Thursday, May 20, 2010

2nd question : Home Schooling

So the next question I'm answering was this: What are our views on home schooling, have we decided to do it with our kids and what are our reasons.

We remain open-minded about it. Right now our daughter is getting ready to start Kindergarten, and she did great in preschool. Basically, this is our theory:

It all depends on them. I wholeheartedly believe that some children need more one-on-one teaching than others, and being Christians, we also want our kids to learn as such. For a young mind it can be confusing to be learning evolution in school but learning God's Creation on Sundays and at home.

Right now, because Tay is so social and seems to be handling public school well, we will keep her in. Our plan is to supplement her education at home. If there are subjects that she seems to be struggling with, or if there is a subject that she would like to take on, or if there is a subject that she excels in and feel bored with at school, we will take it on at home. Once she is older we have plans to make her read the newspaper everyday and over the weekend, choose an article or subject to write her own opinion essay of.

If it turns out that she begins to show signs of needing to come out of school all together, then we will do so and start home schooling primarily, but once she is 11 or 12 she will have to take 1 or 2 classes at the public school.

I think one thing that home school kids fall victim to is social awkwardness. Despite doing "Home School Group" activities and group classes, I think it is vital to a young person to develop the social skills that come from public school at that age when they are starting to discover more about themselves as individuals.

Also, as Christians, I think it is a seriously important thing for them to learn how to interact with those who do not share the same faith and beliefs. Not being in a diverse religious environment does not allow them to learn that not only are people of other faiths good people to be friends with too, but how to stay strong and defend your own faith. Comfortably.

I draw these conclusions from my own experience as well as observing other young people who are or have began to develop signs of these struggles.

I believe it is not healthy for a young person to feel desperate to fit in with or be accepted by teenagers or adults. I did that, I preferred to stay and hang out with my friends' parents rather than with my friends, and it made me what I affectionately call "socially retarded" because I could not comfortably interact with people my own age.

I don't think there is anything wrong with home schooling and like I said before, it is an option, but I am all too aware of the risk of home schooled kids become "nerds" or "geeks" or socially awkward, and whatever path we choose for our kids, it will be influenced primarily by how their personalities develop. Either way, though, they WILL have public school experience, be it 1 or 2 classes or more.

Another thing I think is detrimental is to home school until Junior year in high school, then letting them do Junior and Senior year in a public school. I've seen several kids go through that and it's setting them up for a whole series of issues that I won't go into right now, but seriously, don't do it. It's not fair to your kids, and it only creates problems that you as the parents are going to have to battle, and you can avoid them completely......

That's my two cents on the issue. A lot of people disagree with my views about it, but take it as you will. It's from my own personal experience and what I've seen in others, but everyone is different, and as parents it's your right and your choice to do what you feel is best for your child, but honestly I've not met anyone who has gone through it as a home schooler that disagrees with me.

If you have any other questions, check out my list of facts and comment with your question!!

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3 comments:

  1. Yes, thank you for your input! My husband is actually very pro-homeschool after going through it. I think a parent should be involved regardless (I like your idea of supplementing). Anyway, I appreciate your opinion and I am glad I still have time to think things over/talk with my husband!

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  2. "I believe it is not healthy for a young person to feel desperate to fit in with or be accepted by teenagers or adults. I did that, I preferred to stay and hang out with my friends' parents rather than with my friends, and it made me what I affectionately call "socially retarded" because I could not comfortably interact with people my own age."

    This was exactly one of the reasons we decided to homeschool. Funny how the same experience can bring different reactions.

    "I don't think there is anything wrong with home schooling and like I said before, it is an option, but I am all too aware of the risk of home schooled kids become "nerds" or "geeks" or socially awkward, and whatever path we choose for our kids, it will be influenced primarily by how their personalities develop. Either way, though, they WILL have public school experience, be it 1 or 2 classes or more."

    Our kids and we are nerds and geeks, and we love it. Nothing wrong with being a nerd or a geek :)

    We might all be a little socially awkward at times, but who isn't?

    My husband and I both went to public school. I lived there, it seemed like. About 95% of my social experiences came from there until I was in high school and got a job. And, yet, I was one of the most awkward kids in school. My husband rejected school and did what he wanted and he's a very socially awesome software engineer (nerd).

    Basically, if you worry that your children will turn into nerd if you homeschool them, then they won't. You'll teach the nerdiness out them. Nerdiness doesn't happen because of homeschooling, just as it isn't prevented by school. Whether a child becomes a nerd is much more complicated than that. In fact, school makes nerds more nerdy, and then stresses them out about how nerdy they are. Homeschooling, at least, lets nerds be nerds if that is who they are, and they learn to love it and embrace it fully.

    And, I generally agree with you about the high school thing. In both directions - 11th grade public school after being homeschooled all their life, or 11th grade homeschooling after public school is tough, tough, tough.

    However, I know two cases where it worked very well. One, a homeschooler decided to go to public school in 11th because he wanted to go into politics. He used public school as a playground for learning how to be a politician.

    Second, a girl left school in 11th grade to homeschool and ended up traveling the world for her last two years, then went on to art school after.

    Worked very well for both. Never know what the future holds. Black and white decisions based on black and white premises keep us from amazing possibilities.

    Just some thoughts. Good luck to you! :)

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