Comments on: Monday Teeny Poll

By: Monday Teeny Poll » Teeny Manolo

Monday Teeny Poll » Teeny Manolo — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:23:55 +0000

[...] week’s poll addressed attitudes toward homeschooling and people who choose that option. Multiple choices were allowed, and the category with the [...]

By: Once Upon a School » Teeny Manolo

Once Upon a School » Teeny Manolo — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:45:15 +0000

[...] it just seemed topical. For some [...]

By: Leah

Leah — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:50:55 +0000

Until recently, the only children/people I knew that were home schooled were… odd. It’s a stereotype, I know, but that was my reality. So, until recently, I believed that the children and the parents just didn’t “fit” into the public school system. I see now that this view was narrow-minded, but I have to admit to it.
I teach acting to children of all ages at a non-profit academy of performing arts. I have met SO many families who home school their kids through this program. And, like the other commenters, have found that people have many reasons that they wish to home school. Most of the children that come to the academy are home schooled because parents feel they can provide better academic avenues to their kids than public schools. The majority of the students I work with are home schooled until about 4th or 5th grade - when subjects start to get more complicated- then parents introduce them into the school system.
I’d be interested to know if home schooled children are better at “work from home” skills - like time management and staying task-oriented, etc. You know, all the stuff I can’t do.

By: QueSarah

QueSarah — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 19:28:10 +0000

I’m always a little surprised when I hear the stereotypes of homeschooled kids, just because the one family I know best that does it really don’t fit it.

Basically, they wanted their kids to be able to learn what they wanted to and start specializing in their interests at a really young age in a way that the public school system doesn’t allow. (The reason all the kids who win spelling bees are home schooled is because if that’s their yen, they can allocate resources accordingly.) There wasn’t even much in the way of planned activities and homework. They just got in a very, very close relationship with the public library and later on college libraries.

As a result, all of the children turned out totally brilliant and gifted in so many different ways. One discovered he liked math, and is now teaching discrete maths at Berkeley. One got into music and directed a large and prestigious women’s choir at her university. Another has become an extremely skilled repairer and binder of old books. They’re brilliant, friendly, self-starting people.

So I’ve always seen home schooling in a very positive light.

By: Seana

Seana — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:39:11 +0000

I too know mutliple families that home school, and all for different reasons. One child was being assaulted by an obnoxious 9 year old girl and was weary from years of not being able to get away from this girl. I guess that would fit into the category of bullying, even though it’s not the stereotypical bullying.
Another family was unhappy with the state of schools in Californina because of the No Child Left behind laws. Unfortuneately, the teachers are forced to teach to the low end of the class to bring them up to “average” and the high end of the classes are allowed to “work alone” which doesn’t provide enough guidance and support for the smarter kids. The schools are forced to do this in order to maintain the testing averages and keep their funding.

By: Bellamama

Bellamama — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:51:42 +0000

I know a few families who home schooled their kids and each one does it for different reasons. One family feels the school system doesn’t allow them enough control over what their child is reading and the movies shown. They were very offended by a few stories the child had to read and the teacher wouldn’t budge, so they left.

Another family wanted to shelter their children from the “evils” of the world until high school. It wasn’t so much about religious training, as about shielding their kids from swearing and “vulgar” ideas. I thought that was a little extreme, but to each their own, right?

I don’t like the idea of home school, but I don’t condemn those who prefer it.

By: Meg

Meg — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:42:49 +0000

My cousin home schools her two children — using a religious curriculum that’s basically here’s God and how he fits into the world for her five year old. I get the impression that he’s also learning shapes and numbers, and etc, but it’s not the choice I would make for my child to be.

My husband and I have discussed it — neither of us feels particularly qualified to home school (although my college degree is basically elementary ed prep) so we’ll be picking a good public school and supplementing with other activities or paying for private if we have to. But, we’re in Denver, and might be in Fort Collins at the point at which child to be would start kindergarten, so we have a lot of decent schooling options, and I recognize that not everyone does.

By: raincoaster

raincoaster — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:04:18 +0000

And I can’t answer, either, because I already know the answers. I read the research reports. But I’m from a different part of Canada than La Petite Acadienne and I know many people who homeschooled via government-provided distance learning programs or formed schooling Co-ops with neighbors to spare their children commutes of up to two hundred miles a day. As Margaret Atwood said, we’ve got too much geography, not enough demography.

By: La Petite Acadienne

La Petite Acadienne — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:36:53 +0000

I suppose this question was a bit of an odd one to answer from my viewpoint, mainly due to the fact that in Canada, private schools don’t seem to be as prevalent, so we don’t seem to have the same issue with underfunded public schools providing a sub-par education. Most people who I know who homeschool, do so because they’re very religious, there are no religious private schools anywhere nearby, and the public schools are just too secular for them.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:01:17 +0000

I used to be a competitive figure skater, and many people I knew were home schooled because their school systems would not accomodate their training schedules, or allow time off for competitions. In some cases, I think that homeschooling was a bit unnecessary (for your 7 year old, low-level skater? really?), but in other cases, it was the only alternative available to losing credit due to absence.

I was fortunate enough to be in a school system that allowed me to do anything I needed, including taking correspondence courses my last semester when I unexpectedly had to move across the country.

Anyhoo, that’s the main reason that all the home-schooled people I know were.