Are you worried about gaps in your dc education?

[blessedmom3]

especially in Science , Art , Music ?

 

This is my first official year and we just focus on the basics (Math , Reading , Handwriting ) and reading a lot of books , doing some science experiments , but I still wonder if we do enough comparatively with public school kids.

I know they do a lot of art in p. school but I am not too creative and honestly I don't have time for that. My older are boys and they don't seem interested in art or drawing either . However I feel guilty that we don't do more .

[Sue G in PA]

I used to worry about gaps...to the extent that I got so super-stressed out that I wanted to give up. Then my kids went back to ps...and I don't worry anymore. There will be gaps...no matter where they are educated. I had gaps in my own education (ps graduate all the way). As for art and music...around here art and music are not taught all year. My dd12 for instance has keyboarding for a quarter, art another quarter, music another and then tech ed. for another...which all adds up to about 36 days for each subject. :001_huh: With 45 minute classes and 30 kids to a class, I'm not worried that my hsed kids are missing anything anymore. I thought they wouldn't be well prepared for ps...I was so wrong. What we did at home (even in a bad year like last year) far surpassed what they would have done in ps. Just my 2 cents...but I wouldn't worry too much.

[johnandtinagilbert]

Not any more. There were gaps for the first 3, so I have spent the past couple of years (including this one) filling those gaps. I have since discovered great programs and CONSISTENCY will avoid the gaps. I have absolutely NO WORRIES for my later dc.

 

It's normal, since it's your first year, to worry and to have gaps. Time will help you work that out.

 

Best wishes,

[CookieMonster]

I worried about gaps until I read The Well-Trained Mind. Now I'm confident I can provide a relatively gap-less education, and children who can teach themselves what I miss.

[gingersmom]

I worried about gaps when my daughter was in public/private school. Now that she is at home we are filling the gaps on a daily basis.

 

In public/private school they got three months of art for the entire year. You either had to do music/chorus which in both schools was a joke.

 

My daughter does private music lessons and my son takes art class on Saturdays. We did a little art at home but we found an amazing art school with more resources than I ever could provide. He is going to be taking pottery (using pottery wheel) starting next week and is super excited.

 

My son has no interest in music classes so we are going to attend some philarmonic concerts.

[adams101]

The ps where we are not doesn't offer Art until the 7th grade. The teachers are supposed to incorporate it in their lesson plans. In just over a year, I saw little to no art from either of my dc. Dd was very upset to hear they didn't have art class. She loved it at her old school. She loves to create and draw, so I make sure she has the things she needs for those activities when she wants them.

[lionfamily1999]

dickblick.com

 

They have cheap to expensive art supplies and TONS of project ideas (even for the littles).

 

For music, we just tune into the classical station and borrow books from the library.

 

The best advice I can offer is to use the library list in TWTM. (1 each: poetry, music/art, science, biography/autobiography, how-to, story book; check, though, I might've missed some or gotten some mixed up)

[Heather in WI]

I worried about gaps until I read The Well-Trained Mind. Now I'm confident I can provide a relatively gap-less education, and children who can teach themselves what I miss.

 

:iagree:

[phathui5]

I know they do a lot of art in p. school but I am not too creative and honestly I don't have time for that

 

Here in Baltimore City many schools don't have real art teachers. My friend was an art/music teacher last year and got cut, so now that school has neither art nor music as a subject.

[sweetTN]

No, my goal isn't to teach them everything. My goal is to teach them the skills they will need to learn whatever they need/ want to learn later in life. I am doing that so I am not stressing about the gaps. Everyone has "gaps" because no one can learn everything there is to learn.

 

:iagree:

 

Yes, there are gaps, but there are also areas where dd is so far ahead of her ps peers. She now has the opportunity to expand her studies to include the Classics and Latin, and to go more in depth into the subjects which peak her interest.

[Pixie]

Music is the one subject I can't come close to what my oldest had last year in PS.

Her school had an excellent music teacher and they had music 2 or 3 times a week (I can't remember). She was part of orchestra and band, so she had a 30-minutes violin lesson and a 30-minutes clarinet lesson each week. She also had all-school band and all-school orchestra rehersals after school once a week for each where she went to the middle school and rehearsed with the kids from the other 4 elementary schools in town. This summer she also took summer orchestra where her teacher offered the kids FREE individual 30 minutes lessons once a week on her own time (I realize her orchestra teacher is a very special one, she will just do anything for the kids in the orchestra program)

There is just no way I can even approach that at home. We joined a co-op that has band but there is only 6 kids so that is not the same experience as a full school band and for now we just can't afford violin lessons.

[IsabelC]

especially in Science , Art , Music ?

 

This is my first official year and we just focus on the basics (Math , Reading , Handwriting ) and reading a lot of books , doing some science experiments , but I still wonder if we do enough comparatively with public school kids.

I know they do a lot of art in p. school but I am not too creative and honestly I don't have time for that. My older are boys and they don't seem interested in art or drawing either . However I feel guilty that we don't do more .

 

I don't worry.

 

Firstly, I don't worry because any 'gaps' that may arise can happen with conventionally schooled children as well. I would venture to say that a majority of students with whom I attended school came out of the process largely ignorant of art and music, and only minimally knowledgeable in the sciences, and that was at an expensive, exclusive school!

 

Secondly, knowledge in every subject (or even every major subject) is not a goal for us. Our main purpose is to faciliate character development, competence in the absolute basics (think reading, writing and 'rtihmatic), along with some degree of cultural literacy), and the interest/ability to learn in whatever areas interest them.

 

Assuming you are not a professional musician, how much school music do you actually remember now? For most people, it's very little.

[TCoppock]

Yes, I am concerned with gaps in my sons education. Although I know I can not teach everything I would like to watch out for areas in which we are lacking and fill them in. I am not obsessed with gaps in music and art honestly. Our public schools have either completely done away with these classes or offer them as electives in junior and senior highs. My son takes art at co-op and is also in a cello class. We read about artists and musicians in regards to history and I feel that is enough. Science is one of the major areas I can see gaps developing. I can truthfully see myself placing DS in public school science classes as he gets older to supplement our homeschool education. (Not because I think they are superior but because of the lab materials they have access to)

[ncmomo3]

Art and music are actually 2 of the areas I don't worry about. Yours are still very young. We didn't start formal lesson in any music until they were 8. Look in your area there are usually people giving art classes for a very reasonable price and then you can often get a multiple child discount. As they get older, CC is always a great option for science.

I tend to not worry too much about gaps. I have found as I teach my children I see gaps that I have had in my own education(including 4 yrs of univ). Any system will have some gaps, but you as the constant educator will be open to looking for and identifying them in your children. Win/win.

Edited September 17, 2009 by ncmomo3

[Pamela H in Texas]

No. EVERY person on earth has "gaps." If you don't have any gaps, you're gonna be bored cuz there won't be anything to learn.

 

Also, conscientious homeschool parents do not have kids with bigger gaps than ps kids have. My SIL teaches art at a public school. She sees each class once per week for 40 minutes. She has to pick them up at the start of her class time and take them back to be in their seats on time. They do this so that going to and from her class is taken from the art time, not from classroom time.

 

Music is also just an hour per week. At our middle school, the students can have art or music as an elective, but lose that opportunity if they are below level, need any remediation, are special ed, etc. One of the main reasons we considered school at that level was those opportunities, but my son would have lost those because at that point, he was still a little "behind."

 

ON the other hand, Gregory (age 6--using him because your kids are little) is doing and art curriculum that includes history and appreciation. He does one art project per week though there is a little art in other subjects. We are doing similarly with music and then are doing Simply Music so he can learn to play music also. There is no way that the average 6yo is getting anywhere near that unless their parents are giving it to them :) And Gregory is ENJOYING it too :)

 

History and Science are almost non-existent in early elementary. What there is is often disjointed and the same basic topics over and over. VERY few people get history from ancients to modern even once, much less a few times. MOST get American history OVER and OVER, often 8-10 years out of 13! Science often is a little better and is an area where homeschoolers drop the ball. However, we can choose not to drop the ball and give something similar to PS, if not better.

 

And how many schools have foreign language in elementary when kids can learn it more easily? How many do any real amount of memory work? How often do they use real books and documents instead of partially digested ones in textbooks? How much individualized attention does a PS student get to make the subjects relevant to them on top of simply making sure they understand?

 

Homeschooling isn't naturally better than public school, but it sure can be a LOT better. It might help if you looked up a few articles about the percentages of high school seniors who don't know some very basic knowledge like how many states there are, who the supreme court justices are, what checks and balances are, where Washington D.C. is, who was the 3rd President, etc. And of course, there are such articles regarding science, literature, grammar, etc also.

 

Anyway, from home, you can give your children a pretty rich educational opportunity. And better, y'all can enjoy doing so!

[Pamela H in Texas]

Karine,

 

A couple thoughts.

 

First, do you live near a big city? Even some pretty small towns have opportunities though. Anyway, but community orchestras would be an option. Also, there are often formal opportunities. Something like this http://www.dallassymphony.com/Educational_Programs.aspx might be available in your area. Usually there are scholarships and such available for students who can't afford it.

 

Also, have you seen this program? http://www.ebaru.com/

 

Sometimes people/places that give lessons have opportunities to gain cheaper or free lessons. We were able to get piano lessons for our older children for $10/week. Also, barter, trade, service-for-service, etc is often used to secure lessons for children.

 

Anyway, a good music program is nice, but it is more than possible to make it work from home.

[Pixie]

Karine,

 

A couple thoughts.

 

First, do you live near a big city? Even some pretty small towns have opportunities though. Anyway, but community orchestras would be an option. Also, there are often formal opportunities. Something like this http://www.dallassymphony.com/Educational_Programs.aspx might be available in your area. Usually there are scholarships and such available for students who can't afford it.

 

Also, have you seen this program? http://www.ebaru.com/

 

Sometimes people/places that give lessons have opportunities to gain cheaper or free lessons. We were able to get piano lessons for our older children for $10/week. Also, barter, trade, service-for-service, etc is often used to secure lessons for children.

 

Anyway, a good music program is nice, but it is more than possible to make it work from home.

 

Thanks Pamela, I have to look at this program that could keep her moving forward. We live in a small city but we have only been here 3 weeks so once we are settled I will start looking and see if I can find anything affordable for her to keep playing and progressing (her former orchestra teacher in our old town in sending her the music her friends are playing this year but I am not a musician so I can't help her with it)

[Stacy in NJ]

While some folks may have had a gapless education, I think that's the expection rather than the rule. Most of us, particularly those of us who attended public schools, know very well that we missed out on a lot. I hope and believe I'm providing my kiddos with a better education than either dh or I received. We also make sure we focus on the skills and content that is most important to us for our dss furture.

[Moni]

Are you worried about gaps in your dc education?

.

 

Not in the least.

I hope they have gaps. I can't imagine they are learning ev-er-y-thing, after all ;)

:seeya: