Comments on: Guest Post: Homeschooling VS. Public School

By: Cassie Laing

Cassie Laing — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 04:11:27 +0000

Hi Bridget! You are doing the right thing- looking at the situation for each of your children and weighing the options. With your younger child if you feel it is working, keep at it! You are right, there is the potential for a much broader learning topics (such as Bible, or music, arts, foreign language, the list goes on!) in homeschooling because so little time is wasted. For your older child, you are the best judge on her well being. If you feel the environment is detrimental to her and the school is unable or unwilling to provide what she needs you could give homeschooling a try. Maybe do a trial over the summer, you don’t need to purchase a curriculum to try homeschooling. Her special education teacher should be able to provide you with a detailed summary of her academic abilities. Ask for copies of her reading levels and fluency, her math levels, and all of her goals sheets. You should have been given a copy of her IEP after her most recent ARD meeting, but that could have been up to 12 months ago. The teacher is required to keep progress every 6 weeks on each of the areas addressed in her goals, so ask for the current levels. If you don’t want to mention homeschooling to the school yet, just let them know you want to work on her goals at home and they should be overly helpful. If not, that is a bad sign. Look for some ideas online to address the areas she need to improve. If you run into trouble, let me know by replying here and I can point you to some resources. I’ll pray for you as you look into the options!

By: Bridget

Bridget — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 05:02:29 +0000

I am currently trying to decide whether I should homeschool or not. I have a 5 year old that I currently “home preschool” for. It is going well. My main reasons for wanting to home school her is to teach her more Bible than she could get if she was at school all those hours in a day and to protect her from unwanted influences and social situations. I do worry about my ability to challenger her enough.

My other child is my 16 year old (sophomore) step daughter. She has lived with us for 2 years. Her life with her mom wasn’t idea and there was a lot of negative influence and habits there and no Jesus. She struggles in school. She has a neurological condition called Tuberous Sclerosis which causes her to have seizures. She is on medication to control them. Her brain development and maybe her medicine cause her have a processing delay. She works at a slower pace than other kids. She probably has ADD and I think she has a lot of Aspberger tendencies, but they tell me there is no autism. Her brain development and processing probably puts her between 8 and 12 year old depending on the area. She is very behind socially. She has an IEP. In my mind I think she needs true individualized learning. I think she would benefit from that. I think the lack of pressure at school to keep up and focus would be good for her. I definitely think that the social protection and Bible teaching would be great for her. It kills me to send this girl who is in a 8-12 year old body to school to hang out with 16 year olds that don’t understand her and she doesn’t understand them. I worry because I don’t know how much I need her to learn in 2 years. She is open to home schooling. I worry about my patience level and to start home schooling with an 11th grader instead of from the beginning! I don’t have answers as to how I handle it if I get a curriculum that tests her and she ends up testing way below her age level. I don’t know what the requirements are for what she needs to complete. She does have an IEP at school, if I didn’t mention that. I honestly have no issues with the school. I just am not sure that a group learning environment is right for her. I also feel she needs protection and that she needs time at home. Thank you for listening and if you have any feedback or things for me to consider, I would love to hear it!

By: Sheila

Sheila — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:44:02 +0000

I was a teacher, too, though in private schools. Many of the problems you mention aren’t really an issue in a good private school — for instance, we didn’t worry much about standardized testing and were instructed to teach to the top of the class. But with a classroom full of kids and limited time, it was still impossible to reach all the kids. In one class I had, I ended up giving up on reaching all of the kids. I left the talkers on one side of the room, walked over to the kids who wanted to learn, and just taught them. I made sure everyone got the bare minimum they would need to scrape through, but once half the kids had informed me they didn’t intend to continue in my subject (Latin) and only wanted to pass, I kind of gave up. It was so discouraging.

Three years of teaching at two different (excellent, one with national acclaim) private schools only renewed my desire to homeschool. I was homeschooled myself, and I never could understand the way kids in school live for the grade instead of just learning for the sake of learning. The youngest kids were happy to learn for the sake of learning, but once they’d had a few report cards come back, suddenly it was about the letter and not about knowing anything. I felt I’d killed those kids’ natural desire to learn, despite all my efforts not to. There’s something about the environment, the number of hours a day they spend there, the amount of homework they have, the external motivations (like grades), that all combine together to kill any love of learning or intrinsic motivation the kids come to school with.

By: Holly @ Faithful Womanhood

Holly @ Faithful Womanhood — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:50:24 +0000

Bravo! Excellent post and very well presented! I was homeschooled 1st-12th grades, my four younger siblings were or are still being homeschooled all the way through their school years. I have since graduated from high school (a year early, btw) and from college with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and work as a registered nurse in a pediatric cardiovascular ICU. Neither of my parents finished college. My younger brother is a 4.0 sophomore graphic design major, the other three are still in grade school. Homeschooling is not for everyone, but it was one of the greatest blessings in my life! Thanks for your insight!

By: Cassie

Cassie — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:11:17 +0000

Very well said and wonderful reasons for homeschooling! I agree wholeheartedly!

By: Cassie

Cassie — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:08:04 +0000

It would be great to have more options available for those who can’t or don’t want to homeschool and can’t afford the private routes. I think more options would cause greater reflection within the system regarding what does or doesn’t work and why.

By: Cassie

Cassie — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:05:23 +0000

So glad you found something that works, even if you end up doing something different later. It is the careful attention to whether it is working or not that matters the most!

By: Cassie

Cassie — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:03:46 +0000

So glad I could give a little encouragement! I have to say your situation is one I saw too often. You sound like someone who has made a great effort to work with the system. There comes a point when you know you have done all you can within the framework and you have to remove your child from it. I am so glad you have the opportunity to do so!

By: Cassie

Cassie — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:56:37 +0000

Yes, there Is a stipulation in the No Child Left Behind act that requires adequate yearly progress (AYP). This is a great idea, but there is still a problem- the yearly progress just refers to passing or not passing the same standardized test. So if a student didn’t pass last year, they don’t *have to* pass this year. If they did pass last year, they need to pass again this year; however that doesn’t mean they are adequately challenged in the classroom. They are just needing to meet the minimum standards for that grade level. So, in effect all AYP really does is let a little more pressure off trying to get the “failing” students to improve. In addition the same problem still applies: the schools/teachers are allowed to have a certain percentage of students not meeting AYP. Since the failing ones don’t “count,” the bubble students who don’t end up passing the test make up this margin of students. But not to worry, when they fail again next year- they won’t “count against us.”

I am not familliar with “value added” but it may be (and I hope is!) an improvement on the standard I described above. I am not sure how it is tied in with teacher evals, however I imagine the same would apply- a certain percentage of students are expected to fail regardless of the teacher and as long as they are the same fails from last year the teacher is fairly safe.

By: Amy Love @ Real Food Whole Health

Amy Love @ Real Food Whole Health — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 04:53:08 +0000

We will do everything in our power to homeschool our children- move to whatever state may be necessary (when the time comes), shift budgets/jobs as needed, etc. It’s extremely important to us to spend the time one on one with our children and have them learn through a wide range of methods and experiences. If we were to involve outside education, it would be Waldorf or Montessori- possibly on a part-time basis and with us very involved. We feel that it’s safer to have the children near us- with our ability to provide healthy food, appropriate social connections and the freedom to teach everyday skills and relish in the arts, sciences and self-expression- the “busywork” aspect of public schooling drove me crazy and I watched many creative and talented kids fall by the wayside. I also want to have the experience of knowing my children very well, learning from them and with them and not miss the majority of their childhood with them in child care, school or after care. I hated summers as a child because both my parents worked and I was shipped from one camp (overnight or day camp) to another or stuck with a sitter. I don’t want that for my kids, so we’ve decided that we’ll do what we can to make it happen.

By: Mary

Mary — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:46:02 +0000

I think some of the teaching the bubble kids strategy is being addressed. You stated, “Not that each child has the best possible chance, or each makes the most progress themselves, but that which benefits the school as a whole is done.”

My state has a measure called “Value Added.” Each student is measured against his or her previous year’s score and must make at least one year’s growth in order to be a student for whom value was added. Students who are far behind must still have one year’s value added, and students who are far ahead must have value added. Every student is valued and measure against only himself or herself. An analogy for this is running a 5K; only one person will “win” the race, but every runner can achieve a personal best. Fifty percent of the teachers’ annual evaluation will be based on whether or not their students had value added.

By: Sherri

Sherri — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:00:09 +0000

My child is currently in the public school system ( I have 2 that have already graduated and are in college). This will be the last year that he attends public school, Lord willing. My husband and I have decided to take him out of the school system and home school him. He is an ADD student and is on medication for it. However, his teachers don’t seem to care. I have tried to communicate with his teachers to no avail. I went so far as to send a letter directly to the principle telling him what a lack of concern the teachers (at least a couple of them) had for my son. We are more than half way through the school year and I have yet to be contacted by a teacher to let me know my son is struggling (one teacher sent word home through my daughter–who was a senior at the time). This was after my daughter came home telling me how “rude” this teacher was. It is extremely disheartening at what our school system has turned in to.
My daughter, who has now graduated early, was coloring in her senior English class. And no, not complex coloring, it looked like something you would give a 1st grader to do as busy work. That was her homework. I asked what the stipulations were and was told that as long as she stayed inside the lines, she got a 100. This in a senior English class is deplorable! Thus the reasons we have decided to remove my son from the public school system. It will be a challenge as I work full time and so does my husband, but we feel this is what God would have us do for my son!
Thank you for the insight and encouragement!

By: Kiara

Kiara — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:04:51 +0000

This struggle to figure out the best path for us and our little ones can be so polarizing. After home schooling for almost 4 years, I am in desperate need of a break and the opportunity to re-evaluate. At the beginning of February, we enrolled our children in a very small Montessori school in our area. So far, it seems to be a nice middle ground for us, but only time will tell. I have so much empathy for families who feel they do not have any ideal choices for their children.

By: Heather Anderson

Heather Anderson — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:53:55 +0000

I really appreciate you sharing from an inside perspective from both worlds. I went to public school but now home school my own children. I want to be careful as well not to pass judgment on those who choose to use the public school system so this is more for others to think about than anything else. Beyond the system having flaws in its practical functioning, as a Christian, I must recognize that any system that separates learning from God is a problem in itself. If God is the author of all things, then He has perspective that must be taught about and in all things. And even though I personally love home schooling I believe that there is great need for private education that is either affordable or where scholarships are available. Early education was often charitable endeavors extended through the church. I believe that it is time to look at the whole system and re-examine it fully.

By: Regina Murphy

Regina Murphy — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:08:33 +0000

I love your heart to help others. I too struggle with the pull to help other families and children, while wanting to shield and protect my own children. Maybe you could start a homeschooling group in your community and reach out to other parents who would like to homeschool but feel intimidated, under-qualified or unable to do so. Perhaps even reaching out to a lower income school to help serve them as a group or family? I think you should definitely pray about what God would have your family do for His glory, and follow His leading, but I thought I might chime in with some thoughts on maybe having your hand in both home and public school. Also, I feel that raising your children to be people who love and serve others is your best gift to your community and the next generation. Each family must do what is best for them, and not feel guilty about it either way. God bless you on your family’s journey.

By: Janise

Janise — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:32:54 +0000

My brother and I were homeschooled from K -12. My husband and I plan to homeschool our future children. However, after watching “Waiting for Superman” I found my desire to homeschool almost selfish. I felt like I was saving my children from a sinking ship but letting others in my community go down for lack of resources or engaged parents. This has sparked in me the desire to possibly get involved with the school my church plans to start over the next few years. I can “save” my kids from a broken system pretty easily, but perhaps I am called to do more than that.