toldailytopic: What is your chosen method for educating your children and why?

[Alate_One]

You greatly underestimate peer pressure.

I had friends that did drugs in school . . . I chose not to go with them to places where I knew drugs would be used. Peer pressure is an excuse for those that won't stand up for themselves.

That was the lesson bullying taught me. Ultimately I didn't care what my friends thought of me if they were the kind of friends that engaged in behavior like using drugs or the like.

You never have to deal with it from children who were educated at home.

Oh I have. I did when I was in school. One transferred in at about grade 5. I have met several online. None of them have been remotely "normal".

They are far too mature to be bullies, especially in adulthood.

The last one I knew was nearly impossible to deal with because of his sense of entitlement and overblown sense of his own intelligence . . .

And you have just admitted that you recognize there are far too many immature adults out in the world who still bully other people. You would think they would have grown out of that at some point, but it is apparently too much to expect from those educated by government institutions.

The schools aren't at fault so much as,parents and the kids themselves are. Do you not believe that human beings are inherently wicked? Schools cannot instill morality that's the job of the parents, regardless of where their education comes from. Too many parents today expect the schools to do the parenting for them, I don't.

That's it. That's the only place. And there is no work place that separates people according to age, so how do schools prepare children for the business world again?

And that's the school's job how? Is everyone going into "the business world"? No. The school's job is to give a basic education.

How naive are you that you think that makes a difference. I live in a relatively small town myself. Do you want to know how many gun stores there are compared to how many high schools?

The odds of any child being involved in gun violence at school is vanishingly small.

 

[Prisca]

I went to public schools from kindergarten through college. I also sent my kids to public school from 1986 - 1994. My conclusion? Sending kids to public school, in the form we have now, is a terrible thing to do to your children.

But homeschooling has its downsides, too. Keeping your kids motivated and engaged can be overwhelming for moms who don't have a good support system. A homeschool co-op is a much better way to go. Here is a pretty good summary of the homeschool co-op:

In a general homeschool co-op, single families share their academic goals, morals, religious beliefs and social behaviors. The children learn similar belief and social structures from observation and interaction with the different members of the co-op.

In a co-op, parents often gather together to evaluate and share their special skills with one another and the children; each of these skills makes its way into the curriculum to benefit the academic life skills program for the students. As the parents work together, combining effort and personal skills, the end project is always focused upon the success of the whole unit.

In one type of homeschool co-op, one parent handles a group of learners for a lesson or group of lessons. In this format, another parent may provide academic assistance for the learner, but most students are left on site by a parent who returns later to pick the student up. A classroom co-op is a more combined effort of all the parents involved, where the parents remain on site and take turns giving lessons to a group of students, each taking an equal part in the lesson and training on any meeting date. These two basic models of a homeschool co-op are certainly not the only ways a homeschool co-op might be constructed. Rather, they are both very basic models that can be used to compare or base your own co-op structure. http://homeschool.lifetips.com/cat/64324/homeschool-co-op/index.html

We did this for awhile with Knight's family and it was great! Our best educational experience yet!

 

[Prisca]

Their latest stuff is old-school punk rock! You gotta keep up with the times sista!!!

Really? Man! I can never keep up with stuff!

 

[Prisca]

The schools aren't at fault so much as,parents and the kids themselves are. Do you not believe that human beings are inherently wicked? Schools cannot instill morality that's the job of the parents, regardless of where their education comes from. Too many parents today expect the schools to do the parenting for them, I don't.

We at least expect the schools to educate our children. By the time I took my kids out of the public school system, I was sick to death of the amount of homework they brought home. My kids were at school all day long and when they came home, they had a crazy amount of work to do. I wanted to be "mom" not "teacher."

I remember sitting with my daughter as she struggled to learn long division. I couldn't help but wonder why I was the one teaching it to her. Imagine how irritated I was when I found out they'd watched "Cinderella" at school! Don't get me wrong, I was happy to be involved and I wanted to help as much as possible, but this was ridiculous!

The odds of any child being involved in gun violence at school is vanishingly small.

That's what everyone told me when I started homeschooling my kids. But you know what? There have been shootings at two of the schools my kids would have attended. My oldest daughter would have been a junior at Columbine when the shooting occurred. This past year, there was another shooting at Deer Creek Middle school about two miles from me. It isn't worth the risk, no matter how small.

 

[heir]

The TheologyOnline.com TOPIC OF THE DAY for June 24th, 2010 1:59 PM

toldailytopic: What is your chosen method for educating your children and why?

We homeschool our three children. Why? Initially because we gave in to the peer pressure.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

This was mine:

http://www.theologyonline.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1437211&postcount=17

No regrets. He is a wonderful man that makes me proud every single day. Still single, too, ladies.

AMR

 

[Nathon Detroit]

We homeschool our three children. Why? Initially because we gave in to the peer pressure.

So why do you continue to homeschool ?

 

[heir]

So why do you continue to homeschool ?

It works! My children are highly energetic, unique and enthusiastic. I find that I can aid them to their greatest potential by customizing their curriculum to suit their individual needs, and challenge them all at the same time. A one-size fits all education that they would receive elsewhere isn't that attractive to me as a parent who wants the best for her children.

 

[Alate_One]

We at least expect the schools to educate our children. By the time I took my kids out of the public school system, I was sick to death of the amount of homework they brought home. My kids were at school all day long and when they came home, they had a crazy amount of work to do. I wanted to be "mom" not "teacher."

I haven't seen the amount of work just yet, but like I said I'm going to be keeping careful track of what's going on.

I remember sitting with my daughter as she struggled to learn long division. I couldn't help but wonder why I was the one teaching it to her. Imagine how irritated I was when I found out they'd watched "Cinderella" at school! Don't get me wrong, I was happy to be involved and I wanted to help as much as possible, but this was ridiculous!

I remember my mother sitting down with my long division homework and how horribly long it was (though that was in a Christian school). Unfortunately the way most public school classes are these days, teachers simply cannot give students the one on one attention they need. Long division is the sort of thing you have to sit down and DO.

That's what everyone told me when I started homeschooling my kids. But you know what? There have been shootings at two of the schools my kids would have attended. My oldest daughter would have been a junior at Columbine when the shooting occurred. This past year, there was another shooting at Deer Creek Middle school about two miles from me. It isn't worth the risk, no matter how small.

They're probably more likely to get in a fatal accident at home than get shot at school. EVERYTHING has risk.

 

[nicholsmom]

Great topic. I'll have a look through over the weekend - hopefully.

I educate my own because I can. They get a great education, a full social life, and plenty of time to pursue their own interests; and I get ... them. I love having my kids around; they're great people to begin with, and I am privileged to be able to teach them all the important stuff in a leisurely way - along-the-way, as-we-go, ordinary conversation bringing in the important things of life without hurry or urgency. I call it "parenting on purpose" and sure, it can be done with the kids away for school, but it's much harder to maintain that leisurely, comfortable, conversational type of learning environment.

No other reason is even close to this one for me to school at home. They're in my care for such a short stretch of time and I'm jealous of that time, not willing to give away any more of it than is necessary for good character development, maturity, and skill in a chosen field.

 

[Buzzword]

Out of curiosity...

What kind of financial burden do ya'll who homeschool have to deal with?

I have known many well-meaning parents who would prefer to homeschool, based on their own experiences with public school, but can't because providing for the family requires both parents to work full-time.

 

[Granite]

We plan on homeschooling till they get to the point where they're ready for private school.

 

[GuySmiley]

Oh ok.

That's a good school if they truly teach all of those things--without spin of course

Usually religious schools teach everything based on one thing.

Right on. :thumb:

Oh, no, there's spin. I like that part.

 

[Persephone66]

That's not true either. I know some great. loving, parents who's kids were destroyed by public schools (in fact, I am an example of that, my parents were awesome! But I fell into the wrong crowd in public school and I was an extreme jerk for most of my teenage life).

That's your fault, not the school's.

 

[Non-Excluvistic]

Oh, no, there's spin. I like that part.

Oh well then

 

[Persephone66]

Talked to the girlfriend about this as we are planning on adopting after we get married.

More than likely, unless there is a major improvement in the quality of public education, it's going to be a mix of private school and homeschooling. I work in public schools, they are nowhere near as bad as what some people make them out to be. Though I do have to admit the quality of education has gone down considerably and keeps going down.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

That's your fault, not the school's.

Maybe so... but had I not been in public school I wouldn't have fallen into the wrong crowd.

That's bit like blaming the student because he didn't listen in math class. While it may be true there is responsibility on both sides.

 

[Nathon Detroit]

Talked to the girlfriend about this as we are planning on adopting after we get married.

More than likely, unless there is a major improvement in the quality of public education, it's going to be a mix of private school and homeschooling. I work in public schools, they are nowhere near as bad as what some people make them out to be. Though I do have to admit the quality of education has gone down considerably and keeps going down.

That's an interesting and fair observation from you. :up:

 

[Nathon Detroit]

We plan on homeschooling till they get to the point where they're ready for private school.

Why?

 

[Nathon Detroit]

Out of curiosity...

What kind of financial burden do ya'll who homeschool have to deal with?

I have known many well-meaning parents who would prefer to homeschool, based on their own experiences with public school, but can't because providing for the family requires both parents to work full-time.

Yeah, that's why home-school co-ops can be really helpful. For many years my older kids were schooled by my sisters (who also home school) while my wife had the younger ones. I also have heard about people who shift the schooling to the evening hours after the parents get off work.

Home schooling isn't easy, you have to rearrange your life a bit. But in my opinion it was the most valuable investment we ever made.