Educating Emma
p2pnet.net OT:- My wife, Liz, and I educate our daughter, Emma, at home. We tend towards unschooling and a lot of her ‘instruction’ comes from questions.
She asks. We answer. In great detail.
But there’s also a certain amount what you might call ‘formal’ instruction, all of which is down to Liz.
When I was at school in England way back, they gave up trying to teach me math. I had an extra English class instead. So Liz is at the moment teaching Emma, now 10-and-a-half, mathematics and they’ve reached stuff that’s way beyond me – algebra, and the like.
Anyway, a friend sent us a collection of pix like the one one below, supposedly from test results.
I’ll post a few more over the next few days ;p
Cheers!
Jon
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February 21st, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Why did this deserve a news post? These pics have been circulating across various forums and imageboards for the past two weeks now…
Majorly NSFW link…
http://www.fohguild.org/forums/screenshots/10545-funny-strange-random-pics-117.html#post668429
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:25 am
That was a funny pic, but I agree with the post above.
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:55 am
I hadn’t seen them. And a) I thought it might amuse others who hadn’t either; and b), it was an excuse to mention home education.
Cheers!
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:59 am
Heh, well for what it’s worth, I hadn’t seen them either, so thanks!
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:22 am
I think it is a good thing to advertise home schooling. Years ago, I was skeptical of homeschooling, but a redneck woman changed my mind.
This redneck woman told me that her 8 years old child was home schooled. I was thinking, “The poor child would not have a chance in adult life.” My mind was changed quickly when I asked the girl some questions. She knew the U.S. constitution, could recite the Bill of Rights, and was already doing decimal math. This girl was sharp as a tack. While the mother might have barely finished her “education,” she was doing a fine job of educating her daughter.
The day I asked the girl questions was the same day that I began to investigate other aspects of homeschooling. Just about every child I met from families that home schools are on average smarter and love learning more than those who sent to public schools. A lady in our congregation also home schools her children, and I find the same thing applies. Her children seem better educated, better behaved, and more
adjusted to their environment.
My girlfriend was home schooled as well. She has a better grasp of science, foreign languages, and other areas of knowledge. She is also a faithful member at the congregation we attend. I would also like to point out that nearly 80% of publicly schooled children leave their congregations when they move out on their own. Most of these kids also do not have the moral values that their parents try to instill. I am willing to bet that if I were to take an average ten years old girl from a public
school and Emma and ask both basic academic questions, Emma would better answer the questions. Emma would also better interact with adults, and will also ask me a few questions that would require much thinking to answer.
Kudos to Jon and his wife for caring enough and taking the time and expense to properly teach their daughter. In saying this, I am not putting down public school teachers. I home schooled myself and also attended public schools. In public schools, I have had many, many highly educated, wonderful teachers who were full of knowledge and wisdom. Most school teachers teach because they love teaching. However, teachers are required to followed canned curriculums which do not fit the needs of all students. In addition, public school teachers must also teach to the lowest common denominator. Kids that are unable or unwilling to learn a specific subject causes the teacher to have to spend more time reteaching certain concept thereby holding back those who are more well-suited or willing to learning the course. The brighter students end of being bored to death with the class. The students who are unable to learn a specific subject become frustrated with their progress and therefore may begin to hate or dread school. Many of the students who have trouble learning a specific subject and hold back the “brighter” student may do very well learning the subject at a later time. They may also benefit from a different method of teaching that is not generally available in the public school.
The main things that kids need to learn are reading, writing, and arithmetic. Once a student learns how to do these well, he or she can learn most everything else on their own. When I was a kid, I had many questions about many things. Instead of my parents telling me to ask the teacher, they bought books that taught what I wanted to learn. I spent much of my time learning these subjects. At 11, I was playing with electronics and building simple circuits. At 12, I was writing programs for the first home computers that came out. From what I see from kids today, schools teach compliance and “social issues” more than they teach science, math, etc. I would rather that Emma (and most other kids) stay home and get a real education than see her sent to public schools where she would have corporate and government policies shoved down her throat.
With that said, homeschooling is a big commitment and should be taken very seriously by parents. Parents who take their kids out of school and neglect to spend the time to do a proper job of educating their kids will end up with young adults who are unable to support themselves or live a happy life. If parents are not serious about making sure that their kids are educated, then their kids would be better off getting the minimal education from their local public school. I have not yet seen any kid that has been home schooled less able to cope with life than their publicly schooled counterparts.