I made new weekly homeschool lists for the kids today. Actually, I just updated the old ones. Not much changed, which is great. That means that we've found what works, and we're sticking with it. I may eventually find a way to offer some of the files I've made. I just realized that this is our 8th year of homeschooling. Wow. I should know what I'm doing, huh? I still don't feel like it sometimes.
I do have a unique educational philosophy, which is not to try to overdo it on the things I require, but keep it short (5-20 min. per subject). I also strongly encourage and praise extra reading, studying, etc. I think think if learning is not its own reward, then it's not really learning. I believe a lot of the so-called learning that goes on in public schools is counterproductive. Yeah, they may learn some useful things, but what did they miss, and at what cost? I see a lot of youth that would never pick up a book voluntarily. Why? I think it's because the pursuit of learning for the sake of learning is completely foreign, unless they're a "geek." I was an honor student when I graduated from high school, and in college I got mostly A's. But I didn't usually pursue knowledge on my own, at least not anywhere close to the degree I do now. I know there are exceptions, but I think many kids who are not doing well in school are burnt out and bored. "Learning" is a chore. You never see babies and small children that are bored. They are so curious about everything. But I think institutionalizing children for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week for 9 months out of 12 is detrimental to curiosity. So is most of what TV has to offer, but that's another subject.
Anyway, homeschooling works for us. Our children are not ignorant, which is the entire point, isn't it? Plus over the last year, I've seen the fruits of my labors. Jason and Cassandra both have their GED's. Both did well, and Jason got a perfect score in social studies.
It's interesting to watch other people react to the idea that you're proud of your kid doing well on the GED. It's kind of funny, actually. I think underneath the feeling that I'm a wacko and that a GED is not worth the paper it's printed on, they're afraid their kids might catch on to the fact that they could be done with school 2 or 3 years earlier by getting their GED. I was really surprised when we moved here 5 1/2 years ago that there aren't very many people I know who homeschool (if any). Most of the youth seem really caught up in tons of extra-curricular stuff like athletics, band, cheerleading, drill team, etc. I think in many ways that is at least as important to them as academics. It would be a crime to give up any of that. And that may work for them, which I don't have a problem with. I'm just a little sad, because I think they may be missing out on something else.
We've gone the public school route, and our kids always eventually choose home over all that stuff. And I think that being home in a family environment is a much more natural setting. There is "much more scope for the imagination," as Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables) would say. I read an interesting article awhile back about homeschooling on WorldNetDaily by David Kupelian called, "Why Christians don't belong in government schools." It's a wonderful 3-part article. In it, he talked about how little time he had during his school years for reflection and introspection. He was just so busy all the time, that he rarely ever had the time to ponder the really important stuff. Here are links to part 2 and part 3 if you are still with me after all this.
Posted by 2Flower at October 10, 2003 08:59 AM | TrackBack