Topic : 11/24 Great School Debate

I am a single mom and radical unschooler.  I, too, hold a doctorate, but chose to use mine to become self-employed to allow myself the flexibility I need to raise my children the way I see fit.

Everyone has choices.  Sometimes those choices are not the ones people think about, like quitting their job and starting a business.  Or downsizing their life, cutting down on consumables do decrease the income needed to live on

The world is so full of options, that to consider yourself unable to do something is inaccurate.  It's all about the choices we make.

If parents home school or unschool their children because they do not perceive public school education as perfect they will find later their children will still enter an imperfect world.  Education is not just about learning facts and figures or being able to recall information in a rote way to pass a test.  Part of what public education seeks to accomplish, in addition to social skills and socialization, is to help a person to begin to filter information and think for themselves.  The student may wind up agreeing with what their mother and father taught them and they may not.  This is part of becoming an individual and keeps us from becoming pure clones of our parents.  The two oldest children of the parent who pulled them from public school did not appear to be very happy to me.  And the mother who wants to protect her little girls from the dark side of the big, bad world may do that when they are children.  However, at some point they will go out on their own and mommy will not be there to protect them.  This mother's fear of  "the world out there" will certainly be passed on to her children and they will not grow up to be as well adjusted as they could be.  Plus the mother's own fear I'm sure is keeping her from enjoying life as much as she could and possibly could shorten her own life.  Parents are most welcome to seek other forms of education for their children.  However those who attempt to throw away public education as useless are looking at life through rose colored glasses.  At some point those glasses will be broken by the light of reality.

As a Canadian teacher, I take exception to the idea that teachers "stand in front of a classroom and talk at the children."  That is only one way to "teach" and, for all intents and purposes, a very weak way to teach.

Teachers attend workshops, pay for university courses ($800 - $900 each) and collaborate with colleagues to help improve the way we deliver curriculum to our students.  Many students do not have the real world experiences that they should have, so it is our duty to bring these experiences into our classrooms.  We provide field trips, guest speakers, experiments and hands-on activities that supplement the curriculum.  It is as unfair to group teachers into one category (lecturers) as it is to group all homeschoolers (laissez-faire).

As far as thinking that teachers teach ONLY the curriculum, again that is an unfair statement to make unless you have worked a day in our shoes.  We are psychologists, social workers, parents, advocates, confidants, role models, all rolled into one.  Public schools are not perfect, but neither is believing that just because you can read a book or go to a museum, that you can be a teacher.

I would have expected Dr. Phil to have a real in-depth look at the variety of ways to homeschool and the many reasons people choose this path.

In the "uncensored" part of his website, Dr. Phil talks about making a choice between a homeschooler and a college educated person.  ?????  Why the assumption that homeschoolers don't go to college?   And why the concern about "socialization" in the middle and high school years?

I have hosted a homeschool-to-college seminar twice now, with admissions officials from some top colleges.  Their attitude about homeschoolers can be summed up in the phrase, "bring me more!"  One official said, "homeschoolers are a college admissions dream."

Another said that while homeschoolers don't usually have the long list of extra-curricular activities that traditionally schooled students do, they are very passionate about the ones they have chosen.

Homeschoolers have no trouble getting into schools like Stanford, University of Virginia, MIT and so on. 

My daughter is in 10th grade.  She consistently scores in the high 90s on standardized tests.  She began taking community college courses at 15. (under a process called dual-enrollment, where her two courses a semester count for both high school and college credits) 

She is in Girl Scouts, manages a bluebird-monitoring trail, volunteers as a colonial re-enactor, does colonial dancing and has attended several balls.  She plays the piano, accordion and bowed psaltery.  She loves science and math.  On her own, she has begun studying anthropology in depth.  She publishes a bi-montly newsletter.  She's funny, happy and comfortable around folks of all ages.

More importantly, she doesn't have to confine her work on various subjects to 45-minute segments.  If she wants to spend a whole morning on a science project, she can.  She can always catch up on Algebra 2 in the evening or on weekends.  We are not confined to "school" from 8 to 3.

Her homeschooled friends are involved in theater, sports, band, etc.  Our field trips - several a month, - range from Shakespeare productions and science-oriented ones to historical sites and park days.

Homeschooling is as enriching or as limiting as one chooses it to be.  That's the key.  It's a lot of work, but if taken seriously, is a delightful partnership between parents and children.

One student was on a strict curriculum with deadlines, expectations, goals, etc.  She had no trouble doing her school work but never overcame her social inadequacies even after four years.  Yes she was involved in outside activities while being home schooled but that did not take the place of learning how to socially interact on a daily basis.  While this student graduated with a 4.0 average, even her parents said they have a hard time getting her out of her shell and now are concerned how she will fair in college. 

I'd counter that this girl was likely an introvert and likely would not have been more outgoing and social even if she attended public school from the get-go.

How do I know this?  I'm an introvert and all the time I got notes on my report cards how I needed to be more social, to participate in more activities, and to speak out in class more.  Being an introvert is NORMAL, not abnormal.  Just because introverts are the minority in our society amongst the loud, vocal, partying extroverts doesn't mean that there is something wrong with us.

There is more to teaching than just "loving your children".  You need to be able to understand the brain development of your child, their learning style, tools to push your child to think beyond a book or a lesson, proper evaluation of what your child has learned, a means to verify that your assessment meets the needs of what society demands, the ability to listen to and evaluate ideas of others, problem-solving techniques that develop because of interactions with people who are not like you, cultural awareness that comes from working and playing for extended periods of time with people from different cultures and backgrounds.

You may not like society or agree with its values, but the truth of the matter is that your children will need to participate in this society.  Will they have enough tools, experiences, background knowledge to cope with the difficulties and challenges that they will face if all they know is their family?

Homeschooling meets the needs of the homeschooled child.

I have no problem letting go of my children and I  encourage them to do things independent of our family. A week at scout camp during the summer, recreational sports and sports camps and for my 16 year old college. Thanks to homeschooling my 16 year old was able to start college at 16 with a FULL SCHOLARSHIP.  I assure you parents do not homeschool for the most part because they can't bear to be away from their kids, they homeschool because it is the BEST educational choice for their child.

You assume that the public school teacher teaching science has a masters degree in science, how naive of you. Public School Teachers often wind up teaching classes they didn't major in. Also in Mississippi you only have to have a high school diploma to be a substitute teacher.

I'm a 55 yo male that also hated school all the way thru high school. When I had children, they were home schooled for some of those years. They are well adjusted, went to college and have successful and financially secure careers.

When I went to school, I was a major day dreamer which made learning very difficult for me. I feel had I been home schooled, that I would have had a parent keep my attention better directed. I went to both Christian and public schools. I found in my experience that the socialization that I experienced was a lot of bulling, insults and negativity that I would have not received at home.

In a home school environment, my children had friends and other events that allowed for solicitation. I found in a public and private school environment that teachers had little or no control of what happened between children, and for me there were times of unspeakable cruelty.

I believe that a structural home school environment can and does work and I would do it all over again and again for my kids, and wish it had happened for me. I went to college later in life and became an honor role student in spite of it all.