Saturday, March 28, 2009
Home Schooling Responsibility
As stated in this weeks presentation between 1.9 and 2.4 million children are being educated in a home school setting. Parents are making the choice to educate children in their homes due to their religious and moral stances and also in the hopes of providing a safer learning environment for their student then what can be offered in a public school setting. They are choosing to make their student's education their responsibility as they have a right to, however the issue that I have with this responsibility is how effectively the children who are in the home school setting are being instructed. I agree with Holt when he says that home is the natural base for exploration of the world. And it is. At the beginning of every school year I make a point to tell the parents in my classroom that THEY were their child's first teacher, and I will be building off of the foundation that they and previous teachers have set. However, there comes a point where a student will benefit from leaving the home and being exposed to the world around them, specifically through the public school setting. As shown in our presentation, there are numerous home schooling formats, including a few that provide for involvement in the community and other "public" areanas. But how many families are choosing that option? And if they are choosing that option, are the activities varied, or are they all linked to the particular church that that family belongs to? No one is sure. As seen in our presentation, the statistics relating to home schooling are vague at best, which directly relates to my point: Yes, the parents have a right to make their student's learning their responsibility, but are they living up to that responsibility?
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First, can I say - what were you doing up so early on a Sat. - ha! Next, isn't it overwhelming all of these questions that we all start having in our heads when we are reading each other's blogs! As a mom, past teacher, and current substitute teacher, sometimes I do feel as if I am homeschooling my children. They come home with so much homework and they don't understand it because their teacher didn't have time because she has 27 kids in her class. So, I am the one teaching at home......isn't that homeschooling. Good thing I have a teaching degree. Some parents believe that it should be the schools responsibility to teach everything a child should know.....don't bring it home. I have helped neighbor children with their homework and when explaining to their parents they might need some extra help they say they don't have time - hello, this is your child! Food for thought: I substitute taught last week, 7th grade, and I overheard the teacher next to me - he went through 10 students before he could find someone to answer correctly "what country do we live in?" Does this say something about the public school system? What is happening!?
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