When Home-Schooling Goes Horribly Wrong…

[tekkychick]

You are missing the point of the article. The problem is not home schooling but Virginia's religious exemption.

http://vahomeschoolers.org/guide/religious-exemption/

Parents who have sincere religious convictions against sending their children to school may consider a claim of Religious Exemption (RE) to compulsory schooling under §22.1-254 B 1 of the Code of Virginia.
Families who have received a Religious Exemption are exempt from the Compulsory Attendance Code. Once approved, families with an RE do not have to file an annual notice of intent, submit an annual description of their curriculum, or submit annual testing or evaluation results to their local school division when educating their children at home. However, the public school division may in subsequent years inquire if the religious exemption is still applicable.

sad, isn't it? yeah, we have religious freedom... but shouldn't there be a minimum standard of reading, writing and 'rithmetic?

 

[Steelplate]

Believe me Mr. Steel, in most states you don't have to have anything, probably not even a H.S. diploma to sub. Pass the FBI or local law criminal background check and you're good to go.

I saw an interesting.piece on CNN one night....it was Morgan Spurlock. He went to a Scandinavian country to look at their education system. Their teaching students are screened and evaluated like an investment firm would screen potential future employees. Only the best get the qualification to teach. Granted, our country is a lot bigger....with a lot more students, but I think our system needs an overhaul as far as what makes a teacher....and the teachers that make it through that gauntlet..deserve to be paid top dollar.

 

[Anti-Party]

I think we can agree that whether home school or traditional school building structure is required. For that matter, so is a formalized curriculum. The difference I think for the homeschooled, the parents can give more time to the areas of interests to the child. Skills requiring further analysis can be applied to topics of interest. Those areas where the child quickly masters and doesn't wish to go deeper, can be dealt with fairly quickly. I only WISH that classroom teachers could do the same! Some kids find ancient history, especially Egypt, Greece, or Rome fascinating. Others want to rush through and get to 'current history.' LOL! Both are fine especially for research purposes, yet in order for practice to be given, the instructor does have to make some of the choices on when and to how much time will be given.

Of course one can vary the students selections, but if a kid really doesn't care about a certain topic, pretty hard to get their best work.

Math is even more of a 'home school' ready subject. If fractions are 'tough,' more time can be devoted for real understanding. Indeed, cooking and trips to the grocery can be repeated and lessons applied. Once that is nailed, decimals will come much easier. Perhaps the kid is just truly talented at math, instead of pre-Algebra in 7th grade, they could already be in Algebra I. The student can move as slow or fast as mastery takes them.

General schools are getting better about using computer math mastery programs, but the very nature of schools frown against huge gaps within classes. There is also the lack of 'hands on projects from real life, that successful homeschools naturally apply. Simple, one cannot take 30 kids to the grocery for a field trip and mock groceries in classrooms, even in 3rd grade tend to get out of control.

Science projects at home can not only be performed by the child, he can design his own experiment. That's individualized and really too much for a regular classroom, even with a great lab set up.

Novels, textbook readings, poetry, all can be done both aloud and to self. Parent and child reading the same books, at the same time and discussing leads to closer relations. Now I admit that I read aloud to my kids from the time they were born-high school. Why? In middle school one was struggling with "Julius Caesar." I said, "That has to be read aloud, you can't understand it by reading silently. So the three kids and myself divided up the parts and read it aloud. Now that child wasn't crazy about Julius Caesar, loved "Romeo & Juliet." Until college, was not assigned any more full length Shakespeare. However, all of my kids enjoyed the comedies, we read those at home. They liked 'drama.'

Even British Literature AP courses are going to keep the kids in the same book or two. Has to do with evaluation and covering certain aspects of the readings. Homeschooling allows more student choices and types of evaluation.

YAWN..........BASICS.

Are you stating that the Schools should teach them everything they should know and the parents should have nothing to do with it? Or are you stating that the teachers have about an hour with a ROOM FULL of people and need to educate them all perfectly.

 

[Steelplate]

You know.... Annie does bring up an interesting conundrum. I am referring to her first paragraph....cultivating a student's interest.

I often see from the right, talk about "marketable skills". What if one's skills lie in helping others? Areas where some wealthy Corporation can't make money at it.

What's a parent to do then? I know when I first started out playing guitar....My mom took me to my lessons....but by the time I had learned enough to play.... she told me to "get that craziness out of your head".....and I listened. Now, at 48.... I find myself wondering what could have been if:

A. I wouldn't have listened.

B. My parents would have supported my musical talent.

Instead, I am stuck in a world of half-measures. I do what I do to pay the bills and do what I love when it's convenient.

Don't get me wrong... Not throwing a pity party. The thing that I do to pay the bills... I feel... is pretty damned noble and right.... It's just that when I do have a gig, There's nothing like playing music for an audience... even if everyone has their back turned towards you and is just getting drunk and having a good time. You know that YOU are the reason they are hanging around.

 

[Mott the Hoople]

I saw an interesting.piece on CNN one night....it was Morgan Spurlock. He went to a Scandinavian country to look at their education system. Their teaching students are screened and evaluated like an investment firm would screen potential future employees. Only the best get the qualification to teach. Granted, our country is a lot bigger....with a lot more students, but I think our system needs an overhaul as far as what makes a teacher....and the teachers that make it through that gauntlet..deserve to be paid top dollar.

Education reform starts with parents and community. Unfortunately there are vast numbers of both, in certain region, who do not value education. Reform needs to start there and not in the classroom. Many recent attempts to improve education in our subperforming regions, mainly the south and inner cities, have been undermined by apathetic parents and political brinksmanship at the community level. NCLB hasn't helped by setting impossible to reach bench marks that will designate all public schools as failures by 2016.

It has to be about the kids. I don't have a problem with homeschooling (or Charter Schools) as long as it/they are regulated, meet annual performance standards and don't undermine public education. In many regions, again mainly the South, homeschooling is used to undermine public education and, is in the case of Virginia, have exemptions from standards. That can not be permitted.

 

[evince]

Or the average in Chicago, NY, etc.

OTOH, I agree with the OP that there needs to be accountability in the sense of standardized test administered by a separate entity, not the parents.

Horror stories like the above though, do not typify homeschooling. Indeed, the vast majority are doing better than their public school and private school peers.

yeah one on one is more effective than 35 to one huh?


You get the schools your willing to pay for.

USA used to have top flight schools until you and your cohorts wanted to cut and cut and cut school funding

 

[PostmodernProphet]

You get the schools your willing to pay for.

USA used to have top flight schools until you and your cohorts wanted to cut and cut and cut school funding

remember when Billy linked the chart that showed Detroit, with a 25% graduation rate was in the top ten funded schools?......what was your response to that post.....