Worst Arguments against Homeschooling article...

I woke up this morning and saw this on my facebook....  

So ...... I wasn't going to read - it was 6am - I was worried about finding the kittens my cat had during the night, but ..... thought...... nope, I'm curious.....  

I love  this article. (<--- link)

I homeschool AND I send my kids to public school.  We are a split family.  I also homeschool the two that are IN public school.  I homeschool Nathan when he's missing a lot of school and I homeschool Kaedyn because he hates being left out when we do homeschooling stuff.  So a lot of the experiments, art, and of course the field trips include ALL the kids.

I have been through the whole bullying thing even through a school shooting IN MY CHILD'S SCHOOL ...  I have been through good teachers and bad teachers.  There are teachers who are absolutely amazing, and some that just down right sucked.

One of the things this guy said in his email was that "it's parent's fault that the teachers fail" ..... um, scuze me?  How about it's the ... governments fault?  Whom ever it is that sets the guild-lines for what every child has to learn in a year.  Because four hours of "homework" is NOT ACCEPTABLE.  Kids learn at different rates, and to expect every child to be a robot and learn at the exact same rate is ridiculous.  Then there are parents like me.  I have four kids.  Four kids in public school added 2 to 4 hours of homework for each one - yeah... that's setting a parent up for failure.  Sitting down at a table and helping each child at the same time for that time period, who has time to cook, clean, bath their children -let alone give them time to play and be a kid.  It's an evening of frustration, arguments, threats, bribes, and that's after the calm talking, trying to explain, etc and so forth resulting in a note on the homework, "I sat here for hours trying to get this done with him/her and I don't even understand it."  Yep, that's a failure on the parents.  All the parents fault.   Another point is - yes, like I already said - I am the parent of four.  Two of which have medical issues which involves going to countless doctors appointments.  I have to have a certain calender just to keep all the appointments straight.  My weeks are pretty much non-stop.  Sometimes - things don't get done because I don't have time.  Sometimes I have to do things on MY schedule - what works best for our family.  I  may not get home one night until 7pm because we had appointments two hours away -and yet, I'm suppose to keep my child up and do two to four hours of homework?  When my child is crabby and unwilling to work because they are tired?  

So yes, lets blame the parents.  The world is a colony of Stepford Wives, we all do what we are told when we are told.  At least, we should.  (for those who don't understand sarcasm, that was sarcastic.)

I don't have an issue with public schools - per say.  Like I said, I have two kids who are in the "system" ..  I like Nathan's school.  I love Kaedyn's teachers.

But I would pull them out to homeschool in a second if things change.

I am satisfied with their education right now.

I was - however - NOT satisfied with Cal or Noah's education both in Wisconsin and here in Washington.

Calahan - went through YEARS of bullying and it was a vicious circle that continued over and over despite my "working with the school" ..  the bullying happened all through grade school.  It would happen, they would be told, something would happen, it would start right back up.... Cal would stop telling me because nothing was happening... when I threatened to call the cops one day because Cal was followed home by another kid who kept telling him he had a screwdriver in his backpack he was going to stab him with and kill him, they begged me not to.  Dad went and spoke to the parents.  That didn't help.  It all kept continuing.  He gets in middle school and they put him in a different "group" of kids so he's not around those kids that bullied him, but what happens?  Those kids talked to other kids and it ends up being the kids in his group start bullying him.  My absolute last straw was when a kid pushed him up against a wall, put his hand around his throat, and yanked off the necklace he was wearing.  ... I called the school and told them that he would not be returning the following week.  I had been calling the counselor for a month prior - several times, no call back, but after that call - you better believe that counselor called me back immediately and tried to talk me into keeping him in school, then started trying to make me feel like a failure for deciding to pull him out.  There was also the phone call I got from one of his teachers when Calahan got up and walked out of class one day because some kids were teasing him and he wanted to punch them, so instead of punching them, he removed himself from the situation like I told him to.  I was proud of him.  They punished him.

Noah I pulled out to homeschool him when I did Calahan in Wisconsin BECAUSE I was homeschooling Cal and Noah got sick so easily from school it was crazy.

When we moved to Washington I gave the kids the choice to homeschool here or try the public school.  They both wanted to try the public school, so they did.

Calahan started getting teased, not even bullied, but the second he felt threatened, he shut down.  He wasn't feeling safe at school - and it was discovered he has PTSD from the bullying.   He also has anxiety.  So I felt the need to get him out of the school experience where he was currently learning nothing because of the PTSD an anxiety factors from the bullying.  He was learning NOTHING.

Noah .... once we got here.... was okay.  But I had begged the schools here to hold him back.  Not to keep pushing him forward into grades where he was not understanding the curriculum.  However, they always told me NO .... it was "more important to keep him with his peers."  Which I did NOT agree with.  Yes, it can be damaging to be held back - however, it can be damaging to also be pushed forward too.  How?

Noah got pulled out from class for special one on one or small group education.  In 4th grade, he had a folder in his desk in his classroom that had work that was at his level...  he would take it out when discussions were going on that he didn't understand.  Group work, the other classmates would write on his papers (after asking him the answers) and do most the work.  They would carry him.

Noah started to come home saying "I'm dumb" ... "I'm stupid" ... "I don't understand what the other kids understand" .... he was being damaged, deep down ... wondering WHY he couldn't do the same work the other kids were.

I had to stop that thinking in it's TRACKS.  No matter what I said, it wasn't helping.

On top of that, he was missing a lot of school due to being sick all the time.  He would catch everything.

This year, Nathan got sick - ALL THE TIME.   He missed more school than he's been in it.  So next year, it maybe that we might have to homeschool him too.

We haven't made that choice yet though.

HA: Learning Styles

I'm looking through some of the homeschooling books that I picked up at the library, one of which being THE FIRST YEAR OF HOMESCHOOLING YOUR CHILD: Your Complete Guide to Getting Off to the Right Start By: Linda Dobson .... and I came to chapter 4 where it starts to discuss learning styles.

Learning styles is something I'm interested in figuring out because I cannot for the life of me peg Calahan. I can peg myself, Dennis... even Noah. But not Calahan. I can't figure him out.

So there is a section where they are discussing Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences ... Harvard University psychologist Howard Gardner, Ph.D. wrote Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Multiple Intelligences: New Horizons in Theory and Practice, and also Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century ... basically, (and I am going to quote the book pictured) "This theory suggests that we should employ a pluralistic view when measuring mental functioning. In other words, the theory sets forth a rationale for recognizing a variety of intelligent ways of thinking."

Frames of Mind lists 7 types of intelligences to consider (apparently the first 2 are almost exclusively valued in the school systems.) It suggests that by reviewing the traits listed in each intelligence, that you can understand how underappreciated the majority of intelligences are.

The 7 Types of Intelligences

LINGUISTIC: think in words; possess good auditory skills, learn best by verbalizing or hearing and seeing words.

LOGICAL - MATHEMATICAL: think conceptually; enjoy patterns and experimenting.

BODILY - KINESTHETIC; process knowledge through bodily sensations; fine motor coordinations; learn by moving or acting things out.

VISUAL - SPATIAL: think in images and pictures; inventive and/or artisitc.

MUSICAL: high appreciation of music or talent for creating, including singing; hear sounds that others don't; sensitive to nonverbal sounds.

INTERPERSONAL: good at organizing and communicating (or, negatively, manipulating); natural mediators; learn best by relating and cooperating.

INTRAPERSONAL: Possess deep awareness of inner feelings and ideas; deep sense of self; qualities of inner wisdom or intuition

and in 1996 he added an 8th ...

NATURALIST: skilled at observing, understanding, and organizing patters in the natural environments; good classifer; analyzes minute differences, as in sounds of different engines or fingerpring variations.

Thomas Armstrong Ph.D. put a spin on Gardner's theory in 1987 in a book called In Their Own Way: Discovering and Encouraging Your Child's Personal Learning Style .... where he then the theory more accessible for parents to help customize eduation paths for children. It has chapters on nurturing environments, building support systems for your child, creating positive beliefs, honoring your child, enhance your childs senses to improve learning, and reasons why your child isnt' thriving in school. He even says, while discussing ways to get the best education for your child, that parents should "consider teaching your child at home."

THE LEARNING-STYLE PROFILE

The book also discusses another book called: Discover Your Child's Learning Style by: Mariaemma Willis and Victoria Kindle Hodson ... A brief review of each aspect follows: (taken directly from the book)

DISPOSITIONS

Preforming: Prefers activities that are entertaining, relevant, challenging, and hands-on; learns best when teaching is short and to the point, allows movement, involves games, manipulatives, and audiovisuals.

Producing: Prefers structure and order, opportunity to organize; learns best when teaching is logical and sequential, allows planning, scheduling, and due dates.

Inventing: Prefers experimntal activity and opportunity to question, design, and discover; learns best when teaching is direct and provides "intellectual" ideas, theories, models, and time for exploration.

Relating/Inspiring: Prefers social activity, incorporation of personal feelings, and opportunity to interact; learns best when teaching offers individualization, small groups, and cooperative interaction.

Thinking/Creative: Prefers activity that is creative and has artistic or philosophical aspects, provides artistic expression and opportunity to wonder, think, and dream; learns best when theaching allows for time alone and involves the creative process.

TALENTS

Note the similarities to what Gardner calls intelligences.
Criteria to define talents are:
* activities that are done with ease
* child is ahead of others in specific area without previous instruction
* dormant if not developed, but not lost
* have an underlying effect on other life aspects
Talents include music, math-logic reasoning, mechanical reasoning, word-language reasoning, spatial, body coordination, interactive-self, interactive-others, interactive-animals, interactive-nature, humor, and life enhancement.

INTERESTS

The avtivities that your child chooses to pursue are valid expressions of your child's learning style, yet they
* are often overlooked by parents
* don't always support a child's talents
* need to be observed
It helps if you assist child in prioritizing interests, especially insofar as recognizing short-term and long-term interests.

MODALITY

Modality refers to the senses through which information is taken in and processed. It takes into account the following:

Auditory - learns through listening or through talking and discussing

Visual - learns through pictures (charts, graphs, maps, etc.) or through pring (reading and writing)

Tactile-Kinesthetic - learns through touch or through movement

ENVIRONMENT

Do not ignore the understanding that we all learn best under different circumstances.

Sound - Preference for quiet or need for noise

Body Position - Preference to sit, recline, or stand

Interaction - Preference to be alone or with others, either quietly or intereacting

Lighting - Full-spectrum is better than fluorescent; dimmed lights have a calming effect.

Temperature - Discomfort is created when environment is eather too hot or too cold.

FOOD

Healthy food and drink, available as needed, help some children's learning efficiency.

COLOR

Affects mood, as some energizes, soothe, or depress; favorite colors in environment contribute to positive thinking and motivation.

TIME OF DAY

Creating your own schedule