My DH received a real "eye opener" about our local public schools

[Surfside Academy]

We had friends over last night for Superbowl and one asked me what we
were currently studying. I began telling her about our mini-unit on Ancient Greece; Spartans, Homer, Greek Astronomy, etc. We then began discussing California's budget crisis and what affect that would have on the schools. My best friend, whose son attends p.s., told us that the PTA pays for extra teachers to come in once and week and teach kids science and P.E.

My husband was shocked! He's totally onboard w/ homeschooling but he doesn't quite understand my "stronger" stance against public schools. We live in an area with a good school district and parents who can financially "support" the PTA. The elementary schools in our town have strong test scores so many of our friends don't understand why we're homeschooling (not that I care) but a light bulb finally went off for him. I explained that with the pressure to obtain these test scores, public schools have all but eliminated History, Science, Athletics and Art programs. Schools just don't have the time or the money and if parents want their kids to have a well-rounded education, the responsibility falls on them.

My husband finally said how sad it was that our friends kids will never get the same education that we can provide for our boys...Eureka! He finally got it! I'm still holding our hope for my best friend too. She's even attended a SWB seminar with me so there's still hope I can bring her over to the dark side!

p.s. Is it "whose or who's?"

[KristineIN]

That's great to hear. It is whose, you were right. who's is just for for who is.

Kristine

[mcconnellboys]

May the force be with you!

Regena

[SandraDumas]

nt

[8FillTheHeart]

My husband finally said how sad it was that our friends kids will never get the same education that we can provide for our boys...Eureka! He finally got it! I'm still holding our hope for my best friend too. She's even attended a SWB seminar with me so there's still hope I can bring her over to the dark side!

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I do disagree with your position. I have been homeschooling a long time and have been around many different homeschooling families. Homeschooling is not always the best choice. Sadly, I personally know children that have been totally short-changed in their futures b/c of the education they have NOT been provided. They can't score high enough to get into universities; they have been given no sense of study skills or even time management skills. They have basically sat at home watching tv, playing guitars, and working part-time jobs.

My niece and I were having this very conversation last night as well. ( My niece is a 4th grade teacher in a ps and one of my degrees is in elementary ed. ) She has had several children enter her classroom over the last decade that were at home, but obviously not schooled. As I previously stated, I know several similiar families. I personally believe the philosophy that "better at home no matter what" than at school is short-sighted. Yes, there are horrible schools, horrible teachers out there. But there are also many very solid schools or even mediocre schools that provide more promise for children's futures than the lack of educational instruction given at home.

If a parent is not fully dedicated to the commitment that homeschooling requires.....the lack of personal space, time, restricted finances, and most of all....the head-on battles that are the result of the teacher-mom hat......than schools just very well may provide a better education than can be provided at home.

Obviously dedicated parents can succeed in giving their children a high quality education. That is not my contention. My view is strictly that many parents know their limitations and ARE making the right decision for their children by sending them to school. Also, just because a child is homeschooled does not equally mean they are getting a better education than the local ps is providing.

[GVA]

I am a co-op teacher, and I have several children in my classes who frankly "might" (notice quotes) indeed be better served in a classroom situation. I realize that homeschooling is not always just about academics, but these dear children are sorely lacking in the fundamental 3 R's. The family seems to be running all over doing lovely enrichment activities with the older ones at the expense of giving the younger ones a basic education. As much as I love history, science, and foreign languages, the public schools have it right when they really focus on the fundamentals IMHO. If you don't get that down, your boat is sinking.

[unsinkable]

Surfside Academy,

Can you share more about your Greek mini unit study?

It's bizarre that the PTA brings in gym and science teachers. But, I have this theory/dream/idea that schools would educate better if they did less.

My idea is that schools teach reading, writing, math, and history/civics. And that's it. Everything else would be up to the parents. There would be smaller, neighborood schools with shorter days. It would cost taxpayers less so parents would have more money to spend on the "extras" for their kids.

I'll stop hijacking your thread now.

unsinkable

[GothicGyrl]

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I do disagree with your position. I have been homeschooling a long time and have been around many different homeschooling families. Homeschooling is not always the best choice. Sadly, I personally know children that have been totally short-changed in their futures b/c of the education they have NOT been provided. They can't score high enough to get into universities; they have been given no sense of study skills or even time management skills. They have basically sat at home watching tv, playing guitars, and working part-time jobs.

My niece and I were having this very conversation last night as well. ( My niece is a 4th grade teacher in a ps and one of my degrees is in elementary ed. ) She has had several children enter her classroom over the last decade that were at home, but obviously not schooled. As I previously stated, I know several similiar families. I personally believe the philosophy that "better at home no matter what" than at school is short-sighted. Yes, there are horrible schools, horrible teachers out there. But there are also many very solid schools or even mediocre schools that provide more promise for children's futures than the lack of educational instruction given at home.

If a parent is not fully dedicated to the commitment that homeschooling requires.....the lack of personal space, time, restricted finances, and most of all....the head-on battles that are the result of the teacher-mom hat......than schools just very well may provide a better education than can be provided at home.

Obviously dedicated parents can succeed in giving their children a high quality education. That is not my contention. My view is strictly that many parents know their limitations and ARE making the right decision for their children by sending them to school. Also, just because a child is homeschooled does not equally mean they are getting a better education than the local ps is providing.
This I totally agree with!! I am so sick of reading a certain website's (it's like a car wreck for me) stance on homeschooling vs public school.

Every little thing that goes wrong in the PS system, this site's answer is "bring them home"...

My B.S. meter just goes off the charts. I can't stand that "all or nothing" attitude. Homeschooling works for most, but like you said, if you lack the dedication and expect instant results, you are going to fail at it.

No--"bring them home" is NOT the answer, not for everyone. Sorry.

I really do hope your friend (regarding the OP) is not like this and I hope she's as on board with it as you and your DH are. But don't be surprised if she burns out quickly.

[Surfside Academy]

I understand that families aren't always in a position to homeschool and have no alternative but to send their children to public school. Most of my friends have their children in public school and I would never question their decision. I was a product of the public school system and ultimately obtained a master's degree so I guess I did ok. I guess the point I was trying to make was in response to some who I know who believe the public educational system is the only way to go and is far superior to what homeschoolers can do.

To have an honest debate however, it has to be pointed out that there are two sides to both homeschooling and the public education system. There are homeschool kids thriving all across the country, scoring highly on standardized tests, are socially active and doing quite well . Their parents, regardless of their own educational level, are doing their best to provide a quality education. On the flip side, there are homeschool parents out there that feel that just allowing their kids to "live life" will suffice and that baking cookies will teach their kids reading and math. Personally, I think this is a small minority.

Some of my best friends are public school teachers (in good districts) and daily face the same challenges that you've encountered with homeschoolers. Many kids can barely read, are struggling with basic math and can't point out the continent of Afica on a map. When my teacher friends ask kids why they didn't do their homework, the usual response is that they were too busy playing video games or watching TV. My teacher friends also say that they are forced every day to teach only that which will help kids score high on standardized tests. They readily admit that most of their joy and creativity has been taken out of their jobs.

I do understand the debate but for me, it's just sad that kids in public schools today aren't even getting the same education that I received a few years ago. I'm just thankful I have a choice.

[GothicGyrl]

Surfside, I'd agree with you to. Mine was more of a rant (as I guess so was hers) than anything else. My own DH is a public high school teacher, but fortunately his school is one of the best in the area, and they've got lower income kids.

So I truly wasn't arguing with you ;) , just side ranting a bit.

[Surfside Academy]

There's nothing wrong with a little good-natured debate! :)

[Surfside Academy]

I basically followed the chapters from SOTW 1 on the Ancient Greeks and just expanded it a bit. I'm having my boys learn the greek alphabet (orally), we're reading a lot of Greek mythology, reading an Aesop's Fable daily, etc. For Science, I picked Archimedes, Pythagoras, Eratosthenes. Ptolemy and maybe Aristotle and we spend one week learing about each. We learned about each man's contribution to science, read their bios, did a few experiments. I'll probably wrap up the unit by going over some of the books from the New Testament that have connections to Greece.

I did this because we've been co-oping with a friend and they hadn't used SOTW yet. We were already 1/2 thru SOTW 1 so rather than start again, I just had them begin with Ancient Greece and turned it into a mini unit-study. We'll do the same with Ancient Rome and wrap up SOTW 1 around May.

Hope that helps!

[Cadam]

So much comes down to the parents.

There are kids who come out of ps well educated, happy and hardworking. There are others that fail miserably, never got the opportunities they needed and will really struggle to make up the gap. The same can be said of homeschooled kids. Some are the stars of their generations and others can barely read and write.

The majority of kids who are homeschooled do very well, but they would probably do reasonably well in ps too because they have parents dedicated to their education. The hs parents who see no point in actually teaching their children would be equally non-motivated to help with ps homework, get their kids to school on time exc.

I have learned that hs is not best all of the time, but for the vast majority of kids I think it could be pretty darn good and for many an improvement for sure. It has so much to do with the family and the individual teacher.

In my perfect world hs would be the norm and if that simply didn't work for families there would be small local schools run by the community, not the state or federal gov. There would be a lot of help and support for parents and teachers. anyway I guess I should get out of my little utopia and go do laundry.:)

[unsinkable]

[QUOTE=Surfside Academy;35233]I basically followed the chapters from SOTW 1 on the Ancient Greeks and just expanded it a bit. I'm having my boys learn the greek alphabet (orally), we're reading a lot of Greek mythology, reading an Aesop's Fable daily, etc. For Science, I picked Archimedes, Pythagoras, Eratosthenes. Ptolemy and maybe Aristotle and we spend one week learing about each. We learned about each man's contribution to science, read their bios, did a few experiments. I'll probably wrap up the unit by going over some of the books from the New Testament that have connections to Greece.QUOTE]


Gracias!

unsinkable