When we split our time between Utah and Vermont, we planned to home school. We decided, however, that the Montessori school our kids attended in St. George was probably better than we could do with kids of that age.
Our 12 year old son, Brian, entered public school this year because the Montessori stops at 6th grade. He has attended a public 7th grade since mid August. And it has largely been a waste of time. He spent the first couple weeks being indoctrinated in the school and various class “rules”. He won’t cover new areas in the classes we prioritize (English, Math, Science) for most of this year. In English, it might be two or three years til they reach what he has already done.
Concerned over academic idling, time spent on material we wouldn’t prioritize (Home Economics, Channel 1, Keyboarding), and the general inconvenience of being tied to a bureaucracy’s rules and schedules, we’ve mulled home schooling for the last couple weeks.
Tonight we held a family meeting where we decided to home school Brian for the 7th grade. Jenny will continue in Montessori.
Utah law makes this relatively simple. Our school system also supports homeschoolers via testing services, allowing involvement with extra curricular activities and even attending classes on a case by case basis.
Thinking it over, I believe we started thinking this way on our RV trip this summer. Wouldn’t it be nice to have the flexibility to do this in the off season, we thought. And wouldn’t a trip to Europe be more comfortable and cheaper without the flood of summer tourists accompanying us? We saw so many things we would like to go back and see or do that are only available Sept – Jun.
So off we go. The nation, the world, as our class room. I’ll report periodically.
Update: This KenNelson.com post WAY back in Jan forecast home schooling. Interestingly, I didn’t foresee curriculum problems.
September 20th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Congratulations on your decision, and good luck!
September 20th, 2009 at 9:47 pm
Ken: who is going to do the teaching? You work or are you going to bring Brian in and let the scitools pool share the teaching. Not a bad idea actually, they have interests/schooling in academics you probably don’t have. Plus, it gives you 10 more people to police him.
Good luck – I wondered how long public school would last.
September 20th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Time4Learning doesn’t look like a scam and has favorable reviews for English, Math and effectiveness. I don’t see a non-agenda driven reading list. Vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary! Play scrabble.
September 21st, 2009 at 12:54 am
Well, since this is a forum for opinions, I’ll go ahead and say I don’t like homeschooling. Seems wierd to me. The kids who do it seem to turn out maladjusted socially. Its like golf- don’t play the blues unless you can shoot par from the whites. Did he get straight A’s so it’s too easy? He hasn’t gotten any grades yet. Give it a chance. Choosing his school based on vacation schedules doesn’t seem like a good idea.
Half of the school experience that prepares you for real life is all the things you can do in school outside the classroom. Will he play in home band? Home football? Home tennis team?
My two cents.
September 21st, 2009 at 6:21 am
For Uncle Kevin: Brian’s current grades are all As (100% in 4/6 classes). His lowest grade is Keyboarding (A-). Additionally, the independent testing done last year placed him post-high school in all areas but one (listening skills) In that area he was at an11th grade level. Brian has plenty of socialization opportunities outside of a school setting. Within the current school, there is only one class where the teacher has allows the kids to talk. The rest of the time it’s come in, sit quietly and do “bell work” until class begins. 3 minutes between classes. Lunchtime is spent waiting in line for lunch, sit, eat and rush to the next class. Our school district offers homeschoolers the opportunities to participate in extra-curricular activities and classes we may not feel adequate to teach. (i.e. band, debate) I would also add that when was the last time a typical adult played football vs. golf or socialized ONLY with groups of people within 3-4 years of of their own age.
September 21st, 2009 at 7:19 am
High school here is much more flexible than intermediate and middle. For instance they have a program where advanced kids attend Dixie College and get an associates while still in high school.
So, for me at least, this makes the most sense for 7th, 8th & 9th. Maybe not so much in high school, but we will see.
Socialization…. Brian meets more different people in a given week than most kids. This week, for instance, was at the USPSA nationals in Vegas, chatting with random adults, and pitching right in to tear down at the end of the match. Next week, for instance,he will meet a couple dozen or more shooters at the Utah State championship. He will interact with them about lots of things – shooting, politics, games, whatever.
For socialization with kids his age, he has church groups loaded with activities, Scouts, and our neighborhood packed with kids. We are also looking into 4H & Sea Cadets (junior Navy/Marine program).
We are a unique family. The kids are smart and mom/dad have a very flexible work schedules. So what we choose would likely not even be possible for most.
September 21st, 2009 at 9:32 am
In my teaching at church, I have found that the children who are homeschooled or attend our only private school in town (we do have a Montessori but it stops after kindergarten) are generally much better educated than our public school students. The children are all well adjusted, and have many social activities through church, sports (both community and church related) and music (our local university includes all homeschooled children in their community music programs for children). Just by listening to the children read in class, I can almost 100% of the time pick out those who are homeschooled/private school versus public. Of course, there are public schooled children (such as my grandchildren) who are well informed, great readers, etc., but a lot of those children receive help at home from parents and grandparents. I have a 6th grade homeschooled child who attends Latin classes, plays violin and is so much more advanced than the other children in my class. I applaud your decision – Brian will be the winner.
September 21st, 2009 at 10:05 am
Hey Janet – thanks for letting us know. That is certainly our hope!
September 21st, 2009 at 11:41 am
ken: I guess the whole world has given an opinion and I had the same doubts that Kevin had abouty social skiills, sports etc but I don’t know what Brian does in his spare time. Both your kids are so smart they are scarey but are still basically really good kids and will do well however you school them. I wish you good luck and assume that there is a home schooling curriculum that the district provides and your kids test so well that if you didn’t teach them anything they would probably ace the tests. You will know by next year if Jenny is a candidate also and have the Brian experience to judge on.
Cousin Janet is all for it. Didn’t see anything from Carl – no opinion yet?
Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes.
Also, how does this affect his potential West Point etc chances. It seems to be they require excellence in some sport or extra-curricular activity but Marines probably need sharpshooters.
September 21st, 2009 at 11:56 am
I think Brian is interested in the military as an adventure for youth but not as a career. So the service academies, with their long requirements aren’t really on the table.
September 21st, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Ken,
I am a big proponent of homeschooling, which should carry some weight because I am its product. My family had a small private school my older siblings attended for a while, but for my education I was always being taught by family members out of textbooks. Out of 5 children, 4 of us have baccalaureate degrees.
As I perceive it, the critical difference between a home-school approach and the public approach is that the public schools are forced to require mediocrity. They have to teach the masses, as a result many kids who are in the outliers for a given subject get ignored and either become frustrated or bored.
The humongous advantage home-schooling had was that if I excelled at a subject (read math), I could *finish the grade* in a matter of weeks and either move on to the next level or focus on the subjects I didn’t like (read history and art). I would feed his academic interests and allow him to push himself in the areas he likes, as long as he keeps up in the areas he doesn’t.
Another major advantage to homeschooling: let him start college early. Dixie State has an open admissions policy. My parent’s requirement was to take the college placement test no earlier than 16, if I placed at college level material I could start and I did. This gets transferable credit to his final college of choice and numerous other advantages. Going this route, he could have an Associates by the time most kids his age are graduating from high-school. It also gives him more time to take the introductory courses to find ones that pique his interest in terms of a major.
With regards to social skills, it is a very common concern and rather easily mitigated. Require some social activity on a regular basis such as music, martial arts or other types of lessons and competitions. My socialization was the Civil Air Patrol, Karate and Community Ed. classes as well as the jobs I did to earn money and my responsibilities at church. Contrary to popular belief, one does not need to be a shut-in to be home-schooled. I will admit to my lack of socialization in one area compared to most of my peers: I have never been in a fist-fight. But I fail to find that to be a character flaw.
About the RV trip: I never had summer vacations, I always had homework due at some point. But I *was* allowed to manage my own time, so long as I made the deadline and completed the work.
** 2 cents deposited
September 21st, 2009 at 8:00 pm
[...] Today we took our son, Brian, out of public school. This was to be his first year in the public schools, but we’ve “pulled the trigger” for homeschooling. My husband does a better job of explaining our reasons in his blog. [...]
September 21st, 2009 at 8:50 pm
wow Ken, you sure hit a nerve with this topic. I haven’t seen this many or varied comments on any previous subjects. Good work
You should be getting one from Theresa Rodriguez my friend from HAFB. We talked and she had an excellent viewpoint, sorta like Janet’s. She has a good input you will appreciate.
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:24 am
http://www.usga.org/playing/handicaps/understanding_handicap/articles/different_tees.html
Play the tees that the course recommends for your handicap. Why make it harder if you keep score all the time and follow the rules? Eventually
the blue and white tees become almost equal when you can’t reach most greens in regulation. Some times you can’t even clear a hazard in the wind with a driver from the blues. Nominally you need a nine handicap to enjoy the blues, otherwise it really is the blues back there. The PGA makes everything complicated for equality. Bad as any government!
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:55 am
Hey Dan – thanks for the info. I didn’t know you were homeschooled. I’m sure we will talk more about it.