I realize this is a very emotional issue to some people, but I had a very interesting discussion with a professor who headed up a group learning experience for high school homeschoolers in Pennsylvania for a number of years. He was hired to expose homeschoolers to advanced readings in history, philosophy, literature, etc. He worked with both students and parents. He has homeschooled one of his children and I think he has a good sense of strengths and weaknesses based on his experiences and the group he was working with.
Among his comments:
1. He experienced several "functionally illiterate" 11th and 12 th graders who had been homeschooled their entire lives.
2. He had mothers calling complaining about the unfair "A-'s" and "B's" he was giving their "bright" sons and daugthers.
3. Most homeschoolers were "overcommitted" in a variety of social activities.
4. The responsibility for homeschooling fell almost entirely on the mothers who were wearing themselves out.
5. Most mothers keep repeating over and over that they were "submissive" wives, but they appeared to have aggressive and domineering personalites.
My impression is that he is no longer an avid supporter of homeschooling.
5 comments:
As someone who was homeschooled my entire life, I can say a few things myself.
1) I think that homeschooling worked quite well for me as a pretty head-strong individual who was motivated to teach myself a variety of things.
2) Homeschooling as a whole is a system that has turned out many dysfunctional individuals, as well as many who were thoroughly prepared for life after high school.
3) Parental involvement and responsibility is absolutely essential to any kind of educational system. In homeschooling, it approaches 100%. If parents cannot take on this burden, other alternatives should be considered.
4) I think that the decision to homeschool a child must be made on an individual basis. It is a method that may work brilliantly for one person and utterly handicap another.
It's definitely not a perfect system, but it can work. I wouldn't call myself a strong advocate, but I do think it's something worthy of being considered alongside the federal and private systems.
As an un-submissive homeschooling mother of 10, who has seen the oldest graduate, and hopes to have the youngest in kindergarten in '07, please indulge a comment or two...
And, as I do not wish to turn out any non-functionals, I would beg clarification on one or more points...
1. "Functionally illiterate." Does this mean they couldn't read, couldn't comprehend what they read, or weren't "well read?" Or something else?
2. I don't give grades, which makes it especially tricky when high school transcript time rolls around.
3. I think many homeschoolers feel obligated to be involved in social activities because: a) Statistics make it hard for nay-sayers to fault us so much on academics, but they still harp on lack of socialization, b) Peer pressure from other homeschooling families :-)
Our family doesn't do much of anything away from home, because we are too cheap, and just too tired.
4. Yep, that's pretty much true. Though, we try to have most kids working independently by 4th grade. The older ones help the younger ones with math issues. My husband does all the computer technology instruction, on an informal basis. He's also the main source of career and higher academic counseling. If I get stressed out, I just go mow the lawn. (in the winter, I eat a lot of chocolate)
5. A sure sign that a mother is domineering, is when she professes to be submissive. I can't remember ever claiming to be "submissive." Possibly, because no one ever asked. I try to only be aggressive and domineering 49.9 % of the time.
I am still searching for the right mix of academics and home life, still picking out new curriculem materials, and still fiddling with approaches for different children's needs.
BUT, homeschooling shouldn't be held to higher standards, output-wise, than the local school.
It is scary, in the sense, that if we fail to produce a "functional adult," it will be considered totally our fault. If we send a child to school, and they are less than productive as a citizen, at least we can partially blame the education system.
And, Becky, I would like your definition of "dysfunctional individual." (I think we met you when we brought Ardith down for Freshman Orientation :-) I need the definition, because, I want to make SURE we don't pro-duce any.
Thank you for the post. I got this link from Wilson's blog. (please don't hold it against him)
It's somewhat difficult to produce a concise, dictional definition of "dysfunctional individual." But here's a try. When a person cannot handle themselves in a way that makes it possible to interact with and/or relate to other individuals in society, that is dysfunctionality on a social level. I mentioned that I've seen quite a few of these types come from homeschooling backgrounds (my brother has observed a similar phenomenon at his university as well). To be fair, this dysfunctionality is not exclusive to homeschoolers, though it seems to be more common. Practically, this kind of person finds it difficult to look someone in the eye while speaking to them, is not able to lead a conversation unless it pertains to a task list, and in general, lacks basic social graces. Now, before it sounds like I'm being tremendously condescending, I want to make it clear that it saddens me to see this happen, and I don't intend or want to get into the blame game. I just think that it's essential for parents (especially homeschooling ones) to equip their children to interact with the world as it is and be a light accordingly. This position is not easily filled by a loner with poor social skills.
Other forms of "dysfunctionality" seem to be shared rather evenly across the different educational systems, such as the inability to balance time allocation between work and extra-curricular activities (I struggled a lot with this one-- in favor of the work part at first, then the extra-curricular later).
I'm not trying to be overly negative or cynical. But if you watch carefully on a university campus, I promise that you will be able to pick out certain people who were "obviously" homeschooled. Then there are plenty of homeschooled students that don't stick out. I haven't done any kind of statistical analysis on my observations or anything, but I do think that such analysis could be quite interesting.
Just a few more cents for the wishing well.
Very good points, Becky. :)
(following Dr. K's numbering scheme)
1. Very true.
2. I think homeschool teachers, usually moms, have a hard time adjusting to someone else taking over their teaching position sometimes. This wasn't true in my case, but I have seen it happen.
3. Being "overcommitted", at least in my book, is more a fault of planning than it is an actual social failure. I think the tendency there is that some parents feel these social activities are a vital part of "making up" for the social aspects of schooling which they cannot provide.
4. Point well put. Even home school teaching is a full-time job and can certainly wear someone out.
5. I think the "submissive" thing is probably somewhat dead by now, at least in my experience. That excuse refers to a stereotype of homeschool moms that doesn't generally exist anymore. There was a time when "homeschooler" had a definite connotation, but looking at different schools, I haven't gotten that impression in a while.
This decision, like so many family decisions, needs to be made with careful analysis and prayer. One should not be pushed into home schooling because of guilt or any other such reason; neither should someone just resort to public or private schooling because of laziness, etc.
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