by yxl1 31 Replies latest jw friends
The secondary school I went to pretty much sucked so being homeschooled didn't make a huge difference there.
The one thing I most enjoyed about home schooling was that I was no longer being bullied mentally for being different.
I did however miss out on the social skills. Although I would have likely missed out on them had I stayed anyway due to being a JW and therefore warned against having worldly friends etc.
Ignored One.
there are no statistics that I ever read that prove that home schooled children do better that public school children.
In Canada the curriculum is now very sophisticated . Its not just about the 3R' s, so if one chooses to homeschool they should be well qualified.
I know of some Jw's who are high school drop outs , but choose to homeschool their children. Some don't even follow a curriculum. They study the meeting parts with their children and time spent in service is considered a field trip.
I wonder what kind of employment a child educated like this will find.
I guess they could always find a cleaning job. Jw's seem to do those jobs quite well.
My children were almost entirely homeschooled, are now in their mid 20's. Both have told me that they are glad that we did things that way, and did not feel deprived of any opportunities for socializing. They are well-adjusted, intelligent, literate, and high functioning adults, though in line with what was the expectation from the WTS during my childrearing years, neither has a college education. My younger one, 24, did recently take a class in "American Constitution" at the local junior college, and he did quite well in it, especially excelling in the assignments which required speaking in front of the class...one of the few positive side effects from a life spent as a JW. (this son is now out, like me) I began doing homeschooling when my kids reached school age, even before, but of course, I didn't need to label it as something to explain why they weren't in public school. This was in the early 80's when not many people were doing it. My motive was not particularly JW related, and in fact, at that time, I think many Witnesses looked askance at this choice. They thought kids should be in school, so they could preach to their classmates. My reason for homeschooling was, that I gave birth to these kids, and I wanted to be involved integraly in their lives and education, not turn the responsibility for this huge influence over to the state. Public education as we see it today, is a relatively new phenomenon, and largely a method of preparing children for taking their place in the industrialized marketplace, which requires adherence to time schedules, rules, and regimentation. So much time is wasted in schools caring for the logistics of handling large groups of children, that the actual time spent learning is not all that much. You can accomplish the same thing at home in a fraction of the day, leaving much more opportunity for freely chosen activities, play, socializing, family bonding, and more. My children spent lots of hours just outside exploring, collecting bugs, in physical activities...just being kids, but they were never socially disadvantaged. We did a lot of travel when they were younger, and they met people. I made plans to go to museums, parks, etc., at times during our routines. They also learned to be comfortable among people of all ages, not just their immediate peers, which kids are artificially isolated within at school, and therefore often feel most at ease with. My sons did attend public school for a couple of years in the junior high years, and they were easily able to integrate themselves into that environment, both socially and academically, being "A" students. They wanted to have the experience of 'regular' school, and so they had it, and then we went back to home school. During high school, we participated in a local 'independent study' program, which consisted of a once a week meeting with a teacher and then working on your own. Each of them also took an additional higher math class at the high school, going over for that one class during the day and then returning home. They got to know the kids at school, and still had the benefits of their greater freedom from the tightly scheduled days of most kids. I would never advocate homeschooling for everyone. It is a considerable undertaking, and I am quite aware that there are some who end up slighting their children's education by trying to homeschool, and not really being suitably devoted to doing a good job of it. It is not a cure for the social or societal ills one has to contend with in the public schools, though it can give kids the opportunity to blossom without having to struggle under those burdens. For our family, it was a good choice, and we all came out of it happy.
I do apologize for the giant block of text in my post above. It was in paragraphs when I pushed the 'submit' button, but showed up as you see. I can't seem to figure out how to edit that. Sorry, for the hard to read format.
If your parent(s) don't know how to do it right, you're screwed (out of a good education).
It all depends on the parents. If they can not be strict taskmasters with their children, then the kids will suffer.
I knew a woman who homeschooled her two kids. She was divorced, a pioneer, held a few jobs, lived in a half finished house, and was a little nutso if you ask me. These kids ended up doing their studies around meetings and service, it was a shame. They ended up back in school for their final year of high school to get their diploma. Watching how she put her kids second next to selling magazines really made me sick.
Then there are the success stories of National Spelling Bee Champs who were homeschooled. Evelyn Blacklock, a 14-year-old eighth-grader who was home-schooled in Tuxedo Park, N.Y., was the runner-up in the National Spelling Bee in 2002. And, there are many others.
I have kids who don't listen to me to clean their rooms, let alone do algebra with. I could never do it, they would have to put me away somewhere very quiet for a very long time..... needless to say, my respect for teachers is very high..
Mrs. Shakita
I hated it.
I have a GED. No experience. And no social skills. No friends. I missed alot. Which leaves me depressed.
I've seen quite a few kids who were home schooled. To some it was good, to others not.
I think parents should prove through testing that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to teach their kids. If the parent doesn't have what it takes, then it lies on the child to prove he can do it with little supervision. If it looks like he's going to be impaired intellectually in the future because of it, then he should attend normal schooling.
My mom was a school teacher and didn't want me in any of her classes (maybe cause I was A.D.D....LOL) but I'm not sure I would've wanted it either.
I have to agree with the majority...depends on the parents and their commitment to the process.
My sister-in-laws were both JW's and home schooled....one did get her GED, but has no ambition or social skills...the other is 20 and has an 8th grade education, guess her parents are hoping she will snag a "good" brother and it won't matter she is virtually unemployable (I know I tried to employ her)
On the other hand my midwife was also home schooling her children and was very involved with them, had them enrolled in extra activities...went that extra mile, you know? They seemed to be quite bright and well adjusted.
I guess it's just like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it.
I have known and still know many people (non-witnesses I might add!) who successfully home school their children. They have a room in there home which is specifically a classroom, and have their children involved in multiple community & church activities to insure that they are not socially isolated. They do very well. For myself, my kids will stay in school because I have neither the discipline or patience to home school them. It is hard enough to get my 6 year old to do his 1/2 hour of homework!
