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Being interviewed next week


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Got a phone call today from a newspaper reporter who wants to interview (and photograph!) our family for an article on homeschooling. Dear Lord, please give me wisdom (and let my children behave themselves!!).

 

One focus of the interview is the statement she received from the public school system that incoming homeschoolers do not test at grade level on all subjects so that is a concern. Also stated was the fact that a homeschooling parent would want their child put in, say, 3rd grade yet the child is only doing math at a 2nd grade level. HUH? Tell me, please, just how many students in public schools test at grade level in all subjects? In AZ the statistics for kids placing well below grade level in public schools is sobering. How many students are promoted yet are not performing at that grade level? I was told to pass my 6th graders while student teaching even though some of them were reading at a THIRD grade level (to preserve their self-esteem)! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! The beauty of homeschooling is that my 11-year old can be in 10th grade English, 8th grade science, and 9th grade math; she doesn't have the confinement of a certain grade level and, if she doesn't do well in a subject, she can repeat it while moving on in other areas rather than being herded through the system like a sheep.

 

Another topic she wants to cover is the use of virtual academies. If anyone has advice on this I need it! She did an article this last week that touted the wonders of online schooling so this is an article meant to balance that out.

 

I don't want to mess this up or bring a bad rap to homeschoolers (any more than we already have in this area, that is). I covet any input from you all.

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lol, I keep rereading my post to see if it fits any of the things mentioned in the "annoying posts" thread! Hopefully this post doesn't make too many of you cringe.

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The first thing that occurred to me is:

 

How many transfer students (from other districts, private schools or even other states) test at grade level on all subjects?

 

How many of their own students test at grade level on all subjects?

 

My understanding is that usually it is the school district who wants kids placed at a certain grade level (regardless of ability) solely on their birthdate.

 

You can't logically and fairly criticize homeschoolers for things that the ps kids can't do.

 

Homeschoolers have children who run the gamut of developmental delays to gifted. How they do in their academics is going to reflect that diversity.

 

I don't get the virtual academies thing. Is that what she already covered when she wrote about online schooling? Or is it something different?

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Got a phone call today from a newspaper reporter who wants to interview (and photograph!) our family for an article on homeschooling. Dear Lord, please give me wisdom (and let my children behave themselves!!).

 

One focus of the interview is the statement she received from the public school system that incoming homeschoolers do not test at grade level on all subjects so that is a concern. Also stated was the fact that a homeschooling parent would want their child put in, say, 3rd grade yet the child is only doing math at a 2nd grade level. HUH? Tell me, please, just how many students in public schools test at grade level in all subjects? In AZ the statistics for kids placing well below grade level in public schools is sobering. How many students are promoted yet are not performing at that grade level? I was told to pass my 6th graders while student teaching even though some of them were reading at a THIRD grade level (to preserve their self-esteem)! Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! The beauty of homeschooling is that my 11-year old can be in 10th grade English, 8th grade science, and 9th grade math; she doesn't have the confinement of a certain grade level and, if she doesn't do well in a subject, she can repeat it while moving on in other areas rather than being herded through the system like a sheep.

 

Another topic she wants to cover is the use of virtual academies. If anyone has advice on this I need it! She did an article this last week that touted the wonders of online schooling so this is an article meant to balance that out.

 

I don't want to mess this up or bring a bad rap to homeschoolers (any more than we already have in this area, that is). I covet any input from you all.

----

lol, I keep rereading my post to see if it fits any of the things mentioned in the "annoying posts" thread! Hopefully this post doesn't make too many of you cringe.

 

As you mentioned, one of the beauties of homeschooling is that you are working with your child at their level of ability rather than at a point where a schedule for a hypothetical average student might be. In many subjects that means my kids are working well above grade level. In others they are able to spend extra time on concepts and skills they haven't yet mastered rather than just being labeled as being "bad at math" or as a "non-reader". In my experience, labeling someone as behind can create a mindset that is very difficult to overcome.

 

It's probably also worth noting that most families don't switch between a classroom and home education unless they feel that their kids aren't thriving in the setting they are leaving. So former homeschoolers who go into an elementary school setting may be kids whose families tried homeschooling and struggled with it. It would be just as unfair to label a school as failing just because I know several current homeschoolers who left the school unable to perform on grade level.

 

If you aren't familiar with virtual academies, just say so. If she just did an article about online education, then your article can be about the wonders of doing school at close range with the family, rather than using a distant person via the computer. That can be balance too. You don't have to try to cover what you don't know.

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is this for the AZ Republic?

 

 

Thankfully, no! I live in Prescott Valley so it is for our local paper.

 

You can't logically and fairly criticize homeschoolers for things that the ps kids can't do.

 

 

Love this, thanks!

 

I appreciate the input and insights, ladies. I desperately want to back out of this interview as it this is a very small community and if I say anything wrong or that can be taken wrongly I'm in trouble.

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Got a phone call today from a newspaper reporter who wants to interview (and photograph!) our family for an article on homeschooling. Dear Lord, please give me wisdom (and let my children behave themselves!!).

 

No advice, just wanted to say hi! :) Your children are beautiful, well-behaved, and have an informed, articulate and beautiful mother -- it is going to be a great interview!

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