lecture

[brown_eyed_girl]

One of my professors did a lecture on homeschooling this morning. Made my day She presented a number of benefits for children who are homeschooled. She also discussed some of the criticisms of homeschooling--and then refuted all of them! Our class had a good discussion about it too!

[Indigo74]

As someone who doesn't know too much about homeschooling, what are the benefits that were discussed? I can think of some that would come to mind, but not sure if they're right.

What points did she make to refute the criticisms of homeschooling?

Just curious to learn a bit more Sounds like it was a great lecture

[eversoclever]

Yeah! Do tell!

[dressage mom]

Would love to hear. (Not like a lot of us don't already know... but it's nice to see it in print... )

[brown_eyed_girl]

Some of the benefits...

-being able to emphasize areas that you consider important...ie, wanting to teach your child about nutrition, the environment, social justice etc..things that may not be included in the public school curriculum or discuss the things you want your kids to learn

-homeschooling allows the child to keep their love of learning and their spontaneity...public schools have a rigid structure
-can individualize lessons according to where the child's interests lie

-homeschooling allows for 1-on-1 instruction (instead of 1 teacher for 30+ kids)...greater attention paid to the child, able to focus on them more and teacher better
-some schools may not challenge children enough, they tend to play to the children at the “middle level“ and the kids on each extreme are not catered to
-teachers spend a lot of time doing “crowd control“ in the classroom, little time actually spend teaching

-parents are able to impart their beliefs and values, teach morality...homeschooled children often feel like they have a closer and stronger relationship with their family

-homeschooling offers a physically safer environment in terms of school violence, bullying, peer pressure

-some children who have health problems, ie. an immune system that isn't up to par, can learn at home without risking their physical health

I'm going to add the criticisms in another post....

[Indigo74]

This is an area I want to learn more about even though I already have my own decision made. I've considered starting a thread in the past, but didn't want to open a can....well, you know.....

[brown_eyed_girl]

Criticisms

-children cannot learn as much because parents are not certified teachers and don't have expertise in all areas
BUT
-homeschooling parents have access to community resources that can help teach their children subjects that they are not well versed in...ie. libraries, private tutors, music teachers, etc.
-studies show that homeschool students score between the 70th and 80th percentile in reading, language and math....while public and private school students score at the 50th percentile

-children will not be well socialized because they won't have daily interaction with peers at school
BUT
-homeschooled children do spend time interacting with other people, not only children their own age, but people of all ages, infants to elderly
-community based pursuits and leisure activities provide opportunities for peer interaction
-homeschool groups come together to provide socialization, field trips, study groups, etc

[brown_eyed_girl]

She also said....

The average homeschooler spends an average of $550 per child, per year. The average public school spends roughly $5300 per child, per year. Yet homeschoolers consistently do better on standardized testing.

And apparently we're damn lucky in Ontario.
Some provinces require applications to homeschool, registration with local school board, testing, curriculum approval, or government sanctioned curricula.

Some of the reasons for homeschoolers success
-relaxed home atmosphere
-free from distractions
-less competitive nature
-natural inclination to learn

[Indigo74]

That's really interesting

So do they use exactly the same standardized tests across public school and homeschool students?

[brown_eyed_girl]

Originally Posted by Indigo74

That's really interesting

So do they use exactly the same standardized tests across public school and homeschool students?

I don't know for sure, I would think so since they are “standardized“ yk?

[mum_of_four]

Homeschooled kids are not tested. Or not in Ontario anyway.

[my2babies]

That sounds like a good lecture, I would have liked to hear it too.

[brown_eyed_girl]

Originally Posted by mum_of_four

Homeschooled kids are not tested. Or not in Ontario anyway.

She said you can get your children tested, but it's optional.

She also discussed homeschooled children gaining entrance to university, and tests that they take to get in...ie. York, U of T, etc.

[Indigo74]

just playing devils advocate here ...but in terms of comparing test scores between the 2 groups..i'm assuming they've probably used the standardized testing for research purpose or something?

i wonder what the demographics tend to be with homeschooled children....and would that skew the mean scores. whereas the public school results would likely incorporate a wider range of demographics?

i might talking nonsense.....

[brown_eyed_girl]

Nope, Indigo I think you have a valid point.

She discussed the demographics and said that families who homeschool tend to be
-higher income groups
-parents more highly educated
-mothers don't work outside the home
-mostly two parent families