New book on short term hsing...

[elizabeth]

http://www.brainchildmag.com/essays/spring2007_brodie.asp http://harperacademic.blogspot.com/ A new book on what the author terms short term homeschooling. I thought some here might find this interesting as she does mention favorably TWTM and Charlotte Mason among others . A secular pov and purpose as well. I find her questions about the mother daughter bond to be compelling in terms of the havoc that middle school can cause.

[LibraryLover]

Jr High could fall off the face of the earth and nobody would miss it.

[TechWife]

Jr High could fall off the face of the earth and nobody would miss it.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Jill- OK]

Jr High could fall off the face of the earth and nobody would miss it.

 

Actually, I think most people would throw a party.

 

:lol::iagree::lol:

 

I'm with you fellers.

 

Some of my worst school memories are from junior high.

[Oak Knoll Mom]

Jr High could fall off the face of the earth and nobody would miss it.

 

Actually, I think most people would throw a party.

 

My mom has taught middle school for 25 years. She says *everyone* should homeschool during middle school.

[Cammie]

Thanks for posting this - very helpful.

 

BTW - this might be my favorite quote about what people think homeschooling is before they do it themselves:

 

Homeschooling was for Mormons, for Bible-thumping Baptists, for children with disabilities, mental or physical, and for families who lived off the grid with solar heat and composting toilets. Homeschooling was a little bit weird.

 

:lol::lol:

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

I can relate to the calm, green dormancy and to the spitting volcano:lol:

[Luckymama]

I will be homeschooling our youngest for the 5-8th school years, starting in the fall. Our wonderful nurturing K-8 private school hasn't met her needs in two years. The middle school we are zoned for is Not Good.

 

I've got to read that book! Off to see if it's in our library system...

[nrg]

I have worked in several homeschooling charters for grades k-12. It is standard that the enrollment in grades 7-8 constitutes 50% of the entire school. Anyone who can gets out of public school for those years. We see children thrive on their relative academic freedom and freedom from the social demands, on top of the relationship building with their parents.

[eternalknot]

I loved junior high, so this article and the comments here have been interesting to read!

 

I think this "short-term homeschooling" will be a great gateway to the mainstream finally recognizing homeschooling as a bona fide alternative to public and private schools; trickling down to a better understanding and more respect for "long-term" or "lifestyle" homeschoolers.

 

Thanks for the article!

[Nan in Mass]

I've talked to several teachers who said the same thing.

[Dmmetler]

And this is one reason why having core standards, similar to the Core Knowledge foundation ones, would be good-because then parents would feel a lot more confident at pulling kids out "just for a year", and trying HSing. I suspect at least some of them would stay out longer than expected.

[Socalmom]

This article could have been written about my DD and I! This is our first year homeschooling. DH and I decided to pull her out of the Catholic school she had been attending since K a week before she was to start 6th grade and enrolled her in a homeschool charter. I have a younger DD that is still attending the Catholic school and is in 4th grade.

 

We started off with a stack of textbooks and have slowly (thanks to TWTM and this board) made changes to find curriculum that is more interesting and fun. She attends enrichment classes 1 day a week at the charter school and loves it.

 

There are so many points in this article that I can relate to. We started off thinking we would homeschool for 1 year but are now considering going through 8th grade. My dd is thriving and has blossomed with our new arrangement. I definitely have my volcano moments but the positives outweigh any negative days that we have.

 

Margie

[Kareni]

Thanks for sharing the links! My library has a copy of the book on order, so I've put in a hold request.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Nicole M]

Jr High could fall off the face of the earth and nobody would miss it.

 

My idea of Hell is to live Junior High over and over for all eternity.

[mcconnellboys]

I know folks in this area (TN/KY) who don't consider themselves homeschoolers, but who pulled all their kids during middle school and homeschooled them just for that time period.

[Guest]

My best friend wrote her sociology dissertation a few years ago on the new breed of homeschoolers who often have children in several different educational placements simultaneously: one kid in private school, one in public, one homeschooled. She also wrote about people who take their kids in and out of school, bringing them home during particularly difficult years of bad teachers, bad social environments, etc. Mainstream homeschooling academic literature is light years behind on this, still seeing the "movement" as split between conservative Christians and hippie-rebels. I think a popular book like Laura Brodie's will be a huge boost for raising knowledge of what some homeschoolers actually DO, as opposed to the stereotypes so many people continue to hold.

[Carmen_and_Company]

My best friend wrote her sociology dissertation a few years ago on the new breed of homeschoolers who often have children in several different educational placements simultaneously: one kid in private school, one in public, one homeschooled. She also wrote about people who take their kids in and out of school, bringing them home during particularly difficult years of bad teachers, bad social environments, etc. Mainstream homeschooling academic literature is light years behind on this, still seeing the "movement" as split between conservative Christians and hippie-rebels. I think a popular book like Laura Brodie's will be a huge boost for raising knowledge of what some homeschoolers actually DO, as opposed to the stereotypes so many people continue to hold.

 

This was our family over the past 10 years.

 

We started out afterschooling, then homeschooling full time when Taz entered 6th grade until he graduated.

 

When our youngest joined our family in 2006, we attempted to hs Blaze, too, but the setting was not right for him, so we enrolled him into a private school for the next year.

 

We then had two homeschoolers & one in private school.

 

The next year, Taz began dual enrollment classes through the PSEO, dual enrollment program, in order to get the course paid, he had to register as a distant learner with our school system although they were not issuing a diploma or transcript. So the next two years we had:

 

Taz, part-time public school for Dual Enrollment

Storm, Homeschooled

Blaze, private school

 

We no longer hs as of this past fall, 2009, and the dc attend the following school settings:

 

Taz, U of ST

Storm, charter school

Blaze, public school

 

All dc are happy in their current settings without any issues.

Edited March 14, 2010 by Carmen_and_Company

[Pippen]

One one had I think it is wonderful and only the other hand I wonder why they stop after just one year if it was so great. :confused: I am sure it is complicated and different for each family yada, yada, but still, I wonder.

 

Here's the "yada" from my house: We pulled my daughter out for her 5th grade year because I absolutely had to get her out of our elementary school. She was learning, but by 4th grade she was absolutely miserable in a school climate whose emphasis had turned to helping a high population of low invome/at-risk kids meet NCLB standards. She has wanted to re-enter for middle school all along because she really likes being part of the school community, and in the middle school there aren't nearly as many problems in my areas of concern. Behavioral problems are dealt with swiftly and on an individual basis (instead of punishing the whole class) and the better students' needs aren't shoved aside nearly as much as in the elementary. Don't get me wrong--it's not individualized curriculum that is ideal for the stronger students, but at this point it's not so totally built around getting the academically weak kids through math and reading at the expense of other courses like we were seeing in the elementary.

 

We've both had a wonderful year. She's far more rested, less stressed, and learning more. She started playing an instrument and had the chance to advance very rapidly because she's had so much time to play. I expected there to be increased tension between the two of us, but the opposite has happened, and I realize the great benefits to spending extra time with a daughter at this age. She has a lot of interaction with other kids due to church, dance, and attending band at the ps, but what she really, really misses most is just plain girlfriend time during the school day, because going to dance is not the same as being paired up for an activity or hanging out at the lunch table everyday.

 

I'm willing to let her try going back, but I won't be at all surprised to see us back home for 7th and 8th grade. Also, I'll be honest that finances is playing a role here because it has been part of the delay in my getting back to some kind of work. If we had a high paying job and/or unlimited savings and/or a college fund set aside for all the kids (she's the youngest and college is looming for the oldest), I might be pushing her harder to consider staying home for the next three years and re-enter for hs instead.