Homeschooling - Thoughts as a parent or child with experience?

iamtheoneneo said:
Your example is flawed:

To become a doctor you need a masters, to get onto a medicine course at University you need grades, lots of them - there is no getting around this issue.
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Erm yeah there is. York University offer you the ability to start a degree without mainstream education.

Lets start living in the real world shall we......
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I do, my son will grow up with the tools he needs to do what ever he wants to do.
 
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dowie said:
Its a bit more than that... the whole dubious philosophy/'religion' behind it and the various problems parents have faced as a result.

I'm sure its great for naive parents who like to see themselves as being 'alternative' etc...
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Now your just being a troll. :)
 
LateX'Dog said:
Well the Stiener School in York don't teach this and i speak to daily 3 of their teachers. So there is some evidence for you.

You assume all of them teach this, yet provide no proof.



I don't have time to point you to studies, as my son is due to wake up in less then 15mins, but you can do your own research.

A good start would be here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Studies_of_Waldorf_education
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FWIW, I also know Steiner schools, along with Montessori schools, mainstream schools, special schools, pupil referral units, free schools, academies, social enterprise charities that provide education, schools that focus on applied behaviour analysis, conductive education...should I continue? You assume you are talking with somebody who doesn't know what they're talking about.

I am calling you out on your so called 'knowledge' and 'evidence' (Wikipedia, really?!) - in fact, even on your own research page it says this: the Dutch Inspectorate of Education reported that a significantly higher percentage of Waldorf elementary schools than state elementary schools visited were judged weak or very weak in the following areas: providing differentiated instruction and lesson plans, the curriculum meeting primary goals in mathematics and language arts, and pupil assessment.

Not exactly an overwhelming endorsement is it?

As I said before - I FULLY respect anyone's right to educate their child however they see fit - but to draw false dichotomies to promote your own choice is ridiculous.

Re: the ethnic evolution point - are you happy that Steiner education is underpinned by this philosophy even though they don't teach it directly? If so, more power to you. I'm not cool with it though!
 
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LateX'Dog said:
Erm yeah there is. York University offer you the ability to start a degree without mainstream education. I would know, my wife teaches their ;)
.
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Every University does that........Its called being a mature student.

Mature = over 21 years of age, so I would love to know what you expect this person to be doing for 5 years and then hopefully getting on one of the most competitive courses in the county, given that you would not allow them conventional education access.
 
Skeptic said:
Re: the ethnic evolution point - are you happy that Steiner education is underpinned by this philosophy even though they don't teach it directly? If so, more power to you. I'm not cool with it though!
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I have to say I know people who attended stiener schools and they seemed fine and the facilities looked good.
Never heard about the philosophys, but can't say I looked into their curriculum particularly.
But not believing in the philosophy doesn't mean there's anything wrong with how they teach. what of faith based schools?
 
iamtheoneneo said:
Every University does that........Its called being a mature student.

Mature = over 21 years of age, so I would love to know what you expect this person to be doing for 5 years and then hopefully getting on one of the most competitive courses in the county, given that you would not allow them conventional education access.
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I believed that students who were home schooled still needed to sit their exams?

Would this not mean that any university would judge them on their grades like anyone else?
 
GiraffePencils said:
I have to say I know people who attended stiener schools and they seemed fine and the facilities looked good.
Never heard about the philosophys, but can't say I looked into their curriculum particularly.
But not believing in the philosophy doesn't mean there's anything wrong with how they teach. what of faith based schools?
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What of them?

I'm not (not here, anyway) questioning their teaching methods; I'm questioning the underlying philosophy which permeates throughout their educative processes. If my school was founded on apartheid-principles - but I didn't teach it directly - would that make it OK?

I appreciate that this is also a straw man. :p
 
Skeptic said:
FWIW, I also know Steiner schools, along with Montessori schools, mainstream schools, special schools, pupil referral units, free schools, academies, social enterprise charities that provide education, schools that focus on applied behaviour analysis, conductive education...should I continue? You assume you are talking with somebody who doesn't know what they're talking about.
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I can't treat you differently if you don't tell me you are different?

I am calling you out on your so called 'knowledge' and 'evidence' (Wikipedia, really?!) - in fact, even on your own research page it says this: the Dutch Inspectorate of Education reported that a significantly higher percentage of Waldorf elementary schools than state elementary schools visited were judged weak or very weak in the following areas: providing differentiated instruction and lesson plans, the curriculum meeting primary goals in mathematics and language arts, and pupil assessment.

Not exactly an overwhelming endorsement is it?
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I said I don't have time to point to studies and started you off with something.

From the same page:

A 2012 study of Waldorf pupils in Germany concluded that, in comparison to state school pupils, Waldorf students are significantly more enthusiastic about learning, report having more fun and being less bored in school, more often feel individually met, and learn more from school about their personal academic strengths. 85% of the Waldorf students reported that their school environment was pleasant and supportive, compared to 60% of the state school students. More than twice as many Waldorf students report having good relationships with teachers. Waldorf pupils also have significantly less physical ailments such as headaches, stomach aches, or disrupted sleep.
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Re: the ethnic evolution point - are you happy that Steiner education is underpinned by this philosophy even though they don't teach it directly? If so, more power to you. I'm not cool with it though!
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Christianity outlawed Science for hundreds of years, should I hold that against Church of England schools now?
 
Skeptic said:
What of them?

I'm not (not here, anyway) questioning their teaching methods; I'm questioning the underlying philosophy which permeates throughout their educative processes. If my school was founded on apartheid-principles - but I didn't teach it directly - would that make it OK?

I appreciate that this is also a straw man. :p
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Well I'm just meaning, take catholic schools.
Catholics have had some bad principles in the past, but don't uphold them now.

So whatever founded it doesn't have to effect it now.

I don't know why I'm arguing this point, they might still teach it for all I know :p
 
LateX and gregorius, you two are exceptions.

The vast majority of parents are different, although they care deeply for their kids and want them to succeed. Furthermore, to make homeschooling work, there needs to be 100% dedication from both parents and at least one of them staying home. This means that, overall, truly successful homeschooling will be achieved by a very small minority of parents.

Unfortunately, many of the parents who choose homeschooling do it due to various systems of belief, often religious or conspirationist (such as the OP's belief that a public school is a political box ticking institution.. ). Instead of adopting a rational, rigurous approch to teaching their children, they try to indoctrinate them with their own beliefs. This, in my opinion, is a breach of basic human rights and it's the reason why I'm generally against homeschooling.

I just can't trust the average parent to do it so I would regulate it and allow it only if the parents prove beyond doubt that they have the means, the knowledge and the financial power to sustain homeschooling.
 
iamtheoneneo said:
Every University does that........Its called being a mature student.

Mature = over 21 years of age, so I would love to know what you expect this person to be doing for 5 years and then hopefully getting on one of the most competitive courses in the county, given that you would not allow them conventional education access.
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Again not true, the alternative entry isn't just restricted to mature students. Clue is in the name.
 
LateX'Dog said:
Again not true, the alternative entry isn't just restricted to mature students. Clue is in the name.
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well good luck, if your wife actually works at York under admissions she should be able to tell you that its near impossible especially for medicine because they still need to see evidence of academic ability somewhere
 
LateX'Dog said:
When you lower yourself to spelling and grammar mistakes, you have nothing left to contribute to the discussion.
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When you replied to a reasonable post with 'Now your just being a troll. you ended any meaningful discussion anyway.

Basic spelling and grammar do at least have some relevance to the thread, especially if you're advocating home schooling and are getting the basics wrong yourself.
 
dowie said:
When you replied to a reasonable post with 'Now your just being a troll. you ended any meaningful discussion anyway.

Basic spelling and grammar do at least have some relevance to the thread, especially if you're advocating home schooling and are getting the basics wrong yourself.
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You where being a troll, you where trying to spark an emotional response by labeling me as naive.
 
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