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How it is: Honest Talk About Home School Weaknesses pt 1
Nothing is more emotional to parents than the subject of their children. It's hard to be moderate in discussions when it comes to children and what's the right decision. Obviously, most decisions are extremely personal. Major decisions and issues are filled with complexity and it's difficult, if not impossible, to speak from a calm center. This said, we can agree there are very good schools available to most all US citizens, places wherein children can get a quality education. And it goes without saying there is the opposite and this may be why so many parents have chosen to home school.
Home school parents have already made the toughest choice, to educate their children personally. This 2 part series is intended to help the home school parent, to share some observations and to offer some ideas, tips and resources. Unlike so many passively written articles or spoken thoughts, this is a straight forward, no holds barred, matter of fact approach. This is not intended to be negative or an indictment of home schooling. It's the author's belief home school parents are bright, articulate people who already know the hill ahead is steep and will appreciate someone's voice that respects such: matter of fact, simple, non-labeling or blaming, a voice of aid.
One cannot be all things to a child. Even if the parent/educator is incredibly well adapted and versatile, socialization with others is a positive in personal development. The discussion needs to recognize the incredible strength needed to make such a decision and if the most is to be made of the decision, needs to recognize each parent's weakness in teaching.
Being in our world, working through daily life provides each of us hands on learning. We learn by experience: experiential education. Our world is filled with rules, structure, it's how we are able to function without stepping on one another, both figuratively and literally. In our experience, this global-socialization is the most common lacking element in home school children.
There are rules of the road, unspoken rules of behavior in a grocery store, rules at the theater, at the movie complex, etc. So, being out and about, in the world is a good thing for kids as they're developing. As a home school parent/educator, one must be hyper-cognizant of getting the home school child into the world, out of the house. Americans have extremely busy lives, this busyness is amplified when the task of educator is added to ones role. School then, is a place kids go and learn life is a series of rules, especially so at school. Home school children can get this experience, school's don't hold exclusivity rights but parent/educators must make concerted efforts make it so.
If learning to be in groups and work in and around people out in the world is global-socialization, then the more specific and much needed socialization is peer-socialization. There are many benefits to home schooling, especially when comparing the ability to drill down and really focus on core subjects; however, the biggest gap in home school child development is peer-to-peer socialization. Parent/educators are recognizing this more and more and groups of home school children go on field trips together etc. In a school setting though, kids are receiving hours of peer socialization day in and day out, 9 months of the year. Therefore, this is an area the parent/educator must be especially sensitive and aware.
Conversely, it appears whatever may lack in the time spent socializing is more than made up for in the core subjects. Spend a few minutes with a home schooled child and one will be surprised with the depth of understanding in core subjects. Spend time with a few different home schooled children and the surprise quickly fades, it becomes expected. This result is why so many parents turn to home schooling.
So, what can parent/educators do to improve the schooling provided their kids? Take time to augment the learning with subjects and experiences outside of the core education courses. In many ways the advantage to provide incredible learning experiences is in the home school parent/educator's favor. School can take place on the parent's terms, in a place of the parent's choosing. This allows for tremendous diversity: zoos, live theater, construction sites, bakeries, galleries, news papers, local businesses etc., all offer incredible learning experiences. Being the home school parent, party of very few, one can impose on these areas, ask questions and use the place to teach about life and how school ties into life after school. Create opportunities to get the child exposed to the world. take advantage of the incredibly brave decision made to home school.
As we conclude the first part of this mini-series on how to get most from the home school decision, one tip to achieving all three points above. Parents can look to getting a group of home schoolers together and enroll the lot of them into an experiential education based program. Outdoor education centers will provide this. It's good to get the kids into these types of programs once or twice a year for concentrated periods of time. Camps are excellent for this.
Of course, do your due diligence and pick a camp you feel comfortable. Email or call the camp, gauge their response and decide if this appears to be a place you'd like your child to be. Outdoor education / adventure camps are excellent choices as you know they're going to challenge your student/child in a holistic manner, engaging all types of learning in a supportive, success oriented environment.
About the Author For twenty years, Action Whitewater has provided professional whitewater rafting trips: always a leader in youth trips. Teen Adventure Camps formed organically from of this focus as they strive to provide the most comprehensive youth programs on the river. For information, video and photos of what you can expect at an adventure camp, visit our website.
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