Comments on: More discussion on the homeschool issue http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/ Proverbs 13:11 - "...he who gathers money little by little makes it grow." Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:31:49 +0000 hourly 1 By: Stewhttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-13731 Stew Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:03:49 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-13731 Suburban, thanks for the story. I think it adds further proof that no matter what your education choice, the only thing that guarantees a great education is a high level of parent involvement. Suburban, thanks for the story. I think it adds further proof that no matter what your education choice, the only thing that guarantees a great education is a high level of parent involvement.

]]> By: Suburban Wifehttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-13728 Suburban Wife Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:09:17 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-13728 I homeschooled both of our children through the 8th grade. They both elected to attend high school as freshman and we've been blessed to be able to afford to enroll them both in a small, secular private high school. In the 12 years that I homeschooled, only once did I purchase a pre-packaged curriculum. It was a total waste of money. For the most part, we unschooled. I have no idea of how cost effective homeschooling was; I did it because I felt it was our family's best educational option. My goals were simple: to teach my children how to learn, to love learning, and to give them a chance to build strong personal foundations before exposing them to daily high doses of peer pressure. Did I succeed? Only time will tell. Our daughter's about to graduate with a 3.8 (out of a possible 4.0) GPA and was just accepted into her first-choice college. She's more confident in one day than I have been in 45 years combined and despite the fact that she drives me nuts, she's a beautiful, compassionate young woman who always holds true to her core values. Recently a college interviewer instructed her to compliment me on the job I'd done homeschooling her; apparently he was particularly impressed with her social skills and level of independence. Our son scored in the 99th percentile on his 8th grade ITBS this spring -- his first ever standardized test -- earning perfect scores in half of the subjects. This fall he jumped into the school's rigorous academics with both feet and so far has a 4.0 GPA. In addition, he's sweet, generous, compassionate, and every bit the gentleman. Despite the challenges presented by his Asperger's Syndrome, he has integrated beautifully into his class and is apparently quite popular -- especially with the girls. Oh, and the faculty love him too. I homeschooled both of our children through the 8th grade. They both elected to attend high school as freshman and we’ve been blessed to be able to afford to enroll them both in a small, secular private high school.

In the 12 years that I homeschooled, only once did I purchase a pre-packaged curriculum. It was a total waste of money. For the most part, we unschooled. I have no idea of how cost effective homeschooling was; I did it because I felt it was our family’s best educational option. My goals were simple: to teach my children how to learn, to love learning, and to give them a chance to build strong personal foundations before exposing them to daily high doses of peer pressure.

Did I succeed? Only time will tell.

Our daughter’s about to graduate with a 3.8 (out of a possible 4.0) GPA and was just accepted into her first-choice college. She’s more confident in one day than I have been in 45 years combined and despite the fact that she drives me nuts, she’s a beautiful, compassionate young woman who always holds true to her core values. Recently a college interviewer instructed her to compliment me on the job I’d done homeschooling her; apparently he was particularly impressed with her social skills and level of independence.

Our son scored in the 99th percentile on his 8th grade ITBS this spring — his first ever standardized test — earning perfect scores in half of the subjects. This fall he jumped into the school’s rigorous academics with both feet and so far has a 4.0 GPA. In addition, he’s sweet, generous, compassionate, and every bit the gentleman. Despite the challenges presented by his Asperger’s Syndrome, he has integrated beautifully into his class and is apparently quite popular — especially with the girls. Oh, and the faculty love him too.

]]> By: Economy and your finances carnival Dec 6 2009http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-13536 Economy and your finances carnival Dec 6 2009 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:04:51 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-13536 [...] presents More discussion on the homeschool issue posted at Gather Little By Little, saying, “There were so many questions from yesterday's [...] [...] presents More discussion on the homeschool issue posted at Gather Little By Little, saying, “There were so many questions from yesterday’s [...]

]]> By: Funny about Moneyhttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-13015 Funny about Money Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:19:13 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-13015 Interesting discussion. In our state, schools are required to allow home-schooled kids who live in the district to participate in extracurricular activities. So your kids could be in the band, belong to the French club, or play on athletic teams. No rule says you can't sign your kids up for Little League or soccer, too. And most folks who have children live in neighborhoods where lots of families have kids...how is after-school play not socializing? We did not home-school our child -- he went to a private Episcopal day school and to the Jesuits for high school. Today we could not afford the grade school, because tuition has gone so high even his corporate-lawyer dad couldn't pay it. Frankly, I didn't think the education he got there was a heck of a lot better than what he would have had in public school: to teach reading the grade school used Open Court, a strange combination of sight-reading and phonics that left him unable to read well until the third grade (!). After three years in a Montessori preschool had him reading the front page of the Wall Street Journal fluently, the nit-witted grade-school teacher told him he <i>couldn't</i> read because he hadn't learned to read in the day school, and so he put everything he knew out of his mind and started all over in lock-step with his peers. Private schools often don't have the science labs and computer technology available in public schools. But believe me, they have all the drugs, alcohol, and sex that any public school offers. I teach the products of Arizona's public schools on the college level, and I know what goes on in colleges of education and why some students elect to go into education instead of more challenging programs. Given a choice today, I probably would home-school a kid, at least in the first few years. And if you can't afford housing in a decent school district, home-schooling is a reasonable choice for all the K-12 years. Interesting discussion.

In our state, schools are required to allow home-schooled kids who live in the district to participate in extracurricular activities. So your kids could be in the band, belong to the French club, or play on athletic teams. No rule says you can’t sign your kids up for Little League or soccer, too. And most folks who have children live in neighborhoods where lots of families have kids…how is after-school play not socializing?

We did not home-school our child — he went to a private Episcopal day school and to the Jesuits for high school. Today we could not afford the grade school, because tuition has gone so high even his corporate-lawyer dad couldn’t pay it. Frankly, I didn’t think the education he got there was a heck of a lot better than what he would have had in public school: to teach reading the grade school used Open Court, a strange combination of sight-reading and phonics that left him unable to read well until the third grade (!). After three years in a Montessori preschool had him reading the front page of the Wall Street Journal fluently, the nit-witted grade-school teacher told him he couldn’t read because he hadn’t learned to read in the day school, and so he put everything he knew out of his mind and started all over in lock-step with his peers. Private schools often don’t have the science labs and computer technology available in public schools. But believe me, they have all the drugs, alcohol, and sex that any public school offers.

I teach the products of Arizona’s public schools on the college level, and I know what goes on in colleges of education and why some students elect to go into education instead of more challenging programs. Given a choice today, I probably would home-school a kid, at least in the first few years. And if you can’t afford housing in a decent school district, home-schooling is a reasonable choice for all the K-12 years.

]]> By: Susie Ghttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-12983 Susie G Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:30:33 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-12983 I homeschooled my oldest for a couple years each. There was a free curriculum from the State of California in the 80s and 90s. I did a lot of curriculum I "made up" which was also free. I think by "socialization" what people really mean (or kids really lose out on) are skills like sitting still in a large group or waiting to start work till everyone else is ready, or to go to recess till everyone is lined up - ha ha. Unless you live in a very rural area or something, there are neighbor kids, cousins, scouting, church groups, swim lessons, plenty of kids to socialize with and yes, hopefully you can miss out on (or at least postpone) some of the less desirable "socialization." I would answer, "Who do I want socializing my kids, random peers or ME?" :-D I homeschooled my oldest for a couple years each. There was a free curriculum from the State of California in the 80s and 90s. I did a lot of curriculum I “made up” which was also free.
I think by “socialization” what people really mean (or kids really lose out on) are skills like sitting still in a large group or waiting to start work till everyone else is ready, or to go to recess till everyone is lined up – ha ha. Unless you live in a very rural area or something, there are neighbor kids, cousins, scouting, church groups, swim lessons, plenty of kids to socialize with and yes, hopefully you can miss out on (or at least postpone) some of the less desirable “socialization.”
I would answer, “Who do I want socializing my kids, random peers or ME?” :-D

]]> By: Mikehttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-12971 Mike Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:41:06 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-12971 Stew, Until what age do you intend to do homeschooling? Would you be limited at one point in term of knowledge? How does it work, do your children will have to pass state exam at the end of the year? thx! Stew,
Until what age do you intend to do homeschooling?
Would you be limited at one point in term of knowledge?
How does it work, do your children will have to pass state exam at the end of the year?

thx!

]]> By: Kids and Moneyhttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-12956 Kids and Money Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:39:29 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-12956 Free-schooling ? Never heard of that, think I'll do some digging, thanks :) Free-schooling ? Never heard of that, think I’ll do some digging, thanks :)

]]> By: Jenniferhttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-12952 Jennifer Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:55:55 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-12952 You don't have to have a curriculum to homeschool! We're unschooling (or free-schooling if you prefer) our 5 year old and it's going great. There are so many free resources available on-line and in libraries that it's easy to do without buying a complete curriculum. It takes a little more work since it's not all defined for you but the resources are there for the taking. Of course, we have spent some money on books this year but for the most part, they are books that will last us for the next 3-5 years or ones that we'd buy even if she was in school. You don’t have to have a curriculum to homeschool! We’re unschooling (or free-schooling if you prefer) our 5 year old and it’s going great. There are so many free resources available on-line and in libraries that it’s easy to do without buying a complete curriculum. It takes a little more work since it’s not all defined for you but the resources are there for the taking. Of course, we have spent some money on books this year but for the most part, they are books that will last us for the next 3-5 years or ones that we’d buy even if she was in school.

]]> By: Stewhttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-12940 Stew Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:43:28 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-12940 ABCs, we had to prove that we live in the state. ABCs, we had to prove that we live in the state.

]]> By: ABCs of Investinghttp://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/2009/11/more-discussion-on-the-homeschool-issue/#comment-12937 ABCs of Investing Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:46:49 +0000 http://www.gatherlittlebylittle.com/?p=2422#comment-12937 Interesting follow up. Is it possible for someone who lives in a state without a state curriculum to use the curriculum from another state? Or do you have register somehow to use it? Interesting follow up. Is it possible for someone who lives in a state without a state curriculum to use the curriculum from another state? Or do you have register somehow to use it?

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