1. i know that i can give my children a better education one-on-one than they can in a classroom with 20 other children and one teacher. my children will never fall behind because i'm right there with them making sure they understand everything. in a recent nationwide study of test scores among high school students, homeschoolers scored on average 37% higher than public school students. read this article and scroll down to where you can see for yourself that education and income do not affect this average. meaning i can be certified or not and my children will still get a outstanding education from me.
2. i want my children to have a childhood. children are in school for an average of 7 hours a day. that leaves 17 hours remaining. add 10-12 hours of sleep. with approximately 5 hours remaining from that. what do school children do in those 5 hours? eat meals and do homework. when do they use their imaginations? when do they get to have unstructured playtime? when can they just be kids? it takes us at most 2 hours to finish school. the rest of the day is spent in activities they want to do. art projects, exploring outside, playing with toys, dancing, singing, reading, etc. my kids are awesome at imaginative play and can do it for hours, either alone or together. how many public school children have time to do that?
3. am i worried that my kids aren't receiving the socialization that other kids are? you mean my five-year-old learning curse words? or getting picked on for being small or not fitting in? uh, no. homeschooling is hugely popular and increasing in popularity. just in the last two weeks i've run into two homeschooling families whom i've exchanged information with and i still haven't even gone to a co-op out here by my new house. not to mention, we go to church and the kids have friends there. plus, all the extracurricular things we do..field trips, ballet, sports, circus class, piano, art...most of those are done with other children whom they interract with. we're okay.
so, that's it in a nutshell.
yet.
the most important thing for me
is that i am with my children.
each day.
to guide them
and teach them
and help them
be the best little people they can be.
i see their unlimited potential
and i work and study and research
and gently guide them to reach that potential.
reach it and then some.
i encourage them to aim higher.
to make a difference in the world.
to think deeper
and try harder.
and i fully believe
that even the best teacher in the world
with the best of intentions
could not do that.
not because he or she doesn't want to,
but because they lack the capacity to do so.
and that is why i teach my children.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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8 comments:
Your post brings up some interesting thoughts. As a public school teacher with 56 kids in one class I think you have some very valid points.
I also, believe, however that I do do what you've written about in my classroom. I have the capacity to touch lives like you. I work, study, and research like you. I check for understanding and assess how each student is doing in my classroom several times throughout my class period. I encourage, guide, and try to get them not to settle for mediocrity. We discover, we create, we take field trips, we learn, we succeed, and we love.
They are my children. These awkward, need-your-attention, jr. high school students are my children. I cannot think of them in any other way but that.
I also have the privilege of working with some pretty fantastic colleagues. They feel very much the way that I do. I spent 4 days with them at a national conference and as we collaborated (because two heads are better than one!) I sat back in awe, feeling incredibly lucky that I was to be associated with people who are truly dedicated to helping others. Brilliant minds. Genuine people. People who make difficult situations work.
I also realize that we may be an exception to, rather than the rule. I've certainly known some pretty ineffective teachers and classrooms.
BUT-I get to see miracles happen. Success with students who don't have a home environment like yours or mine. Success with students who do. True miracles. It makes me glad to be here. It makes me glad that I get to take what I learn from my colleagues and apply it not only in my own classroom but also with my own dear sweet little boys.
I'm glad that there are moms like you who value education the way that I do. I'm glad you've taken the opportunity to seek out the teaching moments. I think that's absolutely wonderful.
Bravo. You said it so articulately, many of the same reasons I homeschool.
The only thing I would add from my own personal list of reasons to homeschool is that I have a very gifted child who would be bored and unchallenged in a classroom with other children his age, yet completely out of his depth socially if he were skipped to the grade level where he is working academically.
I feel so lucky we are in a position (through our personal and financial sacrifices) that I can stay home and be the one to give him the education he needs and deserves, one he would never be able to get in public school.
Great post. I think its so great you home school. We'll see how I feel when I have kids but I cant imagine sending them to public school for all the reasons you said and chicklegirl said. I'll be calling for advice in 6 ish years. ha
I am not an actual homeschool Mom, but my oldest started virtual school at home this year. He is usually able to finish his schoolwork much faster than the seven hours he would have spent at the local school, and his schoolwork time includes the homework.
It is a much better fit for him academically and socially as he no longer has to deal with being bullied by the jerks at the school. I am hoping that my #2 son will start with virtual school here next year, and that each of my kids will choose to be at home once they hit the junior high stage. With six children, I am just not sure I can take on homeschooling them all with their different levels of learning.
I admire you and think you are doing a great thing for your kids!
I have my kids in a Charter school that I absolutely love. I love their teachers and I, without a doubt, feel that they can give my boys a better education than I could ever give them. I do agree with what you said, but I have to say that there are a lot of families in our ward that homeschool their kids and the kids have no social skills are from what I can tell are very behind for their grade. I have a boy in my cub scout den that is nine and he can barely read. I guess it just depends on the parents and how committed they are.
I turned out fine I think. Great post, Aubrey. It seems to have gotten people thinking. There are exceptions to the norm in every teaching environment. We know that there are countless socially awkward people with homeschooling backgrounds that give folks like me a terrible name. People's eyebrows tend to automatically raise when I tell them I was home-schooled. They're a little surprised at how normal I am, at least in the sense that I can communicate naturally to anyone I meet. Academically, I think genetics had it in for me-- we're not exactly a bunch of natural-born geniuses in my family-- but remaining at home and filling my time with brain-stretching activities kept me both creative and open-minded. These are both attributes and I can't put a price on. They affect my life from every way you look at it-- from the way in which I capture and interpret information to how I form personal opinions. From the ease in which I compose songs and lyrics to my ability to write well. But especially, I can attribute my understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the many hours I had to myself during which I could ponder the mysteries of life and observe the simple details that seems to pass most people by. I'm a believer in home schooling, but it's not for everyone. It's important to choose your child's method of education on a case-by-case basis. It's not wise to say, "I'm going to home school all my children no matter what." Every kid is different and thrives best in specific environments.
LOVE this post! Beautiful words. I have a lot of friends who are opposed to homeschooling (as I'm sure you've come accross as well) and you stated so eloquently the very reasons that we will homeschool our children. Is there any way you would mind if I posted your post on my blog, like a guest post kind of?? (with a link and note that it is of course your post) You can email me and let me know. No worries either way, you just spoke the very words of my heart so I thought it would be great to be able to share it with our friends and family.
I have been thinking a lot since my son was born about how I don't really want him to go to public school and have thought about looking into charter schools. I would be interested in talking to you about the specifics of home school and how it is done. We have a lot of families in our ward who home school their children.
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