Homeschooling Is Big!
In my last post, I talked about how I view homeschooling vs. how educators in general view it. Here’s a great blog carnival on the subject of homeschooling. There, you’ll find a wealth of opinions, ideas, and how-to’s on the subject.
Homeschooling is big and getting bigger as educated Americans wake up to the inherent problems with public, mass schooling. If you have kids or are thinking of having children, this should be an alternative worth considering.
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April 18th, 2007 at 6:24 am
We do a bit of quasi-homeschooling here with my son. He learns at home, with the support of the Ministry of Education through the Distance Education program. We have access to adapted learning materials, a computer, and home visits from a Special Education teacher.
Since my son has complex special needs, we find he learns better at home where we can control the learning environment. Before we started the Distance Ed setup he was struggling & not reading. His reading skills are taking off now and he actually enjoys learning.
There has been a strong push to mainstream kids with special needs up here, but I’m of the opinion that it doesn’t work for everyone. Homeschooling definitely is the answer for some.
April 18th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Sav, What’s interesting is that in my state there’s a bill before the legislature to allow parents with special needs children to use voucher money to take them out of public schools and send them to private schools. Of course, the education establishment is going nuts over this. Their point of view is that there’s no way a parent could know more about what’s good for their child than the state. Great comment. Good luck with your son!
April 18th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Lee, It sounds like a step in the right direction. The more options available the better, to my mind. I’m not a fan of cookie cutter solutions that are supposed to work for everyone. My son couldn’t function in a private school setting either. Not even in an adapted room with a teacher’s aid and his support worker. Too much noise and activity for someone with sensory issues. I know my son isn’t the only one with these types of challenges. Mainstreaming might work for some, private schools for others, and there will be those who function better in a home learning environment. It’s all about options and being able to make the choice that fits the child.
I’m pretty passionate about this as it’s a path we’ve walked for the past 8 years and we’ve met our share of opinionated professionals. It’s a dangerous thing when the State, in our case it would be the Ministry, can decide what’s best without input from parents. I learned to advocate and educate early on in our struggles.
I hope the bill gets passed and the children with special needs in your State are given more options.