Saturday, May 26, 2018
Final update...
I was very remiss in keeping this updated. My (now adult) children completed their middle school years in our homeschool, went on to do high school in a parochial high school, and are both currently in university, having obtained entrance scholarships, and have been reasonably successful.
On contemplation, I wish that we had started homeschooling earlier, as it was a really fantastic bonding experience between my children and myself, and offered a flexibility and freedom that was not offered in traditional public or private schools. But the past is the past. I am grateful for the homeschooling time I did have with them. I am glad they went on to pursue post-secondary education. I am glad that I have such wonderful children, and am thankful they did not give me a lot of trouble growing up. They are great kids, and I love them without condition, and am proud of them for doing their best and growing into moral, kind and learned adults.
Best wishes to all homeschoolers and would be homeschoolers out there. Best wishes to all parents out there- be aware of how quickly time passes, and make the effort to spend it with your kids. Love them, teach them, share their early life with them, and most of all, enjoy them.
As this will be my last post in this blog...
“Farewell," they cried, "Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!" That is the polite thing to say among eagles. - JRR Tolkien, The Hobbit
Monday, September 27, 2010
Product Review-The League of Homeschool All-Stars
The League of Homeschool All-Starss, Bentley Boyd, 2009, Williamsburg VA: Chester Comix, ISBN-10: 1933122404, ISBN-13: 978-1933122403, 32 pages
Medium: Hardcover book
Age/Grade: 9-12/4-7
Secular/Religious: Inclusive-contains references to some of the featured personalities' religious beliefs as part of their biography where appropriate, without proselytizing
Rating: ****
* I hate it
** I don’t like it
*** It’s about average
**** I like it
***** I love it
I purchased The League of Homeschool All-Stars along with the Chester Comix series of historical comic books by the same author, as it looked like it might be an interesting read. I thought my children might enjoy reading about famous people who were themselves home-schooled.
The book is a collection of short (one page) biographies of twenty-two (22) famous people whose education was primarily completed at home. It is divided into several chapters: science, the arts, politics, and business, with several examples of homeschoolers who have made significant contributions in each area. Some of the people included are Ansel Adams, George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Woodrow Wilson,Charlotte Mason,and one of my favorites, Beatrix Potter.
The biographies are not detailed enough to provide a real history lesson of each person, but rather are designed to inspire home educated children to excel, and provide role models for them. In this, it succeeds reasonably well.
The drawings are attractive, if busy, and colorful, while the text gives key points of each character's life. I like the time line at the top of each page that not only tells when each person was born, but includes major political events that occurred around the same time-it helps to put things in some historical perspective. I also like that this book includes more modern people like Venus and Serena Williams, as well as more historical personages.
I wouldn't recommend this book for use as a lesson in itself, but I think it would be of interest to older elementary and middle school aged home-schooled students as an interesting read. I suppose that it might be an interesting adjunct to other more traditional resources when studying the various included historical figures, as a kind of side bar. It certainly has some inspirational value for the home educated child.
Medium: Hardcover book
Age/Grade: 9-12/4-7
Secular/Religious: Inclusive-contains references to some of the featured personalities' religious beliefs as part of their biography where appropriate, without proselytizing
Rating: ****
* I hate it
** I don’t like it
*** It’s about average
**** I like it
***** I love it
I purchased The League of Homeschool All-Stars along with the Chester Comix series of historical comic books by the same author, as it looked like it might be an interesting read. I thought my children might enjoy reading about famous people who were themselves home-schooled.
The book is a collection of short (one page) biographies of twenty-two (22) famous people whose education was primarily completed at home. It is divided into several chapters: science, the arts, politics, and business, with several examples of homeschoolers who have made significant contributions in each area. Some of the people included are Ansel Adams, George Washington Carver, Thomas Edison, Woodrow Wilson,Charlotte Mason,and one of my favorites, Beatrix Potter.
The biographies are not detailed enough to provide a real history lesson of each person, but rather are designed to inspire home educated children to excel, and provide role models for them. In this, it succeeds reasonably well.
The drawings are attractive, if busy, and colorful, while the text gives key points of each character's life. I like the time line at the top of each page that not only tells when each person was born, but includes major political events that occurred around the same time-it helps to put things in some historical perspective. I also like that this book includes more modern people like Venus and Serena Williams, as well as more historical personages.
I wouldn't recommend this book for use as a lesson in itself, but I think it would be of interest to older elementary and middle school aged home-schooled students as an interesting read. I suppose that it might be an interesting adjunct to other more traditional resources when studying the various included historical figures, as a kind of side bar. It certainly has some inspirational value for the home educated child.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
An Opportunity to Help Educate Children About Modern Day Slavery
According to Free the Slaves, there are ~27 million slaves in the world today. That is more than at any other time in history, despite it being illegal in pretty much every country of the world. It seems that most of these slaves are used in farm work or as domestics, though some are used in mining or the sex trade as well. There are slaves in almost every country in the world, including the United States, which is estimated to have over 10000 people living in slavery at any time (from Free the Slaves).
I came across this project, which is looking for funding to create a comic book about human trafficking and needs $8000 before the end of September to make it happen. Personally, I think it looks like a good way to introduce children to the problem and raise awareness of it across the nation. It could be used as part of a unit on slavery, as a resource that is easily readable and interesting.
I'm supporting it-I hope you will too.
Borderland: A Comic Book About Human Trafficking
I came across this project, which is looking for funding to create a comic book about human trafficking and needs $8000 before the end of September to make it happen. Personally, I think it looks like a good way to introduce children to the problem and raise awareness of it across the nation. It could be used as part of a unit on slavery, as a resource that is easily readable and interesting.
I'm supporting it-I hope you will too.
Borderland: A Comic Book About Human Trafficking
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Product Review-The Complete Home Learning Source Book
The Complete Home Learning Source Book: The Essential Resource Guide for Homeschoolers, Parents and Educators Covering Every Subject from Arithmetic to Zoology, Rebecca Rupp, 1998, New York: Three Rivers Press, ISBN-10: 0609801090, ISBN-13: 978-0609801093, 880 pages
Medium: Paperback book
Age/Grade: Adult/Educator
Secular/Religious: Inclusive-contains references to both secular and religious material without proselytizing or espousing any particular beliefs
Rating: ****
* I hate it
** I don’t like it
*** It’s about average
**** I like it
***** I love it
The Complete Home Learning Source Book is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a lot of reading to get through War and Peace, but that’s just peanuts to The Complete Home Learning Source Book. All right, so that may not be strictly true (and it’s a blatant rip-off from Douglas Adams, I know), but really, this is a book that lives up to its name.
Rebecca Rupp has compiled all kinds of resources, from print to video to computer software, and listed it by subject. As if this wasn’t enough, she has included addresses, phone numbers, websites and information about all of the resources she lists, and in many cases, bases her information on personal experiences with the products in question from her own homeschooling program. This book really is a wealth of information. In fact, my only complaint is that I found it a bit overwhelming.
I like the format-divided by subject, and further subdivided by type of media, with clear markings as to the age/grade level of the material. She starts with the title, type and age, and then gives a brief review, often followed by purchasing information.
While I have found this book extremely helpful, I consider it best used paired up with Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year. This book provides the resources needed to follow the curriculum outline in Home Learning Year by Year. Beginning homeschoolers like me may find it difficult to know where to start without the latter book, but be unsure where to turn for materials without the former.
I “like” this book, rather than “love” it because I am not one who enjoys books of lists-even when they are as useful and well done as is this one-but I would still highly recommend it for its utility.
Medium: Paperback book
Age/Grade: Adult/Educator
Secular/Religious: Inclusive-contains references to both secular and religious material without proselytizing or espousing any particular beliefs
Rating: ****
* I hate it
** I don’t like it
*** It’s about average
**** I like it
***** I love it
The Complete Home Learning Source Book is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a lot of reading to get through War and Peace, but that’s just peanuts to The Complete Home Learning Source Book. All right, so that may not be strictly true (and it’s a blatant rip-off from Douglas Adams, I know), but really, this is a book that lives up to its name.
Rebecca Rupp has compiled all kinds of resources, from print to video to computer software, and listed it by subject. As if this wasn’t enough, she has included addresses, phone numbers, websites and information about all of the resources she lists, and in many cases, bases her information on personal experiences with the products in question from her own homeschooling program. This book really is a wealth of information. In fact, my only complaint is that I found it a bit overwhelming.
I like the format-divided by subject, and further subdivided by type of media, with clear markings as to the age/grade level of the material. She starts with the title, type and age, and then gives a brief review, often followed by purchasing information.
While I have found this book extremely helpful, I consider it best used paired up with Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year. This book provides the resources needed to follow the curriculum outline in Home Learning Year by Year. Beginning homeschoolers like me may find it difficult to know where to start without the latter book, but be unsure where to turn for materials without the former.
I “like” this book, rather than “love” it because I am not one who enjoys books of lists-even when they are as useful and well done as is this one-but I would still highly recommend it for its utility.
Product Review-Home Learning Year by Year
Home Learning Year by Year: How to Design a Homeschool Curriculum from Preschool Through High School, Rebecca Rupp, 2000, New York: Three Rivers Press, ISBN-10: 0609805851, ISBN-13: 978-0609805855, 432 pages
Medium: Paperback book
Age/Grade: Adult/Educator
Secular/Religious: Secular-little to no mention of any religious beliefs
Rating: *****
* I hate it
** I don’t like it
*** It’s about average
**** I like it
***** I love it
When we first started educating my son at home, we used a “school-in-a-box” complete religious-based curriculum, which included DVD lessons, texts, workbooks, tests and teacher’s editions for all the core subjects. While academically rigorous, this did not seem to be the best option for our son’s learning style.
So I went searching for resources to help design a curriculum that would better suit our family’s needs. One of the resources I found was Rebecca Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year, which is a comprehensive outline of the public school curriculum in a surprisingly concise book. The curriculum that Dr. Rupp has put together is a “synthesis of the public school curricula of all fifty states, as well as from proposals from private sources and innovative educators”.
Dr. Rupp is well known in homeschool circles for educating her three sons at home for more than ten years, and for authoring several books, both fiction and non-fiction, including several that are related to homeschooling. She also writes a monthly column for Home Education Magazine.
Home Learning Year by Year covers all of the core subjects and many elective subjects that are taught in the public school system. Notably missing are references to Bible study and courses in religion, so readers seeking a strong Christian basis for their curriculum will not find it in this book, though may find it a useful reference for non-religious parts of their educational program. And non-Christians who may want to deviate significantly from the public school system are not likely to find this a very helpful resource, either, since it is a synthesis from the public schools’ curricula.
But for those home educators who want to generally follow the same material and progression as the public school system in the United States, this is an excellent resource for curriculum design. It is well written, complete and easy to follow. It gives a good outline of knowledge and provides some resources and textbook recommendations to aid in teaching the material. I would suggest, though, that this book is better viewed as one of a set, paired with Rebecca Rupp’s other invaluable resource The Complete Home Learning Source Book: The Essential Resource Guide for Homeschoolers, Parents and Educators Covering Every Subject from Arithmetic to Zoology (Rebecca Rupp, 1998, New York: Three Rivers Press). This volume has much more in depth resources which complement her curriculum outline nicely.
Overall, this is a clear, comprehensive and secular overview of the public school curriculum in the United States, written for home educators to use in their own curriculum design. It does what it sets out to do, and I highly recommend it.
Medium: Paperback book
Age/Grade: Adult/Educator
Secular/Religious: Secular-little to no mention of any religious beliefs
Rating: *****
* I hate it
** I don’t like it
*** It’s about average
**** I like it
***** I love it
When we first started educating my son at home, we used a “school-in-a-box” complete religious-based curriculum, which included DVD lessons, texts, workbooks, tests and teacher’s editions for all the core subjects. While academically rigorous, this did not seem to be the best option for our son’s learning style.
So I went searching for resources to help design a curriculum that would better suit our family’s needs. One of the resources I found was Rebecca Rupp’s Home Learning Year by Year, which is a comprehensive outline of the public school curriculum in a surprisingly concise book. The curriculum that Dr. Rupp has put together is a “synthesis of the public school curricula of all fifty states, as well as from proposals from private sources and innovative educators”.
Dr. Rupp is well known in homeschool circles for educating her three sons at home for more than ten years, and for authoring several books, both fiction and non-fiction, including several that are related to homeschooling. She also writes a monthly column for Home Education Magazine.
Home Learning Year by Year covers all of the core subjects and many elective subjects that are taught in the public school system. Notably missing are references to Bible study and courses in religion, so readers seeking a strong Christian basis for their curriculum will not find it in this book, though may find it a useful reference for non-religious parts of their educational program. And non-Christians who may want to deviate significantly from the public school system are not likely to find this a very helpful resource, either, since it is a synthesis from the public schools’ curricula.
But for those home educators who want to generally follow the same material and progression as the public school system in the United States, this is an excellent resource for curriculum design. It is well written, complete and easy to follow. It gives a good outline of knowledge and provides some resources and textbook recommendations to aid in teaching the material. I would suggest, though, that this book is better viewed as one of a set, paired with Rebecca Rupp’s other invaluable resource The Complete Home Learning Source Book: The Essential Resource Guide for Homeschoolers, Parents and Educators Covering Every Subject from Arithmetic to Zoology (Rebecca Rupp, 1998, New York: Three Rivers Press). This volume has much more in depth resources which complement her curriculum outline nicely.
Overall, this is a clear, comprehensive and secular overview of the public school curriculum in the United States, written for home educators to use in their own curriculum design. It does what it sets out to do, and I highly recommend it.
Product Review-Bang! The Universe Verse: Book 1
Bang! The Universe Verse: Book 1, James Lu Dunbar, 2009, CreateSpace, ISBN-10: 1449587666, ISBN-13: 978-1449587666, 44 pages
Medium: Paperback book
Age/Grade: Any
Secular/Religious: Secular-little to no mention of religion; may offend some Christian beliefs
Rating: *****
* I hate it
** I don’t like it
*** It’s about average
**** I like it
***** I love it
What do you get when you mix Stephen Hawking, Stan Lee and Shel Silverstein? The answer is James Lu Dunbar and his wonderful account of the Big Bang origin of the universe in comic book form.
After having my interest piqued on an internet forum, I bought this book as a supplement to my children's home education program. I'm always on the lookout for materials that are fun, easy to understand and yet have some real educational value, to complement the more traditional curriculum that I use. "Bang! The Universe Verse Book 1" certainly meets those criteria.
It is written in rhyming poetry in language that my middle school aged children can easily understand and it presents the Big Bang theory quite clearly. Discussing the early and rapid expansion of the universe, concepts of energy force and matter, atomic structure, the formation of the elements, and the structure of the universe, this little book presents these topics in a straightforward manner that anyone can understand, but it doesn't "dumb it down" so much that it becomes useless either.
The drawings are fun and complement the text well, and the whole book has a lighthearted feel to it that should help learners old and young re-discover the joy of science.
I plan to use this for my homeschooling, but I think it would be enjoyable for anyone of school age or older (including adults) who have an interest in science and astronomy. I'm looking forward to books two and three...
Medium: Paperback book
Age/Grade: Any
Secular/Religious: Secular-little to no mention of religion; may offend some Christian beliefs
Rating: *****
* I hate it
** I don’t like it
*** It’s about average
**** I like it
***** I love it
What do you get when you mix Stephen Hawking, Stan Lee and Shel Silverstein? The answer is James Lu Dunbar and his wonderful account of the Big Bang origin of the universe in comic book form.
After having my interest piqued on an internet forum, I bought this book as a supplement to my children's home education program. I'm always on the lookout for materials that are fun, easy to understand and yet have some real educational value, to complement the more traditional curriculum that I use. "Bang! The Universe Verse Book 1" certainly meets those criteria.
It is written in rhyming poetry in language that my middle school aged children can easily understand and it presents the Big Bang theory quite clearly. Discussing the early and rapid expansion of the universe, concepts of energy force and matter, atomic structure, the formation of the elements, and the structure of the universe, this little book presents these topics in a straightforward manner that anyone can understand, but it doesn't "dumb it down" so much that it becomes useless either.
The drawings are fun and complement the text well, and the whole book has a lighthearted feel to it that should help learners old and young re-discover the joy of science.
I plan to use this for my homeschooling, but I think it would be enjoyable for anyone of school age or older (including adults) who have an interest in science and astronomy. I'm looking forward to books two and three...
Monday, April 12, 2010
Our Decision to Homeschool...
Let me first say that I am not an enemy of the public school system. I was educated in public schools (except for a few years in a private school) in Canada and Scotland, and my children began their educational journey in the public school system here in the United States. I went on to complete post-secondary education and completed several degrees, diplomas, certificates and courses from a total of of six (6) community colleges and universities. The public schools I attended provided a solid foundation for my further study and I have been reasonably successful in my chosen career and a productive member of society.
My children (now 11 and 13) have learned to read and write and learn the basics of arithmetic and science in the public schools and have had the opportunity to make friends and learn social skills within the confines of that environment. They have both had some very skilled and dedicated teachers, to whom my family owes a debt of gratitude for the hard work and care with which they educated my children. I am pleased with and give due credit to those teachers who have given my children extra help after school and have worked hard to ensure that all their students meet current standards. My wife is employed within the public school system. I feel fortunate to live in a country where every child has the opportunity to attain an education and I recognize that this would not be possible without a government supported public school system funded by taxes.
Yet I feel just as fortunate that I am living in a country where it has been recognized that it is both the parents' right and responsibility to raise their children and educate them in a manner which they deem to be in their best interests. I am glad that the state is willing to help with this task, but I don't want the state to take on the primary role in this endeavor. I want to take an active role in what my children learn and in helping them to develop to their full potential. My wife and I became parents because we wanted to parent. We, like most parents, love our children dearly and want what is best for them. Homeschooling provides us the opportunity to individualize the methods, objectives and content of our children's education to best suit their needs and interests. (This is somewhat, and quite reasonably, limited by the need to be compliant with state law, and to a certain extent, by both written and unwritten standards as to what "should" be taught, as well as requirements by future employers and institutions of higher learning.)
I should also say that our decision to home school our children was not based on content within the public schools that we found objectionable to our moral, political or religious beliefs. Our approach to curriculum is one that follows reasonably closely that found in the public schools, allowing for differences in time allotted (based on our children's needs) to each subject, as well as allowing them to study some subjects that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn. We would consider ourselves primarily "secular homeschoolers", though we are not offended by religious studies and would like our students to have the skills and knowledge to make informed and rational decisions about their own religious beliefs. Our own beliefs are no secret-mine are rooted in those held by the Anglican communion, while my wife is a Roman Catholic-but they play only a minimal role in our educational approach. Our political beliefs also did not play a role in our decision to educate our children at home.
We decided to home school our son in the middle of the first semester of his seventh grade in the public school system. There were various reasons for this. Medical problems within our extended family meant that we had to travel on a frequent basis during the autumn months and it was difficult to ensure that our son was able to keep up with his school work, and I will have to say that there were elements at the school who were less than sympathetic with our position and made this much more difficult. In addition, he has had some struggles with mathematics, but due to the nature of large classes, the flexibility to spend additional time on this subject was limited. We saw home education as a viable option to address both of these issues. We could adjust the amount of time devoted to math and we could ensure that he brought his school work on our travels. There were other contributing factors which I have decided not to discuss on this open forum.
During the same time frame, we elected to leave our daughter in the public school system. She seemed to be thriving academically and we didn't have the same issues in regards to keeping up with her work while we traveled. Sadly, as this year has progressed, our daughter has become more and more unhappy with school, to the point where she has stress related complaints as a result of bullying that the school seems unable to successfully address. She has gone from a cheerful, bubbly child who looked forward to school every day to an irritable unhappy girl who tries to find any excuse to avoid it.
In addition to this, the local school was "one of the twelve lowest performing schools in the state based on scores from last year's New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) test results", which doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in its ability to adequately prepare my children for university. Why send my children to one of the lowest performing schools in the state, especially when they are having other issues in the public school, and there are clear benefits from an education at home? It just didn't make sense to us. I should add here, that we also considered private schools, but found that most of the better ones were out of our budget.
In the end, the decision was made to homeschool both of our children in the upcoming academic year because it seemed the best thing to do. It will give us an opportunity to focus on those areas in which they are weak and need additional help, to include subjects in which they are interested, to better protect them from bullying, and it also provides more time with which we as parents can bond with our children.
But does homeschooling really provide as good an education as one taught by state-certified teachers in a school setting? Will our children do as well on standardized achievement tests and college entrance exams? Granted there are some issues within the school that make homeschooling attractive, but will we do any better? Will they be ready for college and the real world? These questions all came to mind as we pondered our options. The answers seem to be that, indeed, home schooling can offer a quality of education at least comparable to that of the public schools, that homeschooled children are prepared for college and that they are well adjusted individuals socially, emotionally and psychologically. (This entry is an explanation of why we decided to homeschool and is not meant ot be a defence of homeschooling, so I don't include the studies here, but for those who are interested, I would refer the reader to: National Home Education Research Institute.)
Dr. Brian Ray summarizes our understanding of the current state of home education research: "Repeated studies by many researchers and data provided by United States state departments of education show that home-educated students consistently score, on average, well above the public school average on standardized academic achievement tests. To date, no research has found homeschool students to be doing worse, on average, than their counterparts in state-run schools.
"Multiple studies by various researchers have found the home educated to be doing well in terms of their social, emotional, and psychological development. Further, the limited research on the topic to date reveals that adults who were home educated are typically doing well on all measures considered, and they appear to be happy, on average, productive, and civically engaged members of their communities. No research has controverted these two general conclusions."" (Ray, Brian D. (2010, January 4). The harms of homeschooling? Where are the premises? The Educible Review, No. 10, available at: http://www.nheri.org/Latest/The-Harms-of-Homeschooling-Where-Are-the-Premises.html)
Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. We plan to educate our children at home. We will comply with state law regarding the evaluation of home educated children, and may even go beyond those requirements to ensure that we are doing a good job and they are meeting the standards. If we find that we are not having success, then we will re-evaluate our decision (though I don't believe that will be an issue). Until then, we'll just fasten our seat belts and keep our hands and feet inside the car at all times...the ride is about to begin.
My children (now 11 and 13) have learned to read and write and learn the basics of arithmetic and science in the public schools and have had the opportunity to make friends and learn social skills within the confines of that environment. They have both had some very skilled and dedicated teachers, to whom my family owes a debt of gratitude for the hard work and care with which they educated my children. I am pleased with and give due credit to those teachers who have given my children extra help after school and have worked hard to ensure that all their students meet current standards. My wife is employed within the public school system. I feel fortunate to live in a country where every child has the opportunity to attain an education and I recognize that this would not be possible without a government supported public school system funded by taxes.
Yet I feel just as fortunate that I am living in a country where it has been recognized that it is both the parents' right and responsibility to raise their children and educate them in a manner which they deem to be in their best interests. I am glad that the state is willing to help with this task, but I don't want the state to take on the primary role in this endeavor. I want to take an active role in what my children learn and in helping them to develop to their full potential. My wife and I became parents because we wanted to parent. We, like most parents, love our children dearly and want what is best for them. Homeschooling provides us the opportunity to individualize the methods, objectives and content of our children's education to best suit their needs and interests. (This is somewhat, and quite reasonably, limited by the need to be compliant with state law, and to a certain extent, by both written and unwritten standards as to what "should" be taught, as well as requirements by future employers and institutions of higher learning.)
I should also say that our decision to home school our children was not based on content within the public schools that we found objectionable to our moral, political or religious beliefs. Our approach to curriculum is one that follows reasonably closely that found in the public schools, allowing for differences in time allotted (based on our children's needs) to each subject, as well as allowing them to study some subjects that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to learn. We would consider ourselves primarily "secular homeschoolers", though we are not offended by religious studies and would like our students to have the skills and knowledge to make informed and rational decisions about their own religious beliefs. Our own beliefs are no secret-mine are rooted in those held by the Anglican communion, while my wife is a Roman Catholic-but they play only a minimal role in our educational approach. Our political beliefs also did not play a role in our decision to educate our children at home.
We decided to home school our son in the middle of the first semester of his seventh grade in the public school system. There were various reasons for this. Medical problems within our extended family meant that we had to travel on a frequent basis during the autumn months and it was difficult to ensure that our son was able to keep up with his school work, and I will have to say that there were elements at the school who were less than sympathetic with our position and made this much more difficult. In addition, he has had some struggles with mathematics, but due to the nature of large classes, the flexibility to spend additional time on this subject was limited. We saw home education as a viable option to address both of these issues. We could adjust the amount of time devoted to math and we could ensure that he brought his school work on our travels. There were other contributing factors which I have decided not to discuss on this open forum.
During the same time frame, we elected to leave our daughter in the public school system. She seemed to be thriving academically and we didn't have the same issues in regards to keeping up with her work while we traveled. Sadly, as this year has progressed, our daughter has become more and more unhappy with school, to the point where she has stress related complaints as a result of bullying that the school seems unable to successfully address. She has gone from a cheerful, bubbly child who looked forward to school every day to an irritable unhappy girl who tries to find any excuse to avoid it.
In addition to this, the local school was "one of the twelve lowest performing schools in the state based on scores from last year's New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) test results", which doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in its ability to adequately prepare my children for university. Why send my children to one of the lowest performing schools in the state, especially when they are having other issues in the public school, and there are clear benefits from an education at home? It just didn't make sense to us. I should add here, that we also considered private schools, but found that most of the better ones were out of our budget.
In the end, the decision was made to homeschool both of our children in the upcoming academic year because it seemed the best thing to do. It will give us an opportunity to focus on those areas in which they are weak and need additional help, to include subjects in which they are interested, to better protect them from bullying, and it also provides more time with which we as parents can bond with our children.
But does homeschooling really provide as good an education as one taught by state-certified teachers in a school setting? Will our children do as well on standardized achievement tests and college entrance exams? Granted there are some issues within the school that make homeschooling attractive, but will we do any better? Will they be ready for college and the real world? These questions all came to mind as we pondered our options. The answers seem to be that, indeed, home schooling can offer a quality of education at least comparable to that of the public schools, that homeschooled children are prepared for college and that they are well adjusted individuals socially, emotionally and psychologically. (This entry is an explanation of why we decided to homeschool and is not meant ot be a defence of homeschooling, so I don't include the studies here, but for those who are interested, I would refer the reader to: National Home Education Research Institute.)
Dr. Brian Ray summarizes our understanding of the current state of home education research: "Repeated studies by many researchers and data provided by United States state departments of education show that home-educated students consistently score, on average, well above the public school average on standardized academic achievement tests. To date, no research has found homeschool students to be doing worse, on average, than their counterparts in state-run schools.
"Multiple studies by various researchers have found the home educated to be doing well in terms of their social, emotional, and psychological development. Further, the limited research on the topic to date reveals that adults who were home educated are typically doing well on all measures considered, and they appear to be happy, on average, productive, and civically engaged members of their communities. No research has controverted these two general conclusions."" (Ray, Brian D. (2010, January 4). The harms of homeschooling? Where are the premises? The Educible Review, No. 10, available at: http://www.nheri.org/Latest/The-Harms-of-Homeschooling-Where-Are-the-Premises.html)
Well, the proof is in the pudding, as they say. We plan to educate our children at home. We will comply with state law regarding the evaluation of home educated children, and may even go beyond those requirements to ensure that we are doing a good job and they are meeting the standards. If we find that we are not having success, then we will re-evaluate our decision (though I don't believe that will be an issue). Until then, we'll just fasten our seat belts and keep our hands and feet inside the car at all times...the ride is about to begin.
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