Post by title1parent on Jul 9, 2010 7:14:40 GMT -5
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/opinions/2479374,2_4_AU09_SHERMAN_S1-100709.article
Home-schooled or not, kids look to parents for answers
July 9, 2010 Beacon Editorial
While most kids are sleeping in and avoiding anything that sounds like "school" for nearly 12 weeks, home-school families are still hard at work. I have always been an advocate of a strong public school system, yet I still believe a child's education is ultimately the responsibility of the parents and am frustrated when I see adults utterly abdicate that role.
I am blessed to have friends who practice many religions and span the political spectrum, yet the one place we all seem to agree is the role of parents in educating children. Some of these parents home-school, and I think there is something we can learn from them.
My friends Mark and Florence Funkhouser, of Aurora, who have home-schooled since 1983, told me: "Parents are ultimately responsible for the upbringing and education of their children. A parent might partner with a local school, but the responsibility clearly lies with the parents."
Brandy Carrelli, who home-schools her two young children in Oswego, says, "Whether or not you home-school, you are ultimately responsible for your child's education. You were their teacher before the school took over. It is up to schools to allow parents to be educational partners, and both sides need to empower each other."
The reasons people take their children's education completely out of the hands of public schools are as varied as the people themselves. Work causes people to relocate frequently and home-schooling gives children greater stability; a student may have medical issues that make regular classroom study difficult; bullying can make life miserable; and fear of school shootings, drugs and teen pregnancy rates have startled some parents. Carrelli suggested another potential reason is simply that some kids do not work well with an early morning, five-day-a-week regimen. She believes that "children have an innate love of learning that the public school system may not give them an adequate chance to explore." Especially with budget cuts, there is less opportunity in public schools for teaching styles to be tailored to the many learning styles of children.
Kim d'Escoto, who home-schools in Aurora, agreed. "We feel it is the responsibility of the parents to see that their children are receiving a quality education tailored specifically to their needs, and by home schooling, these needs are addressed in a way that cannot be done in a large classroom environment," she said.
One of the biggest reasons for home schooling, though, is for parents to teach cultural or religious values that are not part of a public school curriculum. They wish all subjects to be understood in light of a particular world view. Mark Funkhouser pointed to Deuteronomy 6 and explained how home schooling gives the opportunity to better fulfill God's command to integrate faith, life, and learning.
"It's a great way to keep the family bonds strong and provide opportunities that children may not have in a traditional school setting," d'Escoto added.
Parents of any faith are concerned with what children may be learning -- not from the teachers but from the other students. "When I say I home-school, people always ask about my children's socialization," Carrelli mused. "But my question to them is, who ever thought that it was a good idea for 2,000 middle schoolers to socialize your child?"
So my challenge is this: Whether you utilize the public education system or not, think of yourself as your children's first and most important teacher. They are learning values and behaviors from you whether or not you are intentionally teaching them, so we all need to think more like home-school parents. Mark Funkhouser explained, "Most home schooling families see educating their children as a continuous activity ... a mom or dad can teach math or basic economics on a trip to the grocery store; engineering or physics in the garage under the hood of the car; astronomy in the back yard at midnight; or character development at the nursing home visiting an elderly relative."
If you are looking for resources, you're in luck. Home schooling has become far more mainstream in recent years. Holly Ramsey moderates a Naperville home-school group of more than 230 members on Yahoo (groups.yahoo.com/group/NapervilleHomeEducators/). Funkhousers recommend www.kcchs.org. Brandy Carrelli suggests http://www.edutopia.org./home-school-team.
I hope you will consider summer a golden opportunity to offer your children new venues for learning. As Carrelli puts it, "Every parent is a home-schooler. Some of us just do it full time."
Deena Bess Sherman can be reached at deenabess@yahoo.com.
Home-schooled or not, kids look to parents for answers
July 9, 2010 Beacon Editorial
While most kids are sleeping in and avoiding anything that sounds like "school" for nearly 12 weeks, home-school families are still hard at work. I have always been an advocate of a strong public school system, yet I still believe a child's education is ultimately the responsibility of the parents and am frustrated when I see adults utterly abdicate that role.
I am blessed to have friends who practice many religions and span the political spectrum, yet the one place we all seem to agree is the role of parents in educating children. Some of these parents home-school, and I think there is something we can learn from them.
My friends Mark and Florence Funkhouser, of Aurora, who have home-schooled since 1983, told me: "Parents are ultimately responsible for the upbringing and education of their children. A parent might partner with a local school, but the responsibility clearly lies with the parents."
Brandy Carrelli, who home-schools her two young children in Oswego, says, "Whether or not you home-school, you are ultimately responsible for your child's education. You were their teacher before the school took over. It is up to schools to allow parents to be educational partners, and both sides need to empower each other."
The reasons people take their children's education completely out of the hands of public schools are as varied as the people themselves. Work causes people to relocate frequently and home-schooling gives children greater stability; a student may have medical issues that make regular classroom study difficult; bullying can make life miserable; and fear of school shootings, drugs and teen pregnancy rates have startled some parents. Carrelli suggested another potential reason is simply that some kids do not work well with an early morning, five-day-a-week regimen. She believes that "children have an innate love of learning that the public school system may not give them an adequate chance to explore." Especially with budget cuts, there is less opportunity in public schools for teaching styles to be tailored to the many learning styles of children.
Kim d'Escoto, who home-schools in Aurora, agreed. "We feel it is the responsibility of the parents to see that their children are receiving a quality education tailored specifically to their needs, and by home schooling, these needs are addressed in a way that cannot be done in a large classroom environment," she said.
One of the biggest reasons for home schooling, though, is for parents to teach cultural or religious values that are not part of a public school curriculum. They wish all subjects to be understood in light of a particular world view. Mark Funkhouser pointed to Deuteronomy 6 and explained how home schooling gives the opportunity to better fulfill God's command to integrate faith, life, and learning.
"It's a great way to keep the family bonds strong and provide opportunities that children may not have in a traditional school setting," d'Escoto added.
Parents of any faith are concerned with what children may be learning -- not from the teachers but from the other students. "When I say I home-school, people always ask about my children's socialization," Carrelli mused. "But my question to them is, who ever thought that it was a good idea for 2,000 middle schoolers to socialize your child?"
So my challenge is this: Whether you utilize the public education system or not, think of yourself as your children's first and most important teacher. They are learning values and behaviors from you whether or not you are intentionally teaching them, so we all need to think more like home-school parents. Mark Funkhouser explained, "Most home schooling families see educating their children as a continuous activity ... a mom or dad can teach math or basic economics on a trip to the grocery store; engineering or physics in the garage under the hood of the car; astronomy in the back yard at midnight; or character development at the nursing home visiting an elderly relative."
If you are looking for resources, you're in luck. Home schooling has become far more mainstream in recent years. Holly Ramsey moderates a Naperville home-school group of more than 230 members on Yahoo (groups.yahoo.com/group/NapervilleHomeEducators/). Funkhousers recommend www.kcchs.org. Brandy Carrelli suggests http://www.edutopia.org./home-school-team.
I hope you will consider summer a golden opportunity to offer your children new venues for learning. As Carrelli puts it, "Every parent is a home-schooler. Some of us just do it full time."
Deena Bess Sherman can be reached at deenabess@yahoo.com.