TOTALLY GEEKED!

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Dear Abby: Homeschooling, Not!

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

Could be considered? It IS educational neglect and should be reported. Those poor kids.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Frankly there are a several homeschooling families where mom is simply just a lazy arse who doesn't want to get out of bed. I have seen it. And, yes, there are good homeschoolers, so I didnt' say ALL.

Domestic Engineer · Guru

Thank you for not including all homeschoolers. From my experience, like most things, the good homeschoolers far out weigh the bad ones.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Oh, we have some excellent homeschoolers. One family is going overseas for a month to learn about Guatemala and water irrigation, etc.

I know what to do_sometimes · Frozen Sucks!

I thought all kids, whether home schooled or traditional schooling had to still take national standards tests. If so, wouldn't the lack of education be detected?

Domestic Engineer · Guru

In my state, a homeschooler must either take the state's standard test or the national standard test. The umbrella school where I was registered always used the national test. If a student failed the test, the parent was placed on probation and provided a mentor for the following year. If the student failed a second time, the umbrella school would insist on the student being placed in a private or public school.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

I think there is a minimum they have demonstrate. And, I am not sure it is all that difficult to show you are doing some minimum.

Domestic Engineer · Guru

Some of the strandards are based upon your umbrella school.

Each semester, I had to submit a portfolio of DS's work for each subject. It was then reviewed by the directors of the program. If I did not submit the portfolio, DS would not receive credit for that semester.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

Domestic Engineer wrote:
Thank you for not including all homeschoolers. From my experience, like most things, the good homeschoolers far out weigh the bad ones.

I agree, but often the bad ones are more memorable.

flan

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

In my state you have to turn work in and the kids take tests. My nephew lives in Tennessee and his wife home schools the kids, they always greatly exceed the minimum. You really have to stick with it and conduct lessons every day.

Divine Geek · Guru

Here, you have to have a teacher sign off on your lesson plans and the student's work. A parent came to my mom a few years ago to sign off on the homeschool stuff. My mom refused. The mother hadnt actually done any of it, was just hoping my mom would sign off on it because she knew them.

Southern_Belle · Nothing's Impossible

Divine Geek wrote:
Here, you have to have a teacher sign off on your lesson plans and the student's work. A parent came to my mom a few years ago to sign off on the homeschool stuff. My mom refused. The mother hadnt actually done any of it, was just hoping my mom would sign off on it because she knew them.

That's really unfortunate for the child! Home schooling is such a commitment. My nephew's wife does it because their little boy has a lot of health issues and would miss way too much school. He's 6 and has just finished chemo. He had some brain lesions, not cancer but needed treatment to prevent growth. He's been on chemo more than half his life. They figured it out the other day and little boo has had about 72 MRIs on his brain.

Domestic Engineer · Guru

DS's disability was part of the reason we chose to homeschool. He had either physical, occupational and vision therapy everyday of the week. As it was, he got up every morning by 6:30 and after I dropped his sister off at school, we started class. By 1:00 we were finished with class and we ate lunch in the car on the way to therapy. After therapy, it was time to pick up DD from school.

DS also had several surgeries which caused him to miss class time. Those years we just extended our school year later into the summer.

A side benefit of homeschooling is we were able to travel a lot with his dad. Why just read about the Gettysburg's Address, Boston Tea Party, Independance Hall, or the end of the Oregon Trail, when you can go there.

It was hard, but looking back, I don't regret any of it. That doesn't mean I didn't want to throttle him at times, but I really enjoyed watching him learn.

Divine Geek · Guru

There are times I wish my mother had homeschooled us. She is a teacher and was a stay-at-home-mom with my sister and I. Compared to the quality of the rural public school we went to, I think we would have gotten a better quality of education if we had been home schooled. Oh well, I guess we turned out ok :)

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

I think I could homeschool and do a good job. I was Adjunct Faculty at Pitt and I have done lectures and also put on seminars and done speaking so I know how to prepare and teach lectures. But, for my kids, I think the social interaction of school was important and being part of the wider community in that regard. Yes, I know that homeschoolers join and do other things, just giving my POV for me personally.

Divine Geek · Guru

I agree that the social aspect of school is important. If I had been homeschooled, I think I would have still had that. I have many cousins in the area, neighbor kids, kids of my parents friends, etc. one of the differences of small town vs larger city

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

I support parents doing whatever they believe is in the best interest of their own kids.

Domestic Engineer · Guru

Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
I think I could homeschool and do a good job. I was Adjunct Faculty at Pitt and I have done lectures and also put on seminars and done speaking so I know how to prepare and teach lectures. But, for my kids, I think the social interaction of school was important and being part of the wider community in that regard. Yes, I know that homeschoolers join and do other things, just giving my POV for me personally.

That is a common mis-conception rgearding home schooling. Most HS'd students belong to the scouts, debate teams, sports clubs and etc. Not only that, they interact with a broader range of the community than just their peers thru volunteer programs that occur during the day while most students are in private/public school.

Note: I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm just explaining a common misconception regarding home schooling. If you noticed, we HS'd DS, but not DD. Each child thrives in a different environment. As a parent, we must decide what's best for each child.

I know what to do_sometimes · Frozen Sucks!

Domestic Engineer wrote:
Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
I think I could homeschool and do a good job. I was Adjunct Faculty at Pitt and I have done lectures and also put on seminars and done speaking so I know how to prepare and teach lectures. But, for my kids, I think the social interaction of school was important and being part of the wider community in that regard. Yes, I know that homeschoolers join and do other things, just giving my POV for me personally.
That is a common mis-conception rgearding home schooling. Most HS'd students belong to the scouts, debate teams, sports clubs and etc. Not only that, they interact with a broader range of the community than just their peers thru volunteer programs that occur during the day while most students are in private/public school.

Note: I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm just explaining a common misconception regarding home schooling. If you noticed, we HS'd DS, but not DD. Each child thrives in a different environment. As a parent, we must decide what's best for each child.

I used to have the same opinion that Home schoolers missed the social aspect, but then did some research. I was surprised to see that there are so many groups for home schoolers and just how they seemed to excel at the extracurricular activities.

Lady Gaga Snerd · Guru

Domestic Engineer wrote:
Lady Gaga Snerd wrote:
I think I could homeschool and do a good job. I was Adjunct Faculty at Pitt and I have done lectures and also put on seminars and done speaking so I know how to prepare and teach lectures. But, for my kids, I think the social interaction of school was important and being part of the wider community in that regard. Yes, I know that homeschoolers join and do other things, just giving my POV for me personally.
That is a common mis-conception rgearding home schooling. Most HS'd students belong to the scouts, debate teams, sports clubs and etc. Not only that, they interact with a broader range of the community than just their peers thru volunteer programs that occur during the day while most students are in private/public school.

Note: I'm not trying to be argumentative. I'm just explaining a common misconception regarding home schooling. If you noticed, we HS'd DS, but not DD. Each child thrives in a different environment. As a parent, we must decide what's best for each child.

I understand what you are saying. And there are some families like that. There are some families though that seem to like to be isolated. As with anything, there are good and bad.

Lindley · Guru

Homeschooling has changed so much since before it became so popular. There are a lot more programs and accountability. I do think not all parents are qualified to homeschool.

My dil was homeschooled graduated valedictorian in college. My dd is thinking of homeschooling her kids.

My dil is very social and outgoing and myy dd is too.

-- Edited by Lindley on Sunday 22nd of February 2015 04:19:42 PM

NAOW · Vette's SS

This happened to a friend and f mine growing up. We went to church together, but she was still a little behind socially.we got along though, she was really nice.
Her parents told her that because of Home Schooling she was way ahead and so smart, but when she went to take her SATs or ACTs she found out how behind she was- like 6th grade reading and math levels. I know she was furious and cut off her family for awhile.

I don't think those state tests are very well enforced here or there is a lot and f ways to get around them.