Post by bugandbibs on Apr 24, 2018 11:26:23 GMT -5
Homeschooling is very common here, including online school that is free through the district (not state run, but they get the money for your kid from the amount the state would reimburse the school district).
There doesn't seem to a "type" that homeschools here. It's depends a lot on what grade the kid is in. It just another option for families. There are a lot of resources in my area, which makes it a more viable option for kids. A lot of the homeschooling families I know don't homeschool all of their kids- just the ones for who it is a better fit.
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I know of people that homeschool. You run into them at various activities because there is some sort of program through the state where homeschoolers get money for activities (ballet, art, etc). I'm not exactly sure of the details.
It's not popular here, but I do know a few families that homeschool. One is a pastor's wife and their schoolwork is definitely religion based. The other was a former teacher who decided that common core is the devil and she didn't think it was the best environment for her kids to learn. (they are also religious, but her curriculum doesn't seem to be religion based). Sometimes she's very smug about it and will post pics of her and her kids cuddling while reading at 1pm and post "why I homeschool". Some days I'm very tempted to take of pic of me at the gym on a Wednesday morning (I only work 4 days and am home on Wed) with a why I don't homeschool hashtag.
I don't know anyone who home schools, although I talked to someone at the park that did (once, in my nearly 11 years of parenting). It's not common here at all and the only people I "know" are from Bumpie spinoff communities.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
I don't personally know anyone that homeschools but based on the number of school aged kids I see out and about on a daily basis I would say it's very common. It seems more common in older kids than younger.
Not super common but my cousin is currently homeschooling her 9 and 7 year olds. She is a former teacher so it works out amazingly well - they work with several other homeschooling families and are very involved with theatre, music, art, sports. Their area (Chicago burbs) offers a lot of free/cheap community activities so they’re always enhancing/applying stuff in an academic way. I’m pretty envious because they are getting an incredible learning experience!
I don't know many (any really) home schooling families. I certainly know OF some, but I'm not personal friends with them. Classical education is really gaining momentum where we live; my kids attend a classical charter school and I really do love the education they are receiving. Several former homeschooling families now attend this school. I don't really understand what the draw is for them... but to each their own!
Tell me what you like about it! My democratic friends are opposed to this particular school bc it’s board is being run by religious white conservative types. The focus of “virtue” and “beauty” is confusing. I want to know more about it. When I ask about the classical homeschool curriculum, all I hear is that it is a lot of memorization done through song, kids learn the presidents in like first grade (?), can draw the globe by third grade and that there is sentence diagramming done a lot in the older grades. LOL. Everyone I have talked to loves it, but these are the only facts I have gleaned from what they tell me. Not being judgey. Just curious.
I don't know many (any really) home schooling families. I certainly know OF some, but I'm not personal friends with them. Classical education is really gaining momentum where we live; my kids attend a classical charter school and I really do love the education they are receiving. Several former homeschooling families now attend this school. I don't really understand what the draw is for them... but to each their own!
Tell me what you like about it! My democratic friends are opposed to this particular school bc it’s board is being run by religious white conservative types. The focus of “virtue” and “beauty” is confusing. I want to know more about it. When I ask about the classical homeschool curriculum, all I hear is that it is a lot of memorization done through song, kids learn the presidents in like first grade (?), can draw the globe by third grade and that there is sentence diagramming done a lot in the older grades. LOL. Everyone I have talked to loves it, but these are the only facts I have gleaned from what they tell me. Not being judgey. Just curious.
There are a lot of things I like about the school. Expectations are high and consistent. Low emphasis on technology; from what I understand cell phones will never be allowed in classrooms and I am very much behind that. Our school leans more liberal. It's very diverse, in all areas. I really like the way my kids are learning; they're actually learning, not memorizing. They do have to memorize a poem and recite it to the class every few weeks. I think it's a great skill. My third grader exclusively writes in cursive. Her handwriting is prettier than mine lol. Most important, my kids love their school and are excited about learning. I don't have much more time to respond. It's not a one-size-fits all, that is for sure! I am happy we had a choice and my kids were given the opportunity to attend this school. Also, this school mirrors the way we parent at home. It was a happy coincidence; obv we were parenting the way we were before this school was ever on our radar. I'm not sure I explained it all that well, my lunch break is hectic today!
I don't think so - we have pretty good public schools, we aren't so liberal that we attract the hippie un-schoolers, and we aren't so conservative that we attract a lot of creationist religious homeschoolers. That said, I'm pretty unlikely to encounter a lot of homeschoolers.
Tell me what you like about it! My democratic friends are opposed to this particular school bc it’s board is being run by religious white conservative types. The focus of “virtue” and “beauty” is confusing. I want to know more about it. When I ask about the classical homeschool curriculum, all I hear is that it is a lot of memorization done through song, kids learn the presidents in like first grade (?), can draw the globe by third grade and that there is sentence diagramming done a lot in the older grades. LOL. Everyone I have talked to loves it, but these are the only facts I have gleaned from what they tell me. Not being judgey. Just curious.
There are a lot of things I like about the school. Expectations are high and consistent. Low emphasis on technology; from what I understand cell phones will never be allowed in classrooms and I am very much behind that. Our school leans more liberal. It's very diverse, in all areas. I really like the way my kids are learning; they're actually learning, not memorizing. They do have to memorize a poem and recite it to the class every few weeks. I think it's a great skill. My third grader exclusively writes in cursive. Her handwriting is prettier than mine lol. Most important, my kids love their school and are excited about learning. I don't have much more time to respond. It's not a one-size-fits all, that is for sure! I am happy we had a choice and my kids were given the opportunity to attend this school. Also, this school mirrors the way we parent at home. It was a happy coincidence; obv we were parenting the way we were before this school was ever on our radar. I'm not sure I explained it all that well, my lunch break is hectic today!
I appreciate it! I do think it sounds more like how “we” were educated back in the day. I had to do poem recitation and it is a good skill to have.
Post by litskispeciality on Apr 24, 2018 13:23:09 GMT -5
I just learned that about 30-45 mins. from where I live there's a pretty big homeschooling community. Apparently it's regulated, many families work together like a co-op. The field trips sound awesome, the kids go on real adventures and learn. Overall though I guess the kids have a hard time adjusting to residential college life.
My state "is one of the best in the nation" for education, but my general area doesn't have the best public schools. We have a lot of private religious (Catholic) school and some charter schools. They just had a vote last year trying to move more money to charters from the public budget, it got pretty heated. One of my niece's goes to a charter school that just opened when she started 1st grade. Another niece switched districts due to bullying.
I was in a FB support group for spouses in my husband's profession. A lot of the members were religious and homeschooled their kids all over the country. They had a sub group of this group specifically for home school parents.
Post by litskispeciality on Apr 24, 2018 13:24:43 GMT -5
I'm hearing more about the online schooling too. A woman at work moved accross country, her daughter was in online homeschool before the move. She at least got a bunch of college credits that way. I know another woman with step children who online homeschool in FL. Not a religous family but I think the mom was beyond helicopter and wants the kids to live at home until she dies.
Post by thelurkylulu on Apr 24, 2018 13:28:37 GMT -5
Traditional homeschooling is not popular here, but online schooling has become much more popular for people we know with middle and high school kids.
Honestly, DH and I have had numerous discussions lately about what we think would be best if they would start arming teachers. Extreme situations like that are the only reason we would ever consider it though.
I'd say it's somewhat common here and I know probably a dozen or so families that do it. About half are religious, the other half are crunchy non-vaxxing or delayed-vaxxing moms. That group is more interesting to me because like cabbagecabbage noticed there are definitely kids in that group that have behavior or mental health issues that would be identified and treated in public school but in their homeschool/unschool environment it mostly goes unchecked. I was in a moms group with some of them when our kids were babies and when they became toddlers/preschool age the issues became more pronounced and it was clear to me that a lot of the behaviors were beyond the scope of normal developmental stages and phases. But they have all kind of banded together to create this educational environment that allows their kids to be "free spirits" and learn at their own pace and....well I hope it works out for them but I do worry. And I wonder if they will always homeschool and if they don't, how difficult it might be to integrate into a mainstream school environment.
It appeals to me not at all and we have excellent public schools here.
Someone I know used to homeschool her kids but last year her oldest (12 years old) wanted to go to public school. He felt left out when he went to scouts and such because he was the only one homeschooled.
The family is a very religious, anti vaccine unschooling mindset.
I think her son will be nothing like his parents as he’s asking so many questions about vaccines and why his parents don’t trust the doctors and such.
I don’t know anyone else that homeschools but I know that it is huge in the area surrounding us.
I'm hearing more about the online schooling too. A woman at work moved accross country, her daughter was in online homeschool before the move. She at least got a bunch of college credits that way. I know another woman with step children who online homeschool in FL. Not a religous family but I think the mom was beyond helicopter and wants the kids to live at home until she dies.
Edit: What is an unschooler?
i think it's child-directed learning somewhat. so say the kid is interested in dinosaurs, they read books about them, watch movies/videos, go to a museum, etc. then move onto the next interest in a bit. if they're not interested in math, then meh!
not sure what people do when their kid is interested in video games and pizza only lol.
yes my impression is that there is no real curriculum being used, it is all child led.
It's not typical, but it's not uncommon. There seem to be two types locally: The hyper religious set and the hippie-ish new age set. Almost all are white.
We have good public schools available to us and neither of us have the inclination to want to homeschool, so it's not something we've ever considered.
I'm sure there's a homeschool community somewhere in the NYC area 9or many of them), but I have no personal knowledge of what's out there or no anyone who has been homeschooled or homeschools their kids. My friend's son asks her to homeschool him when he feels anxious or doesn't want to go to school, but it's not something she's ever considered. I don't think she even knows how he heard of homeschooling.
I just learned that about 30-45 mins. from where I live there's a pretty big homeschooling community. Apparently it's regulated, many families work together like a co-op. The field trips sound awesome, the kids go on real adventures and learn.
This sounds like my area. I just had a really long response written, but lost it.
Homeschooling feels very popular in my area, but we also have very good public and private school options. The most popular program is like a co-op with classes that kids can attend together and there are supervising teachers (former teachers) to mentor. It really seems like a great program. Kids can participate in public school sports/extracurriculars, but they also have homeschool extracurriculars. These kids come out well-prepared for college, emotionally, socially, and academically...about the same as public schools.
There’s also Classical Conversations. I’m not impressed with what I see from that program in our area. Their parents like to talk about how much their kids know...but it doesn’t seem to translate well to other skills and is missing critical thinking or social skills from what I’ve seen here. Some people have switched from CC to Charlotte Mason. That’s new, but is largely outdoors. I have a hard time seeing that translate to a future profession in the medical or business field, but that’s not for everyone anyway. The parents and kids seem thrilled with it.
Then there are the parents who count a trip to the grocery store or cooking a meal as the day’s math lesson. Yes, it’s math...but PS kids do that AND get math lessons at school. They often take weeks or even a month off at a time and then try to cram everything in at the last minute.
A few are former teachers. One is from my son’s really good public elementary school. She’s just taking it year by year, but for K and 1st, she is doing HS because she feels strongly that what we expect of that age in our district is developmentally inappropriate. The expectations round out in about 3rd grade, so she expects she’ll probably send them to public school around that time. I have no doubt they’ll be ready, academically and socially. Because homeschooling is so popular here, there are lots of opportunities for socialization.
Homeschooling the first way is very appealing to me...but with my uncontrolled ADHD, it would be a recipe for disaster for my kids.
Actually now that I think of it I know of two non-religious homeschoolers:
1) Her daughter is on the spectrum and she felt her daughter wasn't being served properly by the public schools. They go on field trips with a co-op homeschool group each week and it sounds like they complete the work fairly quickly each day.
2) This mom wanted to better control her schedule. She felt she was constantly in the car with her kids. I can kind of see where she's coming from, but at the same time I cherish my alone time each day. I couldn't handle being with my kids 24/7. I wonder if she still homeschools?
I do think there's a lot of wasted time in the school day and if we home schooled we'd accomplish a lot in a shorter amount of time. But I have little to no patience with careless errors so I'm sure it would be a bad decision for all involved!
i think it's child-directed learning somewhat. so say the kid is interested in dinosaurs, they read books about them, watch movies/videos, go to a museum, etc. then move onto the next interest in a bit. if they're not interested in math, then meh!
not sure what people do when their kid is interested in video games and pizza only lol.
yes my impression is that there is no real curriculum being used, it is all child led.
I can't wrap my mind around this. How does the town/state note notice the kid isn't in school? I thought even if you home school you're *supposed* to be monitored to ensure you're teaching your kid what the school would? At least the state standard? I get the idea of homeschooling, I can't understand why you just don't want your children to learn anything.
I don’t know ... I don’t think being zoned for “good” schools necessarily means people are less likely to homeschool (a few people above mentioned that). “Bad” schools are more likely to cater to low-income kids who rely on them for, if nothing else, a hot meal everyday and someone to watch them while their parents work. Sometimes it’s the only place they can go where there’s heat in the winter.
I don’t know any homeschoolers and it’s not because we’re zoned for blue ribbon campuses. Opting out in general seems pretty privileged.
I’m not saying nobody would homeschool because of our schools but more that it’s cost prohibitive to live in my area and not utilized the schools because our taxes are so high. We have a pretty clear divide, for example, in that the next town over is zoned with a few other towns for a poor performing high school and that town has nice houses. Almost everyone in that town goes to private Catholic school or is retired. Taxes are lower there. Homeschooling is absolutely a mark of privilege.
yes my impression is that there is no real curriculum being used, it is all child led.
I can't wrap my mind around this. How does the town/state note notice the kid isn't in school? I thought even if you home school you're *supposed* to be monitored to ensure you're teaching your kid what the school would? At least the state standard? I get the idea of homeschooling, I can't understand why you just don't want your children to learn anything.
If you never register your child for school or never register as a homeschooling family how is the distract supposed to track you? It’s not like they get a list of every 6 year old who lives in the area. So unless someone calls CPS or the cops or something on the parents. . . which why would you? I know I assume when I see an older kid with a parent during the day that they are homeschooled or just home sick that day or had an appointment or something.
I can't wrap my mind around this. How does the town/state note notice the kid isn't in school? I thought even if you home school you're *supposed* to be monitored to ensure you're teaching your kid what the school would? At least the state standard? I get the idea of homeschooling, I can't understand why you just don't want your children to learn anything.
If you never register your child for school or never register as a homeschooling family how is the distract supposed to track you? It’s not like they get a list of every 6 year old who lives in the area. So unless someone calls CPS or the cops or something on the parents. . . which why would you? I know I assume when I see an older kid with a parent during the day that they are homeschooled or just home sick that day or had an appointment or something.
Good point, I guess I'm thinking the child had started school and the parent unschooled them, but it makes sense they'd just never send them, esp if the kids weren't vaxed and not allowed to go to school (until they're up to date). How do parents who work full time homeschool? Maybe you could teach during the day and work nights? Someone watches the kids while you work during the day and you teach at night? So many questions going down this rabbit hole.
Post by mustardseed2007 on Apr 24, 2018 17:40:25 GMT -5
My sister went to a baptist college and A LOT of people that went there had been home schooled. All very religious.
I have a co worker who lives in a kind of crummy school district and also grew up in a crummy school district. She home schooled the later half of high school intends to home school her child when he's older and b/c she says that high school can really be done just fine online. Her husband is disabled and so will be home with her kid during the day. If he wasn't then she'd probably send her kid to her mom's house during the day to do it.
One mom in my neighborhood home schooled her child who has severe anxiety and attention issues. Most people are all going to the public school that's supposed to be good with a very few going to private school.
Many of the homeschoolers I know have kids with learning differences who felt were not being well served by special education services in the public schools. This doesn't generally end well.
I am very interested in your experience on this point. My son is in first and has ADHD and a 504. His school is very well rated, but I am extremely underwhelmed by his school’s ability to teach him. His self esteem is very low after this year and he has no friends. He is so much more able to focus and learn when I work with him at home and can do things like give him bar hanging and trampoline breaks every ten minutes, etc. I am seriously considering home schooling. We are also pursuing continued evaluations for getting an IEP to get more services, but that is awhile off (if at all).
I don't think so but the Seattle Public Schools does have this weird school that parents have to be there all day with their child. It's apparently very hippy. The parents apparently have to teach in addition to the teachers. Very odd.