning a bit more myself.
At home, parents do not simply teach their children, they learn with the children. My children and I are learning Latin...together. Homeschoolers instill an excitement of learning in our children by being excited about it ourselves. I certainly would not be a good teacher in every subject in a classroom of 30 children, but I am a good educational guide to my children. IMO, Homeschoolers are more likely to sign up for small group tutoring rather than one-on-one tutoring which may be too cost prohibitive for most of us. After all, we are paying out of pocket for curriculum, and our ability to earn an income is limited.
Jackie, well stated. My dh has his degree in early elementary education and my ds' preferred that I teach them instead of him. They said their dad over-explained everything.
Rachael came to me in tears when Carl tried to explain to her the Algebra I couldn't get!!! I had to sit down and let him know that she was MORE confused after his explaination, so he took a deep breath, and tried to slow it down, and it finally clicked!
The problem that was with my dh is that my boys prefer to try and figure it out on their own before getting any instruction. Then when he did attempt to explain it to them I could see that their eyes were glazing over and he was losing his audience. He took too many steps to explain it. One of my ds' said, "Dad's point A to point B is not a straight line". LOL
Well, maybe I am arrogant but I think I'm equally as good as any teacher or professor I've ever had myself. In fact, I'm probably better than 99% of them. I have a Masters Degree in Forensic Toxicology, not that it means anything. I've already graduated one and my other one has skipped two grade levels. All in all, I think I'm doing pretty well. I honestly can't think of a single subject which would require a tutor. He's taking Japanese but we are planning a study abroad for that when he is 16 and they give full scholarships for Japan so we won't even have to pay for it. Other than that - just like most other moms, I've got it covered.
