can be entirely entertaining, esp. when they are boys. Recently I rented Samantha: An American Girl Holiday from Netflix. I was overjoyed to watch a movie that featured strong girls, had history, and had characters in it that I’d read about when I was younger. I loved the “Samantha” series (4 books when I got them) when my mother gave them to me and enjoyed reading stories that had Victorian history, to a degree, within them.
It was so funny watching this movie with him because I’d told him a little of what he’d see in it, having watched it earlier, and shortly into it he says “So when do we get to the good stuff?” Seeing as how the story line takes place during 1904 and he had been learning about that era of history the idea had intrigued him and he loves history. He was interested to see the part about children working in factories, a part that he thought was horrible and wrong. I’m proud that he is learning and growing up with strong ideas of right and wrong. I guess that means I’m doing my job right 😉
Of course after the movie I asked him how he liked it and his response was priceless, “I would have liked it a lot more if it didn’t have so much stuff about girls.” Yup… I have a son.
You can see a little of the movie here via YouTube:
My original title was “The Pros and Cons of Home-Schooling” but after a few sentences, I realized that a more apt title would be “Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader”. I’m pretty sure that everyone has either heard about or seen that funny, informative and entertaining show hosted by Jeff Foxworthy on CMT. I’ve even played a version of it at a relative’s house and it was fun, of course my team won though. 😉 Anyway for those of you who haven’t seen a commercial of it, or watched the show the sum of the show is this: An adult basically goes toe to toe with 5th graders to see if they are, over all, smarter than the children in various basic school subjects, such as Math, Science, exc. At the end, and more often than not, should the adult loose they have to proclaim, “I am not smarter than a 5th grader”. What does this have to do with home-schooling? Well…. let’s just say this, if you use an online/charter school, such as K12 or really any home-school curriculum, then you already know.
If you don’t then allow me to say this: Your probably not smarter than those 5th graders and possibly in for a surprise with the younger grades as well. I was. A huge surprise at that. My child is with K12 and let me just state for the record, in ALL subjects ( except Literature ), I’m learning with and brushing up on them. (Link provided at the bottom for those interested in viewing K12’s curriculum)
Now after a year, almost two, of home-schooling my child I can honestly say that perhaps, just perhaps, I could go on such a show and be “Smarter than A 5th Grader”, but I am in no hurry to do so. These kids are doing Pre-Algebra and Algebra and Geometry in grade school and middle-school. They are studying the Ancient Greeks and Romans, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance in grade school as a general overview and a more in-depth view as they come back to that timeline in History again, after going through to present day history you have to go back to the beginning. 😉 Now don’t get me wrong, the general overview is pretty in-depth its self because I’d love to know how many grade-schoolers can tell you the names of some of these guys and when certain things happened in History and what is the Magna Carta and when was it signed? On second thought, how many people can tell me that one? I know it wasn’t a full lesson when I was in school and most of the history my child is learning I only know because it was a pet interest of mine. My child is learning things in Science that are above his grade level should he be enrolled in the traditional public school setting and well, they offer foreign languages too, massive perk in my book.
So why isn’t every child enrolled in this type of public schooling? If it’s anything like what I’ve heard as a parent or what I heard as a home-schooled teen, myself, then all I can say is…. They are WRONG!!!! The perks WAY out-weigh the cons.
I got to go to school in my pj’s, everyday, and I let my child do that as well.
I started my school day later in the day and finished before lunch, my child procrastinates so … depends on the kid. 😉 Still less time then a traditional school day when you add in all the time put into homework afterwards because… there is no homework. Everything is done when you end your school day.
I got just as much positive interaction being home-schooled as I did in the public school system. My child gets more positive interactions (with other students and the teacher) now with the K12 public school system then before and;
it’s a self-esteem booster because there aren’t any negative interactions which could cause detrimental issues, both in the psychi and in a future work environment. This is true for both my son, now, and myself, back then.
Take off on a family vacation when you want instead of having to schedule around school breaks, or if there’s a family emergency they wont miss school. (Just need net if you’re using an online curriculum) 😉
It’s still free (if you use a public school option like K12)
You actually know what your child is doing in school every day.
There is a more diverse curriculum for the children.
The lessons, for the most part, have games to help them learn the objectives.
A support group, composed of other parents whom home-school, the teacher(s) and others. (A lot of home-schooling groups can be found on Yahoo and FB as well as blogs written by veteran home-schooling parents which can offer advice and tricks to get through those nasty days your child(ren) don’t want to do school work.)
So let’s go over this again,
You can wear what you want to school, even PJ’s.
Start whenever, end earlier then your child’s friends (and their parents), unless they’re taught at home too.
Positive interactions, nothing negative
Self-esteem boost
Take off whenever/Never miss school
It’s still public school so, FREE!!!
Your actually involved?!?! (because we’ve all had those teachers that complained you were to involved? because you wanted to know if your child was getting behind in anything so they could catch up… egad)
More options? What kid doesn’t love options when it comes to non-basic subjects?
Games?!?!?!? To help the children learn?
A support group for the parents
Ok, so that’s ten reasons right off the top of my head that sound pretty good to me for wanting to home-school a child and I honestly can’t see a con in there to any one of them except perhaps #7 and that would be if you had a child that was younger, say k-5th and couldn’t put in the school day required with them because, parents or grandparents or guardians, you are the teachers/learning coaches. Of course, if you knew a couple of other parents that home-schooled/home taught as well and set up a rotation or even asked if they could teach your child on certain days then it’s not really a con, but let’s just list it as one
requires set amount of hours/lessons put in each week (if using a system such as K12 or other home-school curriculum from a school)
That’s only one con. Just one that I can think of. So why don’t more people home-school? My guess is they either don’t know the true advantages of schooling at home or believe that there really are more cons then pros. They might, howsoever, truly not be able to do the time required for their child(ren) to get the full benefit of a home-schooled education and therefore opt for the traditional route.
Here’s a vid from YouTube that talks about some of the TOP myths concerning Home-Schooling/Home-Schoolers 🙂 Enjoy –
That’s all for now and I hope that I’ve helped, in some way, to show the “Pros” for home-schooling as I’m sure anyone that is debating the issue has a few, perhaps even themselves, telling them the “Cons”. 🙂
Take Care and Many Blessings,
Ya-Ya
Take A Peek / Sample Lessons < —- Link to K12’s website where they offer potential parents/students a sample lesson to view what it is like.
(I’ve put in the link for K-8th and not the HS levels but if you wanted to check those out you can also view them.)
Calvert <— For Pre-K – 8th ( I did a year with Calvert and they supplied EVERYTHING. You pay for the schooling and they give your child everything from the books to the pencils and paper required. )
American High School <— For Middle & High School ( I think this is link to the HS I did but it’s been a few years lol I enjoyed this HS and if it’s the same one then it’s a good program for your child. )
Now I’ve put in the links to what I’m using with my child and what I used myself as a kid in school. There are MANY other options out there I’m sure, but I like the ones I’ve listed and, honestly, if you’re looking into it you have to start somewhere. 🙂
Ya-Ya's Musings 