Off Topic Homeschool?

[poodlemomma]

I used to be one of the naysayers. That is until we moved into a school district that I had no choice but to pull my children from the school. I did work full time (not from home) and continued to do so as I taught from home. We bought a "boxed" curriculum at first (K12). This was great in that it showed me how to organize and plan for their education. I used it only one year as it basically was public school at home and that did not work for us. Their deadlines stressed me out and I needed more freedom with their education to work around my schedule. The next two years I did my own lesson plans and my children bloomed. Unfortunately, homeschooling was another full-time job. I was preparing 3 separate curriculums and working full time. I was in work overload!

When I brought my children home. My ODS was almost 2 grade levels behind where he should have been according to K12. My YDS was on par for his grade. After 3 years of homeschooling, my ODS was on par for his grade level and the YDS was ahead two levels. My ODD started her education at home and was 1-2 grade levels ahead (depending on subject) when she re-enter public school.

What helped with our success is that I treated their education as if it was part of my daily job. I took it very seriously. I also found an extremely supportive and experienced homeschool group. They offered weekly supplemental classes (music, art, gym, etc) and monthly social gatherings and field trips. They also organized a standardized test at the end of the year (Stanford Achievement Test) so that parents could see what was learned successfully and what needed work. This is a great resource for putting your child back in public school or for early learning through a local college.

As stressful and time consuming as it was, I LOVED it! I was so sad and upset when I had to send them back to public school. I did so because I couldn't give up the job, I could not have my kids lack education, and I had given birth to twins in the middle of it all. Something had to give. So, we moved to another state with a better school and put the kids back in public school.

I read all the negative and can see where that could apply to some parents. But all the homeschoolers I worked with were like me, extremely dedicated to their children and their children's education. Only about half had a higher education degree. Yet they still managed to figure out a way to teach their children and teach them well. They all worked and researched past their limitations in order to be able to teach their children. If their children were learning something outside the parent's scope of knowledge, they found solutions. This group of kids was the most social and well rounded kids I have ever experienced in my life.

I won't go into all the pros/cons from both sides are. Those could be debated for days and usually all it accomplishes are hurt feelings. I will say that homeschool is much more doable then most people can imagine. But it is a HUGE commitment often with an interesting learning curve on the parents' part.

If your child is in a good school and you are generally okay with most of what they do at their school, I wouldn't pull your child unless there are real reasons. Only you can decide what those reasons would be. If you have any further questions, I would gladly answer them through a private message.

 

[purpleleomom]

I was also a naysayer, but now I'm considering it due to quality of schools where we now live. For example, they teach a bare minimum of science, and this is one of my DD'S favorite subjects. She needs more! I am concerned about socialization, but so many arguments for PS involve "learning to interact with mean people." I went to PS my entire life, and I still struggle socially! My DD was a social butterfly - a magnet even - before kindergarten dimmed her light. To stay truer to OP's question, I do not see how it could be done in our family with both of us working. I would want additional activities to socialize her more, but i question how much we could do with me not working. It's a tough decision. Also, she's not a high hour gymnast by any means, so that isn't considered. Good luck to you!!

 

[anothergymmom]

I do apologize--I shouldn't have been so fast to be opinionated: everyone has different circumstances. I am lucky that my kid goes to a fantastic school. Not everyone is that lucky. And sometimes people need to do what they need to do. Of course the parent knows their kids and their local school sitation best. I should say, however, that I agree with profmom--this is really a tricky business. I would also add that while I am sure it is no doubt true that some homeschool kids go on to wonderful Universities and do great, I work at top 10 US University and have for many years and have not yet met a single homeschooled student. Of course this could just be random luck. And I do not work with atheletes. My point here is just that plenty of kids are in fact getting excellent educations in conventional schools and there are plenty of very nice kids in conventional schools. Our students are polite and respectful and well as being hardworking and brilliant.

But I apologize again, I shouldn't have introduced what are really my opinions about schooling into a more particular discussion.

 

[OzZee]

Personally I think there are pluses and minuses to all educational streams and what works best is down to each individual, child, family and environment.
I have to say I've never known anyone to work full time and homeschool a young child and think that would be pretty hard. Middle school aged children in a distance education program (ie with a given curriculum and teachers) and a well motivated and focused child yes but not a primary aged child.
I'm sure it's not impossible but very hard.

Anyway the comment I wanted to make was about other gym parents. Are you sure they are 'suspicious' not just oblivious. I know when I pick my child up (we don't watch practice at our gym - not that we can't but no one does) I talk to my friends for that 10 minute catch up time. Just last night I was watching one of the lower level groups stretching down and realized I had no idea who half the kids were (and I have a lot to do with the gym ) and therefore wouldn't know who there parents are.
But when new parents have introduced themselves, helped out with a function or something I then have got to know them.

 

[onelittledream]

Not really sure how to use the quote button but @OzZee I will not try to presume what is in another's head, however Even the father that we have befriended has confirmed that the parent viewing area is rather clichish. He moved to our gym because of a move in his wife's career and so he was new like we are now, once and he did state that it took over a year on team before any one of the mother's or father's said a word to him and even now (because his son has progressed faster than some others) he is met with jealousy. I have chosen not to worry about it I don't go to gym for me I go for DD. When someone does approach me I plan on being very warm but stand firm in not being drug into ostracizing anyone else. If someone newer than us shows up I may jump on that opportunity to open some communication

 

[Vivianflips]

I'm homeschooled and it's very convenient for my family. I would like to warn you that some virtual school programs have boats loads of work! My brother did that for a year and really hated that!

 

[gymdilettante]

I know this is a bit off the original topic but I have to address this. The original post wasn't asking for whether homeschooling was a good idea. She just wanted help in juggling full-time work with homeschooling and gym.

It is posts like these that get to us, as homeschooling parents. And people wonder why we get so defensive. This comes up every time homeschooling comes up and inevitably, someone posts about how it is impossible for a parent to do just as good a job as a trained teacher or how the kids can't be properly socialized (whatever that means).

Seriously folks, if you have never homeschooled or have not known many homeschooled families, then you really don't have the knowledge to be able to discuss this topic intelligently. And unless you have used these online programs, you can't say just how engaged the students are. The programs are not all alike. Many have developed ways to increase interaction and extend learning opportunities. And really - if you observe a typical middle/high school classroom, you would be hard pressed to find much engagement either. I am not saying that online schooling is right for everyone. It is not. But to imply that it can't be as good as a *typical* classroom in this country, without ever having experienced it personally, is just wrong.

Thankfully, we are not trying to replicate what the kids would be getting at school. Why would we want to replicate all the wasted time, discipline issues, needless homework and endless testing? The reason we have them home is because we do not believe in the way that that they are being taught in school. I really wish there was research detailing just how much time is spent with teachers actively engaged with students vs the time spent managing the classroom, students moving between classes, doing busy work, etc. It would be a real eye opener to parents, which is, of course, why the research will never be done.

I have said it before - Teaching is not rocket science. And before teachers get all upset with me - I am NOT knocking you or your training. I was a certified teacher many moons ago in special education and in elementary ed. Yes, teachers are well trained, but the training is mainly for how to teach groups of children with wide variety of abilities and learning styles. There is nothing inherently difficult about teaching one child, particularly you own. You know how they learn best, their strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes, etc.

Yes, teaching high school math and science is more difficult than lower levels and many homeschool parents do not feel properly prepared to do this but there are so many options - community college courses, online courses, homeschool co-ops, independent study, a tutor. My dd is in 8th grade and taking Algebra 2/Geometry. She is learning this almost entirely independently, with an A+ average on her tests. And she is not a math kid by any stretch. From early on, we taught our kids to learn independently. It is one of the major issues with traditional schools - Students do not learn how to learn independently. They are "taught to" for most of their schooling career, including college. It is just the nature of the beast when you have 25+ kids in the classrooms.

Hundreds of colleges across the country would respectfully disagree with you that a successful homeschooler is an exception to the rule. Many colleges now have separate admission counselors specifically for homeschooled students and actively seek out this population because of their track record of being independent, reliable, socialized (yes, socialized, not only with their same aged peers like in school, but with people from all walks of life and all generations), and better prepared academically.

I believe that homeschooling parents can be just as successful, if not more successful, than public school. I'm sure there are plenty of homeschooling failures but look at the number of public school failures there are!

I do have an issue with way homeschooling is used by many in US though....which is to purposefully cut kids off from ideas their parents don't approve of (see, eg, xxxxx Camp)...parents who don't want their kids to become aware of, for example, the science behind global warming or a well-reasoned alternate position regarding the origins of human life until the parents have had a good 15 years to influence them. (I am NOT trying to start a political discussion. ..my point is about intentionally preventing children from learning about alternate ideas, whatever those may be. Currently the only people I'm aware of who are doing type of homeschooling are extreme xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx but some of the communes in the 1970s might be a liberal parallel.)

This bothers me because I feel the kids don't get a chance to try different viewpoints on for size until college. I think if you believe your ideas are truly "right" you shouldn't be afraid to let your kids be exposed to other "wrong" ideas...they should settle on your correct ideas the end if they really are correct (like the Amish teens sent out to experience modernlife before committing to Amish life for good). I went through a conservative phase in high school and I also have many conservative friends and other friends/family that disagree with me on a range of topics, and all those disagreements and my time spent arguing conservative positions in high school history have really shaped my identity and made my comprehension of various issues so much more nuanced. As a result, I hate any type of fundamentalism or extreme positions.

Sorry I'm kind of rambling and OT so I will stop. As ageneral matter though, I don't believe empirically that a child is worse off strictly from an academic perspective if the child is homeschooled...although our public schools are often not too great, so the bar isn't high sadly.

There are plenty of curriculums out there geared this type of homeschooling so while it isn't the majority of homeschooling families, it is not a negligible number either.

 

[bogwoppit]

I am going to edit out the religious and political comments of the above post. We do not allow them as they always cause wars.

 

[LJL07]

This is a really interesting discussion. A coach in our area recently started a "homeschooling" gymnastics program. She has a certified elementary school teacher come in to teach the girls. They do schooling in the morning and then do about 4-5 hours of gym in the afternoons. The goal is to get the girls quickly to optional levels. I can see this being good for families in terms of having time with family in the evenings and the kids having afternoons and weekends free. We live in an area where public education is not very good. Most families with resources send their children to private school, and we also live in an area with subpar gyms. Cheerleading is the big thing around here. It will be interesting to see how this program develops-

 

[gymdilettante]

This is a really interesting discussion. A coach in our area recently started a "homeschooling" gymnastics program. She has a certified elementary school teacher come in to teach the girls. They do schooling in the morning and then do about 4-5 hours of gym in the afternoons. The goal is to get the girls quickly to optional levels. I can see this being good for families in terms of having time with family in the evenings and the kids having afternoons and weekends free. We live in an area where public education is not very good. Most families with resources send their children to private school, and we also live in an area with subpar gyms. Cheerleading is the big thing around here. It will be interesting to see how this program develops-

Are you considering it? It sounds like a good option. I bet that that class of kids would be more productive and well-behaved than the typical public school classroom given the personalities of kids who are drawn to competitive gymnastics.

 

[LJL07]

Are you considering it? It sounds like a good option. I bet that that class of kids would be more productive and well-behaved than the typical public school classroom given the personalities of kids who are drawn to competitive gymnastics.

We are. DD was invited to be in the program, but we decided to hold off for the school year. Honestly, the schooling part made me nervous. We love our school, and it would be a big change. We are considering trying it out this summer to see if it's something DD can keep up with. She would be making a big jump gymnastics-wise too. She's on a USAG team, but it is a very slow, one level a year progression. This is a "fast track" program and has some TOPs-like training. Apparently the girls do well on standardized state testing, so that's something. I keep hearing most gymnasts don't homeschool, but our gym options around here are extremely limited.

 

[COz]

How many kids? What age/grade ranges? Just one teacher? What is the arrangement if the teacher is ill? Will they also have parent helpers? When would they consider adding an extra teacher?

 

[LJL07]

How many kids? What age/grade ranges? Just one teacher? What is the arrangement if the teacher is ill? Will they also have parent helpers? When would they consider adding an extra teacher?

She will have between 12-14 girls. The girls are currently 7-9. It sounds like her goal is to identify 6-8 yr olds with potential. She does have a parent sign up sheet and volunteer substitute teachers. She will have a second elementary school teacher next year. I just want to make sure DD has a social life outside of gym and other interests. And I worry about burn out too. I'm thinking we wouldn't have much to lose trying it over the summer though. It really is fine if she decides she wants gymnastics to be for fun, but if she has any hopes of getting anywhere with it (as if 7 yr olds really know!) this would be her best chance.

 

[COz]

Sounds like fun. Just keep an eye on how she's doing compared to other kids the same age, but it should be fine. As far as numbers go it all sounds doable.