How Do Homeschool Parents Know Their Children Are Learning?

homeeducator.com ^ | July 2004 | Jan Hunt

[LadyShallott]

Ping!

[kiki04]

Good Article! Can anyone who has older children tell me how they have been treated by the school district? Are Homeschoolers always made to take standardized tests in the district they live in, or does it vary state to state?

[LadyShallott]

BTTT

[mrs tiggywinkle]

Homeschool vet of 9 years...could you please add me to your ping list? Thanks! :o)

[mrs tiggywinkle]

**Can anyone who has older children tell me how they have been treated by the school district? Are Homeschoolers always made to take standardized tests in the district they live in, or does it vary state to state?**

In California the DOE contends that homeschooling is illegal. Of course this is not true but they attempt to further the lie nevertheless. My sister works for the DOE and knows the truth...and tells me of the latest agenda banter against homeschoolers. I should add that my sister is pro homeschool.

I've never experienced difficulty from the school district but know those who have. Thankfully those folks were members of HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) and the matter was taken care of swiftly.

In California public schools there is enforced testing but most parents don't realize you can opt out. Private schools have testing as well.

I am an area administrator for a private school *for* homeschoolers exclusively. There is mandatory testing for 8th and 12th grade graduation...all other testing is voluntary.

Testing requirements vary state to state. An excellent source for gathering current and necessary information on homeschooling based on the state you reside is:

www.hslda.org

btw...your daughter is precious. :o)

[Jeff Chandler]

It's easy to tell if your kid is learning. He just doesn't seem as dumb as before.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I homeschooled but I had my children enrolled in a satilite school. The school always sent a standardize test at the end of every year. The kids took it and I sent it back to be scored. That was one way I charted their progress. But I could tell when they were progressing or if they were stuck on something. If they were stuck we went back and did it till they got it.

Becky

[StrictTime]

I will be home-educating my older two boys (11 & 9) this fall for the first time. Could you please add me to your ping list? Thanks!

[RunningJoke]

All,

I don't know how you-all homeschool. I would not have the time to homeschool my son and be out on internet boards. My 14 year old son has attained the following: math: finished Saxon Calculus, Science: Biology, Chemistry and Physics(Saxon), Logic: Informal and Formal, Computer Programming: VB, MS Access, C++, Java, (He writes his own games), History, Economics, Literature and English. From what I have reviewed of his work, he's smarter than most college graduates. When he was 12 he scored a 1360 on the SATs.

And yes he's homeschooled --not by me-- but his mom. When I send her these posts to her, she does not have time to read them. How do you all do it? I wonder sometimes whether the people who do it well are the ones that have time to talk about it. I know I cannot homeschool.

Faites ce que nous disons, et ne faites pas ce que nous faisons.

[kiki04]

Thanks for the compliment and the info!

I get a *lot* of grief when I tell certain friends I plan on homeschooling. I was a teacher.

[paix]

I home school my three kids. Last year my 13 year-old decided she wanted to attend the public high school. Since our town has a population of 2,000, the high school is very small and safe-- the kids don't even lock their lockers!

When we went to enroll her, we were treated with courtesy and curiosity, as she had never been in the public school system and had been taught at home since pre-K. The counselor asked us to provide them with a portfolio of her work, which I did. The school had experiences with home schooled kids in the past-- some of it good, some bad.

There was some talk of eventually having her tested once school was in session. Well, the first quarter came and went, and the tests were never mentioned again. This may be due to the fact that she excelled in school and made the honor roll her first quarter there. If she is to be tested in the future, it will be for the gifted program!

Oh, we live in Missouri, by the way.

[mrs tiggywinkle]

Your son has succeeded well, RJ. You have reason to be proud. Your wife is obviously leading him in the way he should go and he's 'taking off'. :o)

I don't have oodles of time to spend on the internet so I plan my time wisely...usually. My daughter does very well in school and completes all that is expected and more.

Most of the homeschool moms I know carefully prioritize their time, ensuring all that needs to get done, gets done. In addition, homeschool moms need time away from the school room - to refresh themselves. I'm hoping you encourage your wife in this way. :o)

[mrs tiggywinkle]

**I get a *lot* of grief when I tell certain friends I plan on homeschooling. I was a teacher.**

In our area there are a number of former public school teachers who also homeschool one or more of their children. God bless 'em!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Intresting.

Is she homeschooling the WHOLE day?

I homeschooled was done with schooling by 11:00 everyday, then we went and worked with my husband at our business.

That was one of the advantages of HS. Gave you time to be a family. Kids should be able to learn what they need to learn in a lot less time then they spend in school.

Becky

[RunningJoke]

From what I observed, she enjoys teaching him. I think she has found her life's bliss. I think Joseph Campbell had the best definition for it. "If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are -- if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time."

So, to answer your question, I do not encourage her to take time away from her true enjoyment. I'm just ecstatic that she is happy.

[RunningJoke]

"Kids should be able to learn what they need to learn in a lot less time then they spend in school."

I guess this depends on the limits you place on the curriculum. We also don't treat learning as work.

"The central task of education is to implant a will and facility for learning; it should produce not learned but learning people. The truly human society is a learning society, where grandparents, parents, and children are students together. In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themsleves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists."

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Who said anything about makeing learning work??? But then on the other hand what is wrong with teaching a child to work? What is wrong with a child learning that work is not necessairly fun all the time? IMO, that's is a big part of whats wrong with alot of children now a days. There are to many learning techniques being used to "make learning fun". Well guess what. Life is not always fun and kids need to learn to deal with that.

My husband managed a local resturant here that was part of a chain. He was moved to one particular store because it was having problems. When he got there he figured out the problems were from the crew having a big social event there instead of working. When he put them to work they all quit saying "its not fun anymore".

I think the ones that inherit the future are the ones who have grasped the concept that life's NOT all fun and games, but does involved dealing with work that is enjoyable because of the sense of accomplishment you achieve rather then that it was fun or you made alot of money.

Becky

[RunningJoke]

Becky,

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but some of us enjoy work and actually have fun doing it. Taking a pattern that fits for one particular work environment and applying it to all work environments and in life in general is a Part-to-Whole fallacy (someone tries to say that what is true of part of something must be also true of the whole thing together). I manage programmers where innovation and creativity is needed. Not assembly line make ze hamburger atmosphere.

Now, I'm not in the restaurant business but I have eaten in plenty of restaurants and understand the franchise model. I do know your husband is working with unskilled labor and really what I would categorize as Mc'Jobs. In that case the only will motivator is fear, and it seemed to work in his case. That style really backfires in the world of professionals and will end up destroying motivated, creative workers. But when your only tool is a hammer everything looks like a nail, eh.

Did you teach your children with the same techniques?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Your are so full of yourself your pathetic.

My husband did not manage out of fear. He did not fire anyone they quit. He just explained to them the job they were hired to do and then made them do it. Is that managing with fear??? Is there anything wrong with asking/expecting people to do the job they are hired to do.

I love horses, love riding. People pay me to ride their horses for them, guess what. Even tho I love doing it, it's work and alot of days it's not fun. It's a grind. That's life. That is not to say I don't enjoy it and get extreme satisfaction for doing it even on the days it's a grind. That's the attitude has been lost. Probably because of the likes of you spouting the fallacy that that your job is "fun".

Becky