When you think of home schooling versus church school, what criteria would you use to make your decision? What influenced your decision the most? What are some of the concerns you see on both sides of the issue? How does social development fit into the equation? Will home schooled children be more apt to have social problems? Is social ineptness related to training, or lack of it, at home? When I say social ineptness I am referring to playground etiquette. What about classroom discussion? Would discussion in a classroom setting be something your children can use to develop good listening habits? Being willing to listen to another point of view? We keep rolling around different options concerning school. We have a very good church school should that settle the issue? How would school mates fit into the equation? (Not that I have any one in mind....)
How does the cost of home schooling compare to sending your children to a church school. Each tuition cost is different I am sure. Lots of questions so lets have some answers.
6 comments:
I taught school for six years. I taught the last three years in Kansas where homeschooling was recognized by the community as "equal opportunity." I worked with the home schoolers somewhat in art and music classes, as well as interacted with them in the youth group. I have a lot of feelings on the issue that would go beyond the realm of a "comment," so suffice it to say, if I ever have children, some reasons for which I would consider homeschooling would be if I feel that the teachers on staff are inadequate to the point of being detrimental to my child's education or if my home were far enough away from the school that it would be impractical.
I should just say that I have observed parents who "did it right," but I've also observed those who have really botched it up.
So I'd be interested to know what your reasons are for wanting to homeschool if you've got a good church school... What do you think the benefits are?
We are looking at our options. There are things about both that are very appealing. One could say that if they are at home there would be more attention given to the individual child from her mother/father. This could be good I would think. Then ther is also the idea concerning authority and them realizing that Mom and Dad are not the only one people they will need to listen to in the course of there lives. I have concerns about sending our children to school but I also have concerns about home schooling them. So I am on the fence....
I agree with Tom. We homeschooled for three year - my first three - and my experience is the same as his.
Another downside of homeschool can be that the child(ren) think that all revolves around them. They don't know how to act in group settings. Valerie saw that at Redhill when there was a homeschool group there at the same time her class was there.
So, Tom, what have you observed, of course you need to be very political and stuff. Would love to know what you observed though. I have observed some and I agreed with you about there social issues. The funny thing is, from my observation this family turned out very well. Of course, I have observed some who cannot be happy with the outcome or where there children are today. I don't know if that is because of home schooling as much as it was other issues. They were all church related issues I do believe. These issues tend to get all tangled up in school. I heard of one church whose policy was one that said, You cannot be a member of our church and home school. In other words your children had to go to the church school. That seems a lot extreme to me.
As someone who was homeschooled from the sixth grade on, I will say that it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Now let me clarify that statement. The first two years were the absolute worst!! I had to learn to get along with my older sister, something that hadn't worked for 10 years! Also, there were the adjustments to not having my friends around me all the time. ('Course they were some of the reason I had to leave school because of bad company.)
I feel that Homeschooling can be a very rewarding experiance for both parents, and children, if it is approched with a wholehearted attitude and seriousness of the situation, not just as an easy alternative to paying tuition at the local Church school.
My parents made it a point to getting us involved with other young people and going on way more field trips than we ever went to at the church school. Back in the late 80's when we started to HS, there were not as much support for the parents and families like there is now. My parents had to take a lot of abuse for their stand to teach us kids, but I am so glad they did!
It drew us together as a family because we HAD to work things out with our siblings! And in the working out process, we developed a greater love for each other.
Tom, you spoke of a "miserable social desert" and I wonder, could that have been changed if your parents and family put more effort into things you could do as a family and school? I am not trying to put them down but I have seen many families succeed and many fail in homeschooling and it all depended on the parents and how involved they BOTH were. It is not enough for Mom to do all the teaching, Dad has to be involved or there will be unrest in the children.
Sorry, I just realized how much I have typed!! Glen, you and Rachel must make the decision that is best for YOUR family and you have many different parameters that most of us think nothing about. But seek God's face and follow the peace in your heart and He will lead you in what is best.
Being homeschooled all my life, I'll say that I missed some things about school. The interaction, learning to play volleyball, and believe it or not, phys. ed (I'm in terrible shape!), and Bible. But I have to say that I didn't have near the peer pressure that the others did, and I was able to form my own standards and stick to them much more easily. As for being socially "challenged", you decide! =) Plus, I had plenty of free time in the afternoon near the end of my education. But I love helping at school, and I can say there are definitely pluses there as well.
~Susan
Post a Comment