Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"A typical day at my child's school involves 1-1.5 hours of math, 2.5 hours of language arts, 1 hour of social studies or science, 1/2 hour of lunch, 1/2 hour of playtime, and 1-1.5 hours of either music, art, PE, guidance, STEM enrichment activities, or library time."

That 2.5 hours of language arts is necessary because of all of the different levels of competency in the class. There is a short lesson given to all students then the teacher meets with each group for 10-20 minutes, so you could condense that 2.5 hours into about 30 minutes of one-on-one time. The literacy "stations" and ipad apps are busy work to keep kids occupied so the teacher can meet with the groups. With math, if your kid understands the concept, they don't need the worksheet/ipad busy work that again is a way for the teacher to give extra time to students who need it.

And I forgot to mention the time taken for the teacher to discipline the kids who are misbehaving. Every year my son has had roughly two kids in his class who are troublemakers. They disrupt the entire class because the teacher has to address things as they happen.

We started homeschooling because our boys were those troublemakers.

It's estimated that something like 30% of your child's day is spent in time off task. So if your school runs 6 hours of which 4 hours of that is spent in reading/writing/and math and almost a third of that is spent in time off task, that gives an individual kid in a room with 25 other kids somewhere around 2.75 hours of on task learning for reading and language arts.

Many homeschooling families do the more academic reading, writing, and math activities during those two hours in the morning and use classes, field trips, etc, for science, social studies, art, pe, and music classes that they are not counting into the two hours of schoolwork.

As for whether or not parents are qualified to teach their own child. There are obviously data points on both ends- some parents shouldn't be homeschooling their children for a variety of reasons, but there are also some teachers that shouldn't be teaching anyone either. There really isn't a ton of specialized knowledge that elementary teachers magically get by going to college and studying education that a parent who knows how to access information isn't capable of doing him or herself.

As for the original questions, I can see a parent wanting to homeschool their young boys for the first couple of grades for a variety of reasons - many kindergartens are not developmentally appropriate learning environments, parent may value more exposure to content knowledge at an early age, there may be religious reasons, they may have very slight special needs that aren't being addressed by the schools, there may have been bullied even if their neighborhood schools are considered good.

I only have anecdotal opinion , but the 2 women I went to school with and have worked with were very sweet , pleasant , and good at their jobs. Clinically at par , but their social skills, sense of humor , nuances of a situation, navigating difficult professional scenarios ,appropriateness of a story , and things like that were off. The complexities of situations were just not understood as well, they were slower in communication, rapport, office politics and even the typical back and forth camaraderie in healthcare

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is very little oversight. Home school is for a lot of religious right folks and also folks in bad neighborhoods. People are screwing their kids w/o even knowing it. I'm a lawyer and I would never consider homeschooling. Who are these women who think they are good enough to teach all subjects? Many home school moms never took the time to go to college themselves.

Your a lawyer so that explains a lot.

You don't know how to use the correct form of "you're" so that explains a lot.

I have editors, so that explains a lot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the problem is that many parents are homeschooling without someone overseeing how the time is spent. Our good friends home school their children. "Science" consists of doing something fun (i.e. watching what happens to maple syrup on ice) repeatedly b/c the kids love it, but no science explanation. "Writing" for the second grader consists of working on letter formation (no journals, no writing letters to others, no actual writing). Language arts consists of reading, but no extended questions.

While I think there are certainly parents out there who are doing an amazing job homeschooling, in truth b/c there is a lack of oversight, and b/c it is easy to get into a practice of doing it the same way, many of these children are not receiving nearly an equivalent education as their peers. My other friend (not the same as the good friends) who is with her 2 children today homeschooling sent a text earlier that they are coloring for art right now and then will read quietly and be done for the day. Sorry, a 9 year old and 7 year old should be doing more than that.

Someone in my family also homeschools her three kids. Since the kids are all different ages, it is incredibly difficult to homeschool. One is in first grade, one is in third and one is in 5th.

There is oversight. Your kids still have to pass the state mandated tests (usually administered at a testing center or base school). So, at end of the day, as long as your kid can exceed the baseline in the different subjects, go ahead and do fun science.

This is not entirely correct. The "oversight" consists of testing each year BUT the parent administers it and if the child doesn't 'pass' the child simply stays back a grade. My friend administered it to her two children this past summer and both were held back a grade according to the results so they are both repeating.

What state allows the parents to administer the test?

My friend did it this summer - VA. She then took the finished tests from her kids and mailed them in to the state.

Are you sure? Maybe it's heresay? As of 2 yrs ago, you had to ho yo a testing center...as the PPs mentioned.

Yes, I'm sure.

I concur, I homeschooled my child from 2008-2010 and administered the state mandated testing.

Here is the statute:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+22.1-254.1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the problem is that many parents are homeschooling without someone overseeing how the time is spent. Our good friends home school their children. "Science" consists of doing something fun (i.e. watching what happens to maple syrup on ice) repeatedly b/c the kids love it, but no science explanation. "Writing" for the second grader consists of working on letter formation (no journals, no writing letters to others, no actual writing). Language arts consists of reading, but no extended questions.

While I think there are certainly parents out there who are doing an amazing job homeschooling, in truth b/c there is a lack of oversight, and b/c it is easy to get into a practice of doing it the same way, many of these children are not receiving nearly an equivalent education as their peers. My other friend (not the same as the good friends) who is with her 2 children today homeschooling sent a text earlier that they are coloring for art right now and then will read quietly and be done for the day. Sorry, a 9 year old and 7 year old should be doing more than that.

Someone in my family also homeschools her three kids. Since the kids are all different ages, it is incredibly difficult to homeschool. One is in first grade, one is in third and one is in 5th.

There is oversight. Your kids still have to pass the state mandated tests (usually administered at a testing center or base school). So, at end of the day, as long as your kid can exceed the baseline in the different subjects, go ahead and do fun science.

This is not entirely correct. The "oversight" consists of testing each year BUT the parent administers it and if the child doesn't 'pass' the child simply stays back a grade. My friend administered it to her two children this past summer and both were held back a grade according to the results so they are both repeating.

What state allows the parents to administer the test?

My friend did it this summer - VA. She then took the finished tests from her kids and mailed them in to the state.

Are you sure? Maybe it's heresay? As of 2 yrs ago, you had to ho yo a testing center...as the PPs mentioned.

Yes, I'm sure.

Anonymous wrote:"A typical day at my child's school involves 1-1.5 hours of math, 2.5 hours of language arts, 1 hour of social studies or science, 1/2 hour of lunch, 1/2 hour of playtime, and 1-1.5 hours of either music, art, PE, guidance, STEM enrichment activities, or library time."

That 2.5 hours of language arts is necessary because of all of the different levels of competency in the class. There is a short lesson given to all students then the teacher meets with each group for 10-20 minutes, so you could condense that 2.5 hours into about 30 minutes of one-on-one time. The literacy "stations" and ipad apps are busy work to keep kids occupied so the teacher can meet with the groups. With math, if your kid understands the concept, they don't need the worksheet/ipad busy work that again is a way for the teacher to give extra time to students who need it.

Those stations do keep kids busy but the kids are actually doing work during this time too. In our local school the "short lesson" is typically one that either all the kids need to learn or is specific to each leveled group since they switch classes starting in 1st grade most days. They do several spelling and vocabulary activities several times a week which would take close to the same amount of time at home. The "literacy stations" involve actual writing and reading themselves. I'm guessing any homeschool would also have this time where a parent was working with other children and why wouldn't we want our children doing some work independently? The rest of the time is in small or individual writing or reading groups with the teacher about three times a week. I'm sure a good 30 minutes of the 2.5 hours is not used well but I bet that would be the same at home too since kids need breaks. I agree that more one on one time would be helpful especially in public school with large class sizes, but I'm convinced that the time it would take me to plan the lessons and administer them to all our children would equal the amount of time that is "wasted" in public school. My children have been identified "gifted" anyway and have been nurtured at school with little additional help at home. So far we are happy enough with public school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is very little oversight. Home school is for a lot of religious right folks and also folks in bad neighborhoods. People are screwing their kids w/o even knowing it. I'm a lawyer and I would never consider homeschooling. Who are these women who think they are good enough to teach all subjects? Many home school moms never took the time to go to college themselves.

Your a lawyer so that explains a lot.

You don't know how to use the correct form of "you're" so that explains a lot.

Anonymous wrote:I homeschooled my son for K-7. He had a traumatic start in life and did not speak. Eventually we got him to the point where he spoke at home/with immediate family. I was able to work part time, from home.

DS did 45 minutes of English/reading, an hour of foreign culture/social studies (I wanted to do foreign language but since he didn't speak I'd have no way to know he was getting proper accents), 45 minutes of math, 45 minutes of science. We'd do a half hour of "gym" together and then he'd do at least a half hour on his own too (trampoline, basketball, skating, swimming, tennis, etc.). "On his own" just meant without me - he could play HORSE with siblings or neighbors. He also did a half hour of music each day. We did a field trip once a week, and a fun multi-subject project once a week.

He was sort of socially awkward simply because of his mute-ness but he started 8th grade prepared to talk and with a few friends. Though he was quiet, and still is, he thrived. He'd often come home and complain of being bored at school, frustrated at sitting around waiting.

You did a wonderful thing for your son. He is lucky to have you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the problem is that many parents are homeschooling without someone overseeing how the time is spent. Our good friends home school their children. "Science" consists of doing something fun (i.e. watching what happens to maple syrup on ice) repeatedly b/c the kids love it, but no science explanation. "Writing" for the second grader consists of working on letter formation (no journals, no writing letters to others, no actual writing). Language arts consists of reading, but no extended questions.

While I think there are certainly parents out there who are doing an amazing job homeschooling, in truth b/c there is a lack of oversight, and b/c it is easy to get into a practice of doing it the same way, many of these children are not receiving nearly an equivalent education as their peers. My other friend (not the same as the good friends) who is with her 2 children today homeschooling sent a text earlier that they are coloring for art right now and then will read quietly and be done for the day. Sorry, a 9 year old and 7 year old should be doing more than that.

Someone in my family also homeschools her three kids. Since the kids are all different ages, it is incredibly difficult to homeschool. One is in first grade, one is in third and one is in 5th.

There is oversight. Your kids still have to pass the state mandated tests (usually administered at a testing center or base school). So, at end of the day, as long as your kid can exceed the baseline in the different subjects, go ahead and do fun science.

This is not entirely correct. The "oversight" consists of testing each year BUT the parent administers it and if the child doesn't 'pass' the child simply stays back a grade. My friend administered it to her two children this past summer and both were held back a grade according to the results so they are both repeating.

What state allows the parents to administer the test?

My friend did it this summer - VA. She then took the finished tests from her kids and mailed them in to the state.

Are you sure? Maybe it's heresay? As of 2 yrs ago, you had to ho yo a testing center...as the PPs mentioned.

Unless you apply for a religious exemption from oversight. That's allowed in VA. This is a fascinating story about it:
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/debate-on-virginia-s-homeschool-law-encapsulated-in-buckingham-family/article_f76001bc-fd53-11e2-8bbf-001a4bcf6878.html

I thought my SIL was homeschooling because she wanted a better, more engaged learning environment for her children.

Then I asked her how science class was going (my kids love it) and she told me they were still on Genesis.

I was crushed. Really? Now I think she homeschools to keep her two children from interacting with people who think differently than she does.

I homeschooled my son for K-7. He had a traumatic start in life and did not speak. Eventually we got him to the point where he spoke at home/with immediate family. I was able to work part time, from home.

DS did 45 minutes of English/reading, an hour of foreign culture/social studies (I wanted to do foreign language but since he didn't speak I'd have no way to know he was getting proper accents), 45 minutes of math, 45 minutes of science. We'd do a half hour of "gym" together and then he'd do at least a half hour on his own too (trampoline, basketball, skating, swimming, tennis, etc.). "On his own" just meant without me - he could play HORSE with siblings or neighbors. He also did a half hour of music each day. We did a field trip once a week, and a fun multi-subject project once a week.

He was sort of socially awkward simply because of his mute-ness but he started 8th grade prepared to talk and with a few friends. Though he was quiet, and still is, he thrived. He'd often come home and complain of being bored at school, frustrated at sitting around waiting.

Anonymous wrote:There is very little oversight. Home school is for a lot of religious right folks and also folks in bad neighborhoods. People are screwing their kids w/o even knowing it. I'm a lawyer and I would never consider homeschooling. Who are these women who think they are good enough to teach all subjects? Many home school moms never took the time to go to college themselves.

Wait. What?

What does being a lawyer have to do with critiquing school choices?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the problem is that many parents are homeschooling without someone overseeing how the time is spent. Our good friends home school their children. "Science" consists of doing something fun (i.e. watching what happens to maple syrup on ice) repeatedly b/c the kids love it, but no science explanation. "Writing" for the second grader consists of working on letter formation (no journals, no writing letters to others, no actual writing). Language arts consists of reading, but no extended questions.

While I think there are certainly parents out there who are doing an amazing job homeschooling, in truth b/c there is a lack of oversight, and b/c it is easy to get into a practice of doing it the same way, many of these children are not receiving nearly an equivalent education as their peers. My other friend (not the same as the good friends) who is with her 2 children today homeschooling sent a text earlier that they are coloring for art right now and then will read quietly and be done for the day. Sorry, a 9 year old and 7 year old should be doing more than that.

Someone in my family also homeschools her three kids. Since the kids are all different ages, it is incredibly difficult to homeschool. One is in first grade, one is in third and one is in 5th.

There is oversight. Your kids still have to pass the state mandated tests (usually administered at a testing center or base school). So, at end of the day, as long as your kid can exceed the baseline in the different subjects, go ahead and do fun science.

This is not entirely correct. The "oversight" consists of testing each year BUT the parent administers it and if the child doesn't 'pass' the child simply stays back a grade. My friend administered it to her two children this past summer and both were held back a grade according to the results so they are both repeating.

What state allows the parents to administer the test?

My friend did it this summer - VA. She then took the finished tests from her kids and mailed them in to the state.

Are you sure? Maybe it's heresay? As of 2 yrs ago, you had to ho yo a testing center...as the PPs mentioned.

Anonymous wrote:There is very little oversight. Home school is for a lot of religious right folks and also folks in bad neighborhoods. People are screwing their kids w/o even knowing it. I'm a lawyer and I would never consider homeschooling. Who are these women who think they are good enough to teach all subjects? Many home school moms never took the time to go to college themselves.

Your a lawyer so that explains a lot.