"In February, a California state appeals court ruled that unless parents have recognized teaching credentials, they must send their children to school. The judge, citing a state education law, said that “parents do not have a constitutional right to home-school their children.” Parents and politicians were outraged, and the court will rehear the case this month.At stake is the education of the 166,000 California children who currently are home-schooled. But the court decision also could influence laws across the country. Nationwide, up to 2 million children are taught at home. Experts estimate that the number is increasing 7% to 12% a year. “If upheld, the California ruling will send shock waves nationwide,” says Richard Kahlenberg, the author of a number of books on education. He says the case “pits those who believe parental rights are paramount against those who place a premium on well-educated citizens.” Right now, only six states have strict regulations for home-schooling, usually requiring parents to have their curriculum approved, to show test scores and, in some places, to submit to home visits. Fourteen states, including California, mandate only that parents notify the state of their decision to home-school."
hom-schooling is an option that quite a few sahm's choose for their kids in my east dallas 'hood. private schools (that aren't catholic) are many here, but they are pricey. public schools are decent, but, many parents are hesitant to place their child at the neighborhood elementary school. ( i am too, and i teach there...) its not a bad place, but it might not be the best place. (hard to explain) anyways, so in between those two choices, some moms decide to teach the kids themselves.
i have to wonder how well that works. i am a certified educator in texas, and i just don't know about trying to teach all things to my own children. first, yes, parents are their childs first (and most important) teacher. i get all that. BUT, in my personal experience as an educator (who has now officially taught 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 9-12th grade children) there were MANY times i had to learn what i was supposed to teach!!! i know, terrible. but, it has been awhile since i learned spelling rules, and how to segment phonemes! so i probably study as much as my students do, so i am well-equipped to teach those skills the next day. do i always succeed? no, i don't. that is why the second day is spent re-teaching if needed!! (not that it occurs all to often...) and, part of knowing how to re-teach is accepting that whatever you did yesterday didn't work, so what else can you do? and knowing the alternate ways to teach something (like addition...there are MANY ways to teach that) is part of the reason you want a professional educator.
and speaking from only my own experience...HOW CAN YOU TEACH YOUR OWN ALL DAY???gack. seriously, gack. i love my babies to death. i adore them. i brag on them endlessly. i can't help it. but really, trying to get my child to do something as simple as use a fork some days is a huge fight. which makes no sense, i know. but....that is just a fork, and eventually social pressures will prevail, and they will not try to slurp spaghetti. BUT READING? i can think of no better way than to kill a wonderful thing than to have mom not only teach it, but then to FORCE practice of it, like i do for my students daily? they listen to me because i am their teacher, i am not mom, and i am a neutral party there to force them to do seemingly random things like learn to add, alphabetize and recite state capitols. and, they are stuck with me every day for eight hours, and there is NO playtime with me if they don't comply. (yea, i am kinda mean!) but i have all those tools, plus some, at my disposal. mom has things like time out, and spankings etc. i already do plenty for my two...i don't feel the need to personally educate them throughout their school careers. i do feel the need to find them a strong, nurturing environment in which to learn....FROM OTHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATORS. enough said.
4 comments:
Some of the very best adults in the world were home schooled. No--it's not for everyone, not every parent is a good teacher,but neither is every teacher. For many--home shooling brings the entire family to a level, a family bonding level that most of us will never achieve. It can create trust and understanding, and opens honest communication between children and parents that usually carry on into the childrens adult life. Some home schooling fail miserably--as does public schooling when a large percentage of students drop out. Our Government will continue to chip away at our constitutional rights, all under the false pretense of protecting us from ourselves until they have complete control over everything in our life, at which point we will all be a subject--and not a citizen. Be very scared when the government wants to change something, get more control over your life for your own good. Good topic.
very good points, bolt...thanks for your input!
also, while i realize that the move to require parents to be certified teachers is an intrusion on behalf of the government, a teaching certificate can be obtained by someone with a degree in a short period of time, if parents are that passionate about it!
but, yes, i agree, there are some families it does work for....not mine...but hey....
i'm with you. i love my kids, but c'mon all day every day?
whew!
but, i guess if you home school, no one says anything if you have wine at lunch
Why must we always have to prove to our elected officials that we know whats best for us and our family and not them? It's not an intrusion by our government --it's control. Eventual total control over all aspects of our lives. If you don't want to home school your kids--thats understandable, I didn't and wouldn't have done so either, but it's also understandable for those that do and why should we or the government require the parents to go out and obtain a teachers degree to do so if they have the knowledge/skills to teach em? Will we next be required to obtain a degree in mechanics to work on our own automobiles- (There's talk of making that law as we speak)It's all about control. Or how about allowing the government the control to remove your children from your home at any time all because of an unidentified false prank phone call. What is it going to take to get America's people to stand up, get mad and YELL OUT enough is enough--we will stop you? Where is the outrage? Why do we continually shrug off all the government legislative control into our lives as being laws that are best for us and others? Because most laws don't directly affect the majority of us--yet! Most of the kids in the National spelling bee are home schooled by parents with no teaching degree. Damn smart children. So why go after a select few bad home school parents when you can go after tons of unqualified public school teachers with teaching degrees that have no business to be teaching one child --yet alone 21. It's because it's easier for people and the government to single out and bully a select small group of people instead of trying to eject or re-educate tens, and maybe hundreds of thousands of irresponsible un-qualified public school teachers who are under the protection of a strong union with lobbyists. It's only natural to go after the small little unorganized groups and pick on them. You see motorclists being required in most states to wear helmets to protect their heads--yet motorcylclists make up only 6 % of the National severe head trauma injuries.Guess who makes up the majority? You got it--occupants in enclosed motor vehicles. Even with seat belts and air bags, A whopping 62 % of all traumatic brain injuries happen to people in automobiles, yet where is the cry from the public or the government to require them to wear helmets to protect their heads if helmets were truly the answer to saving lives? If people were "passionate" about saving hundreds of thousands of lives each year they would require everyone to wear helmets. There is safety in numbers--atleast until all the smaller groups get legislated to death--then they'll come after the rest. Don't be so fast to pass harsh legislation on a few under qualified home schooled parents when most are doing a great job--- not unless you don't mind being next in line to be bullied.
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