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Excellent perspective Donna13!!! Well done to your sister and your nieces!
Absolutely excellent perspective. Thanks, Donna13.
And I'm amazed and thrilled about your nieces. I have to tell that to my daughter because there is an environmental center a few blocks from us where she wants to volunteer. With a less rigid learning schedule, she'll be able to do that and more.
Thanks for the feedback and positive thoughts. Negative thoughts are important also, I know, because this isn't perfect and I have to be prepared for problems. But so far, I haven't been thrown too many curves. Whew. :)
Thanks everyone. I feel better about going forward with this.
And I'm amazed and thrilled about your nieces. I have to tell that to my daughter because there is an environmental center a few blocks from us where she wants to volunteer. With a less rigid learning schedule, she'll be able to do that and more.
Thanks for the feedback and positive thoughts. Negative thoughts are important also, I know, because this isn't perfect and I have to be prepared for problems. But so far, I haven't been thrown too many curves. Whew. :)
Thanks everyone. I feel better about going forward with this.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]magicalfreddiemercury wrote: [/QUOTENAME][QUOTE][QUOTENAME]<font color=00CCFF>Mademoiselle Bulsara wrote: [/QUOTENAME]I was homeschooled for my first 3 years of high school. I would ONLY recommend it if your kid is seriosuly focusing on something other than school subjects or for personal reasons, as was the case with me. The reason I did it was because I had to practice lots and lots of hours on my violin, however, I regret doing it because I was totally isolated from everything. The work was SO easy that I became super lazy and upon returning to school for my senior year, I was like "whoa" things are harder here. It doesn't prepare someone for college well enough so you might want to consider that in the future. But since your daughter is 10, I think it would be a good move considering the fact that schools are so horrible nowadays (I'm speaking for Los Angeles though, I don't know how schools are where you live). Good luck with your decision! ;D [/QUOTE]
Thanks Mademoiselle Bulsara.
And schools here are not that great either. Private schools are for the elite, and so my options are limited.
I should say, though, my thoughts on homeschooling are this - to do so now through her ninth grade year. I think the last three years of high school IN high school are important for a variety of reasons.
I think she'd been her own person by then, less likely to be influenced by others after having been taught to trust herself all these years. And I think the independence a high school atmosphere breeds is healthy at that age. Hopefully, we will have instilled a sense of pride and comfort in her by then so she'll have a better balance of independence and trust in us than she would otherwise.
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That's a wonderful idea. I think it would be best for her to get homeschooled until that grade but she should definately get some experience in a regular high school. Even one year of high school was enough for me to get used to things again. Her middle school years should definately be homeschooled because, IMO, middle school is the worst period for a kid. :S
Thanks Mademoiselle Bulsara.
And schools here are not that great either. Private schools are for the elite, and so my options are limited.
I should say, though, my thoughts on homeschooling are this - to do so now through her ninth grade year. I think the last three years of high school IN high school are important for a variety of reasons.
I think she'd been her own person by then, less likely to be influenced by others after having been taught to trust herself all these years. And I think the independence a high school atmosphere breeds is healthy at that age. Hopefully, we will have instilled a sense of pride and comfort in her by then so she'll have a better balance of independence and trust in us than she would otherwise.
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That's a wonderful idea. I think it would be best for her to get homeschooled until that grade but she should definately get some experience in a regular high school. Even one year of high school was enough for me to get used to things again. Her middle school years should definately be homeschooled because, IMO, middle school is the worst period for a kid. :S
I got some replies, I see, and they were good responses, so they need to be justified with a response.
First, to Lisser, I did not mean to say that it was not crucial for children to get a decent education at a young age. In fact, I will go so far to say that these years are the most determinant of a child's future. What I meant to say, is that if you home school a child in the early years, perhaps all the way up to eighth grade, a child will not receive a significant benefit from being educated in public school. I believe that most parents are capable of teaching their children the fundamental subjects learned in these grades, perhaps even moreso than teachers, as they can give one-on-one attention to the students that they will not always receive in the classroom. It will also reduce the risk of sending your child into a terrible public school (after all, you really never know how good a school is - only your child has the first hand experience, and they would of course not be able to evaluate it properly). Of course, you can also take the risk that your child will not receive tutelage from that one teacher who will change his or her life for the better. In these early years, it is mostly weighing risk in education and social life.
As to magicalfreddiemercury, it sounds like you live in a pretty dangerous area. I'm sorry to hear that, as you will have to make the tough decision - you'll have to weigh your daughter's safety with shielding her too much from the outside world. I will usually say that weapons/drugs/violence is mostly overstated, and that if your daughter is in the right clique, she will never have to worry about it, but I cannot speak for every area, and you may have a serious cause for concern. Not everywhere can you find the comfort of a rural or suburban area.
And teachers can also suck. In the state of New Jersey, after a teacher has taught in the same public school district for three consecutive years, he or she receives tenure. This makes them more or less untouchable. The teacher's union is fairly strong, and a force to be reckoned with. Tenure is an excuse to be a terrible teacher, but let me tell you: I've never seen a teacher take advantage of it yet, but I am POSITIVE that such teachers exist. If you are convinced that the teaching at your school is atrocious, then it may be better off to homeschool for the younger grades.
But the big thing I wanted to get across was for high school. I would always, always advise against home schooling a child from grades 9 to 12. I would rather see a parent move to a better school district than to take their child's high school education into their own hands. For the life of me I cannot see that a parent would be capable of teaching their child a foreign language, advanced chemistry, physics, calculus, an in depth look at US and world history, etc., nor can I see them having the resources to educate children in advanced interests, such as graphic design, art, CADD, etc. No one person could possibly give a child a good, thorough education in all these fields. I mean, you can go as far as the books go, but there will never be any depth, and your child will have no one to go to when things go awry.
But like I said, it's possible. It really depends, and you'll have to ask yourself at some point: is your child aiming for MIT or Harvard-on-the-hill?
First, to Lisser, I did not mean to say that it was not crucial for children to get a decent education at a young age. In fact, I will go so far to say that these years are the most determinant of a child's future. What I meant to say, is that if you home school a child in the early years, perhaps all the way up to eighth grade, a child will not receive a significant benefit from being educated in public school. I believe that most parents are capable of teaching their children the fundamental subjects learned in these grades, perhaps even moreso than teachers, as they can give one-on-one attention to the students that they will not always receive in the classroom. It will also reduce the risk of sending your child into a terrible public school (after all, you really never know how good a school is - only your child has the first hand experience, and they would of course not be able to evaluate it properly). Of course, you can also take the risk that your child will not receive tutelage from that one teacher who will change his or her life for the better. In these early years, it is mostly weighing risk in education and social life.
As to magicalfreddiemercury, it sounds like you live in a pretty dangerous area. I'm sorry to hear that, as you will have to make the tough decision - you'll have to weigh your daughter's safety with shielding her too much from the outside world. I will usually say that weapons/drugs/violence is mostly overstated, and that if your daughter is in the right clique, she will never have to worry about it, but I cannot speak for every area, and you may have a serious cause for concern. Not everywhere can you find the comfort of a rural or suburban area.
And teachers can also suck. In the state of New Jersey, after a teacher has taught in the same public school district for three consecutive years, he or she receives tenure. This makes them more or less untouchable. The teacher's union is fairly strong, and a force to be reckoned with. Tenure is an excuse to be a terrible teacher, but let me tell you: I've never seen a teacher take advantage of it yet, but I am POSITIVE that such teachers exist. If you are convinced that the teaching at your school is atrocious, then it may be better off to homeschool for the younger grades.
But the big thing I wanted to get across was for high school. I would always, always advise against home schooling a child from grades 9 to 12. I would rather see a parent move to a better school district than to take their child's high school education into their own hands. For the life of me I cannot see that a parent would be capable of teaching their child a foreign language, advanced chemistry, physics, calculus, an in depth look at US and world history, etc., nor can I see them having the resources to educate children in advanced interests, such as graphic design, art, CADD, etc. No one person could possibly give a child a good, thorough education in all these fields. I mean, you can go as far as the books go, but there will never be any depth, and your child will have no one to go to when things go awry.
But like I said, it's possible. It really depends, and you'll have to ask yourself at some point: is your child aiming for MIT or Harvard-on-the-hill?
I have a friend thats home-schooled. I think its a great idea.....