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As parents we are constantly agonizing over decisions that we have to make for our children. I completely agree, the Education system in the schools is not what it use to be, and i don't believe its the fault of the teachers, more a lack of staff, too many students in one class and the government sticking their noses into the system and i have found with my own children there is too much emphasis on parts of the curriculum that isnt as important ( because the government says they must know this) and less on the things they really need to know. Teachers barely have time to mark thier assignments and you learn much later on that your child is having difficulty in a area that should have been picked up sooner. Teaching like any other profession, some shouldnt be in a classroom but the majority are superb and very good at what they do. However, i feel as a parent you must do what you feel is right for your children and if you feel homeschooling is more beneficial to your children, you go for it and i wish you all the best! :)
smiles
janetc
This notion of home schooling is one I have never understood. To remove children from their peers in the classroom - it seems terribly drastic to me.
I think the experience of going to school is invaluable. We learn so much more than what is taught in the curriculm.
You seem to have thought this out carefully, only wanting the best for your children. Maybe you are equal to the challenge of replacing experienced professional teachers. I am a smart women but I can't imagine trying to teach a child chemistry and physics and geometry. I know I lack both the patience and the organizational tools to add home schooling children to the myriad of other tasks I do each day. Text books & good intentions will only get you so far. I wish you luck and hope you will not be offended by what I have said.
Mystified
:laugh: :biglol: Kipper that is funny as I never check mine and I to tell you the truth I do not know what is worse my typing or spelling :laugh: :eek:
Well I use to think that a child HAD to go to school to be social but I do not think that anymore. I find and have found most people even find their true friends outside of school. I have met friends in university that were homeschool their whole life and were just fine. In fact they were more mature and had a greater confidence in them selves I found.
Even now I have a ton of friends who send all their kids to preschool every afternoon and I find my DS#2 is just as social as them and to tell you the truth most of the other boys are clingy to their moms and always fighting (hmmm makes me wonder some times)
I find times are changing.
I guess I have considered it as I have this awful guilt about DS who is in grade 2. for example... In kinder. he was bored to death... I would ask for extra more advance stuff and nothing would be given. He could read before he went to school so learning his letters and numbers and colors was a bore to him. The teacher praised him as he helped her more than anything teaching other kids. Which is great but what about letting HIM learn something new?? She admitted that she had about 7 out of 25 kids that she had were ahead but she had nothing to offer them. I found this really sad.. why should these kids be held back? She seemed to have lots of help etc. for the kids that were behind.
I would do a bit at home with him but he is just a kid and who wants to add work when he was already stuck in school all day??
So the following yr I put him french for a challenge which he did great at!
Now that we have moved he is in immersion but I still feel he is not pushed to do as well as he could and now I find he is just getting lazy.... I sometimes wonder if I missed that great window to really let him learn alot? I have a friend who homeschool 3 of her 4 kids so far and they are so far ahead of the system and are so social and very happy kids.( for example her boy in grade 7 is reading at university level, doing grade 11 math and knows latin.)
An individual teacher may be extremely talented with the best intentions, but there is only so much that can be done in a classroom enviroment. The number of students nad their differing abilitiesgreatly affect the quality of teaching.
Condogirl .. I have to agree that you are very lucky and that is mostly not thecase in class size etc.
I do not mean to bash the school system but I think of myself ..I was very popular in school and played every sport going and had a ton of friends etc. but I do not how I got through the system as I cannot read or write worth ****! So to me the system has failed me on the good old basic. I mean reading and writing are needed to do anything!!! I was great at Science etc but try doing papers after highschool??!
I have not decided for sure but I think I may try it for 1 yr with DS#2 to see what I can do.
There is a ton of homeschool stuff out there and some is geared for different learning ways...visual etc. I think the hardest thing will be deciding what to pick and organize for your child. :D
I wonder if all of my spelling errors in my posts throughout this thread reinforce my arguement that home-based education is superior to traditional schooling? For I am the product of Public and Separate School Systems!!!
How terrible, I promise to hit the Preview Post key first next time.
Dusting off my dictionary,
kipper
Condogirl,
Your child indeed is very fortunate to have such a small class with apparently vast resources. Having two EA's in a class that size, special needs student or not, is a rarity in my children's school division.
Unfortunately, you may find that's not the case as your child grows older. School do tend to focus their funds on the Primary grades (JK-grade 2/3) correctly believing early intervention will result in huge educational readiness as the child grows. However, too often those funds simply don't exist for the junior and senior elementary students and that's when they find that 'A' students in the early grades suddenly become 'C' students or worse.
In our province, that's exactly what's happened to our students. Excelling students fall to average or below because the resources aren't there to continue to nuture their education. Benchmark studies are finding instead, that while children are able to reguritate the information they are supposed to, they seriosly lack the ability to practically apply the knowledge, particularly in writing skills.
If your child never runs into these problems, hats off to your school! It's very comforting to know that your child is thriving in a well planned, well funded school. I wish that every canadian parent could say the same.
Well I dont belive that we have a teirrble education system in Canada. My daughters class has only 14 kids in it and we are in the middle of Toronto. Not only does she have a teacher but a full time EA to assit the class and another full time EA who assist a student with a disablility who is in the class. The school also has a program to teach all the students to play the steel drum, they do a couple of school plays a year and they have a reading program that starts in JK.
Angela,
I wanted to respond to your comment that my sweeping generalization about traditional education vs. home-based education was unfair. I assure you my opinion isn't based upon an experience with a "bad" teacher. I am basing it upon the knowledge that a child in a classroom of 1-10 children is going to get more instructional attention than a child in a classroom of 30. Home-based education is tailored to each child, and provides an opportunity to expand far beyond the curriculum of a traditional classroom. Home-educated students are not limited by the success of their peers and conversely, not limited by their shortcomings either.
So while a few kids in a traditional classroom may struggle to read, and a few others have reading abilities far beyond the rest of the class, those children will not have the opportunity to grow unless that classroom's school's centralized budget indicates they have the staff to meet their needs. Many schools have resources for the children who truly struggle with the basics of education, while the children who excell have no programs in place for them at all.
It's these lack of resources that lead me to believe the home-based school indeed is an option for an education superior to what your child will recieve in a traditional school. One could also consider how along with academic diversity in the classroom, there is vast diversity in social behavior. Quite often a teacher takes on the role of Social Worker, picking up slack where impoverished or simply neglected children's families have fallen short.
Carefully choosing one's traditional school does not necessarily solve the social problems, as many of today's troubled children do not come from impoverished families. Some of the wealthiest families in my children's school community are the ones with the most serious social problems.
Children of today are much more socially involved outside of school than in our day. There are many organized sports, clubs, and programs that any child can enroll in. Home-based schooling in a community with access to these programs can easily glean their social interaction with their peers. Also, many of you are forgetting the network of home-based schools, where they can collectively enroll in a class whether it be a physical activity, or an academic one, such as the french class you mentioned.
If traditional schooling were adequate in providing students with the best possible education, independant resources such as Sylvan Learning and other tutorial services simply wouldn't exist in our country. There'd be no market for them. The same also goes for every organized sport and social club in existance.
There are very real limitations to a traditional school's ability to offer the best, whole education (social and academic). There are certainly limitations to home-based schooling. The difference is that you are able to control them and find solutions that don't have to try and make 300 other families happy while satisfying the agendas of School Boards at the same time.
That's just within your child's school, not to mention all of the other schools within that school district.
Traditional education exists for the benefit of all children, but the problem is that it's impossible to make things work to their best advantage when you have to consider the Individual needs of literally thousands of families at the same time.
That's just how I see the situation: as a well intended but seriously flawed one. I certainly don't mean to dismiss all traditional educators as inadequate. They're doing their best with truly terrible situation, and the ones who bear the brunt of it are the students.
Just my opinion,
kipper
Ok, I just want to add that I agree with Jan, kids do need social interaction and early introduction into the "real world". And i certainly didn't mean to imply that all teachers are flawed...I have met and been taught by some FABULOUS ones in my lifetime.
But, when my very polite and mannerly DD went to pre-k, i learned very quickly that there are some (for lack of a better word) crappy ones too. I attended every session with my child, and never once heard her teacher use the words please or thank you...I certainly felt like this was a huge setback for the other parents and myself who had taught our children the importance of good manners. I was so frustrated that i actually went to the principal at the school and and submitted a formal complaint. She was shocked that her kidergarten teacher didn't advocate the use of simple manners!! I considered home schooling at that point, and probably would have, but the teacher in question took early retirement. Where i live, there is no other choice of schools...unless i wanted to pack my kid up each morning and drive 45 minutes into the city.
Anywhew...i just wanted to point out that my comments were driven by my personal experience with ONE teacher. I have the utmost respect for teachers, they have one of the most important jobs...right behind parenting.
:) Mel
I have nothing of substance to add to this, other than to say that I agree with janinvan in regards to life in general. School isn't just about the three R's, plus those confrontations our children get into at school apply to parents as well. I know a fifth grade teacher who regularly has parents calling her to tell her that Johnny or Suzie aren't doing whatever assignment because they don't want to, or can't, or whatever the daily excuse menu dishes up. Wouldn't it be great if I could just decide not to change stinky diapers for a week. Nope, that's my job, it's not always pleasant, but it's important. I hated math, but you still have to do it. Wow, I really am a rambler.
I also wanted to add that this comment is unfair. Generalizations on either side aren't necessary. Sure, there may be a list of teachers who chose that profession for the holidays and don't know anything more than the text book, but I'm sure there are also a list of home schoolers who aren't properly educated to teach their children, they too are simply reading from the text. What happens if you don't speak french? Do you just not teach that part of the curriculum?
Also, I believe it depends on the individual child. Some kids thrive in the school, academically and socially, others not so much. So do many home schoolers send a child or two to school and keep the others at home? How does that work?
i had seen this story on tv where this woman homeschooled her children. The children all belonged to extra curricular activities to have the interaction with other children. Such as sports, brownies and so on...........they were very well adjusted children
smiles
janetc
DS#1 has a girlfriend that is a Principal of an Outreach school that covers Home schooling and she has about 100 students in her area that home school. Some do it as they live very far away from a school, some do it for religous reasons and some just because the family wants to. I would not have done it with mine I feel social skills are often learned in a group setting and being only at home just isn't the same. I think it is a huge family decision and would take a lot of soul searching and a major life decision.
It's a big decision to homeschool, not one that's wholly supported by many, but very rewarding for you as a parent and for the payoff in your child's superior education.
Mel76 is right, your local school board will supply you with the curriculum requisites,and in some cases, some of the materials needed to teach. Search the internet for home schooling associations for your province. They have a network of homeschooling parents with materials to sell/share as well as emotional and instructional support for the educators.
You may find that your local school is very supportive of your decision and will be more than helpful if you need them. The Education Act obligates schools in our province to provide all children with a proper education, and will therefore do what they can to help homeschoolers teach their children, in order to comply with the Act.
You may also want to read your province's Education Act section on home-based education program regulations to have an idea of what your rights and responsibilities are when home schooling.
I hope this helps, and I wish you and your child the best of luck,
kipper
i didnt homeschool but i do know many have. I figure i did my job before they began :D ,,,,they knew how to print thier own name, they could write and regonize thier numbers and letters, shapes, colors and so on before starting j/k. So when the time came it was off they went. I felt it was important for them to go to school outside the home and benefit from the social skills that i couldnt offer. However, anyone that homeschools, my hat is off to them, i dont think i would have had the patience. :)
smiles
janetc
As much as Mel gave a disheartening but at times realistic view of school, I would personally would avoid home schooling. Her description also applies to the work place and social situations and life as we grow up. It may not be nice but IMO, I think kids needs to learn about and grow with this while they are young and have you there to council them through it. You do have choices of what school to send them.
Also wanted to there are many, many positive things that can happen while at school to.
Bigmama, I believe if you get in touch with the school board in your area...they will provide you with all the information you need to homeschool...including the curriculem requirements, sources for materials..etc. I know if i had more patience...I would homeschool my kids...simply because SCHOOL IS EVIL!!!! Between the bullies..the occasional teacher with no manners...the over crowded classrooms...yeah..homeschooling is a great idea! Just not for me...I need the down time.
:laugh: Mel