Summer Reflections
Summer is the time when most home schooling families look back over the past year and reflect on what has been accomplished. If it was your first year, you may be relieved that you made the right choice. Or, you may be wondering if your children learned enough (kept up). How will you know? For some, the answer is easy, but for most, there are always some doubts. Nearly everyone has doubts: “Am I doing the right thing?”, “Are my children learning enough?, “Did we keep up with the children in school?” With all the space in the newspapers about testing many are feeling insecure without an SAT9 score.
We'd like to offer some suggestions to help you with your qualms (if you have any):
There was a speaker at the recent LINK Conference name Dr. Oliver DeMille. His talk was called, “The Education of Thomas Jefferson”. If you can get it (From OT Studio’s tape #ST402), you will find it most enlightening. Dr. DeMille outlines the method used to educate Thomas Jefferson and his peers, a method totally opposite from that used by the educational establishment today. To learn how such a brilliant generation was educated is utterly delightful, especially when you consider how relatively easy it was.
Actually there are many tapes tapes from the LINK Conference that are excellent. OT Studios can provide you with a list. WE highly recommend the ones by John Taylor Gatto (F202 The Government Seduction of You and ST301 The Empty Child). Mr Gatto has done extensive research - not to mention 30 years of hands on experience in the classroom - into the nature of public schools. If you worry about your ability to give your child a quality education, you need to hear what Mr. Gatto has to say. As a sidebar, John Gatto was “Teacher of the Year” three years in a row in the City of New York and 1991 New York State Teacher of the Year.
If you are feeling a bit frazzled and wondering how to make the next year easier, we’d like to recommend a new book and tape set called “The Simplicity of Homeschooling.” This is one of a few books on homeschooling that we can HIGHLY RECOMMEND. The set is $20.00 and can be found at the EIE Bookstore.
Above all, don’t be intimidated by all the talk of Standardized tests. We don’t have room for the “test lecture” here, but you should know that no child can be adequately or accurately evaluated by a standardized test. They were not developed for that purpose and the test makers are the first to tell you so. If you have doubts, please read the L.A. Times or other major newspapers and read what the experts are saying about the SAT9. Standardized tests were developed to compare one large population of students with another large population of students. They have no usefulness to homeschool families except to give a child practice taking a standardized test or to help him into a highly selective high school. For most high schools and Jr. Colleges, no test scores are necessary. If your child is aiming at a big name university or at an academic scholarship, you can start taking standardized tests in the 7th or 8th grades to practice the format. It doesn’t matter which test he takes, because it’s the process that must be mastered. This is why there are so many test preparation books, programs and schools out there.
We as adults worry about what we are doing because we love our children so much. and also because we are departing so radically from what we grew up with. Therefore, even though we know it is right, it may often feel strange. The pull of the familiar is often very strong. However, if you weigh your choice to homeschool against the alternatives, we think you will never regret your decision to spend time with your children. The rewards are incalculable.
God bless you all and have a wonderful summer.
