"HOMESCHOOLING" IN THE CHICAGOLAND AREA

[berwynson]

Went through the first 3 boards, didn't see it addressed, so, in our present area of residence, homeschooling is very popular among parents. Without my comitting to agreeing with the concept or not, I'm curious what the general "feeling" is regarding this controversial topic?

The State of Missouri Legislature at one point got so worked up over it, they proposed a law requiring testing and "certification" of parents homeschooling their kids. It got blown out of the water before voting on it.

I personally know several families doing this, and in every one I would rate probable educational results as dismal, at best. The trend is probably more prevalent in rural areas, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn that large numbers of urban parents are sufficiently pissed-off at the quality of education their kids are getting from the "Educational Institution" to consider homeschooling.

What have you-all to say about this?  Berwynson

[tgoddess]

My first question about the whole homeschooling process is always, "how do you end up teaching your kids the subjects YOU really sucked at?"  Now, I can balance my checkbook and pay my bills, but I'll be the first to admit that if you were ask me to teach another human being trigonometry or calculus...well, let's just say...they'd be able to pay bills and balance the checkbook.

I realize that there are many, many schools where it's so bad, that discipline and crowd management, rather than teaching and learning, are the order of the day and if I'd had children, I'd certainly not want them in an environment like that.

What do you do about the socialization process, where going to school isn't JUST about 123-ABC, but learning how to get along and work well with groups of others?   For example, you're a 15 year old girl who's homeschooled.  Where's the homecoming dance?  The living room with your kid brother?  Or you're a teen boy who dreams of playing in the state basketball finals...well, you can still play down at the park district.   Do kids who want to do things like that get the opportunity when they're homeschooled?  How are they taught to work in groups and how do they get the skills needed to play well with others who may be very, very different from them?

I imagine if the stay-at-home parent is a very well-educated, has LOTS of time to get his child/children the socialization he needs, it could work pretty well and in the cases where the alternative is, perhaps, a school that riddled with gang or behavior problems or simply a school where the parent feels the the curriculum has been "dumbed down" as to be a detriment to his child's future, I think it might be the best/only option.

I do wonder that when you're a parent who is homeschooling your child, are you spending 7-8 hours a day doing it for each child as they would have if they were in a traditional school?  If you are homeschooling more than one child, how are there even enough hours in a day to provide a full education for all of them?   How is a curriculum determined?  Is it provided by the state or some other agency?   What does a parent do if his child is not understanding a subject the parent himself really doesn't understand?    I also wonder what happens if these kids decide they WANT to go a regular school.  Are they really PREPARED for such a different environment as high school or college? 

The other issue is that teaching is a very specialized skill and it's not something just ANYONE can do.  I have a lot of respect for teachers and once considered it as a career (before my conscience force me to realize that I'm not one of those people who should be leaving my indelible mark on ANYONE). 

I've always been fascinated by this idea (especially since it's become somewhat of a "movement" in recent years), but admit I just don't really "get" how it works in the long run and if it really does provide an as-good or better education than one in a traditional school.

[berwynson]

All excellent points, well said. Socialization is NOT a part of homeschooling in most of the cases I have seen. Know of one situation where the 16 year old daughter has now decided to become "Gothic", dresses in all black, black lipstick & nails, talks about blood a lot, hideous. Worse yet, her mother is a librarian and must "cage" the girl all day there fearing to leave her home alone. This is the result of "schooling"?

However, I'm hoping some will enlighten me about whether the craze has caught on in Berwyn and there-abouts. Berwynson

[Ana]

There are plenting of homeschoolers in the Berwyn and Cicero area.  My neighbors are homeschoolers and I don't see any problem with socializing.  Their social schedule is busier than our "schooled" children's social schedule and it seems that they are more open-minded or more accepting of what is not considered "normal".  Our neighbor's kids are great (13 and 11).

[~LL~]

There are plenting of homeschoolers in the Berwyn and Cicero area.  My neighbors are homeschoolers and I don't see any problem with socializing.  Their social schedule is busier than our "schooled" children's social schedule and it seems that they are more open-minded or more accepting of what is not considered "normal".  Our neighbor's kids are great (13 and 11).

For the record -- I underlined that particular phrase in Ana's post -- because the (really-not-subtle) discouragement of open-mindedness and acceptance that we experienced in Berwyn schools when we moved to Illinois was most certainly another reason I opted to home school my children -- through high school.  Another consideration was that teaching how to learn did not seem the objective so much as merely offering what to learn.  Of course, there were many considerations and much research done before I removed my children from public school.  They understood that they would be even more responsible for their own educational success and would be expected to actually do more work than they would be given in a public school.
Both went on to further their education, are well employed, and say they never felt they missed out on anything.  Among other things, home schooling can, as Ana stated, offer a more 'life experiences' than traditional school.   Those who home school their children usually network with other home school families to share resources and areas of expertise.  Thus, if a parent happens to have 'sucked' at something, it is not that difficult to find another parent who will gladly offer that particular course or skill.  There are also organizations to rely on – and, of course, a wealth of resources on the internet.  Home schooling is certainly not an recent 'trend' – and I do somewhat take offense to it being referred to as a 'craze'—even though the poster who referred to it that way has indicated a very narrow of view of just about everything.   

[hounddog]

A good question to ask would be this:  how many kids arrested in Berwyn for graffiti/vandalism/general gangbanging are homeschooled? ( Zero is my guess. ) Then ask how many attend public school(my guess, every single one).  Can we therefore blame the public schools for this behavior? 

[Ana]

Parental involvement. . . or the lack thereof can be blamed.  I think both ways of schooling home school or traditional schooling are successful only when there is parental involvement.  For home schoolers it is a given that parents are involved. 

And Linda, you are right, it is not a "craze".  I commend you for being able to homeschool your children through High School.  It is a huge undertaking.  One I was not able/willing to embrace. 

Also, for those of you who are considering it, there is a home schooling conference coming up in the next month or so.

[Boris]

My first question about the whole homeschooling process is always, "how do you end up teaching your kids the subjects YOU really sucked at?"

There are some resources available: One example is Lincoln Park Zoo's ZEBRA Online. (ZEBRA= Zoo Ecology and Biology Resource Access...don'tcha LOVE acronyms?).'

...anyway, it's 36 interactives that help teach the basics of ecology and biology. It's aligned for grades 3-5, but most adults I've tested with it with (I am one of the developers) learned (or "remembered") quite a lot. Here's the link to the Student Home Room:

http://www.lpzoo.org/education/zebra/student/a.html

But, the real magic of ZEBRA is the teacher/parent back-end:

http://www.lpzoo.org/education/zebra/teacher/b.html

Each and every lesson is explained with key concepts, objectives, vocabulary and extension activities. Also, all lessons are aligned to IL standards so they may be used in the classroom, and cover science, mathematics and language skills.

...oh, and they're fun!

[~LL~]

Great stuff, Boris!  Even though my 'students' are on their own now -- I still look for resources that might help other home schooling families.
This is terrific.  Got any more?  Any more in the works?

[Bonster]

Can I just send my (imaginary) kids to LL, and call it "private schooling?"