The trials and errors of a home educating family finding our own way and getting saner by the day!
Showing posts with label article link. Show all posts
Showing posts with label article link. Show all posts
Aug 13, 2010
Fantastic Article and Video
Finally an article and video that truly expresses a home education philosphy - somewhere in the midst of unschooling, homeschooling, child-led learning - in a way that can be understood by the general population. There are no extremes or radical parenting styles expressed, just the need to address children as individuals! I am very impressed!
Aug 15, 2008
Transferring Trends
One of our wonderful moderators for an on-line support group in our state MHLA shared some very interesting statistics with the list yesterday:
For the second year in a row, over 1300 public school students (and their families) decided to leave the system and homeschool in MA.
Last year, 2006-07, the DOE ran their new SIMS stats for me (with the new Transfer to HS code) and determined that some 1371 students had "transferred" to homeschooling.
They have just run the stats for the 2007-08 school year and another 1323 have also decided to homeschool.
As stated before, this only tracks students that were enrolled as public school students and have left the system in the past year. It does not include those who previously left the system to HS, nor those who have HSed from the beginning and were never enrolled. Nor those who have left private schools for HSing.
Since my daughter is one of the 1323 students from the 07-08 school year, I thought I would comment on it. I have seen the term "accidental homeschoolers" popping up more and more in articles for parents who are new to homeschooling. It has been used to refer to the parents who never intended to homeschool their children, but have pulled their kids out of PS. I get the concept of it, but really I think it would be more accurate to call us "Parents that are Utterly Disgusted with the Public School System," "Parents who don't want to FIX their kids!" or "Parents for Truly Educated Children".
We didn't just fall out of bed one morning and say "Oops I guess we can't send her to school anymore!" For most of us it was a process that took a lot of wasted time, energy, and aggravation. We have been let down by a system that was suppose to educate ALL students that walk through it's "hallowed" halls. We have undertaken a huge responsibility in the structure of our children's futures. We have broken away from the norm, taken criticism from family and friends, suffered through our children feeling alienated and broken, in order to give them what they truly need to be well rounded responsible educated adults.
When I see that the numbers are as high as they are two feelings cross my mind:
1) Pride - I am proud of the fact that I can be included with such a courageous group of parents!
2) Sadness - for all the children whose parent's cannot, for whatever reason, give them this wonderful gift!
With the numbers this high, how can anyone say that these children would be better off in PS? Really can we ALL be wrong? Can we ALL be crazy?
For those of you who are also part of the 1323 - welcome! No matter what curriculum you use, what style suits your family, what religious background you come from - you are now "Homeschoolers"! You are brave, you are caring, you are wonderful! You are giving your child the very best gift you can give them!
For the second year in a row, over 1300 public school students (and their families) decided to leave the system and homeschool in MA.
Last year, 2006-07, the DOE ran their new SIMS stats for me (with the new Transfer to HS code) and determined that some 1371 students had "transferred" to homeschooling.
They have just run the stats for the 2007-08 school year and another 1323 have also decided to homeschool.
As stated before, this only tracks students that were enrolled as public school students and have left the system in the past year. It does not include those who previously left the system to HS, nor those who have HSed from the beginning and were never enrolled. Nor those who have left private schools for HSing.
Since my daughter is one of the 1323 students from the 07-08 school year, I thought I would comment on it. I have seen the term "accidental homeschoolers" popping up more and more in articles for parents who are new to homeschooling. It has been used to refer to the parents who never intended to homeschool their children, but have pulled their kids out of PS. I get the concept of it, but really I think it would be more accurate to call us "Parents that are Utterly Disgusted with the Public School System," "Parents who don't want to FIX their kids!" or "Parents for Truly Educated Children".
We didn't just fall out of bed one morning and say "Oops I guess we can't send her to school anymore!" For most of us it was a process that took a lot of wasted time, energy, and aggravation. We have been let down by a system that was suppose to educate ALL students that walk through it's "hallowed" halls. We have undertaken a huge responsibility in the structure of our children's futures. We have broken away from the norm, taken criticism from family and friends, suffered through our children feeling alienated and broken, in order to give them what they truly need to be well rounded responsible educated adults.
When I see that the numbers are as high as they are two feelings cross my mind:
1) Pride - I am proud of the fact that I can be included with such a courageous group of parents!
2) Sadness - for all the children whose parent's cannot, for whatever reason, give them this wonderful gift!
With the numbers this high, how can anyone say that these children would be better off in PS? Really can we ALL be wrong? Can we ALL be crazy?
For those of you who are also part of the 1323 - welcome! No matter what curriculum you use, what style suits your family, what religious background you come from - you are now "Homeschoolers"! You are brave, you are caring, you are wonderful! You are giving your child the very best gift you can give them!
Mar 11, 2008
Great Spoof!
California parents arrested -- Caught Home-schooling their children without a teaching credential
What would we do without a good sense of humor about things!!!
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i31751
What would we do without a good sense of humor about things!!!
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i31751
Mar 9, 2008
Something good has been found!
With all the negative nonsense going on after the California rulings I am glad someone came across a positive article!
The Fraser Institute: Home Schooling Improves Academic Performance and Reduces Impact of Socio-Economic Factors
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=777310
The Fraser Institute: Home Schooling Improves Academic Performance and Reduces Impact of Socio-Economic Factors
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=777310
Feb 21, 2008
Interesting Article on Homeschooling
I got an email with this article attached. Unsure as too where it originated from other thatn the author. I have been trying to find out and authenticate but have not been successful yet, but it brings up some really good points. If I find out more about it I will post it.
Gordon Neufeld – Thoughts on Homeschooled
The prevailing assumption is that the greatest drawback to homeschooling is the loss of social interaction with peers. Times have changed however, making peer interaction more of a problem than an asset. Instead or peer interaction facilitating the process of socialization, it is now more likely to lead to the premature replacement of adults by peers in the life of a child. Such children become peer-oriented rather than adult-oriented and are more difficult to parent and teach. Furthermore, peer-oriented children fail to mature psychologically and their integration into adult society is compromised.Because of escalating peer orientation it is now the school that has become risky business. What was once the most powerful argument against homeschooling is now its most persuasive defense. Contrary to prevailing concerns, homeschooled children are showing evidence of being more mature psychologically, more socially adept, and more academically prepared for university. They have become the favored applicants of a number of major universities. If current trends in society continue, homeschooling may very well become a necessary antidote to escalating peer orientation. We may need to reclaim our children not only to preserve or recover the context in which to teach and parent them, but also for the sake of society at large and the transmission of culture.The developmental needs of children were never paramount in the arguments that led to the inception of compulsory education. Indeed, there was little that was even understood or known about child development at that time. It should not be surprising therefore to find that developmental science does not support school as the best context for children to learn, to mature, or to become socialized. Although the school has become a central institution in our society, it is not without risks to emotional health and development.There are a number of sound arguments that make homeschooling a child's best bet. The cultivation and preservation of the child-parent attachment is at the fore of these arguments. The attachment patterns of children are shifting, largely due to the loss of culture and the institutionalizatio n of education. This is sabotaging the context necessary for healthy development as well as eroding the natural power required for parents to do their job. Attachment is also the primary context and motivation for learning. When children are more attached to their peers than their parents and their teachers then peers become their true teachers. Attachment is also the primary mechanism of cultural transmission. We cannot inculcate our children with our values and beliefs if we are not the ones they get their bearings from or take their cues from.Another strong argument for homeschooling is the emotional health of the child. Developmental science is now putting emotion at the core of learning and behavior, including the development of the brain and the mind. Children need to have soft hearts, capable of being easily touched and moved by that which should affect them. When children are not in right relationship with their parents or are prematurely subjected to the wounding ways of peer interaction, the resulting flight from vulnerability desensitizes them. They lose their feelings, at least the more vulnerable ones. Homeschoolers, because of their strong relationships to those responsible for them are much more likely to have soft hearts and therefore much more likely to realize their full potential as human beings. Research bears this out.Yet another case for homeschooling is the individuation argument. The primary purpose of development is for children to become their own persons capable of functioning apart from attachments, knowing their own minds and having their own goals. It is no secret that unsupervised peer interaction crushes individuality and undermines the emergence of true selfhood. As Jean Jacque Rousseau said over 200 years ago, individuation is not only the prerequisite to true community but requires a long gestation time in the context of loving relationship with a parent. Personhood must be homegrown. The womb of individuation is warm and caring attachments to loving parents. If we desire our children to realize their true potential as human beings, we must hold on to them until they can hold on to themselves.
Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D. is a highly respected Vancouver-based clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience with children and those responsible for them. A foremost authority on child development, he is an international speaker, a bestselling author (Hold On To Your Kids), and aleading interpreter of the developmental paradigm.
Gordon Neufeld – Thoughts on Homeschooled
The prevailing assumption is that the greatest drawback to homeschooling is the loss of social interaction with peers. Times have changed however, making peer interaction more of a problem than an asset. Instead or peer interaction facilitating the process of socialization, it is now more likely to lead to the premature replacement of adults by peers in the life of a child. Such children become peer-oriented rather than adult-oriented and are more difficult to parent and teach. Furthermore, peer-oriented children fail to mature psychologically and their integration into adult society is compromised.Because of escalating peer orientation it is now the school that has become risky business. What was once the most powerful argument against homeschooling is now its most persuasive defense. Contrary to prevailing concerns, homeschooled children are showing evidence of being more mature psychologically, more socially adept, and more academically prepared for university. They have become the favored applicants of a number of major universities. If current trends in society continue, homeschooling may very well become a necessary antidote to escalating peer orientation. We may need to reclaim our children not only to preserve or recover the context in which to teach and parent them, but also for the sake of society at large and the transmission of culture.The developmental needs of children were never paramount in the arguments that led to the inception of compulsory education. Indeed, there was little that was even understood or known about child development at that time. It should not be surprising therefore to find that developmental science does not support school as the best context for children to learn, to mature, or to become socialized. Although the school has become a central institution in our society, it is not without risks to emotional health and development.There are a number of sound arguments that make homeschooling a child's best bet. The cultivation and preservation of the child-parent attachment is at the fore of these arguments. The attachment patterns of children are shifting, largely due to the loss of culture and the institutionalizatio n of education. This is sabotaging the context necessary for healthy development as well as eroding the natural power required for parents to do their job. Attachment is also the primary context and motivation for learning. When children are more attached to their peers than their parents and their teachers then peers become their true teachers. Attachment is also the primary mechanism of cultural transmission. We cannot inculcate our children with our values and beliefs if we are not the ones they get their bearings from or take their cues from.Another strong argument for homeschooling is the emotional health of the child. Developmental science is now putting emotion at the core of learning and behavior, including the development of the brain and the mind. Children need to have soft hearts, capable of being easily touched and moved by that which should affect them. When children are not in right relationship with their parents or are prematurely subjected to the wounding ways of peer interaction, the resulting flight from vulnerability desensitizes them. They lose their feelings, at least the more vulnerable ones. Homeschoolers, because of their strong relationships to those responsible for them are much more likely to have soft hearts and therefore much more likely to realize their full potential as human beings. Research bears this out.Yet another case for homeschooling is the individuation argument. The primary purpose of development is for children to become their own persons capable of functioning apart from attachments, knowing their own minds and having their own goals. It is no secret that unsupervised peer interaction crushes individuality and undermines the emergence of true selfhood. As Jean Jacque Rousseau said over 200 years ago, individuation is not only the prerequisite to true community but requires a long gestation time in the context of loving relationship with a parent. Personhood must be homegrown. The womb of individuation is warm and caring attachments to loving parents. If we desire our children to realize their true potential as human beings, we must hold on to them until they can hold on to themselves.
Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D. is a highly respected Vancouver-based clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience with children and those responsible for them. A foremost authority on child development, he is an international speaker, a bestselling author (Hold On To Your Kids), and aleading interpreter of the developmental paradigm.
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