I guess I was just lucky because I had teachers who enjoyed teaching and were good at it. Many of my grade school teachers were unmarried women and their students were like their own children The only teacher I ever thought of as not that good was a college organic chemistry professor who required rote memorization.
It takes a certain person to teach which is why I doubt that most parents can do a good job. Wanting to do a good job doesn’t give a person the ability or education to do that job.
I don’t know why people who don’t enjoy teaching would take the job. It doesn’t pay much for the education it requires. Maybe jobs are that scarce these days.
I attended private school through the fifth grade. I considered my public school teachers at least as good as the private school ones.
To me, homeschooling is analogous to working from home: it requires a discipline few have. Further, just because one is a parent, it does not follow that you would be the best teacher for your child. I think parents should be allowed to homeschool, but the state should require some kind of certification. This helps ensure that if the child is pulled out of the public system, that they will receive instruction from someone competent to give it.
“The state should require some kind of certification.” end quote
I guess I was just lucky because I had teachers who enjoyed teaching and were good at it. Many of my grade school teachers were unmarried women and their students were like their own children The only teacher I ever thought of as not that good was a college organic chemistry professor who required rote memorization.
It takes a certain person to teach which is why I doubt that most parents can do a good job. Wanting to do a good job doesn’t give a person the ability or education to do that job.
I don’t know why people who don’t enjoy teaching would take the job. It doesn’t pay much for the education it requires. Maybe jobs are that scarce these days.
“It takes a certain person to teach which is why I doubt that most parents can do a good job” end quote
Exactly so. That’s why “most” parents put their children in public or private schools.
The parents that I know that home-school their children, are more than qualified, and have the passion, care and desire that many teachers seem to lack nowadays. Which is one of the many reasons why there is such an upswing in home-schooling.
“I don’t know why people who don’t enjoy teaching would take the job.” (in regard to public schools) end quote
It’s very easy to be a mediocre teacher. Especially if you are teaching only one subject year after year after year. Doesn’t take much effort or intelligence.
They get good benefits, and holidays galore. And all that for just being mediocre.
Think, it is “I was”. not “I were”.
THere were multiple rooms to this school. 8th grade had 52 kids and one teacher.
The state already requires that the kids pass certain tests, which should attest to the parent’s abilities as a teacher.
Those home schooled kids whose social abilities are stunted must not have had any friends.
You sure don’t learn social behaviour sitting in a classroom..They don’t have classes for it, obviously they should have.
So how many of you could have finished the usual 12 years in public school in 8 years?
THere were multiple rooms to this school. 8th grade had 52 kids and one teacher.
The state already requires that the kids pass certain tests, which should attest to the parent’s abilities as a teacher.
Depends on who administers the tests!
Those home schooled kids whose social abilities are stunted must not have had any friends.
You sure don’t learn social behaviour sitting in a classroom..They don’t have classes for it, obviously they should have.
You learn social behavior by interacting with other people, especially other children.
So how many of you could have finished the usual 12 years in public school in 8 years?
How did you do in algebra, calculus, biology, chemistry and physics?
Think, it is “I was”. not “I were”.
THere were multiple rooms to this school. 8th grade had 52 kids and one teacher.
The state already requires that the kids pass certain tests, which should attest to the parent’s abilities as a teacher.
Those home schooled kids whose social abilities are stunted must not have had any friends.
You sure don’t learn social behaviour sitting in a classroom..They don’t have classes for it, obviously they should have.
So how many of you could have finished the usual 12 years in public school in 8 years?
Social skills are formed throughout the school process. Getting caught passing a note to Lucy is a lesson that has to be experienced. Along with being the class clown, and seeing the apple polisher get good marks. Additionally, there is the hurry-up-between-bells-tell-me-all or the meet me after school note to your girlfriend (that you met in Political Science), not to mention the gang you eat lunch with. These are all bits and pieces of social skills that lay a foundation for the future. Every time there is interaction in a classroom, be it good or bad, somebody learns something.
The school wanted to advance my daughter a grade. Said she was “gifted”. “No,” I said. “She’s a wiseass, just like me. She needs to stay where she is, with her peers.” I was, of course, refering to her Social Peers. Move her up? For what? So she can get bumped up a grade so she could start college earlier, and finish earlier, so she can start working for a living earlier, and have a huge load of expectations on her because she is younger than everyone else? No. My daughters got enough strikes against her being my ex-wifes daughter. “She Stays. You’re the experts. Find a way to keep her engaged. Or I call the School Board.” I did have to make a few calls. I did have a few discussions with her teachers. Creative discussions. I did my best to provide the educational specialist with what they need.
It does help, having a Certified Teacher as my wife (daughters step mom).
As for finishing up 12 years in 8 years, yeah, I could have done that. But then I would have been out of my social depth, and no telling what sort of Zone I could have ended up as. Academics is not all that is learned in school. Life skills, such as not pissing off the linebackers, not making fun of the goths, or spreading lies and rumors. Learning to make critical people skills, such as how to deal with a difficult person, or when to have a nice big cup of Shut Up.
You don’t get that with Mom and a $20 home school text.
“I don’t know why people who don’t enjoy teaching would take the job.” (in regard to public schools) end quote
It’s very easy to be a mediocre teacher. Especially if you are teaching only one subject year after year after year. Doesn’t take much effort or intelligence.
They get good benefits, and holidays galore. And all that for just being mediocre.
If it’s so easy and the benefits are so good, why aren’t you teaching? For that matter, the parents who care so much and are so qualified to home school their children should be teaching in schools to help other children.
The effort and intelligence was demonstrated by getting a college degree. (Or isn’t that required to teach in Florida) Usually when you do the same thing year after year you get good at doing it. You get better at picking up on little things that you could miss when you’re new on the job.
I’m about to have both knees replaced and I plan to have it done by a doctor who specializes in knee and hip replacements. He replaces around 200 knee joints a year and has been doing it for 10 years.
think asks --"I don’t remember any of those things. What schools did you go to? Did you ride a short bus? Did you repeat any grades? “
What’s a “short bus”?
No, I didn’t ride a bus, I walked - a mile to and from.
No, I didn’t repeat any grades. I was in the top 3 of the 52 that graduated 8th grade.
When you say graduated from 8th grade it sounds like you attended a one room school but they didn’t usually have 52 students in one grade. My Father went to a one room school and only 8th grade but there are only 5 students in his graduation picture. My Mother also attended a one room school through 8th grade but went to high school after that. There are 12 students in her 8th grade picture. In a one room school with one teacher teaching all eight grades, learning could get a little slow. Many teachers used older students to help teach younger students.
The grade school that I attended had about 50 students in each grade with two teachers and two classrooms for each grade. We were tested each year and divided into normal and advanced classes each year. Those who hadn’t learned what they were supposed to during the school year could attend summer school or repeat the grade. We didn’t have to review previous grade material or wait for slower learners. There were also specialized tutors for students who were having problems in certain areas as well as after school help from the regular teachers
I had 6 different teachers who specialized in teaching each grade and had done so for many years. I doubt that any one person could have taught me anywhere near as much as I learned from them. We wouldn’t have had equipment, like film projectors, at home that the schools had.
In junior and senior high I would have 5 or 6 different teachers each day, one for each subject. The equipment used in biology, science, chemistry, physics, shop and music classes would have been astronomical.
How can one parent teach their child all of the things that many different highly schooled teachers can? I say one parent because one parent usually works outside the home leaving the other to teach.
Shouldn’t parents want their children to know more than they do?
I went to private school until junior high and graduated from Hillsborough Highschool. In public school, I had the very same experiences that you did. Only you make it sound ever so much better than it actually was.
Yes, I too had different teachers for different classes. Big deal. Some of the teachers still had no business teaching their ‘specialty’ class. Most of them had no enthusiasm or passion for teaching, and acted like they were there only for the paycheck. There were only two that I remember with great respect and fondness in my public school experience. Mr. Bottenfield in my Psychology class in highschool, and Mrs Kelly for Social Studies in Junior High. Two very fine teachers.
There are good and bad to everything. The advantages to home-schooling would be that extra attention and care that the child would receive. The child would be taught at his/her speed/level/needs. Things you don’t get in any public or private school. The attention and care a child receives in a home schooling scenario is un-equaled. They’re not exposed to drugs, fights or any other distractions.
On the flipside to that, there is a definite stunted growth to the childs’ social abilities. But that can be overcome. And a small price to pay for quality learning and avoidance of other much more serious problems by attending public schools.
As in every job I have had in my life there are good in bad in every field. So I do agree with you about that. It ashame that in all the years that you only remember two teachers. You must have had a horrible experience while going thru school. I remember almost every teacher I had. Now their names that I did forget some of them. I probably only had two teachers that I thought were slackers. The rest were who they were. Trying to teach under strict guidelines set up by the state. I at least recognize that each had different teaching styles and if you wanted to pass the class you needed to follow their curriculum. The two slackers, One, actually told me I wasn’t as smart as my brother. I was, but didn’t like Chemistry, I did pass the class. The other flunked me because he lost my paper. I did get a redo. He didn’t have a choice.
I think, attending a typical school versus homeschooling exposes you to a much more diverse environment. It helps you to learn skills needed to survive in todays society based on these learnings. You might not learn the best of everything but I don’t see why it couldn’t help you sometime in the future. Just like science class I didn’t realize that weather would be so important in my life. But over the years I do know that no one can REALLY predict it well.
About enthusiasm. We all react differently. Just because they didn’t have your level of enthusiasm doesn’t mean they didn’t have any.
Who really wants to spend that much time with their parent anyway? Sometimes parent think they are the only that knows everything. I haven’t met a person yet that knows everything. We really don’t have enough space in our brain to store it. We don’t have a place to add a memory stick to our brains just yet................................
The best education I personally received, came from a private school called Villa Madonna. At the time it was an all girl, Catholic, taught by nuns, school. With very fond memories do I remember all my teachers. They were awesome, and really cared. They were the old fashioned kind of nun! They wore the traditional habits. All black in winter, and all white in summer. And they all lived at the school in the rectory.
What a culture shock it was when I had to attend public school because my mother could no longer afford the dues of the private one. Hillsborough High was a wonderful school, in that the students were like an extended family. Had many friends.
Today, Villa Madonna is coed, and I heard that the nuns no longer teach. Don’t know if that’s rumor or not, but if it’s true, than that’s a real shame. I know things never stay the same, but sometimes change is not always for the better.
think says: “You learn social behavior by interacting with other people, especially other children.”
Don’t you think it would be better to learn social behaviour from adults?
It seems logical that someone from the State would be administering the tests, which I asume are standardized to the area.
cave dog, don’t you think that this “social zone” is a mental construct. Exactly why should people under the age of 18 be restricted to people their own age? In your daughter’s case, exactly what difference would it have made to be one year ahead and with kids a year older. Once upon a time you could start your 5 year old in first grade.
I think it is this idea of letting a child have “his childhood” is part of our social problem.
In times past, children were part of the family farm work force as soon as they could walk.
City kids didn’t get coddled either. There was always household chores needed doing.
Some sent their boys to a farm to work in the summer.
That is what made us a strong nation of strong people.
Today’s kids with their artificially prolonged childhood are part of what is causing the downfall of this nation.
For all other creatures in this world “childhood” is all about learning how to cope with the world.
For what purpose are children given a room full of toys, games etc at Christmas.
Why is Daddy expected to buy his child a car when he graduates from high school?
My son bought his daughter a nice car, and bought it last year because she needed it to go to work. Now she is graduating and is POed because he isn’t buying her a brand new one for graduation.
I didn’t take math of any kind. I majored in Art and English.
200 knee joints a year!! We are really a degenerate people aren’t we?
Tell me, did your doctor ever check the alignment of your frame?
Anomalies can come about in a number of ways, from being born with bad alignment to injuries to flat feet.
Oh, but arch supports wouldn’t get that big fat surgical fee for the doctors, now would it?
Why do you suppose the system is set up to take 12 years to do the work that most kids could do in 8?
“The state should require some kind of certification.” end quote
I agree with this.
Why,
Is it embarassing to the state that people without a certification in education on average do a better job than so called professionals.
Home schooled kids on average have proven to be better adjusted, better academically, and better on just about every measurable standard than public or private schooled kids.
Note how much better our education system has become over the past 30 years with more federal government involvement.
Is it embarassing to the state that people without a certification in education on average do a better job than so called professionals.
Home schooled kids on average have proven to be better adjusted, better academically, and better on just about every measurable standard than public or private schooled kids.
Note how much better our education system has become over the past 30 years with more federal government involvement.
Hmm. Sounds interesting. Could you provide a link to a study that confirms this?
Is it embarassing to the state that people without a certification in education on average do a better job than so called professionals.
Home schooled kids on average have proven to be better adjusted, better academically, and better on just about every measurable standard than public or private schooled kids.
Note how much better our education system has become over the past 30 years with more federal government involvement.
Hmm. Sounds interesting. Could you provide a link to a study that confirms this?
Actually, as I was watching the news this morning, one of the news topics that was covered was the latest on the California home-schooling situation. Apparently, they have made it against the law, or are in the process of making it against the law to home-school.
I find this to be utterly and completely ridiculous. They were interviewing an ‘expert’, and one of the things the expert said was, that in studies, it was discovered that home-schooled children scored on average, 40% better than traditionally schooled children. Does not suprise me at all.
In another post I agreed that parents should be certified if they wanted to teach their children at home. I’ve changed my position on this, after I found out during this same news report, that it would cost parents ten thousand dollars to get certification!
Also found out that many private school teachers don’t need to be certified!! So yet another double standard being applied here.
The best education I personally received, came from a private school called Villa Madonna. At the time it was an all girl, Catholic, taught by nuns, school. With very fond memories do I remember all my teachers. They were awesome, and really cared. They were the old fashioned kind of nun! They wore the traditional habits. All black in winter, and all white in summer. And they all lived at the school in the rectory.
What a culture shock it was when I had to attend public school because my mother could no longer afford the dues of the private one. Hillsborough High was a wonderful school, in that the students were like an extended family. Had many friends.
Today, Villa Madonna is coed, and I heard that the nuns no longer teach. Don’t know if that’s rumor or not, but if it’s true, than that’s a real shame. I know things never stay the same, but sometimes change is not always for the better.
The Catholic schools have been closing. It is too costly to run them anymore. We are flooded with so many different religions. I never remember growing up with this many different churches. Many have schools and pre-schools now. It is costly to run public education. I can’t imagine how any small school could afford to give a great education without sacrificing something.
