Tricia S. Vaughan: Your Child Needs To Be In School
I like news that comes to me. I don't get a lot of time to surf the internet and when I try, unless I am in search of specific information, I get overwhelmed. So I take advantage of new standards that allow me to have news I am interested in come to me. Things like RSS feeds and News alerts.
I have a Google alert set up for Homeschooling Virginia. A lot of the stories I get have to do with activities in Northern Virginia, but today, I got an awesome article written by Tricia S. Vaughan. This is an opinion piece written for The American Daily.
I don't know Tricia, nor have I ever visited The American Daily before, but the article is awesome. A great response to those who believe children need to be heavily schooled in order to learn.
posted by Anonymous @ 9:09 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Hi Melissa, that was a very interesting article. I personally believe in the value of home schooling.
But I do think there is one caveat. It takes parents who will take the responsibility, and have the intelligence to do a good job. Looking back on my personal life, I do not think my mother would have taken the responsibility of teaching. Although, I am sure I would have made sure that I did learn myself.
Hi Melissa, I found your comments on memory interesting. There is a way to teach the skill of having a great memory. And the best and easiest teacher to understand is the writer of this book.
I was always amazed when I saw Harry Loraine on the Ed Sullivan show. One thing he did was to be introduced by name to all the members of the audience by name. At the end of the show he would have them all stand up and they would sit as he told each and every member of the audience to sit down. He has written about the system he uses countless times, it’s called the peg system that comes to us from the ancient Greeks.
Learning this system was fun and great to learn and your children might enjoy it.
I guess I am one of the "unwashed masses" here. I firmly believe in the school system, for more reasons than just grades, and I must take exception to something the author said about school personnel who only take a brief time compared to parents teaching at home. I had some abolutely wonderful teachers, from whom I learned a great deal. It was not just learning by rote....it was the interesting spin applied by these teachers. They took time to educate. My sister in law was of the type of the teachers... She would be up nights till 1-1:30 in the morning grading papers, planning fun educational activities....spending lots of her own money for the students. Problem is though that she was not helped by the parents. She still talks of a parent that came to her eight days (yes that is 8) before the end of school and said "Johnny is failing your class, what are you going to do about it" Thing is, sis-n-law would never fail a student as long as they tried and came to her for help. She would help them as much and as long as needed. She also expected the parents to be involved.
I think that we should not speak in generalities when we are dealing with a subject like Home vs School schooling. The individual school systems..or maybe even the individual school themselves need to be considered in the decision process.
Plus there is the issue of extracurriclar activites, such as sports, and something near and dear to my heart, marching band. Now i am aware that in some areas, homeschool networks provide for this to some degree by getting togther, but you can not substitute putting on the uniform of a recognized team, or band, and competing against others. As long as I have been involved in band, I have never seen a homeschool group at a competition. Why? The kids are missing out on a great experience that goes beyond mere book learning.
For me..I will stick to the public school system. My older three children go to the Brookville schools in Campbell County and I am glad. They will get the comaraderie and feeling of belonging that I can not, in my admitted ignorance, see how homeschooled kids can get.
They will also get the benefit of teachers such as Kelly Shoemaker, quite probably one of my favorite human beings, and still a wonderful teacher even though he is "officially" retired. They will learn from people like Don Reid, who still puts in too many hours but probably still has the coolest classroom atmosphere ever. Or Ann Gorman, or Ashby Milstead, or David Gorsline (who also allegedly has retired). And those other dedicated folks that I have encountered in my educational trek.
Committed "educators" People for whom the word teacher is not so much a title, as a way of life.
So say we al..well, so say I anyway. :)
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