RSS FeedsWeigh in
Should people who home-school be credentialed instructors only?
1.
I think this is great! I am a teacher in a private 6-12 school and we have received a number of home schooled kids. In my classes, I can afford to reward independence and thinking for oneself. Sometimes the student proposes an alternative to my assignments, which is great.
I've noticed a slight drawback with one of my students. She is the top student in my 8th grade science class. But I've had trouble getting her to work with other students. She seems to have a blind spot understanding why I'd even ask her to help the other kid. But she's an excellent young woman and I believe she'll do as I ask.
2. Absolutely not! We have 8 children, all have been homeschooled at times, they have also attended public and private schools. Our first 5 are enrolled in the university system with 2 working on their PhD's. It is about doing what is right for the individual child at crucial times in their development.
3. how are home schooled children evaluated? are the parents raising self sufficent adults? who monitors the "teachers"? i dont want to hear any whining when/if there are issues with the kids later in life. as long as parents continue to pay taxes, (no vouchers) i have no opinion
4. I live in Texas, which treats home schools the same as private schools. Private schools here are not required to hire certified teachers, and their students do not have to take state mandated tests. I believe Texas has the most liberal home schooling statute of any state. You simply keep a prescribed curriculum on file that you can show any authority who inquires of you in writing. Since most people cannot afford private school – home schooling is the only other option for those who are not enamored with the realities and problems inherent in our public school system.
5. So let me get this straight. Secular public school are held to Bush's "No Child Left Behind" that all schools must have credentialed teachers (which at this point means they all have Master's unit wise), while home schooling parents, at what is obviously a Christian at-home madrasa, don't even need college degrees? When did evangelicals get special treatment under the law to do this?
6. There is such disparity among home schoolers. I think many who home school, regardless of if they are motivated by religion or not, take it seriously, follow a rigorous curriculum, and develop students that are more academically successful than their peers attending public school. Unfortunately, there ARE those who home school to keep their children away from any scrutiny they might bear regarding the caring and raising of their children. These are the people who scare me because they are driven by what best protects them from being prosecuted for abuse/neglect rather than the best interests of their children.
7. Why shouldn't parents who home school their kids not be held to the same state and national standards as teachers? This is a double standard. There should be some professional licensing of home school teachers to ensure that they know what they are doing. I'm not suggesting that they have to follow the public school curriculm, but the state superintendant should be able to say that the parent is qualified to teach their kid(s).
8. I don't see a reason for credentialing. Most parents do not need to know or learn how to manage a classroom. Should teachers have to be re-credentialed if they produce a class of kids who are faiing or not up to par?
9. I think the notion that you have to be a credentialed instructor in order to teach your children an elementary school curriculum is ludicrous. Lord knows there are plenty of credentialed instructors in the public schools who cannot teach worth a darn - which is why so many children in public school cannot read, write, or do grade level math.
10. No. Home educators don't need the "crowd control" skills required to keep 25 or so agemates of different levels of development and various temperaments all engaged in the same task.
Submitted by: Mark Bell
2. Absolutely not! We have 8 children, all have been homeschooled at times, they have also attended public and private schools. Our first 5 are enrolled in the university system with 2 working on their PhD's. It is about doing what is right for the individual child at crucial times in their development.
Submitted by: Tom LeClair
3. how are home schooled children evaluated? are the parents raising self sufficent adults? who monitors the "teachers"? i dont want to hear any whining when/if there are issues with the kids later in life. as long as parents continue to pay taxes, (no vouchers) i have no opinion
Submitted by: dick bohanon
4. I live in Texas, which treats home schools the same as private schools. Private schools here are not required to hire certified teachers, and their students do not have to take state mandated tests. I believe Texas has the most liberal home schooling statute of any state. You simply keep a prescribed curriculum on file that you can show any authority who inquires of you in writing. Since most people cannot afford private school – home schooling is the only other option for those who are not enamored with the realities and problems inherent in our public school system.
Submitted by: Antoinette Boulet
5. So let me get this straight. Secular public school are held to Bush's "No Child Left Behind" that all schools must have credentialed teachers (which at this point means they all have Master's unit wise), while home schooling parents, at what is obviously a Christian at-home madrasa, don't even need college degrees? When did evangelicals get special treatment under the law to do this?
Submitted by: Frank Talk
6. There is such disparity among home schoolers. I think many who home school, regardless of if they are motivated by religion or not, take it seriously, follow a rigorous curriculum, and develop students that are more academically successful than their peers attending public school. Unfortunately, there ARE those who home school to keep their children away from any scrutiny they might bear regarding the caring and raising of their children. These are the people who scare me because they are driven by what best protects them from being prosecuted for abuse/neglect rather than the best interests of their children.
Submitted by: Antoinette Boulet
7. Why shouldn't parents who home school their kids not be held to the same state and national standards as teachers? This is a double standard. There should be some professional licensing of home school teachers to ensure that they know what they are doing. I'm not suggesting that they have to follow the public school curriculm, but the state superintendant should be able to say that the parent is qualified to teach their kid(s).
Submitted by: Franz
8. I don't see a reason for credentialing. Most parents do not need to know or learn how to manage a classroom. Should teachers have to be re-credentialed if they produce a class of kids who are faiing or not up to par?
Submitted by: http://musicisourhigh.blogspot.com
9. I think the notion that you have to be a credentialed instructor in order to teach your children an elementary school curriculum is ludicrous. Lord knows there are plenty of credentialed instructors in the public schools who cannot teach worth a darn - which is why so many children in public school cannot read, write, or do grade level math.
Submitted by: Antoinette Boulet
10. No. Home educators don't need the "crowd control" skills required to keep 25 or so agemates of different levels of development and various temperaments all engaged in the same task.
Submitted by: Deborah