Let me start by explaining that I only attended public school k-4th grade and then once more my Sophomore year of high school. The other years I was home schooled. My mom would wake me up at 7 am Monday through Friday, I was to be at the kitchen table at 7:30 for her to go over what my daily assignments were. In 5th-8th I did Saxon Math, Abeka Science, History, English and Literature. I actually had an English book every year that went extensively over the parts of speech and diagramming complex sentences and built upon each prior years skills. In those years I also completed History Books on Greek Theology, Egypt. My mom required that I also do Bible study every day. I also extra classes such as french, creative writing and government. We went to many Museums, the mint, the zoo, the aquarium, the capitol and many other places.
I never fell behind, my mom just wouldn't let me go forward until I grasped the given concept. I never failed anything, If I did I was made to redo a section until I got it. She felt she wasn't doing me any favors by moving on, if I obviously didn't get the material. I was always given one on one attention. If something was giving me trouble or I was having trouble getting into it, we searched and found ways to not only make it interesting, but explain it in a way I could get it. I was also able to take my studies into areas I was most interested.
You might question the level of education I received. Well, I was given the Iowa Basics Standardized Tests EVERY year and always scored grades above what grade I was actually in. In my High School years I took the ACT and scored very well. I did work out of actual textbooks for every class. In my High School years I actually went through a college preparatory school and received my high school diploma. They required much hard classes to obtain graduation. To graduate I needed 4 science credits and they told me they HAD to be Bio 1 and 2, Chem and Physics. It was the same with all my other subjects. Also if my ending class grade was below a C and that is a 75% I failed that class and HAD to retake it to qualify for graduating. I woke up, my mom wrote the days lessons in a notebook, I would take my books and go to my room usually and sit and work and get it done. However I did need more instruction on certain subjects my mom and I would sit down and she would go over it with me and then the practice problems and or questions till I got it, and then I would go do my work. I was able to work ahead if I got really into something. I was able to get my stuff done quicker. Some days it was 3 hours others it was 6 depending on how easily I got it.
People want to say well when you home school you don't get the social aspects of it. When I hear this I just think how ridiculous they sound. I had friends who we would get together certain days of every weeks and do our work together. Many times I would be at the bus stop and meet friends and then hang out till dinner time. I went with friends to foot ball games and PUBLIC school dances. I danced 3-5 days a week, I took piano and voice. As I got older and had friends who already graduated I would hang out with them when my school was done, or go to the high school and meet friends for lunch. I also started working at 14 and met so many people. I did all the normal kid things, so I'm never quiet sure what they mean about lack of socialization.
In my Sophomore year I went back to public school to EXPERIENCE regular high school. I thought it was crazy. I felt there was a lot of class room time wasted. If I failed the teachers didn't care, they didn't care if I did my work or not. I thought it was So weird to have to have permission to go pee. Especially those students who hadn't abused the privilege of leaving the classroom. I was suddenly told, when I could eat and when I could pee. We spent a lot of time in certain classes watching movies. I could instantly tell the teachers who enjoyed their job and those who didn't. I quickly could tell the teachers who wanted to be everyone's best friend and those who didn't. I quickly found holes in the system. Like giving a person and A for effort on their home work whether it was correct or not, just because they tried. I wasn't used to stopping and waiting while the teacher went over and over something I got, but something another student didn't. I got bored. I knew the stuff they were going over and just chose not to do it. That was my experience.
Intellectually, I watched the news about CSAP results, and how schools were rated, I saw the rise in school violence, the media stating how kids are graduating without knowing how to read. As I devulged into studies when I was i college, I noticed how younger and younger kids are pressed to learn and prepare for school. I noticed how schools were teaching things to younger and younger children. Great for the kids who were mature and ready. But, I cringed at the thought of the children who weren't so mature. After all they are just children.
Here I am now, with my son in preschool and we have just completed the first quarter. I met with his teachers, listen to people who have him 12 hours a week for 7 weeks tell me about MY child. I saw how he was evaluated. I'm concerned. He is being evaluated against statistics against a range of other children, by people who hardly know him. Why isn't he being evaluated by the new skills he has obtained. Instead of all the things he has YET to learn. He's four. When I asked him, why he didn't do hes letter or sound for his teacher, when I know he knows them, he replied he felt shy. When I told the teachers he knew all of this, I received a Hmmm... smile and nod. Now I'm honestly sitting with a bad feeling. So he's supposed to spend three hours a day at preschool, then come home so I can work with him more on preschool stuff, and then we do his speech. Next year he will be five and attending Kindergarten 7 hours a day and then I still work with him at home for an hour and then do speech. I see how it's all worksheets and regurgitation of learned knowledge on demand. What if he doesn't learn that way? What if he doesn't feel like regurgitating when asked?
No comments:
Post a Comment