Things that make you go.......WTF?

[Mugwump]

[stui magpie]

[think positive]

[K]

Just a note: home schooling seems to be much more common (among regular folk) in N. America than in Oz. Not sure about e.g. UK...

[Mugwump]

[Pies4shaw]

[Wokko]

Home schooled kids do better on pretty much every metric and test available. You'd think there'd be at least some accountability or testing though that would pick up when "home schooling" means abuse or neglect; like having to report test results or something.

[Mugwump]

[Pies4shaw]

Better than what, at what and controlling for what variables?

[Wokko]

A couple of articles:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/homeschooled-kids-perform-better-in-naplan-report-20160204-gmlgu9.html

https://www.businessinsider.com.au/why-kids-should-get-homeschooled-2016-8?r=US&IR=T

Statistics

https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/

[Pies4shaw]

This, from Ray's blurb, is fascinating:

"The most common reasons given for homeschooling are the following:
•customize or individualize the curriculum and learning environment for each child,
•accomplish more academically than in schools,
•use pedagogical approaches other than those typical in institutional schools,
•enhance family relationships between children and parents and among siblings,
•provide guided and reasoned social interactions with youthful peers and adults,
•provide a safer environment for children and youth, because of physical violence, drugs and alcohol, psychological abuse, racism, and improper and unhealthy sexuality associated with institutional schools, and
•teach and impart a particular set of values, beliefs, and worldview to children and youth."

Some of those motives are inherently likely to lead to home-teaching strategies that will result in better outcomes than a school-based education might for the same kids. The first three, for example, reflect reasonably closely the reasons we my daughter was taught though Distance Ed. 5 has obvious merit - mother cats don't teach their kittens to be cats by surrounding them with kittens. Putting a whole lot of dysfunctional kids in the one room so they learn fro each other is hardly likely to teach them to function effectively as adults. People who give 4 and 7 as reasons are likely the ones who need careful vetting and routine checking by the child protection folk. 6 I have no view about, because it is actually a bundle of very disparate concepts.

[stui magpie]

Is there any assessment of the capability of the "teachers" at home schools?

Just because you've been capable of reproduction doesn't mean you have the smallest fkn clue on how to raise or teach children.

[David]

This is a subject I have some amount of firsthand experience in.

I well believe the statistics about homeschoolers doing well academically. This occurs for a number of reasons: 1) one-on-one focus, which of course no school could ever provide; 2) efficient time management, so that a school day can easily be squeezed into three or four hours with the same (or better) results; 3) the dedication of parents who choose to go down this path (if you’re lazy or disengaged, you’re unlikely to want to devote your entire waking life to your children’s education). There are also some peripheral benefits such as an absence of bullying, negative distracting influences and, of course, bureaucracy. And there are plenty of resources, textbooks, curricula and so on for parents wishing to go down this path; a teaching degree is far from an essential requirement.

That’s not to say that homeschooling works for everyone or always results in academic achievement. Some kids simply need the structure of a classroom, just as some parents, no matter their intention, really aren’t cut out for it. Even looking at my own siblings (all of whom, like me, have been homeschooled), there’s been a sharp decline in academic performance after the eldest four – only one of the next three have completed year 12, and the other chose not to sit the AST (the ACT version of VCE exams). I’m not sure that they would have done better at school, but it seems clear that homeschooling didn’t do all that much good for them. But on average, the statistics don’t lie, and Wokko’s claim is spot on.

But even for those like me who had very positive educational outcomes, there are still serious drawbacks to homeschooling. Nothing can replace the real-world education of interacting with peers five days a week throughout the school year, and I’ve long since concluded that that’s an essential part of growing up. In contrast, with homeschooling, there’s little social contact, which invariably turns homeschooled children into weird loners. That’s a heavy price to pay for getting good marks in year 11 or 12 or at university, which itself is no guarantee of success in later life.

I do also concur with P4S that the motivations of homeschooling parents can often be questionable; my parents’ goal, after all, was pretty explicitly religious indoctrination. I don’t know if the fact that it didn’t work particularly well is some kind of unintended vindication of their methods; in any case, there are plenty of homeschooled kids out there who really do drink the Kool-Aid. But then, I sometimes wonder if there’s not something a little cultish about schools in general...

I think, ultimately, that no society has ever been worse off for permitting a bit of pluralism. So long as homeschooling families are registered and willing to undergo some basic annual standardised testing, one can at least be reasonably certain that serious neglect isn’t occurring. But I think I would resist attempts of governments to go too far in trying to micromanage such arrangements; beyond issues like discrimination and prejudice, that’s a good way to undermine regulation and send people underground.

[Mugwump]

^ it occurred to me several times that David is probably the best person to comment, and it was an interesting post.

My only query with Wokko’s “every metric and test available” was whether that was purple y academic tests and metrics, or whether social functioning was tested as well. After many years working with humans in the achievement of tasks in organisations , it’s clear to me that three fairly independent underlying domains make the most successful people at work - 1. intellect (and its attendant, knowledge) ; 2. interpersonal awareness /sensitivity ; and 3. drive. I wonder how home schoolers go on 2 and 3.

Really interesting the tail off in your siblings academic achievements, ?David. To what do you ascribe that ? Did the teaching methods change, was there more distraction in th household, did your parents lose interest ? Seems strange.

[Bruce Gonsalves]

We home schooled our youngest child during primary school after total disillusionment from Catholic and government school education. Our system wasn't structured but our child learnt a helluva lot of stuff that is not taught in mainstream.

She completed secondary school at a state secondary college, attained a Diploma and today she was handed the keys to her first property at the age of 22. Quite proud of her in fact.