Im not against home schooling in general. I know it is a better choice for some students and families than public or private schools. I have wonderful friends and family members who have home schooled their children or have been home schooled, worked hard to research what they were doing, put major effort into teaching and challenging, and they and their children are intelligent and well-socialized individuals. But some of the quotes in this article hurt my little teaching heart... I am glad my kids are not associating with other kids their age except for those that are in our general neighborhood that I approve of. Yes, because your kids will have you to approve of the coworkers, college roommates, neighbors, cashiers at the store, random people in line at the DMV... Her children, Wardell said, were learning lessons in school about the environment, government and politics that required her to regularly discuss and reteach her familys values. After all, you shouldnt be regularly discussing and teaching your familys values in the first place. Theres no way shes teaching and discussing her familys values as she homeschools her children. Really its [sic] just sitting down with the kids and just reading something, and then sharing our thoughts about it and what they have interpreted and how they feel about it and how they would apply it to their lives. That is a great way of discussing literary interpretation and application, but what about calculus? Biology? Argumentation? Persuasive writing? History? You cant discuss how tangential functions make you feel. Just because someone goes to college and attends and studies history, what they did to study history was to read lots of books, she said. Well guess what? You can read lots of books about history and be able to teach history just fine. Or math, or whatever. This quote almost made me cry... honestly. Getting my degree in education required much more than reading books. Reading books doesnt teach you how to identify behavior cues showing whether a child is within their zone of proximal development. Nor will it teach you to create engaging lessons that capture attention and are remembered for years. There are brilliant math scholars who make terrible teachers. Dont believe me? Visit a college math class. Ill counter this quote with a Japanese proverb: Better than a thousand days of diligent study is a single day with a great teacher. I saw in the pictures kids doing math in workbooks. Worksheets do not teach math, or reading, or spelling, or science. They are great practice but teachers (whether they are moms and dads at home or a certified teacher at school) teach. Whether youre planning on homeschooling your kids or becoming a teacher in a school, PLEASE dont plan on workbooks being your lessons for you. Teaching, whether at home or at school, is a lot of work and cant be done with little effort. It is overwhelming some days and thats okay. I feel for these parents teaching students at multiple levels, as my first year teaching I had a budget of $300 for the entire year, no curriculum, and 13 students ranging in level from pre-k to 6th grade, all with severe disabilities. It was stressful, overwhelming, and required much more effort than reading and discussing a book. It was also rewarding and wonderful, and I wouldnt trade my career serving this students for anything. People who talk about teaching being effortless do a disservice to themselves and the profession. Rant over. :) Now back to my 14-hour days teaching, planning lessons, studying curriculum, implementing behavior plans, grading work, changing lives, and yes, rewarding my students with pajama days.
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 03:02:52 +0000
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