Public school versus homeschooling

[Anonymous]

My daughter wanted to homeschool because the most interesting and cool people she knows are homeschooled. Her peer group in school was not as smart and motivated, and the busywork drove her insane.

In real life (meaning adult life, because children are not, apparently, real), you have choices about how to manage tedium. Sometimes you just have to do it. Sometimes you share it with a partner or pay someone else to do it or accept the consequences of not doing it. You can problem-solve and minimize tedium; it's an important life skill.

In most schools, you have few choices. There's no reward for mastery. You are still doing the same work over and over, and it's robbing you of time you need to learn something more interesting. It is hugely disrespectful to children to burden them with endless worksheets so some meaningless box can be checked. It presumes they have nothing better to do, which is generally not true at all. When I think about the time my bright, curious, inventive daughter has had stolen from her by moronic busywork covering material she had mastered long before... argh. What a waste of the short, precious time she has to discover and master what she truly loves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:While it is called homeschooling, most home schoolers do not spend their entire day just being home with the fam. There are many, many wonderful co-ops available. The child can take classes from a VARIETY of teachers. One of my kids started co-ops when he was 6. He was there for 5 hours once a week and rotated through 5 different classrooms with 5 different teachers taking 5 different subjects. On a different day he took 2 co-op classes that lasted 3 hours. These were in buildings with kids taking classes from K through 12. The subjects were varied- Science, History, Art, Drama, P.E, on Tuesday. Themes from Shakespeare (a very low key kid version that was super cool) and Woodworking on Thurs.

We're considering homeschooling, but this co-op sounds like a bit of a crapshoot; is it really any better than most public schools? And is it more like a general ed classroom or an AP classroom? I guess since the time spent in these other classrooms is pretty small, it wouldn't be as big a deal if there are some less talented teachers in the mix.

Also, we're in DC but considering moving to VA to be closer to DH's job. My DH thinks we should stay longer in the city if we homeschool, so we can take advantage of being so close to so many museums and other cultural institutions. But I get the sense there would be more homeschool support networks in VA. Can you recommend some good resources for people considering homeschooling in this area, so we can get a sense of where these groups are located and what they're like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter wanted to homeschool because the most interesting and cool people she knows are homeschooled. Her peer group in school was not as smart and motivated, and the busywork drove her insane.

In real life (meaning adult life, because children are not, apparently, real), you have choices about how to manage tedium. Sometimes you just have to do it. Sometimes you share it with a partner or pay someone else to do it or accept the consequences of not doing it. You can problem-solve and minimize tedium; it's an important life skill.

In most schools, you have few choices. There's no reward for mastery. You are still doing the same work over and over, and it's robbing you of time you need to learn something more interesting. It is hugely disrespectful to children to burden them with endless worksheets so some meaningless box can be checked. It presumes they have nothing better to do, which is generally not true at all. When I think about the time my bright, curious, inventive daughter has had stolen from her by moronic busywork covering material she had mastered long before... argh. What a waste of the short, precious time she has to discover and master what she truly loves.

It sounds like you were not in a good school district. My children go to school with many bright and very interesting individuals. One friend spent the summer building homes in Costa Rica. During the school year, several spend lots of time working in the school garden. After school many of them participate in a drama club that puts on twice-yearly shows. Many play on the soccer team together. In the summer, they swim and often hold lemonade stands to raise money for needy families. Our school holds a science fair, has an international night, does a "famous impersonator" wax museum, has an alphabet parade for younger children, collects books and clothes for the less fortunate, has field trips to the mountains, historic sites, and science centers. The school offers a a math club, a choir, an orchestra, and Odyssey of the Mind.

What school district were you in that your child only did repetivie worksheets with no rewards for mastery with no interesting or cool students?

[Anonymous]

http://www.vahomeschoolers.org/support/#NorthernVa

[Anonymous]

Just wanted to throw in unschooling as an option. You don't need to replicate all the problems of traditional education at home.

[Anonymous]

17:54 Which school does your DC attend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just wanted to throw in unschooling as an option. You don't need to replicate all the problems of traditional education at home.

You are kidding right?

People in this country feel superior to those in "3rd world countries" where one of the big problems is lack of education for the poor. Now you want to submit our kids to the same and move this country backwards? You do realize that our kids are already trailing many other nations in math and science and our elementary school kids know very little about world geography, world history (outside of a few ancient cultures) and world current events. How would unschooling help this?