If you're a natural teacher then kudos to you, but how do the majority of people expect to school their kids --> when 1/2 the teacher's can't even do it?
teaching is a tough job, and just because you want to be one......... -->doesn't mean you can.
Does anyone here homeschool their children?
by PaintedToeNail 23 Replies latest social family
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St George of England
Most home schooling appears to be done by the mother.
I often wonder how any mother can have such a broad range of knowledge and skills that are required, especially if born-in JW and never been to University.
How do you manage without equipment such as needed for Physics, Chemistry, Biology or CDT? You cannot learn by just reading books. Remembering my days at school (long ago) dissecting a rat or locust, I'm sure my mother would have just loved me doing that on the kitchen table!
George
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Ding
How do you manage without equipment such as needed for Physics, Chemistry, Biology or CDT?
A lot of stuff is available relatively inexpensively nowadays.
There are large home school workshops, conventions, and vendors in all areas of the US.
A lot of home schoolers have co-ops where parents with special skills or knowledge can teach specific subjects via meetings once or twice a week.
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NewChapter
It's not for everyone, that's for sure. I know quite a few homeschoolers---and not because I was a JW (very few of them homeschooled) but because of other interests I have. Some are quite successful! I have one friend that schooled them up to high school, and then let them choose their high schoo. Another one homeschooled her daughter, and in her spare time, the daughter taught herself to sew. (my friend could not sew) and she designs her entire wardrobe. I also have a friend who schooled straight to college and her oldest was accepted into the National Honor Society.
Then there are the train wrecks. I have no problem with thoughtful, RESPONSIBLE, intelligent parents taking on this burden. Especially when they remain open minded and can recognize when they are in over their heads. I DO have a problem when they do it to shield their children from evolution and other sciences, sex ed, political diversity and when they seek to impose their tiny world view on their children. I also have a problem with people that take on the task and are lazy about it. I've seen all of this. If the girl can cook and clean and read well enough to read her bible--then all is just fine. If a boy can learn a trade and be able to support a restricted life--job done. I can't stand it.
As far as socialization--I have mixed feelings on this. I don't think it's NATURAL to socialize children by throwing them into a group of their peers. However, I do believe it is a societal NORM, and to do well, they need to be exposed to this to some degree. I was just talking to some friends the other day and they had some pretty creative ways to deal with this aspect of development. They get them onto sports teams (swimming, baseball, soccer, etc) that are not connected to the school. They also enroll them in clubs and get together with other homeschooling parents to go on field trips, have parties, make friends, etc.
What a lot of people don't know, but most homeschooler know, is that because they pay taxes and have children eligible for school, the school cannot exclude the children from extra curricular activities. The parent does not give up that right because they teach their own children. So some of them enroll the kids in the school clubs or sports. Some may disagree with this, but they do pay their taxes, and the courts have found they qualify for these things.
Some parents will ask people with certain skills to supplement the homeschool program. I was asked to meet with one mother's children and focus on creative writing. I turned her down for unrelated reasons, but this is a practice of hers because it's important to give the children variety, and no parent can be talented in all areas.
I considered homeschooling my child. The aspect that really appealed to me was TIME. So much time is wasted with school. I liked that children I knew were learning their lessons, and then using the extra time to develop other interests and persue their own talents. But things didn't work out that way as my life drastically changed around the time schooling needed to start. Yet in reality, I DID homeschool, because I supplemented my daughter's education. I helped her as she developed interests, and made sure she had the education and opportunity to expand on them.
NC
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MrFreeze
Homeschooling is a better environment for learning but socially, you have to be around other people. I was homeschooled for part of my schooling.
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Vanderhoven7
We homescholled our guys for 18 years running.
Socialization - Hey no problem. We took them into the washroom weekly and beat them up for their lunch money. ;)
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Billzfan23
I have never been a supporter of home schooling. For example, the situation above with the kids having sex on the bus (if that was really what was happening and it seems farfetched) - it would give your kids valuable exposure to other people, their views, and would not shelter them to the point of their detriment if they sucked it up and went to school.
Public schools do teach you a lot about team-building, socializing, etc. I don't think home schooling equips someone for the real world as well as public schools do. Now, there are certainly different kinds of schools, neighborhoods, crime rates, exposure to problems, etc...but in my part of the world fights, drugs, violence, and even teen pregnancies are rare. There are also tons of extra-carriculars that kids can do now that help to make them a more dynamic and versatile individual that they miss when they are home schooled.
Some supporters of home schooling claim that schools are new, and for centuries people schooled kids at home (i.e, the sons and daughters learned the trades of their parents) - but we are not an undustrial society any longer - we are a service economy and in my opinion home schooling falls FAR short of what a kid needs to make it in the real world.
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NewChapter
I was thinking that if the bus is the issue, one could always drive the child to school. I'm sure there are other motivating factors to the OP's decision. We didn't have sex on the bus when I went to school. It would have freaked out our bus driver. I guess bus drivers have changed.
But that leads me off topic. I think an excellent name for a drink would be SEX ON A BUS. I wonder what the recipe should be . . .
Please don't tell James about my off topic digression.
NC
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DaCheech
I have driven my kids from/to school (and I'm a male father) their whole time............... I can't see where a school bus is the problem.
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Billzfan23
NewChapter...probabaly something with banana in it - they need a banana flavored vodka...