Comments on: BJ asked

By: kristen

kristen — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:08:24 +0000

What happened? Our k-12 bubble has burst! It seemed like such a good idea! The busy work sunk that ship. Along with the fact that even K-12 doesn’t care what you do. Just log the hours and do well on those OAT in the spring so we keep our funding. They come right out and strongly imply how to “get through it.” What is that teaching our kids? School and learing aren’t really important. Logging hours and clicking through tests and lessons just to get it done–for The Man. BS Unschooling is the way to go!! I hope.

By: Ln

Ln — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:57:12 +0000

I’m always interested to hear about people’s experiences with virtual charters. I know several people who LOVE LOVE LOVE k12, but they want a very structured approach. We’re basically unschooling at this point– I tihnk making a switch to a virtual charter would be an awfully drastic lifestyle change.

I was surprised to read that the kids are assessed virtually in front of other students. Do the students know each other in real life at all? It makes me uncomfortable to think of a kid being criticized in front of strangers.

I’m glad it’s working out well for your family!

By: Dawn

Dawn — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:08:56 +0000

Carla, have you read any of Alfie Kohn’s stuff? I think just about anything can come about in homeschooling, especially because people HS for all sorts of reasons driven by all sorts of philosophies. There is definitely a contingent of people who homeschool ‘cuz they’re stage-managing their kids to be academic powerhouses. There’s some of the same push-push-push you’d see in a high-pressure school.

By: Carla Hinkle

Carla Hinkle — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:52:53 +0000

This is only tangentially related but there was a very interesting article in New York Magazine (not the New Yorker, but New York Magazine) about 6 months ago talking about how to help smart kids live up to their potential. Because it is very common for kids who get praised for being smart to become more risk-averse, to avoid the potential for failure, to only do the things they are naturally good at. (Rings tons of bells for me personally.) So the research the article cited (I have no idea if it is any good or not) showed how much better smart kids (and other kids, too) did (at both what they are naturally good at and at other subjects/topics) when praised for making a good effort and persevering even when they failed.

I’m not sure exactly how this relates to your post but I thought you might want to read the article. I thought of the article when reading your discussion of Noah’s schooling this year. I’m sure in regular school there is a lot of praising of kids just for being “smart” which leads to a fear of failure and not trying new things. I wonder if this comes about in homeschooling?

By: Kris Bordessa

Kris Bordessa — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:23:52 +0000

I think NCLB has negatively affected most homeschool umbrella schools and charters. Even before that though, the charter we were with got stricter and more test-driven over the years as the state tried to maintain control over what we taught. Even so, we had a hard time NOT going through the charter. It made us - my husband, especially - feel like if the charter gave us a pass, we were doing okay. Our kids would be okay. There’s definitely an emotional side to home education. Nobody wants to screw up their kids, and common knowledge says we will if we homeschool. Having big brother covering our butts was a tiny bit of comfort - until it got to be too much of a PITA. When we moved we opted out. No tests, no requirements. Let me tell you. It is SUCH a relief! Some days I wonder if my kids are getting everything they need, but mostly I think they are doing just fine and they are happy and want to learn (on their terms, of course).

It sounds as though Noah and Brett are really good at making it work for them. I’ll be curious to hear what you do following this year!