Does anyone else see this? Do you think it is cause for concern?

[amy g.]

Going back to the original question, I do see this as a cause for concern, but I don't really see any way to solve it.

 

My feelings are conflicted. I do know a family where the children are taught nothing. The adults are off persuing more enjoyable activities than homeschooling. Older children have to stay at home and run the family business and raise the younger children. Schooling never gets done. Older children are not allowed to go to college or to have jobs outside the home. And yet, they feel like they are very superior to anyone who attends public school.

 

There is no legislation that would cause these parents to change. They ignore the laws concerning their business, and when they get caught it is the fault of the government. I was not surprised to hear that both parents now have been diagnosed with mental illness.

 

On the other hand, I have a child with Autism and multiple learning disabilities. When she was 6, the public school told me, "She is never going to make it here." That is when I became a homeschooler.

 

I'm that awful homeschooler who graduated her with no math higher than algebra 1. But here is the thing. She took algebra 1 three times in high school, each year she used a different curriculum and a different tutor. On her transcript, I wrote algebra 1 for 3 different years. What was the point of moving on when she hadn't mastered the basics?

 

We knew that she wouldn't pass the CC entrance test for math, but she passed writing and reading so she started taking classes in her stronger areas. She did so well, that she was offered a scholarship for her AS degree. To keep her scholarship, she needed to get on level in math. She was a point or two away from only needing one remedial class, but she decided to start two levels behind so she could start out with a refresher. She took 8:00 math in the summer, and stayed in tutoring until 3:00 or 4:00 each day having someone look over every step of every homework problem every single day. Not only did she catch up, and get her AS with a 4.0, but she when had to have new testing to get accommodations at her transfer school, she no longer even qualifies as learning disabled in Spelling and Math. She has worked so hard that she now tests into the low normal range. It still isn't easy for her, but given the time, she has been able to get there.

 

Because she was homeschooled, she had the time to work on her area of strengths as well. After her first semester at her transfer school, she was invited to sign up for graduate level classes. In a letter recommending her for the honors college, one professor wrote that Dd was homeschooled and allowed to pursue her own interests, resulting in the most interesting, diligent, enjoyable student I have ever taught.

 

The public school admitted that they couldn't help Dd. As a homeschooler, I would not want to be required to teach in any way similar to the way that PS teach because that wouldn't have been best for my child.

 

I have a friend who left engineering to teach math at the local highschool. She constantly told me that Dd was better off doing algebra 1 again rather than being like her daughter who was being passed through many impressive sounding math classes without understanding or retaining anything. She said how much she regretted letting her daughter go to PS because she knows that she is unprepared for college as a result. Now, in reality, her daughter will be fine. She will be in honors with my oldest at our state flagship, but in both cases, the girls are there because they come from families that value education and have passed on a family culture of learning. You could say that friend's Dd is there in spite of PS and my daughter is there in spite of my limitations in homeschooling. Parenting really is the key regardless of educational setting. And you can't legislate parents into caring.

 

I just want to say one more thing about testing. As a former PS teacher, I am very anti testing. I don't so much mind the basic skills tests we took when we were kids, but the newer tests are just a big money making industry that includes the textbook publishers and which is actually hurting the quality of PS instead of helping it.

 

One thing I regret is how my middle daughter got less of my attention because she is an easy child and she was sandwiched between her special needs sister, our only boy, and much younger sisters. She has never taken a single standardized test. I don't do tests or grades in our homeschool. We just fix mistakes, and make a plan to improve. Yet, she not only has maintained a 4.0 in CC, she has never made below an A on a single assignment in 3 semesters. This is not because the worst homeschool is better than the best PS. I have poured everything I have into creating the best childhood imaginable for my kids. I insist that they have exercise and heathy food and time for hobbies and rest in addition to their studies. Standardized testing was not needed for me to keep track of the areas in which we were excelling and the ones which needed more attention. Our priorities and our values can't fit in with a PS model or schedule, and I'm not interested in having one imposed upon me.

 

Also, I wonder if there is any research showing that homeschooled students in high regulation states have higher acheivement than non regulated states. I would guess that there is no way to tell since so many fly under the radar.

[vonfirmath]

Even when I was a kid,  had to send in pencils and notebooks.  So we're talking .... early 1980s? I don't see $5 earbuds as all that different.

Maybe tomorrow I'll ask my mom if she had to purchase school supplies when she went, 25 years earlier.

 

 

At least in the books, it appears that some students in prairie-type schools provided not just chalk and slate -- but also their own books to work out of.

[kiana]

Amy, I just want to say:

 

1) It sounds like you have done a fantastic job with your dd.

 

2) Please do not read anything I have said as an indictment of people who graduate a special needs child without meeting standard graduation requirements. There is a huge, huge difference between giving a student the math that they are ready for at the pace that they can handle it and giving them no math at all because you are non-schooling. 

[amy g.]

Thank you!

 

I know exactly what you mean, and I agree with you. Here is what I don't know though. Our public schools do the best with the kids in the middle. That is why both gifted and learning disabled kids are over represented in homeschooling.

 

The PS system often just doesn't work for the neurodivergent. So I'm opposed to anything that would try to impose that system or standard on homeschoolers.

 

Maybe there is some middle ground between no regulation and mandatory testing. I'm not sure how much oversight actually helps.

 

Clearly, I need to do some research.

 

 

Amy, I just want to say:

 

1) It sounds like you have done a fantastic job with your dd.

 

2) Please do not read anything I have said as an indictment of people who graduate a special needs child without meeting standard graduation requirements. There is a huge, huge difference between giving a student the math that they are ready for at the pace that they can handle it and giving them no math at all because you are non-schooling.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

 

 

I keep forgetting to tell you this, but if Mrs. Mungo and I ever make to Pres and VP, you've always been my #1 pick for sec'y of ed. You don't have to let me know right away. We're still working on fundraising.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Tibbie Dunbar

[amy g.]

Aww...Shucks!

 

I keep forgetting to tell you this, but if Mrs. Mungo and I ever make to Pres and VP, you've always been my #1 pic for sec'y of ed. You don't have to let me know right away. We're still working on fundraising.

[FaithManor]

I keep forgetting to tell you this, but if Mrs. Mungo and I ever make to Pres and VP, you've always been my #1 pick for sec'y of ed. You don't have to let me know right away. We're still working on fundraising.

I keep waiting for this ticket to hit my ballot so I have a reason to be excited to go vote!

[Seasider]

Going back to the original question, I do see this as a cause for concern, but I don't really see any way to solve it.

 

My feelings are conflicted. I do know a family where the children are taught nothing. The adults are off persuing more enjoyable activities than homeschooling. Older children have to stay at home and run the family business and raise the younger children. Schooling never gets done. Older children are not allowed to go to college or to have jobs outside the home. And yet, they feel like they are very superior to anyone who attends public school.

 

There is no legislation that would cause these parents to change. They ignore the laws concerning their business, and when they get caught it is the fault of the government. I was not surprised to hear that both parents now have been diagnosed with mental illness.

 

On the other hand, I have a child with Autism and multiple learning disabilities. When she was 6, the public school told me, "She is never going to make it here." That is when I became a homeschooler.

 

I'm that awful homeschooler who graduated her with no math higher than algebra 1. But here is the thing. She took algebra 1 three times in high school, each year she used a different curriculum and a different tutor. On her transcript, I wrote algebra 1 for 3 different years. What was the point of moving on when she hadn't mastered the basics?

 

We knew that she wouldn't pass the CC entrance test for math, but she passed writing and reading so she started taking classes in her stronger areas. She did so well, that she was offered a scholarship for her AS degree. To keep her scholarship, she needed to get on level in math. She was a point or two away from only needing one remedial class, but she decided to start two levels behind so she could start out with a refresher. She took 8:00 math in the summer, and stayed in tutoring until 3:00 or 4:00 each day having someone look over every step of every homework problem every single day. Not only did she catch up, and get her AS with a 4.0, but she when had to have new testing to get accommodations at her transfer school, she no longer even qualifies as learning disabled in Spelling and Math. She has worked so hard that she now tests into the low normal range. It still isn't easy for her, but given the time, she has been able to get there.

 

Because she was homeschooled, she had the time to work on her area of strengths as well. After her first semester at her transfer school, she was invited to sign up for graduate level classes. In a letter recommending her for the honors college, one professor wrote that Dd was homeschooled and allowed to pursue her own interests, resulting in the most interesting, diligent, enjoyable student I have ever taught.

 

The public school admitted that they couldn't help Dd. As a homeschooler, I would not want to be required to teach in any way similar to the way that PS teach because that wouldn't have been best for my child.

 

I have a friend who left engineering to teach math at the local highschool. She constantly told me that Dd was better off doing algebra 1 again rather than being like her daughter who was being passed through many impressive sounding math classes without understanding or retaining anything. She said how much she regretted letting her daughter go to PS because she knows that she is unprepared for college as a result. Now, in reality, her daughter will be fine. She will be in honors with my oldest at our state flagship, but in both cases, the girls are there because they come from families that value education and have passed on a family culture of learning. You could say that friend's Dd is there in spite of PS and my daughter is there in spite of my limitations in homeschooling. Parenting really is the key regardless of educational setting. And you can't legislate parents into caring.

 

I just want to say one more thing about testing. As a former PS teacher, I am very anti testing. I don't so much mind the basic skills tests we took when we were kids, but the newer tests are just a big money making industry that includes the textbook publishers and which is actually hurting the quality of PS instead of helping it.

 

One thing I regret is how my middle daughter got less of my attention because she is an easy child and she was sandwiched between her special needs sister, our only boy, and much younger sisters. She has never taken a single standardized test. I don't do tests or grades in our homeschool. We just fix mistakes, and make a plan to improve. Yet, she not only has maintained a 4.0 in CC, she has never made below an A on a single assignment in 3 semesters. This is not because the worst homeschool is better than the best PS. I have poured everything I have into creating the best childhood imaginable for my kids. I insist that they have exercise and heathy food and time for hobbies and rest in addition to their studies. Standardized testing was not needed for me to keep track of the areas in which we were excelling and the ones which needed more attention. Our priorities and our values can't fit in with a PS model or schedule, and I'm not interested in having one imposed upon me.

 

Also, I wonder if there is any research showing that homeschooled students in high regulation states have higher acheivement than non regulated states. I would guess that there is no way to tell since so many fly under the radar.

I loved reading about your daughter's hard work and wonderful achievement!