Advice about the mixing the two (HS/PS)

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Entropy
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Advice about the mixing the two (HS/PS)

Postby Entropy » Thu May 31, 2007 2:35 pm


StellarStory
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Postby StellarStory » Sun Jun 03, 2007 4:40 pm

I think once you start home school, you probably won't want to stop for middle and high school.

Also in all of the communities I know of, most of which have "above" average schools, the kids and the parents become MORE dissatisfied with the school system the higher up in grades they go.

Of my daughter's best buds only one of them is still going to our public high school. Many have opted for charter, private or home schooling.

Of my son's best buds only two of them go to our public middle school.

I'm not saying it can't be done and done well. I'm just saying you may find out you don't want to in the long run.

In any case, I hope you enjoy your home school journey.

Stellar

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Postby Entropy » Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:31 pm

Thanks StellarStory.

I'm sure it's probably normal to freak out about the idea of homeschooling. I have a number of concerns and yes, the ugly socialization word pops into play... No matter how many articles and posts I read about it, the nagging voice in my head won't shut up. UGH! :roll:

But in my heart I'm sure homeschooling is the best route for us. :)

Jodi

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Postby Calla_Dragon » Tue Jun 05, 2007 7:38 am

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

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Postby Lemmons » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:40 am


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Theodore
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Postby Theodore » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:11 pm

So you're saying that if you send your kids to school, you shouldn't expect the teacher to spend any significant amount of time with them, and you should expect to have to do a lot of supplementary work at home yourself? What exactly is the point of school, then? Sounds to me like you're doing all the work anyway.

The teacher to student ratio is the school's fault, you shouldn't have to do most of the teaching yourself. If you are doing most of the teaching, school is just a glorified daycare center, and you're basically dooming your children to at least several hours of wasted time per day.

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Postby StellarStory » Thu Jun 07, 2007 1:15 pm

*chuckles*

That about sums up my most positive view of public schools right there.

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Postby Lemmons » Fri Jun 08, 2007 1:26 pm


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Postby Entropy » Sun Jun 10, 2007 3:24 pm

Lemmons, Thank you for sharing such a poignant experience. The concerns expressed here mirror my concerns exactly. I was a public school teacher for 6 years before we had kids and I must say that I feel completely unprepared to educate my own children. I am questioning everything I learned and believed and did as a teacher. I have no doubt that we will homeschool through elementary school, I just don't know when or if they should be exposed to 'the system.' You've given me lots to think about, thank you.

-Jodi

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Postby Lemmons » Mon Jun 11, 2007 1:06 pm

Jodi, my family's original plan was to homeschool the boys when they reached junior highschool age. After my husband passed away, I waited one year, then sent my eldest son to school in the 6th grade. That year there weren't too many problems. In the 7th grade things became more difficult.

Socialization in school for my eldest son was a breeze, but in the 6th grade his teachers expressed concern because he tended to enjoy hanging out with the girls. Previous to his school experience, he was hanging out with both boys and girls (in fact his 2 best friends were a boy and a girl) and at home he continued to socialize with both genders. I asked him why he preferred to hang out with the girls at school and his reason was because "the boys at school act like idiots".

In the 7th grade my son began to hang out with more boys. Nothing wrong with that, but the behaviors of some of these boys have put my family at risk. We had the police come visit our home one evening in relation to one boy. Another boy spread a vicious rumor about my son, the kind of rumor that, if not squelched immediately, could cause police or social workers to come over and question and basically waste our time and cause stress while doing it.

Again, the complaints about rank and file and lack of school conditioning were part of the picture.

The morning routine-getting a teen-aged boy up in the morning when his internal, biological need is for 12 to 14 hours of sleep a day-that was a very difficult period. After the first 2 months of school the warning buzzers started going off in my brain, and I knew truancy issues would come up. I called the school and requested help from the vice principal-maybe a talk with my son or something simple like that. He refused to help. Not until the issue came to become what the schools call serious delinquency did they get involved. I was threatened with jail. My son was threatened with probation and a permanent record of delinquency. Near the end of the school year my father died-all 3 of my boys missed three weeks of school (I was there for the last 2 weeks of his life, nursing him-then a week for the funeral and to be there for my mom-we live near 400 miles away from family).

After missing the three weeks the truancy pressure stepped up and I was forced to put him into social diversion-a social program to redirect "bad" kids into the "right" direction. Because of statistics, my kid was labeled a trouble maker. All he really needed was the right to sleep in an extra hour. I was told the following by various teachers and the principal and social workers: "We know that all the studies show that kids this age really need extra sleep, and they tend to sleep in and function poorly when they aren't allowed to sleep as long as they need, but school starts at 7:30am because of bus scheduling needs."

Yep. Buses are more important than kids' biological needs.

Efficiency of the teachers was mostly good. Out of 7 teachers my son only had one that misplaced papers, made him redo work he had already completed, and resented his critical thinking skills. By the end of the year, he had won her over. His grades were honor roll, even with all the "truancy".

Education wise, he says that he is learning things he was taught the year before-that everything that is covered has been taught already. He gets frustrated because the teachers repeat their instructions over and over again, give the same lectures five days in a row, and the learning is boring and rote. Teachers have admitted to him and the other students that the same lessons are repeated every year, with minor increase in depth of subject, but no real details or delving into a subject because of time and curriculum restrictions, and state and federal regulations. He laughed because he was learning the exact same things his little brother (3rd grade) was learning.

It has become a learning experience for him because he has realised that in some subjects he knows more than his teachers, he sees that he is not afraid to talk to teachers as if they are regular human beings (which he has gotten into trouble for) and that other kids resent and are suspicious of teachers and other authority figures. He understands from the inside how a government system works, and he sees the flaws.

Even with this, he wants to continue with school, regardless of the boredom, the repeated lessons, the dull homework and the unnaturalness of certain school rules-he wants to hang out with his friends. School is a big social get together for kids, and from what I've seen in my eldest son, that's the only real thing they get out of it.

My son has reached the age where his friends seem more important to him than his family. I think that is normal for teens, and while I will tolerate this in a phase, I will not allow it to get to the point where his friends will replace his family. Nothing can replace family, and he simply lacks the experience to believe that knowledge.

This is going to sound a bit outlandish, but from what I have seen and watched my son experience, parents get a lot of lip service from teachers and principals about how important it is for parents to be involved with their kid's schooling, but it is so very difficult to become involved in any meaningful way-as an individual, unique, special, bringing one's own gifts and abilities to make a positive change. It's because of the heavy reliance on state and federal regulations-this schedule needs to be fulfilled, that curriculum needs to be followed, these monies need to be granted, that teacher has tenure, that aide is bound under contract-and the continual passing the buck...it stops nowhere, because no one person is fully responsible.

The people who run my son's school are powerless to stop it. Deep inside her heart, his principal knows he's not a troublemaker, but she has her attendance records, which are reviewed every year, and she doesn't want to lose her job. Neither do the teachers, or the liason officer lose his position. When there are warning signs that a kid is having trouble in school, the vice principal may ignore it because ther are kids who are full-blown into trouble and there are too many students to mind.

I swear, my kids have been educated, gelded, innoculated and graded like beef cattle. Instead of a diploma, they should get a red FDA stamp on their foreheads. But here I go-starting to preach. If I could redo things, I would not have put my son in school until he was ready for the 9th grade. I wanted him to learn about the system and how it works, but he was too young to become a victim of it. Still, he's got enough confidence and knowledge to fight the conditioning-he's shocked the teachers many times with his mature and educated responses-but there is something deeply depressing about teaching your child to buckle under rules and regs that have no basis in human engineering.

Anyway, I think I've babbled enough. Wish I had a better experience to share with you, but there's no helping it I guess. In my experience, the school thang has definitely been a mixed bag. Socialization of my eldest son has meant bending his will to the will of the school, and hanging out with kids who have brought troubles to our home. (And I thought I was being careful about who I let him hang out with!) He's learned some harsh realities, but I worry because of his age, his teen-aged angst, and the way boys in his age group all seem to get into trouble one way or another. I notice that when we shut out the world and hang out alone as a family, he seems to be at peace and happy, and his teeny bopper attitude melts away. It's such a tough age-for him and for me too! :P

Thanks for reading.

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combining ps/hs

Postby zozomom » Wed Jul 04, 2007 10:49 am

Hello all!
Our 12 yr old spec needs daughter has been hs and ps. For 7th gr I will hs for language Arts and Social studies. She will have a spec math class and science(her favorite)at school. Our older 2 are mid twenties so she is pretty much by herself and is very social and looks forward to going to school. But the reading material is still grade level and I end up reading much to her anyway so I might as well hs her for that. My small school district is wonderful and the district superintendent is supportive and willing to work with us. She is also ordering the science text in audio for her. I plan on using "Drive Through History" , a video/wrkbook curriculum for her also. This should be interesting and we're both looking forward to it. :)
Happy 4th of July everybody!


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