Growing up, the only people I knew who homeschooled their kids were my aunt and uncle, who were (and still are) extreme fundamentalist Christians. They really do believe that everyone is evil. As these were the only homeschoolers I knew, I figured that all homeschoolers were crazy. Since moving to my new home in Southern Utah, I have met lots of people who homeschool and I'd say that most of them seem pretty normal. A good chunk of people in my ward do it. Its something of a trend around here, as the homeschoolers add a few more to their numbers every year. But their motives, or what I perceive as being their motives, bother me somewhat. Some people fall into the-outside-world-is-totally-evil camp and I think that some feel that it is part of their religious (LDS) responsibility and this scares me. It almost seems as if homeschooling is seem as a form of super-righteousness.
Do you homeschool? Why do you do it? Would youy ever go back to regular (public or private) school? Please help me understand my neighbors!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Help Me Understand Homeschooling
Posted by Nancy Ross at 3:02 PM
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3 comments:
We don't homeschool, but we know people who did homeschooling. They were the last children in very big families (14 children for one, 9 children for the others) of Christians. The children (now some are grown-ups) are great, they are creative, have initiative and self-confidence. I considered it at some time because I felt our elder child was of an exceptional kind and may not be able to walk in the line, but my relationship with her is not an easy one, so I dropped the idea when I saw she was not too unhappy at school. I think that homeschooling is a very nice thing to do if you feel you have the talent to do better than traditional school (or if unfortunately your child is with a horrible teacher and you are pretty sure it can't be worse). Also, when you have enough children to "optimize the cost & profit" and have a little class of your own. The group dynamic can be important, especially to achieve things in team or having models, helper and solidarity among pupils. I am agnostic, so the religious side gets over my head, but I surely noticed that my own childhood in the traditional school could have been happier without having to wait for ever without the possibility to do anything else while waiting. What a waste of time...
I love the idea of homeschooling in theory. I know quite a few people in our community who homeschool and actually I don't think any of them have a super-Christian motive. I have had a few issues with the schools my children have been in, but they were pretty minor. I have been toying with the idea of homeschooling while we are in Spain next fall as a back up plan in case my children feel they can't survive Spanish private school. They have what is called eSchool here where the kids can be learning the same curriculum as the students who attend actual school.
I know a mom who gets the text books each year from the school to use in the home. She can do this as a taxpayer.
Willow would be a really great fountain of information on this as she has homeschooled recently. I know there are different theories: unschooling and deschooling just to name a couple.
Some people say that home schooled children are not as socially developed as non-homeschoolers, but I have not noticed this at all. The H.S.s I know all do extracurricular stuff like sports or music or art and still have lots of opportunities to socialize with other children.
Some funny fiction books about a girl who is home schooled and then thrown into the public school system are written by someone with the last name Juby. Another, not so funny but interesting book on the same theme, but with a younger character is called Ida B. In an ideal world I would homeschool and my children would help out around the house during the day so that everything went smoothly and do their chores on roller skates like Willow's do.
Something else I have noticed about some of the homeschoolers I know is that they have a better sense of kigotsuku (I am probably spelling that wrong): doing something, not because it is their responsibility, but because it has to be done. For example: setting up chairs in Primary because they happen to walk into a room and there are no chairs set up yet.
I am pro-homeschooling, I just do not have the patience for it at this point in my life. Also, my children actually really look forward to and enjoy school. They all love their teachers and seeing their friends and I have to admit that the schools do some interesting things like cereal box book reports.
Speaking of homeschooling...I grew up in a small town in Oregon where the only homeschooling family had 7 kids, wore strange plaid dresses and looked at their feet when they were in public. All I can say is, "We've come a long way baby!"
My dad, who used the above family as his only data point, I'm sure turned over in his grave when his daughter started down the same path. I took my girls out of public school and started homeschooling them about two years ago.
It's true that many people homeschool out of fear. Fear on one side that their kids will learn about evolution, secularism, sex, etc. and on the other side that they'll learn conformity, revisionist history, complaceny, consumerism, etc.
While I think there are many great reasons to homeschool, I think fear is not among them. Almost every kid in America goes to public school and, while it's perhaps not always optimal, they do just fine.
I chose to homeschool more out of the wonderful possibilities it provides. I wish my anti-homeschooling dad could see his 10 and 12 year old granddaughters taking college classes, poking through tidal pools in Maine on a beautiful autumn afternoon, performing Shakespeare plays with their friends, excitedly racing through the Metropolitan Museum of Art to find works by the artists they're studying, puzzling over the scientific method at a university lab bench with their dad, and making music whenever the feel moved.
Homeschooling has opened the world to my children in a way that wasn't practical or possible in public school. It hasn't always been easy. The daily grind can be a challenge for someone like me who is not terribly organized and somewhat free spirited. They still have to be tested and their test scores are still high. However, the things that excite me about homeschooling are not those measured by tests. I absolutely believe the three R's are crucial but with the testing pressures the schools face, sometimes it feels like that's all there is.
Homeschooling is not for everyone. I think you have to know yourself and your kids. Some people report it bringing them closer to their kids than they ever imagined. Others have the opposite experience. I think it's also very helpful to have three or four supportive homeschooling families that have a similar educational philosophy. There are people who use homeschooling as a way to narrow their children's experience rather than expand it. I would stay away from people like that.
One last thought...Some people ask, how on earth can you imagine hanging out with your kids all day? Doesn't your brain turn to jelly? My response is that I have never been more intellectually stimulated since I left college. It doesn't turn my bring to jelly to take Beowulf to bed with me so that I will understand it better in the morning. It doesn't turn my bring to jelly to sit by the fire and read a biography of Emily Dickinson with my girls and talk about what it was like to be a precocious 12-year old in the early 19th century. When would I take the opportunity to go walk through a beautiful autumn forest with our local park naturalist and learn about forest ecology?
So there you have it-one homeschooling mom's perspective. We're actually living in France for a few months and my children are in a French school. It goes along with my philosophy of opening their minds to the world, as opposed to closing them. It has also taught them that they can tackle a difficult task and do it well. I have enjoyed the break and the daytime quiet but I do look forward to getting back at it in January.
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