I have recently met several people who have claimed that homeschooling is best for a child. They claim that public education is failing their children. Some thoughts:
Of course public school is failing our children:
- Society doesn't pay its teachers enough, so you have really stressed teachers trying to figure out how to pay a morgage when they should be focussed on teaching children.
- You throw 20 to 30 kids in to a cramped classroom. Imagine the US army using 1 soldier to fight 20 or 30 soldiers. Do you think that the US soldier could get to each of those other soldiers. Even if s/he was a really good soldier, s/he isn't going to be able to take out all of the enemy. Some are going to get away or fall through the cracks. The same goes for teaching. The teacher has to try his or her darndest to teach all of the kids, but some are going to fall through the cracks.
- No Child Left Behind has encouraged more and more teachers to leave the business or retire earlier than they had planned on. So instead of older teachers mentoring younger teachers, you have fresh out of college teachers who don't know everything.
- Teachers (in Eled) see the student for 6 hours a day. Teachers of High school see that student for less than 6 hours a WEEK.
- Professional teachers go to school for 4-6 years to become teachers. There they are trained to be the best America has to offer to our students. Most parents don't have an education degree. (In fact a lot of mommies don't have anything beyond a degree in general studies.)
- Whether you want your child to learn about America Idol at a young age or not, it is important for your child to be social. Unless that student plans on living in a vacuum for the rest of his life, he is going to need to know a little bit about pop culture. "The Water Cooler" effect is an important part of the industrial and business world. Students need to learn to socialize about non-work related items. Students being home schooled don't get propper socialization and are not trained up on how to deal effectively with others in a social setting.
- It spoils your child. Children that are home schooled get used to one on one attention. The real world does not provide one on one attention. Students that are home schooled do not learn that in order to succeed they need to pick up things the first time because the professor is not going to repeat it. Bosses get annoyed by an employee coming to them all the time asking for stuff.
- It creates an enviroment where student don't learn to work in groups. Business today is all about working in groups. Homeschooled children do not typically have group assignments. Therefore, they don't learn how to effectively work in a group to solve problems or complete tasks for a company.
- Sex ed should not be taught with your sister in the room.
I couldn't have said it better myself- although i still feel that if worse came to worse, i could still do my (hypothetical) children justice- and all i have is a general degree, course, more than half of those credits are eled requirements as i used to be an eled major. The only way i would EVER homeschool my children is if the violence got to a point where it was the only option AND there were other children from other families attending also. This would HAVE to be coupled with extracurricular activities OUTSIDE of the home, withOUT me teaching! I agree that perhaps the #1 benefit of public eduction is socialization... learning what's acceptable and what's not. I think the problem lies in the fact that most parents expect all a child's learning to be done in the classroom- no one on one time at home... this is most definitely NOT the case! I'm a fan of private schools. I wanna choose a school with higher standards so my (hypothetical) children will start from the begining expected to be higher than average... cuz we gotta face it, average in the USA today is scarry! The ability to work well in groups will help, or haunt, a child for the rest of their lives- which do you choose for your child?
ReplyDeletesorry for the novel...
I recently had a conversation with a third grade teacher. I asked her what she sees as the biggest problem with kids. She said it's disinterested parents. One mother told her daughter not to do what the teacher said. Too many people don't read with their kids and certainly don't participate with homework. And there is a lack of discipline at home that spills over into the classroom and disrupts learning.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned that when I was a kid in school we walked in single file in lines and there was no talking until we got outside. Classrooms were generally quiet places. When an adult came into the room we were all expected to stand up and greet that person as a group. In high school at change of class the rule was the same, single file in silence. We also wore uniforms and could get a "ticket" from a hall guard (they were in all the hallways) for disobeying the rules and we were reminded if a collar wasn't all the way out from under a jacket, etc. A ticket meant staying after school in study hall. School was not a free-for-all.
By today's standards this would be cruel and unusual punishment. After I listed all these things for her she said some of that discipline is returning to schools. I don't feel having to toe-the-mark damaged me in any way. I learned to how behave, i learned respect, and how to take resposibility for myself, all of which served me well in my adult world.
It's easy to point fingers at either system of education. The hard part is finding a workable solution to educating our children and holding them to a higher standard.
Dad's GF:
ReplyDeleteBy far that is the most horrible thing to watch with No Child Left Behind - we fail teachers who are trying their best yet we don't do anything to the parents that are worthless in their child's education.
If a child's school fails (according to the standards of NCLB), we ought to have CPS go into those homes and investigate those parents for neglect.
Parents are such hinderences to their childrens education, these days. I remember Mr. Goudy accused me of being lazy when I was in the sixth grade at a parent teacher conference. My parents sided with him. My last IEP that I attended, we told the parent that their child was not performing the way he should and what side did the parent take? Not the teachers that are in the classroom with the student. Nope - they took the students side. Some parents these days go by the simple solution: Your the teacher - teach. I'm too busy with my life.
Their children should be their lives or give them to good couples that can actually do that child some good.
(Watch everyone - I'm going to offend someone else now)
Let's face it, this is all gross generalizations. Public school is not an amoralistic ghetto, homeschooling is not a cult, and private school is not the solution. I have worked with schools, non-profits and I am in every dang mommy and me group in Madison and the only answer I can come up with is that it is all about your kid.
ReplyDeleteYour child is going to be sucessful if you listen and pay attention to their needs, period. Not every parent can do that, sometimes that is their fault, sometimes not. There is no use railing against a school system, public or otherwise that has worked well for many, many children. Raise your own kids right, help other parents when you can, help teachers when you can and you have done your job as a citizen of this world.
In a perfect world we would have art, music, foriegn languages, home ec, shop and well paid teachers. We would all feel like we got paid enough for the hard work that we all do, but we don't. So I can only look at an imperfect educational system as an opportunity to spend extra time with my child introducing her to the things I love, to be a parent and a teacher. That's how it should be right?
grrrrrrrrrr- well, i think we've come down to the facts... there is little we can do to control/have an effect on public schools (and even if there was- i don't believe it's the best allocation of our time) HOWEVER the education our children receive in ANY school... the things parents can do to complete the child's education are ENDLESS! There's always going to be cowardly reasons and excuses for why kids aren't learning in whatever education system they're in- but it seems there are even more solutions... programs and $$$ are out there- whoever is in charge of that child's wellbeing (THE GAURDIAN- that means YOU mom and dad) needs to step up- complete the education at home, and if that's not possible find a way for it to be completed... nert to all of you who say that showing your kids how the world works on a day to day basis is NOT the best thing for your child... nert nert nert!!!
ReplyDelete