How educated are you?

[rose]

Some of the discussion about research papers on the general education board is making me feel a little uneducated. I did some college but not much. I wrote some research papers but they were pretty pathetic compared to what I know would be expected of me if I were to write them now. I wonder how my lack of formal education will affect how I teach my children. Not that I agree with this but I can understand why some states require a parent to have finished college in order to homeschool.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Rose M

[Pegs]

I didn't finish highschool because of health complications, but I've returned to study by way of a maths degree. I'm part way through.

[Guinevere]

Multiple options?

[Guinevere]

And do you consider an associates a trade program?

[rose]

Multiple options?

Done

 

[rose]

And do you consider an associates a trade program?

 

Hmmm... I hadn't thought of that. What do you think? I definitely see overlap.

[wintermom]

I'm not sure what you're referring to with "post graduate" work. This, to me, means something very specific, such as medical education. Graduate studies, such as Masters or Doctorate, is something different.

[Guinevere]

Definitely overlap. I did a paralegal program that could have transferred nicely over into pre-law at a 4 year college. So, my associates is like half-college,but is complete in itself.

 

I guess a paralegal is sort of a trade, but not in the same vein as manual labor, which wouldn't confer any college credit, usually.

 

I don't know that it really matters, though.

[AnnE-girl]

I have a BA in history. DH has a BA in political science and a JD. We've both written a lot of papers.

Edited August 7, 2017 by AnnE-girl

[SamanthaCarter]

Not as well as I'd like. I have a Masters from a decent university, graduated 4.0, but that doesn't really mean I have a high quality, well rounded education. My fault mostly.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[rose]

I'm not sure what you're referring to with "post graduate" work. This, to me, means something very specific, such as medical education. Graduate studies, such as Masters or Doctorate, is something different.

I added those options for clarity.

 

Definitely overlap. I did a paralegal program that could have transferred nicely over into pre-law at a 4 year college. So, my associates is like half-college,but is complete in itself.

 

I guess a paralegal is sort of a trade, but not in the same vein as manual labor, which wouldn't confer any college credit, usually.

 

I don't know that it really matters, though.

I went ahead and added that option.

 

Not as well as I'd like. I have a Masters from a decent university, graduated 4.0, but that doesn't really mean I have a high quality, well rounded education. My fault mostly.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I didn't know if you want to change your option now that I updated the options.

[Alessandra]

Not as well as I'd like. I have a Masters from a decent university, graduated 4.0, but that doesn't really mean I have a high quality, well rounded education. My fault mostly.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well, if I could pay you a compliment -- you seem to be opposite of someone exhibiting the Dunning-Kruger effect (when people do not know what they do not know), lol.

 

Anyway, I liked your post. I agree. No matter what we have 'studied,' there is always more to learn.

 

OP, the fact that you are asking the question makes me think you will be fine. Jmho.

[mytwomonkeys]

I have a B.S. in Human Services & a minor in Gerontology. I was a social worker with the elderly but quit when my son was born in 2004.

[Lady Florida.]

I was a ps teacher so I have a bachelor's degree in education. I started my masters but didn't complete it, and then I became a sahm and a hs mom.

[Frances]

nm

Edited August 7, 2017 by Frances

[Seeking Squirrels]

Some college. I almost had my associates but quit when oldest was born. At the time it was a super obvious decision for me. Pregnancy made me feel sick and horrible so I had no desire to enroll for another semester and I knew I wanted to stay home with her and even already knew I wanted to homeschool. So I figured I didn't need the degree anymore. Though I regret it a bit, we really couldn't afford to continue when it wouldn't be being put to use so I probably wouldn't change that decision if I had it to make again.

 

What I would change is when I *started* school. If I had gone straight from high school I would have had my degree before DH and I even married. But instead neither of us started until the year before we married (so 23 & 24), and never took a very full load since we then had more adult responsibilities and were both working full time. If I could go back, I would definitely go to school right away and have my degree by the time I married and put it to use for a few years before kids. 

[DawnM]

I have two Master's Degrees.  I started a PhD but decided I didn't want to go that route.

 

 

PS:  Our state only requires that one parent hold a high school diploma.  

Edited August 8, 2017 by DawnM

[Sneezyone]

BS, MA, did 2/3 of JD and decided I was done with school.

[Crimson Wife]

I have two bachelor's degrees but I don't think either made me more qualified to HS my typically developing kids than my high school diploma did. Now I do think that my degrees (psychology, communicative disorders) are helpful in providing intervention to my special needs child but she is enrolled in public school.

 

I plan on getting a graduate degree in the near future. I was just working on an application earlier today.

[Garga]

I outsource what I can't teach for myself due to any educational limits I may have.  If you're able to do that, that is helpful. 

 

If not, then search for curriculum that is written directly to the student and learn alongside them.  For writing, find a curriculum that has a rubric that tells you exactly what to look for in the writing.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Garga

[SereneHome]

I have Master's degree.  Absolutely nothing that I "learned" in undergrad or during my Master's is making me a well rounded person or helping in homeschooling my kids.

 

I  attribute all my knowledge (the little that I have :) ) to 1) the structure of education that I received in my native country during "school" years and 2) the colossal number of books that I read since the time I learned how to read.  

 

I attribute my love of reading to my grandma who taught me when I was very little and drowned me with books of all kinds.

[LarlaB]

I have 2 MA degrees and my dream is PhD in Clinical Psychology, but at this stage in life will only go back to school if my degree is funded or at least the majority. I love higher education but mostly learning in general.

 

I also went to a trade school 4 years ago to become a massage therapist - am 3.5 years into that field. 😜

 

ETA: I did not earn my BA

Edited August 7, 2017 by LarlaB

[regentrude]

PhD in physics.

[PeterPan]

Some of the discussion about research papers on the general education board is making me feel a little uneducated. I did some college but not much. I wrote some research papers but they were pretty pathetic compared to what I know would be expected of me if I were to write them now. I wonder how my lack of formal education will affect how I teach my children. Not that I agree with this but I can understand why some states require a parent to have finished college in order to homeschool.

 

When I worked in admissions at a university, the most interesting transcript I evaluated was from a mom who was a high school dropout. This woman did a BANG UP job, and her kids (like 12 of them) had great test scores! She worked hard and she learned the math, etc. to stay ahead of them. The key is not what you know but knowing what you don't know and being willing to outsource or stay ahead of them.

 

If you give them WORK ETHIC and you work hard to stay ahead of them, you'll be fine. None of us here knows everything about everything we've taught our kids either. It all works out. The most important thing you can give them is who you are: your values, your loves, your perseverance.

[OneStepAtATime]

My degree helped me not one iota in homeschooling my kids.  What has helped a lot more is networking with others who homeschool and simple (if sometimes painful and expensive) trial and error and accepting that if I don't know how then there are resources out there that can help if I just take the time to really look.  I've honestly learned more since we started homeschooling than I ever did in school, and that is really across all subjects.

[Tap]

I finished high school, went to college but didn't finish.  I have a Pharmacy technician licence, but was trained on the job.  It isn't a trade so to speak, but isn't a college degree either.  

 

I would add 'Have a certificate/licence/specialized training that doesn't require a college degree".  In our area, someone having a trade generally implies there is physical labor;handicraft involved somehow.  

 

 

[SKL]

I have a bachelor's, an MBA and a JD (and passed the bar exam) and also a CPA (though that is a certificate, not a degree).

 

My parents were both high school dropouts, but they are both very intelligent, knowledgeable, and curious.  They did not homeschool, but if they had, they would have done a good job.  My mom actually taught my dad to read and write.  My dad was a wiz at science and math.

[KungFuPanda]

Being educated yourself is no guarantee that you'll be disciplined enough to consistently and effectively run a multi-grade school from your house. I HAVE seen people at all levels drop the ball with homeschooling. That said, he most cringe-worthy homeschooling stories consistently come from parents who never received a quality education themselves. I learned of a woman today who just never taught her kids Science, planned to GED them at 16, and was SHOCKED her kid didn't even pas the preliminary science test to take the GED. That's sad.

[Grover]

I have a Masters and started my PhD, then put it on hold when I had babies.  I finally stopped deferring it a couple of years ago - I can't see me going back to the research I was doing, and if I do I'm no longer interested in the area I was looking at, so I'd start over again anyway. 

 

I don't think it has a whole lot to do with how well (or otherwise) I educate my children at home though - I learn heaps from homeschooling parents with significantly less education than me, as well as from those with as much or more. 

 

[LMD]

Some college. I did about 2/3rds of an undergraduate degree, double majoring in music and literature with minors in theology and media/communication. Then I dropped out to work full time. Then I had babies.

Actually, I wouldn't mind finishing it one day, probably my credits are too old now though. I would be a million times better student now... although classical homeschooling has been a better education in many ways.

[Liz CA]

I have 2 MA degrees and my dream is PhD in Clinical Psychology, but at this stage in life will only go back to school if my degree is funded or at least the majority. I love higher education but mostly learning in general.

 

I also went to a trade school 4 years ago to become a massage therapist - am 3.5 years into that field. 😜

 

ETA: I did not earn my BA

 

Have you looked into PsyD programs? They are doctoral program for psychology but the focus in less on research but more on clinical application and excellence in counseling. They don't take as long as PhD programs.

[Rosie_0801]

My highest level bit of paper is a graduate certificate. I'm not sure how that fits into your list. It's a one year thing you have to have an undergrad degree to do. It was so very boring I think I might try to forget I have it.

 

The obvious one you forgot is the School of Hard Knocks. I'm working towards a PhD with them.  :glare:

[Ivey]

I dropped out of law school (which my parents still haven't gotten over) and completed a Master's degree. 

[Sneezyone]

I dropped out of law school (which my parents still haven't gotten over) and completed a Master's degree. 

 

You're not alone. I console myself with the fact that I saved 1/3 of the tuition.

[Melissa in Australia]

Bachelor of education. But I only started doing it after homeschooling for a few years. I finished it 3 years ago.

 

I did not complete high school. But where I lived the only people who completeled high school were people planing to go straight to uni

Edited August 7, 2017 by Melissa in Australia

[meganrussell]

I got pregnant with my oldest in high school. My dad made me get my GED. I got married to the father of the baby, who was out of high school, and he immediately got a job working with the pipeline. He started out at the bottom as a laborer making $1200-$1500 a week. He has moved up to foreman now (15 years later) making considerably more. He always wanted me to be a stay at home mom, and homeschooling just came naturally. I did plan to go to college at first, took my ACT four weeks before giving birth, and made a 27. I am fairly intelligent, made great grades in high school but struggled with algebra (still do). I'm self educating myself now so I'll be better prepared to help my kids as they start high school. Sometimes I'm really embarrassed to have a GED, like it doesn't make me look smart enough to homeschool my own kids....

[Laura Corin]

I have an MBA, but I didn't continue in business after Calvin was born (we moved to Hong Kong and I couldn't put together a work-life balance that made sense).  When I went back to work eight years ago, I didn't put the MBA on my CV for the first couple of jobs, so as not to seem overqualified.  It's back on there now and I am finally making more (in figure terms but not if adjusted for inflation) than I was twenty years ago.

[Rosie_0801]

I got pregnant with my oldest in high school. My dad made me get my GED. I got married to the father of the baby, who was out of high school, and he immediately got a job working with the pipeline. He started out at the bottom as a laborer making $1200-$1500 a week. He has moved up to foreman now (15 years later) making considerably more. He always wanted me to be a stay at home mom, and homeschooling just came naturally. I did plan to go to college at first, took my ACT four weeks before giving birth, and made a 27. I am fairly intelligent, made great grades in high school but struggled with algebra (still do). I'm self educating myself now so I'll be better prepared to help my kids as they start high school. Sometimes I'm really embarrassed to have a GED, like it doesn't make me look smart enough to homeschool my own kids....

 

Good for you.  :hurray:

[Jenny in Florida]

I have a B.A. and a few certificates in specific skills/topics.

 

For example, I have a certificate completed through the continuing education department of our state university and a couple from a professional organization for doing training through them. I am currently studying for a certification exam offered by another professional organization.

 

I voted undegrad and "other."

[Guest]

I got pregnant with my oldest in high school. My dad made me get my GED. I got married to the father of the baby, who was out of high school, and he immediately got a job working with the pipeline. He started out at the bottom as a laborer making $1200-$1500 a week. He has moved up to foreman now (15 years later) making considerably more. He always wanted me to be a stay at home mom, and homeschooling just came naturally. I did plan to go to college at first, took my ACT four weeks before giving birth, and made a 27. I am fairly intelligent, made great grades in high school but struggled with algebra (still do). I'm self educating myself now so I'll be better prepared to help my kids as they start high school. Sometimes I'm really embarrassed to have a GED, like it doesn't make me look smart enough to homeschool my own kids....

You can do algebra. :) i just wanted to encourage you in that. When I graduated from high school, I had been so poorly instructed in math, I was phobic of even trying to tally a grocery list in my head. Teaching my kids math with Math U See helped shore up my arithmetic and later, I took classes at community college, where I had a fantastic remedial algebra teacher. My textbook was also very well done and included a Cd-Rom with instructioms for each lesson. I came to realize I'm not "bad at math," which is what I thought for many years.

 

:)

[meganrussell]

You can do algebra. :) i just wanted to encourage you in that. When I graduated from high school, I had been so poorly instructed in math, I was phobic of even trying to tally a grocery list in my head. Teaching my kids math with Math U See helped shore up my arithmetic and later, I took classes at community college, where I had a fantastic remedial algebra teacher. My textbook was also very well done and included a Cd-Rom with instructioms for each lesson. I came to realize I'm not "bad at math," which is what I thought for many years.

 

:)

Thank you for the encouragement! My 9th grader is doing consumer math this year, so I can do algebra this year! That way I'll be prepared to help her next year. Would you recommend teaching textbooks algebra for me? Or something else?

[momacacia]

Law school, and yes, I can see it's benefits impacting a lot of areas in my life. I've read the research, though, that says parents' educational level isn't relevant to kids' outcomes in homeschooling.

[JFSinIL]

And do you consider an associates a trade program?

I think it depends - is it a terminal AA in trade program, or the AA that is the basic math/English etc. stuff leading to moving to a four-year school?  Most community colleges do both. 

[JFSinIL]

You can do algebra. :) i just wanted to encourage you in that. When I graduated from high school, I had been so poorly instructed in math, I was phobic of even trying to tally a grocery list in my head. Teaching my kids math with Math U See helped shore up my arithmetic and later, I took classes at community college, where I had a fantastic remedial algebra teacher. My textbook was also very well done and included a Cd-Rom with instructioms for each lesson. I came to realize I'm not "bad at math," which is what I thought for many years.

 

:)

 

I was close to 50 before I "got" algebra - watching VideoText with my oldest, then later Chalkdust with a daughter (VT didn't "jell" for her).  The way math was taught eons ago in S. California public school I HATED it and managed then to graduate high school with one measly semester of basic remedial arithmetic. College I took NO MATH - was able to substitute a non-math physics class and astronomy at the community college level, then my transfer schools saw an AA and didn't inquire about math.  I ended up a PhD ABD (all but dissertation - twins came first, one had autism)....obviously NOT a STEM major ;-)

 

No way a student can graduate without at least algebra now.  Different times.

Edited August 8, 2017 by JFSinIL

[Guest]

Thank you for the encouragement! My 9th grader is doing consumer math this year, so I can do algebra this year! That way I'll be prepared to help her next year. Would you recommend teaching textbooks algebra for me? Or something else?

I don't know if TT will be good for you or not. People often do like it. The textbooks used in my classes at college were in this series: https://www.amazon.com/Prealgebra-Introductory-Algebra-Elayn-Martin-Gay/dp/032195579X/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1502103895&sr=8-16&keywords=introductory+algebra+textbook.The Elayn Martin-Grey books with video support.

 

I personally do not learn as well from doing a completely computerized program, so TT would possibly not produce great results for me. What was great with those classes was the multiple learning channels. The professor explained and lectured in class with a Power Point. She gave us the PP slides in paper form, which I used to reinforce learning in the evenings. Then, I would read through the lesson in the textbook at home, doing the practice problems along the way and checking answers in the back of the book. Then I would do the assigned homework. When I studied for tests, I used the CD Rom videos to remind myself of any lessons I was iffy on. In this manner, I learned all the Algebra I had been so totally confused about earlier.

[JFSinIL]

I got pregnant with my oldest in high school. My dad made me get my GED. I got married to the father of the baby, who was out of high school, and he immediately got a job working with the pipeline. He started out at the bottom as a laborer making $1200-$1500 a week. He has moved up to foreman now (15 years later) making considerably more. He always wanted me to be a stay at home mom, and homeschooling just came naturally. I did plan to go to college at first, took my ACT four weeks before giving birth, and made a 27. I am fairly intelligent, made great grades in high school but struggled with algebra (still do). I'm self educating myself now so I'll be better prepared to help my kids as they start high school. Sometimes I'm really embarrassed to have a GED, like it doesn't make me look smart enough to homeschool my own kids....

 

My kid sister, tested at over 160 IQ, hated high school so much she did the GED to get out of it.  She never got more than an AA (going part-time) and now is a fairly highly paid manager type poo-bah in the legal dept. at a major west coast bank.  Nothing wrong with a GED. 

[Guest]

I think it depends - is it a terminal AA in trade program, or the AA that is the basic math/English etc. stuff leading to moving to a four-year school? Most community colleges do both.

Yeah, I didn't really know what to put for mine and chose "some college." I have an AA, but it is General Studies for Transfer. I am not trade certified for anything, I'm just basically halfway through a Bachelor's.

[fralala]

My education is really a product of my time, I think. While I have an M.A., I lack a lot of content knowledge that my parents-- who didn't graduate from college until relatively recently-- take for granted. It's a running joke in my family because my dad will often cite "common knowledge" to back up a fact that I consider quite obscure (but research later confirms).

 

I would make a remark about research papers, and writing in general. Yes, one can just be unskilled and write poorly. But I won several school awards for my writing, including an award for my thesis, after which I took a class "for fun" and received a comment on a paper to the effect that I needed serious remediation of my writing skills and should consult a tutor if I was to continue in the class. (Anyone who is familiar with my sometimes convoluted comments on this site may not disagree.) Writing a good research paper does involve concentration and diligence and a willingness to self-edit, and even a well-educated person can do a terrible job if she gets lazy or cuts corners-- so I think it's normal to be intimidated by the conventions and process and amount of work involved no matter how much education you've received. Practice does help, but anybody can practice, not just those who are required to do so in pursuit of a degree!

[Pawz4me]

I think it depends - is it a terminal AA in trade program, or the AA that is the basic math/English etc. stuff leading to moving to a four-year school?  Most community colleges do both. 

 

But there are many Associates degrees in things besides general studies/college transfer and fields that are typically considered trades -- business management, office administration, accounting, supply chain management, some computer/IT fields, paralegal studies, allied health professions like ultrasound and xray technicians are just a sampling of what our local CC offers.

[Carrie12345]

Some of the discussion about research papers on the general education board is making me feel a little uneducated. I did some college but not much. I wrote some research papers but they were pretty pathetic compared to what I know would be expected of me if I were to write them now. I wonder how my lack of formal education will affect how I teach my children. Not that I agree with this but I can understand why some states require a parent to have finished college in order to homeschool.

Some college, not much.

 

I don't think it's a detriment to my homeschooled kids, because I'm highly motivated to research best methods (some of which differ from how I was taught) and to seek help when needed. The focus of our homeschool is learning how to learn, so I don't have many subject-specific concerns, unless you count agonizing over resource choices and costs.