delaney Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I can totally relate to these kinds of days where you just want to hit the rewind button and try again. Here is my question. It is a question presented by my anti-homeschooling mother. If you dump everything and just do something else(like baking, coloring, watching a movie.....) because you are either stressed or not feeling well then how is that more productive and better than public school? In PS they either have a substitute to keep the curriculum going, or you just have to keep teaching because you don't have the option of doing otherwise. I see her point because as a teacher I never dumped plans and got so much done every day. I also never called in sick but for maternity leave my plans were DETAILED so to keep things flowing. Thoughts? Thanks ladies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 (edited) Well, we can do school on Saturday to keep the curriculum going or more days at the end. Also, baking, watching a movie, etc... can be educational. Maybe you are working your goals in a different way. Substitutes don't always keep things going anyway. We had movie days in school. Kelly Edited September 22, 2011 by kwiech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 If you finish all your curriculum by the end of the year, who cares how many sanity breaks you take??? Unless your mother was a homeschool mom herself, I'd think she probably doesn't understand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmMusa Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 This is one of the biggest difference with homeschooling. It's not as rigid because it doesn't have to be. PS rightfully needs the structure b/c of the logistics of servicing hundreds of students per day. The machine needs to keep rolling. However, being at home, you have more opportunities to finish the work at another time or day. Public school doesn't have the luxury to say they'll finish up with math after dinner tonight or on Saturday morning. Or during a holiday. It's just a different dynamic, and like a previous poster said, if the work gets done by the end of the year does it matter when or how you took your breaks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyTompkins Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I guess it depends on why you are homeschooling. I think the nurturing and one on one time you have with your child are pretty key. How is public school, with a 25:1 teacher to student ratio being rather generous, more effective than one to one teaching and encouraging at the level your child is able to handle rather than the lowest common denominator, which is required in a classroom setting? You can actually get much more done in a shorter period of time when you know the student and have an intimate connection with them. Let's be honest, much of the time in a school day is devoted to transitioning from activities and following protocol as a group. That is just one of the myriad benefits of homeschooling. And we are human, if a teacher is having a bad day they will be less effective in a classroom just as we are at home. I have had teachers scrap lesson plans because the day is going awry. No one is perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 That is what Saturdays, built in emergency days (I schedule two full weeks at Christmas to help with this), and the occasional evening are for. Think of them as snow days. Eventually they get made up, usually by tacking them on at the end of the year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delaney Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 If you finish all your curriculum by the end of the year, who cares how many sanity breaks you take??? Unless your mother was a homeschool mom herself, I'd think she probably doesn't understand. Yes that is my thinking!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyTompkins Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 (edited) I also agree with the other ladies. Who says baking cookies or watching a movie isn't or cannot be educational. Actually, my children who attend PS watch way more movies than you can even fathom. Life skills are important just as "book smarts" are important. To be a well-rounded person you really need education from many sources and angles and schools in general aren't equipped to handle several of those aspects efficiently or well. Edited September 22, 2011 by TarponGirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delaney Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Well, we can do school on Saturday to keep the curriculum going or more days at the end. Also, baking, watching a movie, etc... can be educational. Maybe you are working your goals in a different way. Substitutes don't always keep things going anyway. We had movie days in school. Kelly Oh no I am in support of the dump it all day. I just need some smooth answers for my doubting mother. She just CAN'T accept the fact that PS is not the only way to get things done!:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 If you finish all your curriculum by the end of the year, who cares how many sanity breaks you take??? Unless your mother was a homeschool mom herself, I'd think she probably doesn't understand. I agree! When I was teaching for a popular online school, students only needed to complete a certain percentage per subject to move to the next level the following school year. I believe it was 60% or 80% depending on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Oh no I am in support of the dump it all day. I just need some smooth answers for my doubting mother. She just CAN'T accept the fact that PS is not the only way to get things done!:glare: I thought maybe saying those things would help your mom understand but as someone else said she may never understand. I've had dump it all days also. We just go an extra day somewhere else when we are all more mentally stable :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink Fairy Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 We will occassionally do a DEAR (drop everything and read) day. Lots of quiet reading, plus some educational tv and video games. But at my house, skipping regular school usually leads to more chaos and trouble, not less, so even DEAR days are very rare. As long as we finish all our assignments for the year, I think we are fine for those times that we are less productive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lily_Grace Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 If you dump everything and just do something else(like baking, coloring, watching a movie.....) because you are either stressed or not feeling well then how is that more productive and better than public school? In PS they either have a substitute to keep the curriculum going, or you just have to keep teaching because you don't have the option of doing otherwise. Since Aug 29th, the public school here has missed an average of one day of school per week for holidays, inservices, get-to-know-yous, and random days off. Over the next month and a half, they will have a day off every other week. Since Aug 29th, we've missed one day because mom needed a sick day. We don't take off for minor holidays, we do a 5 day week right up to Thanksgiving. Last year, my son had a substitute in one of his classes at least once a week. They didn't always know what they were doing or how to manage the class. Half the time was spent watching a movie. There is a big difference in productive work at home and productive work at school. It is much easier to get MORE done in the same period of time used in a public school class simply because there is a small ratio of student to teacher. This affords us more days off if we need them, and the ability to take them spontaneously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 If you finish all your curriculum by the end of the year, who cares how many sanity breaks you take??? Unless your mother was a homeschool mom herself, I'd think she probably doesn't understand. :iagree: Being able to take days off when we need to is one of the reasons we homeschool. I don't make my kids stay inside on the nicest day of the year, and we certainly take sanity days off when we're all at the verge of choking each other. There are plenty of other days work can be done and we don't limit it to weekdays or "official school days". Heck, the public and private school here had a whole first week of half days and there are so many workshop days, etc. that I'm sure we do more days than they do. And in school when I had subs, we didn't do *anything*. You were told to read or do homework and sit silently. I don't know how other schools do/did it, but that's how it was for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen500 Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I can totally relate to these kinds of days where you just want to hit the rewind button and try again. Here is my question. It is a question presented by my anti-homeschooling mother. If you dump everything and just do something else(like baking, coloring, watching a movie.....) because you are either stressed or not feeling well then how is that more productive and better than public school? In PS they either have a substitute to keep the curriculum going, or you just have to keep teaching because you don't have the option of doing otherwise. I see her point because as a teacher I never dumped plans and got so much done every day. I also never called in sick but for maternity leave my plans were DETAILED so to keep things flowing. Thoughts? Thanks ladies My thoughts.... it really depends on the ages of your kids, how OFTEN these days occur, how efficient your school days are in general, what your homeschool goals are... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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