Home Schooling

Well I think the time has come to home school our daughters. I won't even go into the public school mess and the crap they are doing to our kids these days. Any recommendations for good programs, internet courses, etc. How did you do it? How is working out? What about college acceptance? Thanks for any help.

[Hakim]

Hi Cowboydoc,

We homeschooled our sons Ibrahim & Muhammad from about 3rd grade thru the end of high school. They both "attended college," at the State University of New York at Binghamton, considered the "Harvard" of the NY state university system. Straight A's for both of them.

I could tell you everything about home schooling. It is not right for everyone, I suppose, but for most people it is the answer to your richest dreams for your kids. They will just love it, specially on your farms.

For several years we "did it all" ourselves (in New York) and filed the "quarterly reports" and related stuff for the school district.

Then we enrolled them in a physical, non-traditional school, Oak Meadow School. Oak Meadow has several levels they can provide--- assigned teachers and curriculum, evaluation portfolio style, and some that just do an annual grade. Prices vary.

The nice thing about Oak Meadow is that they are an actual state-accredited high school (in Vermont). So, your girls will get an actual high school diploma. Once you enroll them at Oak Meadow, they will "transfer" from the local school, and you need have no other interaction with the local district.

Oak Meadow also has a real, live, graduation ceremony, held in June, which our sons attended. They have one on each coast. It makes it meaningful, and gets around the "GED" problem for independent home schoolers.

Oak Meadow is one of the oldest (or maybe THE oldest) home schools in America, and as a matter of fact, provides curriculum materials for thousands of US grade schools and high schools. So, it is certainly "acceptable" in terms of the quality of the education.

The head of Oak Meadow is Dr. Lawrence Williams, who has a PhD in Education from Columbia University. I could not be higher in my praise for the experience. It costs maybe a few hundred dollars a year per student.
Link to Oak Meadow School.

There are various ways to approach homeschooling, and Oak Meadow will assist you whatever way you choose. The methods range from "school at home," meaning they do everything EXACTLY like school, just at home: pledge allegiance at 8:20, same texts books, same lunch break, same vacations, etc.

The other end of the spectrum is "unschooling," which is basically letting your kids find their own way, and you guide them. This was basically the way we went with Ibrahim & Muhammad. TBN, actually, was a significant part of their educational process for several years of high school (English, grammar, graphics/art, etc.).

I would never consider any other way except homeschooling for my children.

Hakim,

Wow I couldn't have asked for a better person to give insight on all of this. I appreciate your comments so much and really hope that I can pick your brain as this progresses. Our parent/teacher conference today cemented the fact that I am doing the right thing. I'm getting tired of getting treated like a second class citizen in my own kids lives.

I will look at the Oak site and get back to you. Thanks again for the help getting started.

[Bird]

From what I know of your boys, you certainly did a good job, Hakim.

[Hakim]

Hi Bird,

Thanks for your thoughtful and kind comments. But considering how much you have provided to all of us, especially to them, in the form of insights and wisdom, and your constant, caring oversight, not just about tractors, but the way to live one's life with honor, dignity and service, I am giving half of any credit -- to you.

[CJDave]

[img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] My experience with home skool kids is that their education is no better than what their parents can give them. If the parents are sharp and well educated, it's OK; otherwise there will be gaps in their education that you can drive a truck through. I had a kid working for me who was a hi skool (home school) grad and he could barely write. By that I mean he could barely form letters let along form sentences and paragraphs. In home schooling, so much depends on the parents. [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] I recently sat in on a high school business class and the teacher made several comments about the Bush administration that were inaccurate and of a definite liberal slant. The 20-minute educational TV program they watched at the beginning of the class was also liberal-slanted. [img]/forums/images/icons/mad.gif[/img] The BIG ADVANTAGE to home schooling is that the kids will not be taught to challenge what they have learned at home as far as values are concerned. Many schools are liberal, pro-homo, anti-God, and VERY subjective when it comes to morality and values. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[BrianP]

OK ......

Perish the thought a dopey Canuck should intercede, especially within the context of 'pro homo, anti-god, etc., etc..' [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

Our major issue, and our sole issue, was the quality of education our kids would get. Public school is lowest common denominator and expects everybody to learn at the same rate. Some kids learn to read faster than others, some may be quicker in math and slower in reading.

Public schools frustrate and impede bright kids and slower kids.

Properly designed home schooling should be 'just right': always challenging the kids, but never making them feel stupid. These days, a bright kid is likely to be prescribed Ritalin, or sent to counseling. Not so bright kids may be sentence to ‘special’ classes. If there was an interest in education at public schools, the advanced kids would be challenged more, and the not so advanced kids would have their reading, or math, or whatever, worked on to help them catch up, not abandoned.

Some parents take home schooling seriously, some not so much. My wife considers it a full time job and is very good at it. Our neighbors are a different story.

I’d suggest anybody considering home schooling do two things: 1) contact the local school principal and see if there are any support systems for home schoolers such as curricula, and so on, and 2) see if there are any local home schooling organizations.

For the record, we believe it is possible (and necessary) to teach morality, ethics, and so on at home. I can understand devout parents not wanting to participate in a (so called) secular public school system. Most poeple you meet on a day to day basis went to public school. Most can't (or don't) read, few can write intelligently, and the general lever of practical understanding of science and math is abysmal.

I get a little confused by some people’s idea of morality: it is unclear to me where, if ever, Jesus commanded people to be ‘anti-homo’. I thought the general rule of thumb was ‘do unto others …’

[fish_wisperer]

i think standing for good things and never being against bad things is exactly the reason why we keep getting beat up by the left. this is a good example of our problem, CJdave was right to speak against a "pro homo" agenda in our schools in a public forum, i say good job cj. i would expect certin groups to have something bad to say about it , but not fellow christians or non christians with good common sence. we can never expect to have prayer back in our schools or the 10 commandments back in the courthouse if even the people on our side jump us just for speaking against bad things.

[SLOBuds]

I am reading these postings and wondering if it is possible to do home schooling without using products that have a religious focus?

Almost all of the posts in this form have some kind of emphasis on religion. Or maybe that is just the way that it sounds to someone who has no experience with this schooling method.

If I wanted to start home schooling WITHOUT a religious emphasis, where would I go?

[Hakim]

Hi,

Glad to hear you are considering home schooling. The stats are that about 50% of home schoolers are "faith-based" in curriculum, and the other 50% are non-Christian, or more or less secular.

We enrolled our children in Oak Meadow School Oak Meadow Web Site, where they attended for most of grade school, and graduated from high school there. Your child(ren) will receive an actual state high school diploma from Oak Meadow. Not all home school s can do so. Oak Meadow accepts students of all faiths, nationalites and backgrounds.

Our sons own and operate this CountryByNet.com forum, and also www.tractorbynet.com and several other major sites.

They both attended college at SUNY Binghamton in New York right after graduating form Oak Meadow.

I could not praise our experience with them more highly.

You will love it. More importanty, your kids will be very happy.