Homeschooling vs. Public School|My Views as a 14 year old Homeschooler
I am 14 years old, I have been homeschooled since birth, and I recently decided to attempt 8th grade in Public School. Having finished 8th grade, I can safely say that I would rather homeschool for the rest of High School. My Aunt recently approached me on this subject, considering homeschooling but struggling because both she and her husband work full time, and I emailed her and gave her the following reasons and views that I have on homeschooling, along with advice I found about homeschooling when you have a job:
- You and your child can work at your own pace. I find that it is such a great feeling for me to be able to learn however fast or slow I need to. I am not forced to learn something within a certain amount of time and then expected to know it.
- More PRIVACY. Public school systems are built to watch every move the child makes. From the classroom to the buses to the bathrooms and locker rooms. Not just by cameras, but by teachers and peers as well. They never ever get some time to themselves. Believe it or not, kids at school are encouraged to tattle on each other and their parents. Teacher encourage parents to write files on their kids. Even homework stretches the lack of privacy to the home, where kids can't spend time doing other things because they are finishing schoolwork. Not to mention same-sex locker and bathroom laws.
- For adults: You have absolutely NO GUARANTEE (OR CONTROL OVER!!!) what your child is learning! You are trusting the babysitting care, AKA Public schools, to feed your children the correct information. Gay marriage is being taught. I know that their is a book for kindergartners about how two kings 'liked' each other. You hear all cuss words imaginable, with no age limits. I heard two little kids, around 5 and 6 years old saying "f*** you" and worse in the library. Your child could be learning the most despicable things from the very beginning. Also, keep in mind that the younger you are, the more you learn and also the more gullible you are. Have you ever heard or experience being a little kid, hearing some expression or miscommunication, and believing it for years?? I know I have. The devil attacks though public school systems at a very young age. And the parents aren't around to do anything about it. Come too think of it, they really cannot do anything about it. Approaching the teachers won't help because they won't understand. I tried to ask a teacher of mine why she let us watch pornography (topless women) in the class and didn't allow girls to even show their shoulders. I sent her three notes and finally had to approach her directly because she was ignoring me. After that she was very upset and even though I had made my point she refused to understand. She said I was making her feel like she was doing her job wrong and she got really emotional over it but in the end she didn't fix it. Another example I should point out was that my school "updated their books to be more age-appealing". I read one of the books and through the many cuss words and inappropriateness they had a descriptive sex scene. Another kid was also joking around about being a professional rapist in the middle of class while the teacher was giving a lesson. I had to write her an email and he got sent to detention. I told my friends I didn't like him because he joked about being a rapist and they were all like 'so what??' Of all the things to have in a middle school! And nobody even cares!
- I also like homeschooling because your kids are encouraged to do things, but they aren't forced or compelled to. For example: a boy has to give a presentation on a subject. Whether the subject makes him uncomfortable, or he isn't a good public speaker, or he is really busy from homework and hardly has the time for more, their is a carrot in front of him and a whip to his back. There may be a grade on the project that will affect his overall grade. If he gets a bad grade then his teachers and his parents will be disappointed in him. He may go to detention for refusing. He may receive a call home because he isn't cooperating. He may even be sent to a counselor or the principal if he makes a fuss. All these things piled together are thrown at him if he doesn't give that one presentation.
- Grading is a bad way of showing what the kid knows. Grading is mainly for the parents to show them how well their child is doing in school. But if you think about it, kids are given participation grades all the time. They are rewarded for obeying with good grades, and punished with bad grades. Maybe they are graded on a pop quiz that only reviews information from years before, or given bonus points for bringing food. It is mainly showing how much that kid can learn within a certain amount of time. If you are a slow learner, you are given bad grades. If you are homeschooled, grading isn't really necessary, though it can be used. I just focus on learning the material well enough that I can correctly solve it every time.
- Public schools teach you to be workers. They teach you to follow the typical standards that are set for everyone else: get decent grades in school, graduate, and get a job where you get decent pay. I could go on forever on this but the first link at the bottom of the page will provide better info.
- Just a side note: I have never ever had any problems from discrimination from being homeschooled. No one has ever had a problem with it. Often I get funny looks when I first announce I'm homeschooled, maybe a "But why???" and I always shrug and give my reasons and its never brought up in a negative way.
- I do feel like I have a better personality and a strong opinion from being homeschooled. I never had anyone shoot me down for believing something. I always got the time to fully understand and agree or disagree with someone else's opinion. I also feel like I can listen to someone explain their views, and I can understand their point of view just fine. I also have a stronger foundation in the gospel. I refrain from gossiping, crude jokes, and immodesty, many of which my good Mormon friends are slacking in. I have had to stand for my belief often in school. It's difficult sometimes when I announce our standards and they don't understand because my other Mormon friends do the opposite. I've seen many people in school start to share their opinion or something they heard and then a peer or teacher will interrupt and deny their ideas before they have finished. I also think this is partly the reason so many kids go through an awkward phase. I seem to have mostly skipped it from being homeschooled. I also feel I'm that much more mature than many people who are my age and older. I have people come up to me and think I'm 18 because I don't act immature and stupid. I get so much more respect and I feel like I can talk to anyone like I am their equal.
- I also don't like how you don't get to share your opinion in school. The teachers can go on for hours about their theories and what they believe in and the students never get a voice. Not in the worksheets or even in discussions. I know in my Honors English at the middle school our teacher would teach us a subject and then encourage us to get in a circle and share our opinions. This seemed like a good thing until if there was something that didn't agree with the lesson, or with the teachers views, she would argue with them, expect them to have a fully formed opinion, and she was very loud about it and got very intense about it and the kid would just kind of sit there awkwardly until she was done.
- I like how I can choose what I learn. The teacher doesn't choose for me. I can learn whatever I want to. I also can avoid ridiculous nonsense lectures like global warming, controlling population will stop pollution, all the reasons that what so-and-so said was racist, how gay marriage and transgender is totally legal, Trump vs Clinton, ect.
- You can be social!!! There are so many other ways your kids can have social opportunities outside of school. Try 4H, community sports, church get-togethers, library events, clubs and more. Especially get into community and church events. You will find better people. Since when have low-quality people ever gotten into the community? (Outside of community service sentences for people in jail. j/k)
- Did you know you can skip High School?? About a hundred years ago, there was only 1-8 grade. Then they took the last four, duplicated it, and then dumbed down 4-8th grade. Seriously, you learn the same things twice. And said it was middle school because kids needed it for the maturing ages or something like that. (Check out the original 8th grade test--its crazy hard!(http://www.
bullittcountyhistory.com/ bchistory/schoolexam1912.html) - I feel spiritually closer to Heavenly Father because I'm not surrounded by evil every day, I get to learn the spiritual aspect of everything, and because I am not constantly busy getting ready for school in the morning, or doing homework after school, I can take the time to read and study my scriptures and pray every day.
If you are wondering what we used to learn: We use Rightstart Mathematics (http:/
We also use A Well Trained Mind for English/Literature. The author, Susan Wise Bauer, also authors a fun, interactive history course A History of the (Whole) World, and Writing With Ease and it's funny because even though I sometimes struggled when learning from all of our curriculum's I really enjoyed it and I actually miss it now that I finished them.
My mom is a member of HECOA (a big help for homeschoolers, covers just about every question imaginable about homeschooling) and if you have time try checking them out. Some links are at the bottom.
Also check out Thomas Jefferson Education (TJed) http://www.tjed.org/ I really like how they help you find success. They also have a great list of resources and help you learn from the truly successful people in history.
These links should all be very helpful. Please read the first one, if not all of them through. As long as you are serious about wanting to homeschool than these should be very helpful.
You probably know enough about co-ops but I didn't so I looked them up anyway: http://hecoa.com/what-
Comments
Post a Comment