Providing Balance: America's Homeschoolers

[srkruzich]

Lucky me, I had both public schooling and homeschooling.  If the teacher at the public school was lacking in the teaching or just lacking in getting it through to me, my parents stepped it up a notch at the homeschooling  around the kitchen table. There was just something about when Dad decided you were going to buckle down and get it, YOU DID and pretty darn fast I.

yeah i had the same thing with me.  And back when i went, they still gave out things like homework, projects and expected us to do them as well as they gave grades out based on performance.
i was fit to be tied when the school my boys were in sent home a letter saying they were eliminating D's in the grading system and lowering the grade standards so that a 65 was equal to a C and a 75 was a b and a A was 85 and above.

I know if i ever brought home a D or a F i was totally grounded til the next report card. All i got to do was study in my room.

[greatguns]

Can't tell what would have happened to me.  I didn't have the urge to find out.  Also, I never heard my parents ever say anything negative about any of the teachers I ever had in school.  I'm not saying they didn't think it, but they certainly never said it in front of me.  It really bothers me that I hear so many parents speaking bad of the teachers in front of their children.  That is just me.

[Diane Amberg]

Steve, did your boys go to school in Kansas? That grading scale isn't even close to what we have here.  You must have had a lot of pushy parents wherever your boys went to school.   We have lots of AP courses in high school here that didn't exist when I was in school. If "everything" is dumbed down, how do you account for those? Keep in mind we are also responsible for teaching kids who have lower ability too, not everybody is a genius.

[Mom70x7]

It really bothers me that I hear so many parents speaking bad of the teachers in front of their children.

I agree.

We taught our kids to respect their teachers. There would be times the teachers would be wrong, but they were still the teachers and in charge, so follow the rules! I don't see that "life lesson" followed nearly as much today.

[srkruzich]

Steve, did your boys go to school in Kansas? That grading scale isn't even close to what we have here.  You must have had a lot of pushy parents wherever your boys went to school.   We have lots of AP courses in high school here that didn't exist when I was in school. If "everything" is dumbed down, how do you account for those? Keep in mind we are also responsible for teaching kids who have lower ability too, not everybody is a genius.

no they went to school in southeast.  Uhm those grade changes were statewide, not just a local school.  It was done in Georgia, tn, and alabama and i think south carolina. 
I don't know what a AP course is.  But if its a advanced course then why?  When i went to school they set the bar high for us to achieve, not just a few gifted kids but every kid.  And quite frankly i have found that most kids if you set the bar high, they will achieve it instead of bringing it down to the lowest level kid, set it above the highest level kid.  Then you get a true education.  Even the lower level kids get a top education even if they don't meet that bar.

[Diane Amberg]

AP courses are indeed Advanced Placement courses. Any one can apply for them.They make college cheaper per credit hour because they are college classes that that student won't have to pay for in college. Our high schools are big ( many are too big!) and are made up of many sections according to needs, wants and abilities. All get as good an education as they are willing to work for. Here, to the shock of some parents, schools didn't lower the standards, they raised them. I totally agree with setting the bar high.I did too.That's why parents asked for me for their kids. The thing I couldn't deal with well with were the truants. I couldn't help a kid who wasn't there.

[pepelect]

I don't see how truancy would be a issue with homeschooling unless they ran away from home.  Maybe that is the deal breaker. 

If I have to actually get up and get my kids off to school everyday to add to the overwelming stresses of the day then I would be better off teaching them at home. 

[Diane Amberg]

HUH? I think I was just dissed, as the kids would say, and I'm too dumb to know it.

[pepelect]

No you weren't I was just being funny.  I will stop.  This is not the place.

[Teresa]

I'm not smart enough now.. nor have I ever been to home school my kids..
I would have loved to.. IF I had had the brains..or the time ..( running a hardware store and homeschooling doesn't exactly make for good scheduling)
Danny would have hated it.. ( he was all into school ..sports etc.. loved everything about it.. )
Derek would have liked it..( cause he hated everything about school)  but he would have hated me at the end of the day.. ( IF he would still have been breathing.. hahaha..)
I hated school...and I disliked college too...
I'm a total hands on learning type person.. so all the rules, school politics  and BS you have to go through to "learn" lost my interest very early on..
I would have been a nightmare to try to homeschool too...
Guess I was a lost cause for "organized schooling" from the beginning..

But I greatly admire and have high respect for those that can do it and the kids that benefit from it..