A post mainly for shadowshifter

[gemfyre]

Today I saw some of the big advantages of homeschooling.

A kid in our shadehouse/camp kitchen doing his maths and spelling and occaisionally being distracted by things like wallabies and goshawks at the bird bath. That is brilliant, being able to take your kids around the world at any time and still teach them the basics.

You can also alter what you teach. I almost butted in when dad was trying to explain how to spell "month" because it's spelled with an o and not with a u which would make sense. I wanted to explain that the word month is derived from moon because it's a full cycle of the moon, but I decided not to because dad was doing the teaching. But if I have a kid and teach them spelling I'd certainly teach them word roots as well if I knew them - it just makes understanding words and spelling so much easier.

Comments

[sunrise-raver.livejournal.com]

Yep, there's definite advantages to homeschooling :)I was homeschooled for a while and well, it was just so amazing to be able to say stuff without some teacher snorting at my suggestions :)

I love etymology (hope I have the right word else I'm gonna look a prize fool!)... it's just so fascinating :) It's just amazing how so many different languages have crept up in the world, and English is particularly fascinating as it's got influences from pretty much most of the groups.

[nyctanessa.livejournal.com]

"''The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''"

[sunrise-raver.livejournal.com]

*chuckles*

That's got to be one of the best responses I've ever had to a post!

[annyka.livejournal.com]

Being the teacher I am, I can see both sides of the 'home schooling debate'.

Ultimately I don't think it is a good idea, though there are benefits.

[miwasatoshi.livejournal.com]

It really depends on the capabilities of the parents. I've seen it go both ways ... and I've seen too many people held back by substandard public schools as well.

Of course, I live in the United States, where, I'm afraid to say, I was quite literally smarter than the teachers on most occasions. The best teachers were the ones willing to impart life experience on top of the mandatory curricula -- while that wasn't precisely what they were paid for, that was what I learned the most from.

I'm sure that if my parents had possessed the aptitude, I would've been a prime candidate for homeschooling, but neither of my parents really qualified as teachers in the conventional means. Life lessons, sure. Calculus and biology? Not so much.

One of my good friends was "homeschooled" while living on a yacht in the Pacific -- that yacht (still his home) is now anchored in Guam while he attends university in Arizona. (Incidentally, he has the best typhoon survival story *ever*.)

Sadly, I don't think most teachers share the passion about teaching that you probably do. I know for a lot of teachers I went through, it was just a paycheck. *sigh*

In the end, I don't think homeschooling and public schooling are mutually exclusive -- ultimately, it's a matter of parental discretion, and despite what the media would like to tell you, there are still parents out there who are indeed parents and not merely gene donors, just as there are teachers who are indeed teachers and not merely regurgitators of propaganda.

(There's just not enough of them!)

[morningmist83.livejournal.com]

I guess homeschooling is a good choice for some--those with parents who are capable of it first and who travel a lot for their jobs or whatever.

But I feel public schooling is so much better for overall development. Socially, emotionally, mentally. Its kind of a taste of the real world out there, with all its injustices and opportunities.

But yeah I'm just a teacher so whadda I know ;) There just needs to be more and better qualified teachers out there....like me! :)

[dead-corvette.livejournal.com]

totally unrelated: we had a lady from broome in the shop the other day (new job!) apparently she works somewhere that does the bird con's washing! :P

[gemfyre.livejournal.com]

That would be Broome Industrial Linen.

If you see her again ask why they close at such random hours. They seem to close early right when we desperately our linen from them.

[dead-corvette.livejournal.com]

haha shall do!

[shadowshifter.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* neat :)

and yeh, this is one of the many reasons why we're homeschooling :)

i dont know what those people are like obviously but i wouldnt mind other people that actually knew shit correcting me on things when im teaching (unless they're wrong but we could always debate that ;), it might have been a welcome bit of trivia :)