Horrible teachers just caught but would you home school?

Toni - posted on 02/10/2012

Mrs fairchild, nobody said you were doing any bullying, and I agree that Sherri's comment was a bit sharp but I can understand why she was frustrated with your comments. It is rude to deliberately mis-spell a persons name once it has been pointed out you are mis-spelling the name on more than one occasion. It is snide to insinuate that someone may not be the religion they say they are and to try to belittle them with religious quotes. It is argumentative to suggest someone has edited comments when they haven't.



As for jackie's perceived confusion, I obviously read it in a different manner to you, I read the second comment as being about herself, not about homeschooling in general, which connects with her first comment and removes the confusion and hypocrisy!



Joy, With our little ones the schools in my district allow entrance a week after their third birthday and they stay in nursery (pre school) until the September before their fifth birthday, so my son will have longer at nursery than some of the other kids (like his friend as she's 3 in July when the school is out, so she'll start in September).



I have skills that I don't necessarily need but are actually useful, such as knowing sign language and german :-) I will be teaching my kids the sign I know because you never know when it'll come in handy, so I understand why you want to teach your daughter joined writing.

**Jackie** - posted on 02/10/2012

Mrs, good story but you were unpleasant to Sherri before she was. Let me go nice and slow for YOU...I am neutral. I think that if it works for you then do it. I FEEL I would be holding my child back and that some mothers get all worked up because of ONE story. There are good and bad of everything (that was my first post). Futhermore, the only snide comments have been from you....here is an example for you: IF I asked if you had a word limit you have to hit every day and assumed that is the reasoning for your borderline ridiculous usage of copying and pasting and arguing....THAT might not be nice





"facepalm"

Mrs. - posted on 02/10/2012

Joy, transversely, There are alot of subjects (indoctrination, perversions & scientific religiosity) being taught in Schools that as a parent I would rather them never be exposed to.



So, as much as homeschooling is about teaching them all matter of academics, (now being left behind in the state run systems,) its also about preserving morality and our parental right to choose what is morally correct, as well as keeping kids safe from these pitfalls.

**Jackie** - posted on 02/10/2012

Joy, that is exactly what I am saying. Just because I love and usually write in cursive/joined writing, doesn't mean my daughter will. I just hope to show her so she has options. I get upset thinking that not only will all of her essays be typed but that she might not even be required to bring a notebook to class! My girlfriend's son is 10 and he has a laptop that he brings! Yikes! I don't agree with that either.



Joanne, just curious...is it hard to go from mommy to teacher? Sorry if you already answered these questions but I am curious. Do you require your children to get dressed and sit in a certain room?



I think I would be more interested in finding a tutor or some sort of outside schooling to teach the subjects and crafts that schools will no longer teach rather than doing it myself. Then again, you never know. Before reading this thread I would have never said I would homeschool. If it works for you and your family then I say go for it.

Joy - posted on 02/10/2012

Thanks, Joanne. Will definitely check it out.



Toni, your son's about 2 months younger than my daughter! Our cutoff to determine which grade level is in September though.



There's a lot of things that I think should be taught in schools that aren't so even if I don't end up homeschooling I'll try to find a way for her to learn them. As for what my daughter writes in I know I have little say, but I want her to know how just in case she does need to do it.



Writing in cursive/joined writing will probably end up like the knowledge of how to build a fire in the woods without a match or lighter. I don't know how to do that, but if I'm ever stranded in a forest I'm going to be in trouble.

Joanne - posted on 02/10/2012

We've been homeschooling for 10 years now - watching my 3rd learn to read and write is worth more money I could ever make. The years go so fast and yes many days I do want to pull my hair out and sent them all to school but on the whole we have had such fun and have made such good memories. My eldest has gone to school to finish off her school leaving and she keeps saying she can't understand how others just can't work on their own or understand what she considers basic English. Check us out at www.castleforkeeps.com and see what we up to.

Mrs. - posted on 02/10/2012

Lets take this nice and slow for those of you who insist that Im doing dome sort of arguing or bullying, ok?



sheri said:

Our kids are still taught cursive but I will tell you it is virtually no longer needed as nobody from Elementary school to college students write any essays, projects or papers on anything other than a computer.



I said:

So Sheri, by your logic --

Should we also stop teaching them math, because they have calculators on those computers?



She replied:

Fairchild shut it I never even said or implied such a thing. Oh and if your going to address me SPELL MY NAME RIGHT!!!!





Toni, Jackie.....THIS is what what is SNIDE, THIS was that which was rude and argumentative ,THIS is Non debate. Just to clear up whats what here. The hypocricy is Incredible!





As for you Jackie, within the space of minutes you yourself wrote:

"if you are a teacher yourself or have experience tutoring or are just smart in everything and patient etc....then go for it. "



then pretty much right after , you wrote:

"I don't care how many websites are copied and pasted onto this thread to prove that homeschooling is the best idea ever....I'm not for it. I'm not too proud to admit that, although I excel in some areas, I fall short in others. I will not hold my child back because I'm scared of some story on TV."







so one minute you say "go for it"

Then the next minute you said "Im not for it", you even seem to imply that one who does homeschool is "holding back" their children as well as having some sort of Tv related Phobia.



does this explain why I agree that you are confused?

**Jackie** - posted on 02/10/2012

Oh absolutely, don't worry my daughter will be encouraged to write however she wants. I just plan on teaching her to see if she likes it and to keep her options open. Cursive/ joined writing was an outlet for me to learn calligraphy so just in case she finds it interesting she will know how to manipulate a pen/pencil in order to get started.

Toni - posted on 02/10/2012

That makes sense joy, we do that here as well (teach to pass tests) although there has been out rage about it so many schools no longer force students to sit sats exams (which were basically used to grade schools) so hopefully there is a change happening with that.



Just bear in mind that for some people, like me for example, none joined writing is just as quick if not quicker than joined writing, I have always finished my exams with time to spare (and I've sat an awful lot of timed essay exams, in my time and have passed every single one of them). It is personal preference I feel.

Toni - posted on 02/10/2012

Wow it always amazes me when they consider removing art programs they are so important, they help learn everything from writing (pen control) to scientific theories (depth perception) and make for happier more balanced students because art is a great emotional outlet for everyone.



Everyone is different, so I'd just bear in mind that your daughter may not be as comfortable writing joined as you are, so by all means teach her but let her write in the way she finds comfortable once she has learned joined writing. I'm guessing that some people find joined writing easier than none joined writing, yourself and joy for example, whereas I find none joined easier it's personal preference so give your daughter that :-)

Joy - posted on 02/10/2012

Toni, you also jogged my memory about some complaints I've heard from parents and teachers in the U.S. with "Schools teach to pass tests, if the students needed joined writing to pass these tests the schools would teach it, the fact they are no longer teaching it suggests they no longer need it for the tests."



U.S. schools teach under the "No Child Left Behind" Act passed about a decade ago. The law was passed after I graduated from high school and I don't currently have children in schools so I'm going on what other people have told me about it.



From 1st grade through high school schools have to give annual achievement tests and are rewarded on how well the students do on them. These tests don't have anything to do with college admittance, but that is what the U.S. schools' curriculum focuses on passing. The achievement tests probably do not have essay portions (again, going on hearsay) so cursive is not needed for them. Colleges use other tests (SAT and ACT) that have essay portions in them and they're timed. Cursive is not necessarily needed for the college tests, but having an essay test that is timed does suggest students should know how to write quickly.

Toni - posted on 02/10/2012

I've heard good things about your montessori schools, I hope your daughter is accepted, if that is what you want for her :-)



My son isn't looking at pre school until the end of the year, as he's not three until october. I'm not concerned about the schools locally boring him because he's a social butterfly and will love being around the other children but I am concerned that he will lose focus because he will want to play rather than study so I know I'm going to have to focus him outside of school...he's a lot like my better in that way very clever but such a short attention span, he's easily distracted (as was my brother).

**Jackie** - posted on 02/10/2012

Thanks for clearing that up, Toni :) I wasn't sure if she wanted to start with me....that would be a silly thing to do. Also, thank you for mentioning teaching children what the school system no longer provides in school. I definitely plan on doing that with cursive writing. That is something I was taught and I write cursive allllll the time. I am going to take into thought about it being harder to decipher what you wrote later on, thus making it harder to type it up when needed. There is talk about the art classes getting taken away because of the budget...I definitely plan on showing my daughter how to express herself through art :)

Toni - posted on 02/10/2012

Jackie I'd just ignore the snide comments, mrs fairchild was being rude to Sherri, starting with her deliberately mis-spelling sherri's name again. I've been flicking on and off all day and haven't seen any edited posts from Sherri, and from knowing Sherri she doesn't generally edit posts so I would guess either mrs f is confused herself or just being argumentative

Joy - posted on 02/10/2012

Yeah, that's something I'm also considering doing, Toni: teach skills along with what they teach at the schools. My daughter's only a few months away from entering the preschools here, but for her there's also a high probability that she will be bored in most schools. I'm currently waiting to hear from the local Montessori school to see if she's accepted there, but they don't send out information to new students until March.

**Jackie** - posted on 02/10/2012

Mrs, although it is difficult to tell just by simply reading a post...I am guessing that that last comment was derogatory. Tell me, are you that bored that you come on here and pick a fight? A debate, by definition, is a discussion or argument for defending your point of view on a specific topic. Please tell me which part of your last comment was any of that. Mmhmm.....copy and paste any of that if you need to reference it during your answer :) Good day

Toni - posted on 02/10/2012

Thank you joy I know what LA stands for.



Schools teach to pass tests, if the students needed joined writing to pass these tests the schools would teach it, the fact they are no longer teaching it suggests they no longer need it for the tests. The schools are still teaching the students to write, just not in the joined up format, the students can still write to answer essay questions. I know here we don't get graded on hand writing, as long as it's legible of course.



We agree on the fact that if parents think something is important for their children to learn and they aren't being taught it at school they need to do something about it. Personally I will teach the skills our schools don't teach alongside my children attending schools rather than homeschooling them because I feel that gives my children the best educational chances.

Joy - posted on 02/09/2012

Its really depends on works the best for each family. One year homeschooling may be a better option, another year it might not be. It might be better for one child to homeschool while another child in the same family does not. Maybe the schools in one area aren't good, but if you move somewhere else they are. Maybe there's timing issues involved as well. ie. if you send your children to public schools you can't take a vacation in the middle of the school year very easily or if there's a morning your child doesn't want to get out of bed (like mine did this week!) they can sleep in an hour. It does require work on parents' part to homeschool too.

Mrs. - posted on 02/09/2012

re: Jackie "I'm confused...."





yep.

**Jackie** - posted on 02/09/2012

I'm confused....I guess I didn't read the "attack". I don't care how many websites are copied and pasted onto this thread to prove that homeschooling is the best idea ever....I'm not for it. I'm not too proud to admit that, although I excel in some areas, I fall short in others. I will not hold my child back because I'm scared of some story on TV.

Mrs. - posted on 02/09/2012

Sheri, You clearly edited your post. Offensive as your attack mode reply is, it doesn't matter, because the other women saw your original post and now you just look like a nut job.



Btw, since you claim Christianity, I thought I would remind you what GOD thinks of this discourse:



Proverbs 6:16-19

16These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:



17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,



18An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,



19A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

**Jackie** - posted on 02/09/2012

There are good and bad of everything. Good cops, bad cops, good priests, bad priests, good teachers, bad teachers. I don't think, personally, that I could do as good of a job teaching my kids as someone who went to school for it and made it their career and passion. However, if you are a teacher yourself or have experience tutoring or are just smart in everything and patient etc....then go for it. There is also the issue of your child being a bit shy since they aren't playing and interacting with other children but you can always set up plenty of play dates and maybe enroll them into some sports.

Joy - posted on 02/09/2012

Toni, I don't accuse you of being dumb at all and I'm sorry if it came across that way. I know that Britain and the U.S. have phrases that are different but mean the same (and there's a difference in phrases for different parts of each country.)



Anyway, in the U.S. (the original poster said she was from L.A. - which either stands for Los Angeles or the state of Louisiana, probably Los Angeles) many schools are no longer teaching cursive to the students or they only have it in the curriculum for a year. In the U.S. we have college entrance tests called SATs and there is a written essay portion to them (added in 2005.)



The original poster was asking if it was a good idea to homeschool or go to public school. I think if the U.S. schools are negligent in this area, that parents should find a way to teach their children this skill. Doesn't have to be homeschool, but somehow they should learn it. My view is that parents need to be finding ways for their children to learn the necessary skills to survive and possibly get ahead in life.

Toni - posted on 02/09/2012

Joy you assumed correctly I'm not in the US, I'm British, we have joined hand writing, I had a good idea what cursive would be but had to google it to double check, it's only ever been referred to as joined hand writing here, so I'm not being dumb by using joined hand writing :-)



I can't see the issue if schools are teaching joined writing until year one, the kids are learning it and then get the choice without being penalised to write how they feel comfortable, some children would continue to use joined writing, others wouldn't. I don't see how it affects them negatively.



I can understand that you find joined hand writing easier for the tasks you do, however others such as myself find that using it makes those tasks harder, when I lazily joined my writing while making lecture notes I found it took twice as long to type up my notes later as I found it harder to decipher what I'd put, when I wrote them in my none joined hand writing it took half the time. For me none joined hand writing makes my tasks easier and more efficient, I hated joined writing and as soon as I could I stopped doing it. I am really struggling to see why it would be a reason to homeschool, I'm assuming you have many more reasons and this one just happens to be a very small factor?

Sherri - posted on 02/09/2012

I do agree with Toni it should be taught so kids can learn how to read and even learn at least how to write it even though they most likely will never use it in their adult life other than to sign their name.

Sherri - posted on 02/09/2012

Fairchild shut it I never even said or implied such a thing. Oh and if your going to address me SPELL MY NAME RIGHT!!!!

Joy - posted on 02/09/2012

I write in cursive in my job and take notes in cursive. Note taking is helpful in cursive if someone is speaking and you're trying to keep up with them.



There are some schools in the United States (I assume you are not in the U.S., Toni, since you use 'joined hand writing,' but I could have assumed wrong) that are dropping cursive or only teaching it for 1 year. That's one of the reasons we were talking about teaching our children outside of the public school system.

Toni - posted on 02/09/2012

That's what I said...it's important to be able to read joined hand writing, but there is very little reason to write it. None of the examples you provided there show a need to write joined writing only a need to be able to write with a paper and pen...I have never heard of a school that doesn't teach it's students to write, in fact all the schools I know of still teach joined hand writing, all my nieces and nephews are learning joined hand writing at school.



Yes your daughter will need to learn to write, I would be horrified if anyone tried to say otherwise, but to write joined hand writing isn't necessary...before I became a sahm I was a sales development executive in a soft drink company, I regularly needed to use a pen and paper to write, although I used a computer more, and it certainly didn't hold me back not using joined hand writing (which I can do and choose not to do btw).







ETA: I am only talking about joined hand writing not hand writing general.

Joy - posted on 02/09/2012

Oh! There's also the evaluations that my pediatrian and my daughter's occupational therapist write in cursive. I'm glad I can read them.

Joy - posted on 02/09/2012

I know this is a SAHM forum, but I work part-time. So I see myself as a part-time SAHM and joined this community.



To my point: Cursive is also necessary for my job. And I'm just a low level part-time secretary for a transportation company. If I couldn't write or read other people's handwriting, I'd probably be out of a job even though we only communicate with cursive about 5% of the time. There are many more positions like mine in my company and I assume at other companies.



My husband also uses it in his business. He's a retail store owner. Not a lot, but he does use it sometimes to brainstorm (which could be done in print -true,) write notes to his employees, etc.



So cursive is still needed in the workplace and I am trying to teach my child skills she'll need later in life.

Toni - posted on 02/09/2012

Joy, I write pen to paper, it just isn't necessary for that writing to be joined. Yes it's important to be able to be able to read it for historical documents or for people who do use it to write. Schools aren't not teaching children to write on paper, obviously there will always (I would hope) be a need to write manually as opposed to just using a computer to type stuff.



Joined handwriting isn't necessary to sign a name, that is a choice, I know many people who's signatures are not joined. A lot of people's signatures change as they get older, women get married and their name changes for example.

Darlene - posted on 02/08/2012

Mrs, F., Joy & Nicole, I would love to chat with you all more...This has been great! Thanks...Darlene

Darlene - posted on 02/08/2012

Mrs. F., Joy, Nicole and all of those who agree.....BRAVO Ladies!!!! My RESPECT to you for standing up for your children. After what I have been reading on the net today, I am convinced now more than ever that we are doing the best for our children. I looked up "Home School vs. Public School", what I found amazed and scared me. Troy Groberg wrote a very long article on this matter. Some of the things he discussed will surley open the eyes of any parent. 48.9% of parents believe they can give their children a better education at home, 25% said that public schools offered a poor learning enviornment and 11% say that in P.S., their children were not challenged...WOW!!! I found another site...HomeSchool.org. I also checked the sites that Mrs. F., gave on this page. You should check them out if you have not done so already. Why our government won't try to correct the problems in the public school system, I will never know...Oh wait! My bad...THEY created this problem!



Well, all I can say, I am glad that my child is not subjected to the problems out there. Great luck to you mom's who HS, and to the ones who are considering it. I hope you find what you are looking for.

Joy - posted on 02/08/2012

Well, I don't know about other people, but I write notes to my husband. I sign my name, my husband's name and my daughter's name to various cards, as well as sign my name checks and credit cards. My signature hasn't really changed since 5th grade. I write memos to myself on stickies to remind myself of things. Maybe other people don't find it necessary to know cursive, but I find it quite useful in my adult life. (And there's always the scenario of what happens if the 2012 apocalypse occurs and there's no electricity- lol!)



I am also the type to want to see the 'original' of copies things like the Declaration of Independence. I do various research for 'fun.'

Nicole - posted on 02/08/2012

I've been homeschooling for almost 5 years now! God willing, I will NEVER have my children in the Lafayette Parish School System. I was raised in it and subbed in the system, it was horrible what those kids are doing to their teachers today. And now they are saying the teachers are starting this bologna!!!! No way are my children going to be involved in that!!

Toni - posted on 02/08/2012

As an adult I've never found a need for the joined up writing (cursive to those in the us) I was forced to use, I have not once had to use joined hand writing, my handwriting has been more than adequate, in fact I've actually been complimented on several occasions on how good my hand writing is and how neat and legible it is! I've found joined hand writing can be incredibly difficult to read because often the letters lose form. I really don't think you can compare something like learning to write with joined hand writing to not teaching maths because computers have calculators. There are always going to be times where a person needs to do basic maths without using a

calculator, excluding certain careers such as graphic designer there isn't a need to use joined handwriting.Not learning to write joined up writing isn't a reason to homeschool!



Also if you feel your kids education is missing something like joined handwriting there is nothing stopping you teaching them that at home, even if they do attend school. As parents our job is always to each our children, whether we homeschool or not. I will play a massive role in both my children's educations even though I will send them to school!

Mrs. - posted on 02/08/2012

So Sheri, by your logic --

Should we also stop teaching them math, because they have calculators on those computers?



facepalm.

Sherri - posted on 02/08/2012

Yes Joy but even though I sign my name I don't do it the way I was taught in school. I kind of cheat and do it some cursive, some made up way. Also in no other aspect of my life for the past 20+ years have I ever needed it.



Also my kids have been taught cursive and they are in public school. They just haven't had a need for it now they are in 8th & 9th grade and haven't for a few years.

Darlene - posted on 02/08/2012

Well said Joy. I believe that our children will face many humps in life if not taught the basics of education. As far back as history is written, we were taught cursive wrighting. For example: "The Declaration of Independence" It was written in 1776 and it was done in cursive wrighting. That is not the most important thing, just one of many that is being taken out of schools. That's really all I wanted to point out.



My two went to public & christian schools and there were several flaws in the programs. If people want to send their children to public or private school, that's fine. I only wanted to point out the differences between H.S. & Public. My children will not attend a public school as long as I can help it, they would not have it any other way, they love it.

Joy - posted on 02/08/2012

What about essay exams? - the SAT has at least one those. Or in life: signing checks or credit cards?

Sherri - posted on 02/07/2012

Our kids are still taught cursive but I will tell you it is virtually no longer needed as nobody from Elementary school to college students write any essays, projects or papers on anything other than a computer.

Joy - posted on 02/07/2012

Darlene, I heard that too in our schools. A local mom whose daughter is several years ahead of ours mentioned that most students have a hard time writing essay tests or reading some text in high school/college because they don't know cursive 'these days.' (Wow... I feel very old to need to use that phrase.) Everyone's using computers so after they learn how to print they don't teach them the next step of cursive.

Mrs. - posted on 02/07/2012

Besides Just keeping your children from the moral, intellectual, and physical dangers that Public Schools are rife with, teaching children at home is FACTUALLY better Academically also!





check out this study showing the facts!

http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/543...



You can download the entire pdf and see the studies for yourself.....



Home schooled kids are WAY ahead of their public and private school counterparts-

"It is readily apparent from Table 3.3 that the median scores for home school students are well above their public/private school counterparts in every subject and in

every grade. The corresponding percentiles range from the 62nd to the 91st percentile;

most percentiles are between the 75th and the 85th percentile. The lowest percentiles are in Mathematics Total with Computation subtest (labeled Math in the tables); the

highest in Reading Total. While the grade-to-grade increase in national medians is 13 DSS points in the lower grades, the annual increase for home school students is about

16 points. These are exceptional scores and exceptional grade-to-grade gains."



Seriously Read this Study conducted by Dr. Rudner is with the College of Library and Information Services, University of Maryland, College Park. He has been involved in quantitative analysis for over 30 years, having served as a university professor, a branch chief in the U.S. Department of Education, and a classroom teacher. For the past 12 years, he has been the Director of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation, an information service sponsored by the National Library of Education, U.S. Department of Education which acquires and abstracts articles and manuscripts pertaining to educational assessment, evaluation, and research; builds and maintains on-line databases; publishes articles and books; and provides a wide range of user services. Dr. Rudner holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (1977), an MBA in Finance (1991), and lifetime teaching certificates from two states.







Its not a Myth, its well documented and proven, Homeschooling is best for your kids. No Stranger, some employee of the state will ever love them Like you do!

GO MOM POWER!

Darlene - posted on 02/07/2012

This message is for Sally:



I could not have said it any better. It is so great to know that other Mom's feel the way I do. It is so important to give them a proper education. In our city there are not many good (public ) schools. My little man is doing so much better I am so very proud of him. When we told his teacher last year that he would be home schooled, she was so very happy. She told me that the school system was not giving most students a good education and they are only allowed to hold them back 1 year in elementry. That is so wrong to me.



We recently learned that they are wanting to take cursive wrighting out of schools and use the I Step scores as their grades. That is wrong. Hats Off To ALL Home Schooling Mom's!

Joy - posted on 02/07/2012

Los Angeles would probably have a lot more options for schooling than my little Cedar Rapids, IA does!

AokisMa - posted on 02/07/2012

Thanks to everyone who responded. I appreciate it. We live in the city, LA, half the year. The other half is spent in more rural area where I bought home before deciding city life was more suitable to me. Like where I went for UG, the buses stop running at 8pm, there are trees, cows, wild pheasant and farm land. Problem is "slower" way of life there didn't equal less crime or a superior educational system, not to mention the lack of ethnic and cultural diversity, the arts, etc... Suppose I feel a little stuck between rock and hard place.



Since baby my priorities have definitely changed. Got lots to research and consider in future. But again, appreciate everyone's input.

Joy - posted on 02/06/2012

I would check into what resources for homeschooling are available to you in your area before making your decision. I live in a city with a few suburbs around it. We have several different options if we want to homeschool.



There's support networks of other homeschoolers in the area that get together for social outings. And for the older kids (high school age) there's courses that can be taken at home on a computer through the local community college. If our kids lack social connections there's park district classes (sports, art, etc.), nature preserves with classes for homeschoolers, a couple of museums with things for homeschoolers to do too.



My family's still deciding if we want and can homeschool our 2-year old girl next year. I'm for it, my husband's against it. In our state we can also homeschool one year, then go to public/private school the next. I think we'll see what works out the best. -and with our city closing schools because there isn't enough money to keep them open, we'll probably end up homeschooling at least a year or two.

Sally - posted on 02/06/2012

Do the research before you decide. I was concerned too until I actually looked into it and learned about unschooling/child led learning. Now I know the differences between how most people learn and how most schools teach. Now I know out how much of school is a complete waste of a child's time. Now I know how most children are deperate to learn until industrialized "education" bores and frustrates it out of them.

Some teachers ARE wonderful, but most are not and even the best teacher cannot give enough individual attention to keep the interest of every child in the room.

Like their industrially schooled peers, my daughters (7 and 2) are behind in subjects they do not like or that do not interest them. Unlike their industrially schooled peers, they are well ahead in subjects they do like. For example, in an industrial school my 7 year old would be in the second grade. She would be expected to do all subjects at a second grade level. She would be labeled as having a "learning disability" in things she didn't want to do and may qualify for "special projects" (busy work while everyone else catches up) if she were ahead in enough subjects and not behind in any. As she has been left to develop at her own pace, she writes and does written math at a kindergarten level; does physics and chemistry at a 2nd grade level; reads and does oral math problems at a 3rd-4th grade level; reads adult level history and social studies books; and enjoys college level biology texts. While she has no interest in spelling yet, her grammar and vocabulary are better than most of the adults we know. Most importantly, she isn't faking illness nearly as often as her friends; I don't have to fight her to get up every morning; I don't have to force homework every night; she loves learning; and she's happy. My total work load and financial input for this is getting library books she wants to read and showing her how to look stuff up on the internet. And her little sister is just absorbing some of the stuff big sister is learning with no effort whatsoever because she's surrounded by a learning environment every moment of every day.

Good luck with whichever path you choose.

Kelina - posted on 02/06/2012

I'm torn. Homeschooling is something that's been on my mind for quite some time now. my husband is dead set against me on homeschooling and to some extent I agree with him. I definitely couldn't do it at a highschool level. However, I have big issues with the public school system in our area. As for the article, it's not the first time I've heard about stuff like this. a much loved teacher who had been there a long time in my elementary school was told he had to retire for inappropriate conduct with his female students the year after I started highschool, and it was a friends parent who pointed it out. Not to mention I know too many people who have slipped through the cracks academically in our public school system. It's a sad reality that smart people who are going to harm a child in some way are usually going to pick a job that works closely with them. So while the article is not something that I would really allow to sway me, because i know there are hundreds of wonderful teachers out there, home school is definitely something that presses on my mind.

Sherri - posted on 02/06/2012

Just because you have 1 teacher that is bad please don't judge every teacher on 1 bad apple. There are millions of amazing teachers and schools out there and the chances you will ever encounter something like this is honestly slim to none.



Public school is amazing and my kids have done nothing but flourish in them. We are ranked the 5th best school system in the entire US. So just know you will most likely have amazing experiences and so will your kids.