Comments on: Homeschooling Parents and Teachers

By: Nadia

Nadia — Wed, 26 May 2010 13:52:55 +0000

Thank you! This really explained some things to me. I discuss teaching and homeschool/Mainstream Education quite often and I often end up in an argument about how the degree I’m going for right now is not just ‘a piece of paper’ that means nothing. Maybe I can now use your words (or just give them this link) the next time I have an argument.
The fact is that not everyone can homeschool (not everyone is good at it, not everyone wants to, and not everyone can afford it) so school is necessary. And we DO need (and want) the training.
At the same time there are a lot of parents I have heard of who are just teaching out of textbooks, which I disagree with anyway, no matter the educator.

By: Sugar Jones

Sugar Jones — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:03:08 +0000

I love that you took so much time with your students. I homeschool my two youngest children, most recently through a charter school. The relationship with our assigned Learning Specialist was more of a partnership, which I greatly appreciated. I never once thought that her education was worthless, nor do I think that she ever thought I was lacking in the ability to teach my children at home. This fall, we'll be going on our own. After two years, I've become comfortable in what it is my children need, as well as keeping us on track of our curriculum requirements. We've been able to do all of our book work plus quite a bit of enrichment. I will definitely miss being able to call our Learning Specialist, but I think we'll be okay. Sugar Joness last blog post..ME? Talk About Work Life Balance?

By: LaShawn Terrell

LaShawn Terrell — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:37:36 +0000

Ignorance is simply, lack of understanding…how can one truly grasp the importance of credentials/licensure if they do not understand the impact…many things have been done successfully without a significant impact from education…it would be difficult to argue the importance with John Travolta who dropped out of school at 16, Bill Gates, Walt Disney, or Michael Dell (Dell computers) to name a few. These individuals make millions so there is no guarantee that credentials will make one better per se.

I would argue that our foci must instead be on supporting parents as teachers…we need to develop parent education programs that do not impede on “educational choice.” Instead, we must create programs that promote life long learning through various modes of instruction. There are several factors that play into learner success and they do not all evolve around licensure…we owe it to our children to support parents as teachers in the homeschool environment. We must assess the needs of our parents and offer relevant professional development opportunity.

By: Middle-Aged-Woman

Middle-Aged-Woman — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:02:23 +0000

Very nicely put. Although I am a certified teacher, I have never mastered the patience of working with my own children on their homework. I ask my students, one day per year, to behave for their parents the same way they behave for me (after ascertaining that they save their best behavior for me). It really trips out some parents. I like to think of it as my gift to them. Middle-Aged-Womans last blog post..Cake and Accolades

By: Jody

Jody — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:48:13 +0000

This is a great post! It clearly identifies a major difference between homeschooling and institutional teaching. I appreciate this point of view. Very nicely done! Jodys last blog post..AfterMath…