Very good post, and this in particular is a great point. Well said
Somebody tell me I'm full of it
- Thread starter bushidomartialarts
- Start date
thardey
Master Black Belt
I was homeschooled for most of my elementary, and all off my middle school years, and I would definitely recommend it.
However (and this is a huge HOWEVER), the parents need to realize that this homeschooling thing takes a lot of work on their part. They also need to be realistic about what to teach their children. Many homeschoolers focus primarily on core curriculum, but don't teach life skills.
When my sister and I started homeschooling, it was a new kind of movement. (I realize "home school" has been around since the beginning of time, but in the early 90's, it started gathering momentum as a movement.) There were some kinds of homeschooling groups around, but we quickly decided not to participate because the mentality of the group was too protective.
They wanted to teach their own children, not because they could teach better in a lower teacher/student ratio, or anything like that -- they wanted to insulate their kids for as long as they humanly could. I ran into many of those same types of kinds when I tried a term at a Christian College -- not much had changed. In fact, many of the parents had put so much pressure on the college to "protect" their kids, that the faculty spent more time on that than actually teaching. I left.
Now, with that said, it really makes my hackles go up when people say that homeschoolers are deficient in breadth of knowledge, or social skills. Yes, there are many who are extremely naive, many who lived in a world where they were the center of the family's attention, but there are many who aren't noticed as homeschoolers, because they do blend in so well.
Part of our education was to learn "street smarts" as my Dad put it. He made sure to include us in his daily life, so we could learn lessons from "grown-up" situations and problems. He chose to do that. Another huge part of my education involved looking things up and deciding for myself. If I had questions, instead of simply answering them for me, my parents took me to the library, and showed me how to find books that got me started. I learned to interact with adults, in an adult world. I learned how to think for myself, and defend what I thought.
When I went to public high school as a freshman, these were all skills that I found completely missing. Yes, there was a culture shock, because I was surprised at how immature these people were when it came to social skills. If they got in a argument, they basically called each other "dummy-head" until someone else broke it up! Or they started rumors about each other, and made it worse by trying to chase the rumor down, adding more fuel to the fire. All I learned about "social skills" in high school was how to work the academic system to get what I wanted.
As far a breadth of knowledge goes (I don't want to brag, but I do want to represent home-schoolers), things I have tried, or been involved with include (but not limited to): Art (painting, drawing, modeling, photography); Music (Guitar, violin and fiddle); Computers (programming, troubleshooting, installation/repair); Construction (design, estimates, materials, wood, concrete, brick, metal, electricity and drywall); Mechanics (gas and electric engines, cars); Airplanes (Soloed when I was 16); Boats (Modern sail, traditional square rigged sail, ocean and lake power boats); History/culture (one of my favorite studies); Philosophy (world-views, tests for truth, ethics, religion); Science (physics, engineering, trig); Martial arts (boxing, firearms, archery, karate, fencing, bo staff, nunchaku); Language (Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, [just a basic understanding of each]); and run of the mill general hobbies (Ballroom dancing, scuba diving, tennis, golf, etc).
The foundation for all of these experiences I had came from my time as a homeschooler. My parents were not rich - but they encouraged me to read and get curious about this stuff. I studied it, and researched it, then later I took opportunities to to try it. (I don't claim mastery in any of the above subjects, just a "working knowledge")
I am certainly not unique to homeschoolers, but I think people tend to notice them only when there are problems. Would you bash all of the martial arts as ineffective because there are many people who only do it for sport? If a TKDer loses a street fight, should we all quit MA?
My wife is a public middle-school teacher, and there are certainly kids there who have terrible social skill, and have no concept of negotiation, just threats. There are also people who claim to be "homeschooling" when in reality, their just avoiding school completely.
Anyway, just my perspective as an "adjusted homeschooler".
However (and this is a huge HOWEVER), the parents need to realize that this homeschooling thing takes a lot of work on their part. They also need to be realistic about what to teach their children. Many homeschoolers focus primarily on core curriculum, but don't teach life skills.
When my sister and I started homeschooling, it was a new kind of movement. (I realize "home school" has been around since the beginning of time, but in the early 90's, it started gathering momentum as a movement.) There were some kinds of homeschooling groups around, but we quickly decided not to participate because the mentality of the group was too protective.
They wanted to teach their own children, not because they could teach better in a lower teacher/student ratio, or anything like that -- they wanted to insulate their kids for as long as they humanly could. I ran into many of those same types of kinds when I tried a term at a Christian College -- not much had changed. In fact, many of the parents had put so much pressure on the college to "protect" their kids, that the faculty spent more time on that than actually teaching. I left.
Now, with that said, it really makes my hackles go up when people say that homeschoolers are deficient in breadth of knowledge, or social skills. Yes, there are many who are extremely naive, many who lived in a world where they were the center of the family's attention, but there are many who aren't noticed as homeschoolers, because they do blend in so well.
Part of our education was to learn "street smarts" as my Dad put it. He made sure to include us in his daily life, so we could learn lessons from "grown-up" situations and problems. He chose to do that. Another huge part of my education involved looking things up and deciding for myself. If I had questions, instead of simply answering them for me, my parents took me to the library, and showed me how to find books that got me started. I learned to interact with adults, in an adult world. I learned how to think for myself, and defend what I thought.
When I went to public high school as a freshman, these were all skills that I found completely missing. Yes, there was a culture shock, because I was surprised at how immature these people were when it came to social skills. If they got in a argument, they basically called each other "dummy-head" until someone else broke it up! Or they started rumors about each other, and made it worse by trying to chase the rumor down, adding more fuel to the fire. All I learned about "social skills" in high school was how to work the academic system to get what I wanted.
As far a breadth of knowledge goes (I don't want to brag, but I do want to represent home-schoolers), things I have tried, or been involved with include (but not limited to): Art (painting, drawing, modeling, photography); Music (Guitar, violin and fiddle); Computers (programming, troubleshooting, installation/repair); Construction (design, estimates, materials, wood, concrete, brick, metal, electricity and drywall); Mechanics (gas and electric engines, cars); Airplanes (Soloed when I was 16); Boats (Modern sail, traditional square rigged sail, ocean and lake power boats); History/culture (one of my favorite studies); Philosophy (world-views, tests for truth, ethics, religion); Science (physics, engineering, trig); Martial arts (boxing, firearms, archery, karate, fencing, bo staff, nunchaku); Language (Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, [just a basic understanding of each]); and run of the mill general hobbies (Ballroom dancing, scuba diving, tennis, golf, etc).
The foundation for all of these experiences I had came from my time as a homeschooler. My parents were not rich - but they encouraged me to read and get curious about this stuff. I studied it, and researched it, then later I took opportunities to to try it. (I don't claim mastery in any of the above subjects, just a "working knowledge")
I am certainly not unique to homeschoolers, but I think people tend to notice them only when there are problems. Would you bash all of the martial arts as ineffective because there are many people who only do it for sport? If a TKDer loses a street fight, should we all quit MA?
My wife is a public middle-school teacher, and there are certainly kids there who have terrible social skill, and have no concept of negotiation, just threats. There are also people who claim to be "homeschooling" when in reality, their just avoiding school completely.
Anyway, just my perspective as an "adjusted homeschooler".
