California and Homeschooling (1 Viewer)

[RazorOye]

My take is that if your kid is home schooled and passes standardized tests, then the state needs to but out.

agree and disagree

I think it's a parent's option on how best to educate his/her child(ren).

But to think that if a kid passes a standardized test is enough to merit a "quality education" is ridiculous.

I've had to administer Texas standardized tests more than I ever wanted to. And it's not at all indicative of the true nature of educational quality the student has received nor does it accurately measure the potential a student has.

I think high school, which I taught for years, is primarily social. Kids learn more about how to be in the world and around one another than they learn about theorems and laws of physics and literary tropes and schemes.

So I would be hesitant to recommend home schooling, personally, if the situation was too socially shut off. But it should be the parents' choice.

And I know of examples where students benefited more from home schooling than public schooling, so keep in mind I am speaking in generalities.

 

[SaintsBrazil]

I know it was weird spending 40 hours a week in a classroom in high school, then going to college and only having 15 hours a week in a classroom. Man, didn't know what to do with all the extra time ... until i realized how much more stuff I had to study and learn.

 

[Mr. Littlejeans]

Simple solution: If you want to home school your kids, earn your teaching credentials.
I

 

[iron error]

Simple solution: If you want to home school your kids, earn your teaching credentials.
I

this would mirror what razoreye just stated about the fallacy of standardized test, meaning being with credentials does not guarantee any sort of competency as a teacher.

 

[iron error]

But to think that if a kid passes a standardized test is enough to merit a "quality education" is ridiculous.QUOTE]

yet that is what all the states end up living by.

 

[TulsaSaint]

TulsaSaint. My kid is only one year old, but in the coming years, we're going to have to figure out what to do as far as schooling for him. We'd like to be able to bounce back and forth between the US and Brazil, but their school systems are vastly different. Do you think homeschooling is an option for some years or for grade placement purposes?

Well, I think my situation growing up was fairly similar. My parents were missionaries in Bolivia, and that's why my mom started homeschooling my brothers and I. When we moved back to the US several years later, we all liked it, so kept doing it. My mom, however, had been a high school social studies teacher before I was born, so she knew what she was doing - made lesson plans every week, spent time researching text books, filled out report cards for us, etc. I do feel that I suffered in the social skills department a bit, but about the time I moved off to college, my brothers got involved in a pretty big youth group at their church, and that seemed to help them become very socially adept.

And you're right about the US and Brazil school systems being so different. I'm sure they teach different things at different times; I think the Brazilian system is a year or so shorter, also. And the school year starts in February or March instead of August, so that's different too. In that situation, it probably makes sense to decide which system you like better and which language you would prefer for your kids to learn in. Then you can either buy Brazilian textbooks so you can homeschool while in the US, or buy US textbooks so you can homeschool while in Brazil. That is, of course, provided you or your wife feel qualified to teach them things like grammar, math, science, etc. My mom was not particularly strong in science, and I have always had a hard time with it as a result.

 

[RazorOye]

But to think that if a kid passes a standardized test is enough to merit a "quality education" is ridiculous.

yet that is what all the states end up living by.

even more ridiculous - I assure you I wasn't being inconsistent or just picking on you. I think some states are nearly criminal in educational neglect because of standardized tests - Texas, for example. Yes, I know... I'm calling Texas out. But I've seen more bad come from it than good. A lot more.

And not all states have such standardized measures, fyi -

 

[SaintsBrazil]

Tulsa, The Brazilian system is also only 4 hours a day. 8:00 to 12:00, or 12:30 to 4:30.

What I am trying to figure out is if there is away I can bounce between home schooling and placing my son into either american and brazilian schools.

 

[SaintsBrazil]

Razor, once you've reduced education to studying for a big test, you've killed education. You're right.