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RI Schooling vs Home-Schooling
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Question:
My daughter is turning 4 this April and we are thinking of sending her
to preschool. We are also looking long term and considering home
schooling as well. I feel like an idiot because I barely know anything
on either issue, so can someone help me out?
School:
Pros or Cons for Preschool?
Costs?
Where are preschools/know of any good ones in Smithfield, RI (where we
live)?
What is the birthday cut off for Kindergarten?
How do you go about enrolling a child in school?
Home schooling:
Pros or Cons for Home-school?
Costs?
Any home-schooling groups in Smithfield, RI?
Do I have to have certain qualifications to home-school my own child?
We are thinking of putting her into school for the first few years then
pulling her out to home-school...do you think this is a good idea?
In your opinion, what grade should we begin homeschooling?
Answer:
Pros: Preschool is useful for a number of reasons. For children, it begins
the process of interacting with and understanding the rules of group
dynamics. It is especially helpful if your child doesn't get much
opportunity to socialize with other children. Also, most children are ready
for structured learning well before the age of 5 when kindergarten starts.
Good preschools introduce, in a formal way, the concepts of music/art and an
appreciation for the world around them.
Cons: Some children are not emotionally mature enough to begin preschool,
just as some are not mature enough to make the transition from kindergarten
to first grade. Children develop at different rates and that's just the way
it is. It all evens out eventually. Other cons are cost and convenience.
It usually is not cheap to find good preschools. As well, it can be quite
inconvenient. If you have a half hour drive in rush our traffic to get
there and a half hour drive back, and have to do that again at the end of
the day, then you are compelled to schedule your day aound that activity...
not always easy to do, and you will spend 2 hours a day in the car.
Costs range from affordable to outrageous. Usually, you can use the "you
get what you pay for" approach for analyzing the quality and efficacy of
preschools. However, some religious preschools can be quite affordable and
effective. Know, however, that religion will be taught to your child in
that environment. Some employers make preschools available to their
employees on site at very affordable rates - some free. Some of these are
among the best preschools, and they also tend to eliminate the inconvenience
issue.
These vary from school district to school district. Just call the school
and they will be glad to help with the information you need.
Pros: Homeschooling offers an incredible opportunity for parents and
children to bond in a way that most parents would envy... it really ups the
ante on quality time. It also gives a parent the opportunity to influence
their child in a way that is consistent with the values and mores of the
parent. In any learning environment, children will succeed commensurate
with the amount of participation by the parent. That is, the more parents
are involved in their children's education, the better the chance that the
child will be successful. Homeschooling provides the maximum amount of
parental participation. It is important to note that parental participation
cannot be delegated to teachers.
Cons: Homeschooling works best when children do not have special needs. If
your child has these needs, you may, or may not have access to the resources
you need through the school district. whether you do or don't, it will be
very inconvenient (and perhaps costly) for you to acquire those resources.
Public schools provide a "real world" environment for learning which is
difficult/impossible to recreate at home. Children usually come in contact
with people from various cultures and ethnicities, and are enriched as a
result of that. It is difficult to teach children about the value of
diversity and inclusion when in a homeschool environment. Group activities
like sports, music, clubs, etc. are difficult to recreate at home. Some
school districts allow homeschooled children to participate in these
activities, but most who are homeschooled don't. Homeschooling also
requires some parental expertise in the various disciplines required by the
school district. Your child will be tested in these disciplines and
expected to pass. Additionally, homeschooling requires patience,
commitment, discipline, and time - lots of time. You need to understand
that before you jump in with both feet.
The cost of homeschooling varies based on the school district and the
parents' situation. If you sacrifice working to stay home to educate your
children, then the cost of that sacrifice has to to be considered.
Materials like books, for example, are provided by some school districts and
are not by others. However, many parents that homeschool prefer to choose
their own textbooks. Finally, whatever the cost of homeschooling, one must
also consider that homeschoolers are also paying the taxes to educate their
children in public schools whether they do so or not.
Your local school district may be able to answer that question for you.
It will be difficult for you to teach math if you did not do well in the
subject yourself. I know of no school districts that require certifications
or degrees to homeschool (I certainly don't know all of them or even yours),
but they will require your child to pass proficiency tests.
I am not a fan of homeschooling. That's not to say it's a bad idea... it is
to say that we value certain things that would be impossible to teach
children who are homeschooled. Both my wife and I have teaching degrees
(both in music education - my wife taught for a living, I didn't) and have
had the opportunity to take the long view of education pros and cons.
Ultimately, the things that matter the most are the degree to which parents
are involved in their children's education, and the degree to which parents
prepare their children each day to be schooled (well fed, loved, secure, and
motivated). A child's success can be more correlated to that then whether
or not they were homeschooled.
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