US vs. THEM

Home schooling has become increasingly popular in today’s culture. It is estimated that 1.2 to 1.7 million children in grades K-2 are being home schooled. This is a huge amount of students, therefore it is easy to see that home schooling is established as a significant and legitimate force in the American educational system. Once thought of as an abnormal way to educate your kids is now fast growing and for many reasons. Some parents think the public school systems are too liberal or conservative. Some parents are motivated for religious reasons. Whatever the reasoning it is very important to have a mutual understanding and a positive view between public schools and home schooling parents. Most of the tension between the two sides is the lack of understanding by public school teachers as to why parents choose to home school their children. This creates an “us verses them” mentality. In reality the school teachers and the home teachers need to come to an agreement and partnership to benefit the children no matter where they are taught. I found two new terms regarding home schooling. They both relate to the type of parent and the reason why they want to keep their kids at home to educate them. The first term is IDEOLOGUES. They have specific beliefs, values, and skills they want their children to learn and embrace. They also feel that these things are not being adequately taught in public schools so the opt to keep their children at home. The ideologues reasoning is usually religious based. They believe that the public schools do not have strong Christian values. This is correct because now a days majority no longer rules. We have become a county trying to please everyone. If we offend one single person and they speak out our country and government changes the rules around one person instead of the majority of the people in the US. Anyway, these ideologues are looking out for their children’s moral, ethical and spiritual development and don’t think that the public schools take religion seriously.

The second class of parent is PEDAGOGUES. These parents also feel that schools are unwilling or unable to serve their children and give them a proper education. Some of the parents have seen their own children or others suffer emotionally or academically in public schools. Since they don’t think the schools teach well, they want to keep their children at home as well. They don’t think it is fair for the public schools to sort, label and select their children based on a limited measure of their ability. Namely the state standardized testing. In Florida we have the FCAT, this test is given to children in grades 3-8. It puts a tremendous amount of pressure on the students to perform for this one test. It also alters the curriculum because the teachers have a certain amount of “testing” information they need to get out to their students and because of this other areas like the arts, social studies, science get left out. The children are being taught only the information on the test and not becoming well-rounded in all subjects.

social issues of homeschooling

One of the most prevalent arguments regarding home schooling children is the social issues relating to child development. Children need to learn social skills at an early age. This is very important throughout their lives. The best time to teach a child anything is when they are young. Their minds are like a sponge and they absorb everything weather it is dirty words they hear their parents saying or a foreign language they learn in school. The same hold true for developing their social skills. Children need to fit into society as productive adults some day and childhood is kind of like their training for that. If a parent chooses to home school a child especially right from the start and that child has never stepped foot in a classroom, I think it could have a detrimental impact on their lives. The parents think they are doing a good dead, and of course every parent knows what’s best for their own child, however, I really think that a child should get an education in a classroom. I also feel that most of the time, a child who has been home schooled will either return to school or be placed in a classroom for the first time. Either because of the parents financial situation or because the parent needs a break before they lose their mind. As we talked about before homeschooling a child takes a huge amount of dedication and a lot of planning and money. Once this child goes back to school, how will they react to their peers? Even if the parent could meet all the childs educational needs could they realy meet the child’s social needs? I think children need to be around other children their age. It is vital to their development. Children need to start separating from the parents and the home. School is the perfect place to do this. They are around other kids their own age, kids they have things in common with. They will quickly develop their own thinking process and start finding their identity. Everyone must be an individual, unfortunately most of the world follows eachother around like sheep. That is another important leason to learn but that is probably another paper….Anyway, a child comes to the classroom for the first time, thinking he is the center of the universe, because he has had one-on-one attention form his parent/teacher. Of course the parent/teacher role has been blurred, so if the child didn’t want to do his work at a certain time he probably didn’t have to. Well everyone knows that a classroom is a very structured and disciplined environment. What happens when this kid dosent want to his work with the rest of the class? He will be punished if this contiues he will be labeled a troublemaker. What happens when the school bully picks on him on the playground. Is child going to have the ability to adapt accordingly? The friendships and/or enemies a child creates during his years in school are just as important as learning to read and write.

Child Abuse

Last night in class we went to the campus Library. The Librarian gave a nice presentation on the resources available to students of PBCC. I logged onto the web site again today and there is tons of information out there. I remember Mr. Foley talking about using the Library as a reference for our blogs, but somewhere along the way it slipped my mind. Anyhow, I searched under home school and found an article that really caught me by surprise. “Home School May Hide Parental Instability or Abuse.” What? This is something I never thought about before. So I had to open it up and read it. Most people think that the home school kids are isolated from the world. I think this way too. If a parent wanted to abuse their children keeping them home a perfect opportunity. Who is going to know? The child will have nowhere to go for help! Here is something else I didn’t know. Andrea Yates, that crazy !@#$%^& that drowned her five children. She home schooled them. What a nut job!! As I dug a little further, I realized she isn’t the only one. There have been numerous abuse cases around the country. There is little to none interference from the government as far as how a parent should educate their child. They just want to be left alone and for everyone to mind their own business. That sounds like someone a child would say not an adult. There is another form of child abuse that doesn’t include physical contact. This is when a child goes to a public school and gets in trouble repeatedly. The parents get called into conference and they do show up. OK-maybe the time conflicted with their work schedule. The conference is set for a different day and time. The parents are still a no show. Obviously because there is no change in the child’s behavior there has been no discipline action taken at home. The parents don’t care about the child or his education. You know if they don’t care about his education they don’t care about him at all. The child is still a behavior problem and missing a lot of school. The parents get sick of the phone calls from the school and decide to pull the child out of school all together. This is where the abuse comes in because you know good and well the parents have no intention of educating the kid. The parents themselves are probably not even educated. Just too lazy to be parents. To deprive a child of a decent education is abuse in my book.

How to Home School children

In my last entry I mentioned that I would like to explore the legalities and specifics of home schooling a child. With 55,000 Florida students registered in home school programs I figure there has to be some sort of rules and regulations governing this type of education. I went to the Palm Beach County School Board for answers.
First of all, parents need to send a written letter of intent to the Superintendent of the school district the child lives in. Other parental responsibilities are to maintain a portfolio of records, containing educational activities, writings, worksheets, and any other material used or created by the student. This information needs to be kept for 2 years and made available for inspection if requested by the superintendent. Since there is no attendance policy, an annual educational evaluation of the student’s progress is required and the law provides 5 evaluation methods for parents to choose from. Since there are no state funds available to parents choosing to home school their children there is an expense. There are websites and other vendors that supply workbook and textbooks to parents. Students can also take courses from the Florida Virtual School. It is a public online school providing free courses to middle and high school students. This seems like a good feature. It offers some sort of control and standardization over the child’s education. Again, I’m not real keen on this home school idea.
Home schooled students are eligible for Florida Bright Futures scholarships. They can take the general educational development (GED) test and receive a GED diploma. Home schooled children have the same opportunities as public school kids to enter a community college or State University of their choice. As for extracurricular activities a home schooled child has the opportunity to participate. Even if the activity occurs during school time such as band or chorus classes. The school district offers the student to opportunity to enroll in that class. A grade point average needs to be maintained just like the other public school kids. This will be agreed on by the principal of the school and the parent thru an evaluation process.
If a parent think their child has a learning disability, the school district is obligated to evaluate the child. This evaluation is at no cost to the parent. If the parent agrees that they cant properly care for the childs needs at home, the parent can enroll the child in public school. If the parents takes on the responsibility at home the school is not obligated but may offer some sort of assistance for the child. Such as speech or language classes.
I think there are some interesting aspect to home schooling. I still have no idea why anyone would want to go through all this trouble. It seems that the parents work closer with the school district than I thought. I am not fond of the free for all type curriculum that parents offer their students. It seems like they just “wing it” until the end of year evaluation comes around. What if their child is behind. I think at least the districts should monitor the students progress more often than once a year!! That’s it for now :o)

advantages of homeschooling

Ok-Last time I wrote on this blog website I told you what my initial thoughts were towards homeschooling. Well, I did a little investigating and I have discovered some advantages. First of all, as we all could figure out, home schooled kids have a flexiable schedule. The parent/teacher can tailor the cirriculum to suit the individual needs of the child. The child will get 100% of the insturctors attention. One on one teaching is very effective and of course impossible in a public school setting. Families have time to bond with eachother. Brings a sense of closeness between the parent and the child. The childs strengths and weakneses are reconized and the parent is able to devote more time towards the weaknesses.Parents can instill in their children morals and values that are important to them. Rather than left the schools dictate what is right and wrong. Peer pressure is obviously nonexistant, the chils should be able to make independant choices for his or her self. In the security of the childs home he or she should be comfortable enough to admit when they dont understand something. Some kids in a public school are embarrased or shy to raise their hand and ask a question. Children learn to repect their parents. They learn to value the views of their parents more so than the views of their friends. I'll have to come back to this later!!
I'm back. Where was I? The advantages of homeschooling. Besides having a flexible schedule, one on one attention no peer pressure home schooled children are suppose to do very well taking tests. They are said to score higher than public school kids. This is something I will have to look into in a blog or two. I think the next question and discussion on my list is how does the parent/teacher get the cirriculum for their child. There has to be some sort of guidline or standards they follow. How doe they get thier instruction for the lessons and how do they put together a test and who do they turn it in to? These are all things I want to explore on my next blog. I also need to know how in this day and age anyone can say they come from a single income family? Even if this is possible it takes a great deal of commitment from the parent to want to teach their child everyday. As you can see I am not a fane of homeschooling. even though I try to find the positive aspects I always revert back to the negitive and hardships. God, maybe I am old enough now to say that I am stuck in my ways. I hope not even though I turn 34 in less than two weeks. Ok- I will get back on the topic, the bottom line is that homeschooling is not for everyone, but more power to the Moms and Dads who actually want to try and take on that resposibility.

Home schooling

This morning I was in the grocery store and I over heard two women talking about someone home schooling their kids. I thought How weird and kept going down the aisle. Then all of a sudden I thought of my blog page and my final paper. What a good idea, I thought, I can argue the effects of home schooling vs. public schooling. Now, I dont know anything about home schooled kids. I wasnt one and I know no one who home schools their own children. When I think of home schooling I picture kids sleeping in till noon and hanging around in their pajamas watching TV all day. Finally they will get around to doing a little reading or social studies. I also have visions of these kids never leaving the house to interact with "outsiders". They seem to be confined to the home like cult members in a secret society. It seems like child abuse or some strange paranoid fetish on the parents part. Why wouldnt Moms and Dads want their children to interact with other kids? Are these kids allowed to ride their bikes, go to the mall, watch movies, etc. or do the lead this very sheltered life?

I had never heard of home schooling until maybe the last 10 years. I can understand some parents not wanting their children to go to public schools and be exposed to sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. :o) And I completely understand the fear of sending your child to school one day only to hear on the news their school errupted in terrible violence and your child was shot nad or killed. In some aspects public schools are changing maybe for the worst. When I was in high school I couldnt wait to see all my friends and find out the latest gossip of that day. See what everyone was wearing and who had dates for the weekend. What about all the extra activities the schools provide; friday night football games, pep rallies, school dances, plays...These are all aprt of my memories I couldnt imagin not having. What about graduation, putting on that cap and gown, walking across the stage to get your diploma. Knowing your parents, family and friends are all watching you with such great hopes and dream for your future. If I didnt have these memories I dont think my life would feel complete. College is the usual next step for high school graduates. Can home schooled kids fit in i a college setting. Never being away from their parent could they survive a freshman year in the dorms. Away from home, all alone, I WANT MY MOMMY!!! Aaaaagggghhhhhh!!!

My First "BLOG" Experience!!

OK-Here goes, my very first blog entry ever. This is part of my English assignment however, I think this could be fun! What a great idea, kind of like an online journal. Cool! Anyway, I am interested in finishing college with an Elementary Education degree. Our teacher told us that it would be a good idea if we wrote our Final Essay on a topic that intrests us. That would be Education, and how important it is to us through out our lives. It is funny, some people think that once they have squeaked through high school they are equiped with all the knowledge they need to go into the world as adults and survive. WRONG!! I really think that our society should raise the legal adult age from 18 to 30 years old. I know when I was 18 I thought I knew everything about life, heck that really started during my early teenage years. I'm sorry Mom for all the touture I put you through!! I dont know how you survived. Anyway, just graduated from High School, I remember feeling kind of lost. What am I going to do everyday now that school is over? From the beginning of time that was all I knew. Wake up, get dressed, go to school, hang out with friends, have lunch, daydream about the cute boy in class, look forward to getting home in the afternoon to go outside and play, do homework, have dinner, go to bed. Get up and do it all over again. Sounds like the movie Groundhog Day!! Luckily I was enrolled at a community college with plans to pursue an Architectural Drafting degree. I was looking forward to the classes starting but it was strange to be able to pick the courses you wanted to take and then be able to choose the times of your classes. Wow, all these choices, is this what being an adult was all about? This is going to be a fun ride!! It got even better when I arrived at my college classes and the teachers made comments like "you are all adults you can come to class or you can make up the work" WHAT?? I dont have to show up and Im not going to get in trouble. Yeah, what a good feeling. Some mornings I just didnt want to get out of bed and go to school, that was OK. I didnt have to show a note from my parent or doctor. I just didnt have to show up. Well, this type of thinking got me a 2-year A.S. Degree in the lightening quick time of 8 years :o) Yup, it took a long 8 years of being gun-ho about school to just wanting to throw in the towel and quit. It also cost me alot of F's on my transcripts. I guess i was too lazy to withdraw from the class, and just stopped going. So anyway, all this rambling points back to raising the adult age! Im sure Im not alone with this type of story. I cant believe that anyone in their right mind would consider me a legal adult. I was living at home, with no bills. My family paid for my school, I had a poor excuse for a job in the Mall where I would spend my paycheck on clothes before I got it. This couldnt be adulthood. Ok-Fast forward 7 years, I'm 33 years old now, happily married and living for the first time as an adult, with bills, responsibilities, obligations...etc..... Well I decide to go back to school and take some college classes, Oh my god, what a whole new experience. I've completed 3 classes so far, I'm taking 3 more right now. I never whine about the assignments, papers, and readings. I actually welcome them. I actually look forward to the work I have to do. I have a goal and I am determined to get there. It probably also helps that this time around I have to pay for college myself. It is EXPENSIVE, but it will be worth it when I am standing infront of my own classroom one day!! At the end of all this rambling, I just have to say that getting an education is very important.