shinyhappypeople Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 How do you do that? Do you know anyone who has successfully picked up algebra just through magically absorbing the x's and y's in their environment? Maybe one can pick up 3rd grade level fractions that way, but not algebra. Yes. Me. Algebra is everywhere in real life! I'm a fan of the topic :) How I picked it up is simple. I like solving problems and doing puzzles. I eventually took Algebra in high school and did learn more efficient ways of attacking some problems, but I was "doing algebra" long before I ever took a class. I just didn't call it that. I called it "figuring things out, because I need to." Not everyone enjoys puzzles or has a lot of math intuition. But, surely I'm not the only one. Regardless, we have no way of knowing what the homeschool grad in question really knows. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 Please don't be so quick to judge. I have an almost 11 yo that reads on a second/third grade level and we work very hard at reading using one of the best programs available. For some kids it is developmental. :iagree: I had one of those too. Note the 'had' & pls feel free to celebrate with me as I now have two full fledged big time readers. :party: I am done teaching reading. (now for spelling - "head meets brick wall" again, LOL) Quiver - You know this, but still saying it anyway: Hang in there! As to the OP - some of us choose to not diagnose & label so we have kids who are 'behind' for no official reason. I'm not an unschooler but they're as common as rain in Vancouver in my local hs community. Many are very airy fairy west coast hippie, sweet & lovely & kind & gentle people.....and you know what? The older I get, the more I appreciate the sweet & lovely & kind & gentle people. We're a province with no required oversight; unschooler paradise & non-schoolers probably exist though I don't think I know any. To me they'd have to be abusive, neglectful families. I do know some families which veer heavily into arts & which don't do much math or science in high school because they're all about theater or dance or music.... It's not how I want to raise my family but I def don't think it's so awful that the gov't needs to step in to 'fix it'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree House Academy Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 I do know a family of unschoolers. I have been told (by the mom) that they sometimes school using one big book (for grades from pre-school through 9th or 10th!). I would be lying if I said this didn't disturb me some, but the kids are definitely not dumb. They are smart kids - not necessarily on par academically with my kids at the same grade level, but they have skills that my kids do not have, likely because of the "unschooling" nature of their homeschooling. I can see good and bad in it. I couldn't, personally, unschool (my type A personality would never allow for it), but I can see benefits to it as well as detriments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 :iagree: I had one of those too. Note the 'had' & pls feel free to celebrate with me as I now have two full fledged big time readers. :party: I am done teaching reading. (now for spelling - "head meets brick wall" again, LOL) Quiver - You know this, but still saying it anyway: Hang in there! As to the OP - some of us choose to not diagnose & label so we have kids who are 'behind' for no official reason. :hurray::hurray::hurray: That is fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 Exactly. This kind of thing affects all of us because it's a invitation to regulation. It makes me want to scream-plus, I am worried about the prospects of these kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted July 31, 2010 Share Posted July 31, 2010 The problem with these kinds of threads are that there are such degrees of people on the continuum. I am often lazy but my kids and I have done pretty well at homeschooling despite that flaw. I have health problems but my kids and I have done pretty well at homeschooling despite that obstacle. There are many primary homeschool teachers (usually the mom) with mental health problems who still do quite well at homeschooling their kids. There are many primary homeschool teachers who have either a more rigid teaching philosophy or a more relaxed homeschool philosophy than perhaps that elusive "ideal" but who still do quite well at homeschooling their kids. Just as we all probably fall short of the "ideal" in parenting, but there is a group of parents who can be genuinely labeled as dysfunctional in their parenting skills, the same can be said for homeschooling. And just as many kids can come out of a dysfunctional family and do quite well, the same is true for kids coming out of a dysfunctional homeschool. But there is a dark side to that - some kids cannot come out of a dysfunctional family and do well - it was too dysfunctional and they were either disabled (not necessarily physically) or in extreme instances dead. I think because a dysfunctional homeschool is often a dysfunctional family, the same can be said for a sad minority of homeschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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