Friday, April 20, 2007
Schooling
My students and I are studying 'education' (as a language area, of course) and I would like to give them a chance to look at alternative ways of getting one, as their own experience is entirely school-based. Homeschooling is very uncommon here. In their final years of school some children choose to study 'externally', which means they spend less time, if any, having formal classes, and just take tests and exams. This kind of 'external' learning exists within the state system of education, but unlike the mainstream school, it is not free of charge.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
I'm almost done with my reply to your request for information on homeschooling. I think I'll post it here, bit by bit.
First off, there are several different ways to homeschool. This is partly because each state in the USA has different laws relating to education, so they each have different requirements for homeschoolers.
Also, different families like to have different levels of independence in forming a curriculum. Some people like to design their own curriculum - that is, decide what textbooks and subjects their kids ought to study, without having much outside help. Others like to order pre-made curriculums from schools that design such things specifically for homeschoolers. This takes some of the pressure off the parents at the beginning of the year. However, it does create more pressure at the end, because the parent has to send in many examples of the child's work so that each kid can receive a grade.
What a pleasant surprise! Since 'my controls' on the forum seemed to have lost my message to you, I thought it never reached you. Thank you for giving me so much of your time.
Take care,
Kind regards to you and yours,
Elena
Oh! If you sent me the message a few weeks ago, that's why I did not get it for so long. I had given up that forum for Lent, and didn't log back into it for a few more weeks after Easter Sunday.
To continue:
People also homeschool for many different reasons. Most parents choose to educate their kids at home in order to give them a better education than a public school would offer them. Although there are some good public schools in this country, the majority - especially in a rural area like this - are very mediocre. As a matter of fact, some Russian students have stayed with my family before, and attended the public schools here. They were very surprised at how easy the work was and how little attention the students were expected to pay to the teacher. As homeschoolers, kids receive a level of education on par with that offered by an expensive private school.
Another reason may be to protect children from bad influences in school. Many kids who are badly bullied in school may be taken out to be homeschooled. Others are homeschooled because the parents want to teach them to respect the values which they hold dear. Unfortunately, schools in America tend to undermine traditional family values.
As far as university education goes:
Homeschoolers are now finding it much easier to be accepted by colleges and universities than they did a decade ago. Now that the first generation of homeschoolers has gone through college - the vast majority of them with flying colors - universities have begun to see that homeschoolers are usually very good students. Some of the most elite schools still make homeschoolers take extra tests in order to apply, but other than that, a homeschooler need worry about very little when trying to get a college education.
Thanks a lot, dear Therese. I hope to get some time eventually to ask you some questions on specific aspects of homeschooling. Meanwhile, do you think you could give me a link to a reliable website for 'homeschoolers', perhaps the one your family may be using?
Also, do you mind if my students and I read and discuss your notes on this subject?
Best regards
Elena
Sure you may. :)
Here are a few websites. I hope they help.
http://www.homeschool.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling
http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-294.html
Thanks for the links. I'm off to post a web-related question in the main space.
Post a Comment