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To homeschool or not....help!
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Question:
I am just about to marry a woman with a 6 yr old son. I have a 14 yr
old son and am adopting another.
I have watched friends who homeschool and the children don't seem to
do much work...maybe two hours per day. Is this normal?
Also, we will be travelling for a couple of years into the field and
she is a little concerned that the children are going to lose out as
far as interaction with other children if they are not in a structured
school environment.....any comments?
Lastly, is the standard of education received, as good or better than
they would get in a school, public or private? And would the two older
boys suffer by not having hands-on work in science etc.
These are all troubling areas and make us a little reticent about
homeschooling even though it would fit very comfortably into our
future. Any comments for or against would be greatly appreciated.
Answer:
- I would like to address your concern about the kids only doing about 2
hours of school work a day. Homeschooled children average 3 hours a day
of school work. That is perfectly normal and the reason it can be done
in a such a short period of time is that you do not have all the wasted
time that you do in a public school ,(or even a private school).
1)One-on-one instruction is much more effective. 2)There is no time
spend walking from class to class. 3)There is no wasted time in a
"homeroom period with the objective of taking role etc.) 4)There is no
lunch period smack dab in the middle of the school day, (most people
complete there homeschool lessons in the morning) 5)There are no wasted
classes like P.E., art, music in which most of the period is spent with
the kids just sitting around and doing nothing, (homeschooled children
get this instruction too but it is much more time efficient.
As far as the socialization issue; This is probably the biggest
misconception abut homeschooling. I have a page at my website dedicated
to just that at http://www.geocities.com/athens/9094/social.htm but to
give you just a little condensed version; what about local organized
sports? YMCA? Girl/boy scouts? 4H? Dance classes? Music classes?
Programs at your local library? Church acitivites? Interaction with
friends and same age relatives? This is but a short list of things your
children can be involved in that will give them all the social
intereaction that they need.
The social interaction they receive in a public school is very unhealthy
indeed. They sit in a crowded classroom all day long with 30 other kids
their same age. They do not learn any social skills in that
envionment. To develop good social interaction the child needs to be in
different social settings with children of different ages. When your
child is in the public school you have absolutely no control or say so
with whom your child intereacts. You are also not there to explain to
your child what behaviors other children display are appropriate or
innappropriate.
My best advice to you is if you are considering homeschooling you really
need to investigate it thoroughly. This is not something you want to go
into unprepared as you will only be hurting your child. I also have a
page on my site dedicated to new homeschoolers with all the information
they need to get started on the right foot; legalities, curriculums etc
at http://geocities.com/athens/new.htm
- We say jump into homeschooling with both feet! We did a few years ago
and wouldn't put our children back in government (public) schools if you
paid us. Some reasons to homeschool:
1) Research (and personal experience) has shown that homeschoolers do
much better on achievement tests and social skills than government
schooled children.
2) Re: to the concern of "only two hours of work:"
Less time is needed for actual instruction due to better
teacher:student ratio, less behavioral problems, and better knowledge of
the children, their learning styles, personalities, and family values.
Also, many "lessons" are taught impromptu during life experiences. Life
should be our classroom.
3) One main argument that opponents of homeschooling use is "but what
about socialization?" So what about it? Is it socialization to throw an
eight year old into a room full of 25 other eight year olds? I think
that's more like terrorism! Socialization, to us, is learning how to
interact with ALL age groups. After all, how many friends do we have as
adults who are exactly our own age? I have none!
4) Relocating is a cinch--Life is so different now than it was just a
few years ago. We are a military family and transferred from an overseas
DOD school to our current residence and had to enroll our children in a
"temporary school" for 30 days because we missed the possibility of
having them "promoted" to the next grade by only 5 days. This was a
burden as we were without a permanent home for over three months. You
say that you will be moving "going into the field." Although I'm not
certain of the specifics, I do know that homeschooling would make your
move less worrisome. Good luck and e-mail us if you need to.
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