Get Schooled

By Jennifer

March 1, 2005 04:10 PM | Link to this

My daughter attends Victory Academy, one of the hybrid schools that you mention in your article. Our family absolutely LOVES it! It’s perfect for us—she goes to school 2 days a week for direct instruction in a classroom, and on the other three days, she works one-on-one with me. The teachers supply the lessons, which is a tremendous help, and the curriculum is challenging, not filled with busy work. For us, it’s the best of both worlds. She gets the accountability, socialization & activities of a real school (even prom & a student council), and the flexibility of homeschooling on the other days. As an added bonus, since it’s accredited, when she graduates she’s eligible for HOPE. It’s nice to have an affordable alternative to GA’s public schools.

As an aside, it’s not GA’s teachers that I have a problem with. I truly believe that, given the freedom, they would do a fabulous job with my kids. However, I do not trust either the state of GA or my county’s test-driven, constantly changing curriculum and philosophy of education. In addition, there is a real lack of discipline in the public schools, which has been created by our sue-happy society. Teachers in public schools have no options, especially when dealing with disruptive students, and parents take no responsibility. In the homeschooling community, my family is surrounded by like-minded parents who are focused on ensuring that our kids receive a solid, well-rounded education.

By Christy at work not working

March 2, 2005 08:15 AM | Link to this

Well I don’t believe that home schooling is for everyone. I have seen PHD’s have difficulties staying focused everyday, and evn more sadly my hair dresser recently took her younger children out of school to start homeschooling them. It was really sad, because her daughter was having difficulties in public school, and this lady sounded educated, but clearly isn’t. It has gotten so bad that her kids have been requesting to go back to school, and when they do return (because of bad test scores) will be held back a grade. So in my opinion I think that home schooling should be done by someone who is anal about their childs education and has the dedication it will take to get it done.

By Yoluali

March 2, 2005 08:42 AM | Link to this

Since public schools apparently teach to the bottom of the class, home schooling is a viable option to ensure that a talented student is appropriately challenged. Public schools waste tremendous amounts of time on inane instruction. Georgia’s place near the bottom of the nation is easily understood after visiting the typical public school.

By Carlene

March 2, 2005 08:45 AM | Link to this

We’ve been h’schooling 12 years. My son (just turned 16) is joint enrolling his last 4 HS credits at N. Ga. College and State Univ. His 2 younger sisters (11YO and 9YO) are stilled h’schooled.

Here are answers to your questions in order:

• (How decide on curriculum?) Primary curriculum decisions are based on 1) their preferred learning style 2) my preferred teaching style 3) what they’re ready to learn 4) what they’ve expressed an interest in 5) what I can afford! (Fortunately, there are many, many sources for cheap/free curriculum

• (How handle unmotivated kid?) We tackle their weakest subjects first in the morning when they’re freshest, so there’s some degree of “push on through and just get it done” (isn’t that a lesson we all have to learn in life, anyway?). However, beyond that, we 1) try to find a way to work one of their (currently) favorite topics into the lesson(s) they’re balking at 2) take them through some review on the topic in question to make sure they’re not unmotivated because they’re not ready for what’s being thrown at them, or 3) put it away for a few days and come back to it.

• (How find answers when I have questions about their ed.?) There are as many answers to this one as there are questions about my kids’ education. Fortunately, there are just about as many ways to turn, too. The Internet is INVALUABLE for this. So are the email loops I’m on (one for Ga. H’schoolers, one for parents of gifted kids, etc.). At times we have hired someone to work with my son when he needed to move faster than I could on a subject (folks passionate about a subject are usually delighted to find a kid who is passionate about the same subject!). And there are several avenues for private classes just for h’schoolers around our area for those hard-to-teach high school subjects!

• (Why began h’schooling?) Our oldest began reading on his own just before he turned 3. He read on almost a 4th grade level 9 months later. We could have either 1) sent him to public school (where he would’ve been a behavior problem from being bored out of his tree), 2) sent him to private school at the cost of thousands of $$$ a year (not to mention having to put a newborn in day care) or 3) homeschooled him. 12 years later, he’s proven that h’schooling was the perfect choice. His younger 2 sisters have also benefitted from 1) being able to move at their own pace to learn, 2) being able to learn primarily from “real” books (not textbooks!), 3) being able to learn from many trips to museums, plays, concerts, etc., and 4) learning to cooperate, negotiate, and just plain be comfortable around, kids of all ages (including their siblings).

All 3 of my kids are creative, divergent thinkers. H’schooling allows them to pursue their creativity in each of the ways their personality/talents prefer. My oldest has an application in for a provisional patent and a trademark on an educational science card game he invented. We’ve already sold about 250 decks of it.

My middle child has a strong gift for painting. Not only is she able to take lessons at her ability level (as opposed to the average ability level for her age group), she can finish her other school work and have time to paint, visit the High Museum, etc.!

My youngest is a “tinkerer” and already (at age 9) wants to be an architect. She has time to spend taking “junk” and turning it into amazing things. She has time to take broken things apart and figure out how they work. She has time to build a pretty amazing “house” for her favorite stuffed animal…all while studying construction, design, electronics, etc. None of this would be possible without the flexibility of homeschooling. She is also a VERY visual/spatial learner, which makes spelling and other sequential learning tasks difficult. Homeschooling gives us the chance to use teaching tools that help her strengthen the skills that come hardest to her.

One final comment: the earlier poster was right…it’s NOT for everyone. But more people can do it than think they can. You don’t have to begin by knowing how to teach high school subjects if you begin when they’re 5! You learn as you go. My college degree is in Marketing, not Education! BG

Let me know if you’d like any web links for examples of the kinds of resources I’ve mentioned. They’re all over the place!

By Tawanna

March 2, 2005 09:20 AM | Link to this

Carlene, thank you for your post. I am interested in links that you have found useful in homeschooling your children. My daughter just turned 2 and I want to be proactive in planning her future.

Any assistance you could give me would be much appreciated.

By Carlene

March 2, 2005 10:12 AM | Link to this

Tawanna,

Start here:

http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/directory/Beginning.htm

Great stuff, including basic info. on different styles of/approaches to homeschooling.

Then go to Yahoo.com, click on “Groups”, and search for “Georgia homeschooling”. There are tons of email loop groups availble, including some where you can see what used curriculum folks have for sale!

The nice thing about “beginning” when they’re 2 is that they’re naturally little sponges at that age…they’re learning every minute of the day just by nature. If you learn how to make your household a household of learning just through daily living, your 2YO will end up thinking that’s how everyone lives! (I read a story one time of a person homeschooled as a child that said they were a teenage before they realized that “National Geographic” wasn’t a bedtime story book! BG)

HTH. Let me know if you need more.

Carlene

By Bob

March 2, 2005 10:17 AM | Link to this

As a homeschool Dad of over 12 years, I will say that it was the best decision we have ever made. My wife and I decided to homeschool because of our frusrations from our days in public schools. I “had” to enter 1st grade when I was 5. It was too early and I was behind from the start. I spent 12 years thinking I was “slow”. We have three kids and they each have different learning “styles”. Homeschooling allowed us to teach each child according to their learning style, and our goal was to teach them to enjoy learning instead of dreading it. Our three are currently enrolled in Hertiage Academy in Oakwood, one of the three University Model Schools in the Atlanta area. They attend on M-W-F and we homeschool on T-T. For the record, the kids love it and do very well. My oldest is a senior and has been accepted at his choice of a major university in early action. The most common question we have received over the years is about their social life… well, we believe that sports and church involvement are critical and my kids get more social time with sports and church than we have time to drive them. Homeschooling requires a serious investment, both in time and money. We bought and used curriculuim that worked, if it did not, we tossed it and got something that did. What worked for one, sometimes did not work for the other. There are many options out there, explore them all!

By T. R.

March 2, 2005 10:27 AM | Link to this

The resources available to homeschoolers are vast. There are support groups, both online and off, and hundreds of websites devoted to the subject. Many homeschoolers meet for weekly park days, which provide support and social time for both the parent and the child.

Here in the South the trail has been blazed by Christian homeschoolers, who have put together an impressive array of resources. It is harder for non-christian homeschooling families like ours, but the availability of secular support groups and materials is increasing rapidly as more families choose homeschooling for purely academic reasons.

As for motivation, we do schoolwork year round, instead of taking summers off, and that way if we have a lazy day or two it doesn’t affect our overall progress year-to-year. And since we can tailor our speed to the individual child, we don’t spend weeks boring her on something she already knows, and conversely we can stop and take extra time on a subject she finds more challenging.

Our decision to homeschool was born purely out of a dissatisfaction with GA public schools. When we started, we were at a “Blue Ribbon School of Excellence” yet I found it to be completely unacceptable.

I don’t fully get what is wrong with GA schools, but it seems that the children are worked twice as hard for half the results - and are expected to have the maturity to put up with a workload that is far beyond acceptible for their years. Kindergarten is supposed to PREPARE you for school, but in GA you need PreK to prepare you for kindergarten. Huh?

Our school system up north (like most northern schools) had NO preK and a half-day kindergarten. School for K-5 didn’t start till 9am, so that 6 year olds didn’t have to catch buses at 7am in the dark. But their test scores are better. What gives?

So, since private school education is incredibly expensive in the metro area, homeschool it is! And our numbers are growing. Heck, since so many school systems are overcrowded, you’d think the Ga Dept of Education would encourage homeschooling…it’s a cheap way to lower enrollment!

By Jim

March 2, 2005 10:59 AM | Link to this

My wife and I decided about 10 years ago to start homeschooling our then eight year old son after realizing that our local “school of excellence” was inadequate in many ways. We attempted to support the school at first. My wife was active in the PTA and volunteered as a teacher’s assistant during a time when “invented spelling” was going to help our son learn how to read and write. Ritalin was being prescribed to ADHD labeled children at an alarming rate based at times on little more than a teacher’s observations.

After some soul searching, we realized we were fortunate that Georgia homeshool laws were favorable and that we could afford to have my wife stay at home and homeschool. It does cost money, so not everyone can afford to do it, but many who are able may not recognize the value in the sacrifice.

We experimented at first; selecting curriculum that other homeschoolers were using, or selecting it based on the description in curriculum flyer ads. We found that some material works and some doesn’t. Some material works for one kid and not another. That’s one of the benefits of homeschooling. You are FREE to choose curriculum that works best for your kids, and move through it at their pace. My wife, now more confident from her experience over the years homeschools our 18 year old son (Most of his classes are private classes at various locations outside the home.), our 14 year old son, and 9 year old son. There are various homeschool support groups in metro Atlanta. You are FREE to find the one that supports your efforts and beliefs.

A word on motivation… In addition to completing his studies (and before entering college later this year), our 18 year old works for a company that offers after school chess programs in the metro area as an instructor and area coordinator. He also has a landscaping business. Our 14 year old has been creating a board game over the last two years. He is working on level 2 of the game. He hopes to eventually market and sell it. What motivates our kids to do these things? I can assure you it isn’t the prospect of getting a gold star or trophy, or the fear of getting a bad grade. The type of motivation I’m talking about is the only type of motivation that matters…self motivation. Read the book Punished by Rewards for more insight.

Homeschooling continues to be a viable form of education for our family. My wife and kids wouldn’t have it any other way.

By Lisa

March 2, 2005 11:58 AM | Link to this

We have been homeschooling for over 2 yrs. and find that this works for us because my children were bored with conventional schools. We have 3, ages 14, 10 and 7. Our oldest wanted to study more indepth and tests at college levels. The other two needed more one on one time and more time with quality books instead of text books.We read real books, many recommended by Charlotte Mason.

Resources are infinite today due to the hard work of past homeschoolers. Motivation is based on wanting to attain your personal best, not a grade at the end of a semster. My kids see the bigger picture to education. It not just to satisfy a teacher and go to the next grade; it self improvement.

And finally, I do not feel bound to teach what public schools teach. We work on life skills, documents of historical significance, biographies, etc. And we travel which teaches the kids so much.

By Renee

March 2, 2005 02:37 PM | Link to this

I made the biggest mistake of my life this school year; I enrolled my daughters, grades 4th and 7th into public school after being homeschooled. The transition has been very trying for my oldest daughter. Not only has she digressed in her studies, her behavior has changed as well. She has also found it difficult to adjust to the negative ways of some of her peers. So needless to say, this will be their only experience outside of homeschool.

By Lyn

March 2, 2005 02:53 PM | Link to this

We are in our 7th year of homeschooling. Our two children are 15 and 7. Our oldest attended public school from Kindergarten to the first 6 weeks of 4th grade. Our family (including both sets of grandparents, my brother, my husband and me)were involved in all the activities at her school. We participated in PTA and even had our daughters great grandmother as a card toting member. We were not always pleased with the way the school was run but we plugged away because we thought she HAD to go to public school. We all went so she should too, right? WRONG! When my daughter Started 4th grade we had the misfortune of getting a terrible teacher. We tried to understand where she was coming from but to this day we still have no idea why she was so disagreable. Actually she was downright mean. We took our daughter out of school while we went to meeting after meeting trying to make the school system understand that she is OUR daughter and WE know what is best for her. We heard about homeschooling from a friend and decided to check it out. To be honest we were scared but we knew we had to do something else. We joined two homeschooling support groups in our area. What a blessing! Seven years later and we are still homeschooling. Our daughter is above her grade level in English, Science and History and on grade level with Math (which she says is “lame”). My son has never attended public school. He’s in 1st grade and is above grade level in ALL of his subjects. Homeschooling is not for everyone. If you don’t enjoy the company of your children then it’s not for you. We wouldn’t take anything for the time we spend with our children. It’s not all sunshine and roses every minute of the day but the occasional hitch in our get-a-long is easily dealt with. The main thing is providing our children with the best education possible. Whether it’s public, private homeschool. One final paragraph to give you some food for thought. Georgia homeschooling law requires children to be schooled 4 and a half hours a day for 180 days of the year. You can do more hours if you want but 4 and a half counts as a full day. Public school is about 7 hours a day ( from about 8am to 3pm). Add in an hour before and after to get there and back home and your child has been away from you for 9 hours. Add in homework time, dinner (maybe) and any sports or activities and the day is gone. Hmmm, we’ll take homeschooling any day of the week.

By Rick

March 3, 2005 09:13 AM | Link to this

I’m a homeschooling Dad. We have been homeschooling for over 6 years. My sons have never had to endure public school. In the beginning we bought some standardized lessons but later found that looking in school suppliy stores and sharing books with other homeschool parents we are able to give our boys the proper lessons and they actually enjoy learning. Weekend family trips can be learning experiments. We have toured the Augusta area and other historical towns around GA. We use math, writing, history and science on every trip. Also my boys are learning to be better citizens and will the best young men they can be all because their Dad retired and stayed home with them.

By Sandra

March 3, 2005 10:19 AM | Link to this

Homeschooling is not homework-supervision, which is a generally miserable experience for child and parent alike. Homeschooling is FREEDOM for the family to go on “learning binges” that capitalize on interests, FREEDOM to work on weak areas in the most efficient way possible, FREEDOM to change directions to suit the needs of the child and the family, and FREEDOM to read real books instead of dumbed-down texts (“twaddle”). Most homeschooled kids read for hours a day, by choice.

We were devoted public school parents for ten years, but we pulled our last child from kindergarten and have never looked back. After a decade of hard PTA work, the school was worse than it had been when we started, yet we were hearing the same nonsense from the administrators about the newest “fix.”

Public school Kindergarten was grim. Homeschooling has been joyful. We did not expect that homeschooling would remove the single greatest stress in our lives—the school—but that is what happened. Looking at our three older children’s public school education, it was shallow and incoherent in comparison to what our youngest has learned at home (yet they were all top students). Many “elementary-level” homeschooling resources have found their way to college, I might add.

As for “socialization,” schools force children into the lowest cultural denominator, where they spend most of their time in a group with whom they share nothing but a birth year. Homeschooling has meant that our child’s friendships are based on mutual interests and values. [Read “Jailhouse Middle School” http://www.townhall.com/columnists/rebeccahagelin/rh20050225.shtml]

Schools socialize children and their families into passive roles. Homeschooling models responsible self-reliance and resourcefulness, and believe me—your children are watching you! “Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire.”(W.B. Yeats) Furthermore, homeschooling leaves much more time for social interaction. Imagine never having “silent lunch” again. Imagine free afternoons and evenings without school-imposed busywork! Imagine a family life that is not dictated by outsiders.

Consider this: The current factory model of education is not what produced the founders of this country. Our current education system was designed a hundred years ago to produce docile factory workers. It was modeled after Prussian schools for the purpose of social engineering.

Is homeschooling for everyone? No. If the school is a more enriched environment for your child than your home can provide, then send him to school. But there is no reason to be intimidated by homeschooling. (Studies have shown that there is little correlation between a parent’s education level and the ability to homeschool, by the way. A parent’s commitment and resourcefulness are what matter.)

There is no reason to feel isolated, either. Most of us find that we have to limit our children’s outside activities because there are so many for homeschoolers, at least here in the Atlanta area. There are non-sectarian as well as religious-based groups all over the metro area.

You do not need anyone’s “permission” to homeschool. Go to the HEIR website and discover how to set your family free!

By Amy

March 3, 2005 11:17 AM | Link to this

I am a public high school teacher of 4 1/2 years, and I think homeschooling is a great idea. (As long as the parents are truly serious, and it sounds like most of the ones here are). I think it’s great that these “hybrid” schools let you all have greater flexibility; in fact, that’s probably more modern and convenient than the traditional way of doing things. I’m happy that this alternative exists for those who can afford it.

By Amy

March 3, 2005 11:21 AM | Link to this

To add to my last comment: I too get frustrated with my county’s mandated test-prepping strategies. I feel like everything we do is geared toward a test: the SAT, the GHSGT, the End of Course Tests. At least with homeschooling, you get a lot more flexibility with what you’re doing. For those who are truly serious about education (and I say the following with utmost regret), the public school channels appear to be clearly the last resort. And with the discipline problems that I and other teachers encounter everyday, I can see why. Thank you, parents, for the work you do with your kids. I wish some of the parents of my own kids would get more serious themselves.

By Trisha

March 3, 2005 11:50 AM | Link to this

I dont like home school. It is not very much fun for the child. You stay home all day, then ur parents come home and they are so tired from work and then you dont go anywhere because they just want to rest. I dont think its very much to be happy for. ~Gata.

By k2kwick

March 4, 2005 04:15 PM | Link to this

what are the publishers credentials

By Whitney

March 10, 2005 01:15 PM | Link to this

There is a great resource for parents who want to homeschool but are overwhelmed at the thought of administering the curriculum themselves. Check out http://learningbygrace.org/sisters/ — there is a demo so that you can see for yourself.

They have three different tracts — one is online parent-led, one is online teacher-led, and another is an accredited online academy (which is also teacher-led). What makes it unique is that is completely internet-driven and interactive, so it is totally portable. If your children are in sports or if you travel as a family, you can take the classroom with you if you have an internet connection.

By Walter

March 11, 2005 11:45 AM | Link to this

I’m familiar with Learning By Grace and know several families in their Jubilee and Grace Academies. These families love it, because it frees-up mom to get her stuff done, not become a teacher. From what I hear, the curriculum is great, fully online, God-centered and interactive, so the kids are enjoying it as well (as much as any kid will admit enjoying learning).