Does parent age and education matter?

[kalanamak]

In some sense, I guess it does matter.

 

I had mine at 44, and I am definitely more cut out for parenting at this age. I think I was "too harsh" when I was younger. It meant I could stand up to mean, sexist bosses or screaming ER nurses, but I don't think I was "mumsy" back then.

 

One of my favourite memories of being "an older parent" was the time my hubby's niece, who worked in daycare, grumbled on and on about the children of older parents have near-idiot IQ's. She guessed it was because they were "too old to get down on the rug to play with them". I wanted to say "and the children of tactless mothers are so dangerously mean to small children they are on hefty meds and I'd never leave my child alone with them, even for 5 minutes", but too many people who speak the truth are assassinated, so I held my tongue. :D

Edited July 3, 2009 by kalanamak

[BillieBoy]

In some sense, I guess it does matter.

 

I had mine at 44, and I am definitely more cut out for parenting at this age. I think I was "too harsh" when I was younger. It meant I could stand up to mean, sexist bosses or screaming ER nurses, but I don't think I was "mumsy" back then.

 

One of my favourite memories of being "an older parent" was the time my hubby's niece, who worked in daycare, grumbled on and on about the children of older parents have near-idiot IQ's. She guessed it was because they were "too old to get down on the rug to play with them". I wanted to say "and the children of tactless mothers are so dangerously mean to small children they are on hefty meds and I'd never leave my child alone with them, even for 5 minutes", but too many people who speak the truth are assassinated, so I held my tongue. :D

 

That's funny! :cheers2: Age mattered for me but only because I was an idiot. I worked hard and played even harder (not in a really bad way) but in a way that was fairly self-centered.

[Amy loves Bud]

Let's see:

 

I was 31 when my oldest was born and an M.D.

 

No, I don't think age mattered much. I was always a pretty heavy career-track kind of gal until I laid eyes on my sweet boy. Then everything changed. We never planned to homeschool, but kind of fell into it, so I don't think my age had much to do with it.

 

I would have been comfortable teaching my kids with my HS diploma only. I was always fairly booksmart and comfortable figuring things out on my own. I think those factors are more helpful in homeschooling than any particular degree.

[Dirtroad]

Married at 30

 

3 kids (1 at age 31, 1 at age 33... and one due at age 42)

 

2 - B.S. Degrees

1 - M.Ag Degree

 

I am glad I was older. I was too naive to have children early. Besides, every guy that I seemed to date was a bum & I would have probably been divorced 10 x by now! Mr. Right came along when I was about 25... thankful every day!

[Peela]

I was 27 and 28 when I had my 2 kids.

I didnt go to uni, but have a naturopathic diploma. I have always read widely. I think however it was my childhood education and family background that gave me the foundation to confidently homeschool, and be swayed toward classical homeschooling. My father is a scientist, my grandparents were teachers, my mother has an arts degree- I was expected to follow in their academic footsteps, and didn't. However, they sent me to a private school and we learned Latin and read classical literature. I feel I was relatively well educated- so although I didn't pursue university, I never felt incapable of it.

[creekland]

How old were you when you started having children? And the other is how many years of college do you have if any? And did these factors in any way inform your decision to homeschool. Do you think it matters? I’m fairly new to this new board though I lurked on the old so please be kind.

 

 

I married at 20 (3 weeks shy of my 21st birthday) and my first son was born when I was 24. We have three now - oldest is 17.

 

I have a Physics and Liberal Arts (double major) degrees from a major University. Hubby is a Civil Engineer (PE) and has his degree from the same place.

 

Those factors didn't influence us about homeschooling... our kids were in ps till 8th, 6th, and 4th grades. The fact that I WORK in our public high school made us determined to homeschool ours by that time. I want a better education for my kids... In our area, the elementary schools are decent, but the high school... well, make your guesses. It's considered an average school in an average state. That's sad... My boys are now finished with 11th, 9th, and 7th grades and are definitely outperforming their peers in ps in most subjects.

 

I think with the curriculum available today that anyone can homeschool if the persistence is there. One doesn't need a college degree - though I don't regret mine in the least. Not only did I learn a LOT in college, I had a great time while there. My own will be going to 4 year colleges for all 4 years regardless of whether they use the degree later or not. To me, those were some of the best years of my life... few demands, lots of opportunities, etc.

Edited July 3, 2009 by creekland

[The Girls' Mom]

Married at 16, first child at 20, twins at 24.

My age doesn't matter, it seems irrelevant to my homeschooling capabilities. (Just think...I'll only be in my early 40s when my dd's are grown...I get to be a young grandma!)

I have some college under my belt, but not much. My dh graduated from a vocational college. I don't think a degree is needed at all, but I can see where it could come in handy. Learning along with my girls has been one of the best parts of homeschooling. It's so much more interesting now!

:D

[RegGuheert]

But, seriously, age and education really doesn’t matter does it.

In fact, research by the National Home Education Research Institute indicates that outcomes of standardized tests for homeschooled children are not affected by *any* of the parental demographics typically deemed important: education level, occupation, income, age, race, national origin, marital status or religious beliefs. Also, homeschooled boys and girls tend to score the same in various subjects. Interestingly, in traditional school settings, these demographics have a significant impact on test scores.

 

Unfortunately, NHREI no longer provides the results of their studies for free, other than a few brief conclusion statements. HSLDA has summarized some of this research in Home Education Across the United States and Home Schooling Achievement.

Edited July 3, 2009 by RegGuheert
Added links to HSLDA's summaries of one of the NHREI studies.

[Laura Corin]

I was 33 when Calvin was born, 37 when Hobbes came along

I have a BA and an MBA

 

I think that almost anyone can home educate if they have the willingness to educate themself.

 

Laura

[BillieBoy]

In fact, research by the National Home Education Research Institute indicates that outcomes of standardized tests for homeschooled children are not affected by *any* of the parental demographics typically deemed important: education level, occupation, income, age, race, national origin, marital status or religious beliefs. Also, homeschooled boys and girls tend to score the same in various subjects. Interestingly, in traditional school settings, these demographics have a significant impact on test scores.

 

Unfortunately, NHREI no longer provides the results of their studies for free, other than a few brief conclusion statements. HSLDA has summarized some of this research in Home Education Across the United States and Home Schooling Achievement.

 

Great information, thank you. I absolutely agree. Right now in the State of Washington we are required to have 1 year of college (but nobody checks) and I've heard some supporters wanting to require more. I would personally be unaffected but I have so many h/s mom friends that would be and I consider some of them far better h/s teachers than myself. With such a increase in our h/s populations, I wonder when and how the government might try and step in and "regulate".

[Sharon H in IL]

Married at 23, having gotten my bachelor's degree in political science, and while I was attending law school. DH had an undergrad degree in engineering physics and had gone back to college part-time for biology to qualify for medical school. He was 27 when we got married, in his 4th year of med school.

 

We waited quite a while before having kids. First at 34, second at 36 - or was it 37?

 

It was DH's idea to homeschool. He had taught physics at an experimental school for elementary kids back in Colorado, and knew it could be done. I just wanted some time away from my high-needs toddler!

 

But as so many others have said, it was one thing at a time, one day at a time, and we learn together. I think my period of infertility and my exposure to Attachment Parenting led me to homeschool more than my age or education level. I came to recognize the importance of investing myself in my children in a way far deeper than mainstream society advocates.

[Sharon H in IL]

And this is one 40 year old that readily listens to the wisdom of a younger generation.

 

Hear, hear!!!

 

I hated how older people looked down on my opinions and dismissed me because "Someday you'll know" implying that I would come to agree with them when I was older and presumably wiser.

 

Idiots.

 

Maybe in Asian cultures people get wiser with age, but over here it ain't necessarily so. I listen with attention and hope to younger and wiser minds.

[BillieBoy]

Hear, hear!!!

 

I hated how older people looked down on my opinions and dismissed me because "Someday you'll know" implying that I would come to agree with them when I was older and presumably wiser.

 

Idiots.

 

Maybe in Asian cultures people get wiser with age, but over here it ain't necessarily so. I listen with attention and hope to younger and wiser minds.

 

My best girl-friend is 12 years younger than me, a single mother of two, has seen more real life than fair and I only hope that someday I can be as objective, patient, and understanding as she is. I would never discount her opinion. On the other hand I have way more experience than her on dealing with grey hair. :001_smile:

[dalynnrmc]

(Have not read many responses, but here is mine and I will mark to read later!)

 

I was 19, barely, when I had my first. I was then a single mom (going to com. coll.) for 2 1/2 years before I married and transferred to a 4yr university. I ended up dropping (I have a total of 96 hours) because of health issues, and took a massage therapy course intsead. (And am only not certified because I've never had the resources to pay off the school. Aggravating, truly.)

 

I had three children by the age of... *calculates* 25. My oldest son attended the ps for 3 years - prek through 1st grade - before we pulled him, having seen that the school was not equipped to deal with his social quirks. He was light years ahead in most subjects academically, but behind in basic social skills, and those are simply not taught in that setting. So we pulled him.

 

 

I'd always wanted to be a teacher. My grandma taught 1st grade for over 40 years, and still to this day substitutes full-time. She's in her upper 70s. I was going to college for music education - I was going to be a band director. That's not what the Lord had in store for me, though. I *am* a teacher, just not the way I expected to be.

 

I think age would have benefitted me in a lot of areas of my life. I think if I'd had a few years on me, I might have seen in my oldest son what it took me over a year of homeschooling him to finally understand. And, if I'd seen that, I'd not have put him in the system in the first place - though I will say that the speech therapy for K-1st grade did help immensely. I think the Lord uses things to my benefit, no matter how bad it looks like I screwed them up in the first place. ;)

 

 

Would my life be easier if I had a little age on me? Most likely. Am I or is my family worse off because I'm young? I don't think so. I'm not as young as some - I'm not as young as my own parents were, and I turned out just fine. :P

[gr8tcook]

Was married at 20.

1ds born at 21

2dd born at 22

3ds born at 24

4ds born at 27

I have a year of an early childhood degree in college and certification for early childhood and daycare. (the one required by my state to administer those services)

Yes my education played a part in my decision to homeschool. I was in a practicum with 12 3-4 year olds and noticed that the children who were not a behavior problem recieved very little attention...and eventually bacame a behavior problem. We had one 4 year old who could read but the head teacher said she couldn't really read, was just memorizing and forced her to do the same programming as everyone else (yes she could read but I couldn't argue bc I was just "a practicum student" ) Even at 18 I knew I didn't want this for my dc when I had them.

The local ps in my neighborhood has the highest english as a second language rate and the 3rd highest free lunch rate in our district. So the local ps system also influenced our decision.

I truly believe that if you can read well you can learn anything. I often model this to my dc and so don't feal inadequete (spelling) in teaching right now. I relish the idea that each of my dc gets an individual approach to thier education and have the time and energy to pursue a subject in depth if they choose to.