Homeschooled child concern

[quandrea]

Generalizations, you mean?

No, I'm reporting unemotional observations based upon homeschoolers I've seen come into public school for the first time. You could argue that the most successful homeschoolers never cross my threshold -- I'd have to agree with that; regardless, I know what I've seen.

No. I mean generalisations. I'm Canadian. That's how we spell it.

I am a homeschooling parent and a teacher. I know enough about the public school system to know that I don't trust my children's education to it. It's a system that at best is fraught with mediocrity. At worst, it fails to educate at all.

My eldest was ready for high school by age eleven. She now pursues high school credits via an online school. There is no mark inflation here. We cover more than the curriculum in less time and I teach everything to mastery. Part of me feels the ire and contempt I've seen from public school teachers is due to them feeling threatened that someone else is doing a better job than them. Not saying that is the case with you, but I've seen many teachers who hold many of the same misconceptions and preconceived prejudices as you.

 

[MrsPete]

No. I mean generalisations. I'm Canadian. That's how we spell it.

I am a homeschooling parent and a teacher. I know enough about the public school system to know that I don't trust my children's education to it. It's a system that at best is fraught with mediocrity. At worst, it fails to educate at all.

My eldest was ready for high school by age eleven. She now pursues high school credits via an online school. There is no mark inflation here. We cover more than the curriculum in less time and I teach everything to mastery. Part of me feels the ire and contempt I've seen from public school teachers is due to them feeling threatened that someone else is doing a better job than them. Not saying that is the case with you, but I've seen many teachers who hold many of the same misconceptions and preconceived prejudices as you.

I don't claim for a moment that public school is perfect -- far from it -- but our best students are far from mediocre. My oldest was one of the public school systems "best and brightest". She finished high school with a slew of college credits and a high GPA, and she earned a CNA-1 license before graduation /finished a CNA-2 that summer. She was admitted to the university of her choice, graduated on time, and passed the NCLEX (the RN exam) in 75 questions (which means she answered every single one of them right). My youngest is still in college, but she is experiencing similar successes. I'd estimate 25-30% of our students are similar in that they're genuinely superstars.

Yes, we have quite a few students (and their parents) who don't take advantage of the opportunities placed in front of them -- just like our successes, they are very real. And we have a large number of students who fall in between.

I've given you a truthful description of what I've seen from homeschoolers entering the public schools. No, I have no ire for them and am not threatened in any way by them, but I have yet to see the superstar homeschoolers who are so prevalent online. It may well be that those students never enter the public school system, so I don't see them -- quite possible.

 

[luvsJack]

I am always amazed at those who determine that public school is a failure and they can only homeschool. Now I agree that public school is far from perfect (but what isn't?), but many,many successful people do come from public school systems. Obviously they were educated.

Now, speaking from a college admissions specialist, not all homeschool students are the amazing success stories that I read about here. Are some? Sure. But far from all.

What are the differences? I would venture to guess it's probably the same differences in public school students. Parents that make education a priority.

Like it or not there are some homeschool students that do a whole lot more "home" than they do "school". All of them? Not even close. But some. And there are parents that do the bare minimum of educating their child so that they are barely at grade level, maybe they think the child is where they should be or maybe they don't care but the result is the same. And then you have those that a college classroom becomes a real struggle when they don't have that one on one they had at home-this is a lot that we get as a community college. They try university and then find they need to back up and start at community college, sadly some don't do well with us either. But on the flip side, we have some that are very successful.

But to say there aren't those same issues with public school would be wrong. Some parents feel their responsibility stops at getting their kid on the bus. They don't know what their kid is doing or not doing in school, whether from lack of care or lack of time or knowledge, the result is the same.

The main thing we see at our level is the difference in students where the student and the parent makes education a priority regardless of what kind of school they come from.

 

[Kaytie]

As long as they can get that to work in the employment world, a flexible schedule is great. It's hard to find that though. I work with teens who have found it very hard to stay employed when they are allowed to be night owls.

There are generally laws regarding what hours teens can work. The thread subject is 12. She's not seeking employment any time soon. With her body clock not adjusting to a 9-5 (or 7-3, or whatever public school hours), this girl will have more flexibility to work alternative hours.

Did you intend to have a double negative or is that a typo?

Sigh. Neither. Imagine a comma immediately following the first "No."

And yes, there are jobs that require night shifts. They are rough on your health - I wouldn't want one.

Nobody is asking you to work alternative (not always overnight) shifts. I have a sibling who worked nights for 20+ years. Perfectly healthy. I've always worked normal shifts and have years of health issues.

 

[Kaytie]

Generalizations, you mean?

No. I'd expect a United States educational professional to be aware that not all countries which use the same language also spell the same.

 

[Jaime4004]

MY DD is 14 and started homeschooling (most of classes through a virtual school) last year, 7th grade. She had some social issues and wanted to homeschool. At first I was against it. Until I started thinking about it more seriously. She also has ADHD and some academic issues. Nothing the school was concerned about because she was a solid B student. I had serious concerns about her below average reading level and very low scores on most tests. I know that she is actually learning/retaining much more now. It's all at her own pace. If she doesn't understand something, we can take however much time is necessary for her to get it (LA/reading/spelling, history). And can fly through the subjects that are easier for her (math/science). She also takes Spanish at our local middle school (I'm no help there, took many years of French). She's active in 2 sports five plus days/week so no problems with isolation. She gets up around 8:30am (2 hrs later than if she went to middle school) and I'm fine with that. Homeschooling was a great choice for her. I know our family members were really concerned about it but ultimately, I know her best and feel that this is it. I also have two boys (4th and 7th grade) that are doing great in public school. I fully support public schools, they are just not one size fits all. Happy to have choices in education!