I've thought about homeschooling for a long time. I started thinking about it when I was still attending public school. Even though I was taking some of the "hardest" classes I could in high school and felt that I got a good education, there were a lot of things that frustrated me about public education.
Since then, No Child Left Behind has been introduced adding to my frustrations. I've posted about my dislike of the law before. I don't like what it has done to students and teachers. I don't like how the focus of schools has become those things that they are tested for. Education should be about providing knowledge, learning experiences and growth for children, not about testing. I'm really worried about what happens in third grade when the kids start taking standardized tests. I've seen kids literally sick with worry about these tests. I've taught violin lessons to fourth graders that spend as much time doing homework as I did with three AP classes in high school. I've heard of teachers that had their students memorize essays for the tests. As long as the structure was right and things were spelled correctly it didn't really matter what the prompt was, the students could pass the written part of the test. Art programs get cut all of the time because those subjects aren't tested. There are other unforseen consequences of this law that I don't really like.
So why homeschooling? It makes it so that learning can be tailored to the child. Bailey really likes science, the other day he told me that he was frustrated because he only learns about science, but never does any experiments. His math homework, while developmentally appropriate seems a little lacking to me. Of course, I'm not completely sure what he does in school, but he is definately capable of doing more interesting math. He reads at a much higher grade level than many of his peers and his spelling words are far too easy for him. Sometimes, I think that I should be making Abby do his homework.
Abby does really well with school academically. It is challenging enough for her, but definately within her capabilities. Once she starts reading I'm sure things will take off for her. She is so shy that her education suffers. She isn't really comfortable, doesn't voice her opinion or answer questions easily, and is extremely concerned with what the other students think of her. Her kindergarten teacher has recently moved, so she will have a new teacher when she gets back from Thanksgiving break which is going to bring on a new slew of stress for her. She really needs stability and a familiar environment.
These are all things that could be better at home.
Tomorrow I'll post about my concerns about homeschooling and the benefits of public eduction.
3 comments:
I have thought about it too, even if the task seems daunting. For me, the primary concern is socialization: kids need peer interaction (and more than just church, especially in Utah). How are you thinking about approaching all of this?
The socialization can be achieved by joining local homeschooling groups, like on Yahoo (there are several LDS ones), or joining co-ops. Many have activities once a month or even weekly.
Homeschooling has made the biggest difference in my son's life- changes that never would have been achieved in the public school system.
I am so grateful for the right to chose how my children are educated.
I'm all about public schools. My kids are very social, though, and don't like to learn from me. They get really frustrated and so do I. I was actually just talking about this with one of my friends today. I just don't have the personality for it, but I've seen kids who do really well with it. Or just with smaller private schools, even. I do think the public schools need some revamping. Hopefully, Obama can help out with that.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
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