As a parent I just want to know one thing, I pray about it
every day. How do I raise strong,
confident spiritual champions in today’s society? Legacy Dad aside, I found an answer from a
lifelong teacher and mother herself named Mary Menacho
“These inspirational
(parents) are parents who manage the influences, the exposures, and the content
that infiltrate their children’s worlds. These parents understand the value of
unstructured time by limiting activities, outside lessons, and electronic
media. These parents understand the role of simple toys and good books in
opening a child’s imagination. They understand the power of the Internet and
media as an empowering, educating tool. These parents understand that they are
called to be parents – to set and enforce limits, to foster resilience and
independence and responsibility in children. These parents understand that the
children are not given to us to right the wrongs of one’s own childhood. Rather
children are given to us so that we will nurture them into healthy adulthood.”
I believe I have found a hybrid option to the home
school/private school dilemma. K¹²
K¹² is a hybrid online/offline
homeschooling platform that
- Reduces the need for a parent to be a full time
teacher. (4-5 hours per day)
-
Tailors the curriculum to the student’s
strengths and weaknesses.
- Provides
all textbooks, materials and resources. (Science, Labs, Minerals)
- Produces Standardized Test Scores that are
20-30% higher than traditional schools.
- Did I mention it is free? Well it’s paid by our tax dollars.
K¹² has become the largest provider of online learning for grades K-12, they
have created a top notch engaging curriculum
that blends online and offline learning experiences. They also enable differentiated instruction down to the individual level —
rooted in decades of educational research. They
wrap this curriculum with services that include teacher
support, daily lesson plans, and a vibrant, global online community.
Also, I have discovered that K¹² has really taken off and won the approval of traditional homeschoolers
around the country. They also have local
groups that get together to socialize, attend field trips, and meet on an
almost weekly basis. Plus, the teacher
is a phone call/email away and also meets with you in person if needed.
It seems like a happy medium win/win situation all around.
However, as my wife and I discuss this , the cons of homeschooling always
come up.
1. Will my wife go crazy spending all her time with the kids and as a
result, our marriage will suffer?
2. 2. Will this require radical lifestyle changes?
3. 3. Will our children suffer socially?
Number one will only be answered if we decide to give this idea some room
to grow and actually start the program.
We have also talked about splitting the teaching between ourselves. Her in the morning and myself when I get home
in the evening.
According to K¹², number two seems minimal as children
will spend 20-30% of their time online; the rest is spent reading assignments
or doing homework. If you have a
computer, printer and scanner; the software and curriculum guides the children.
And finally the one I
hear so often, Will our children suffer socially?
First, this will be
different for each family and for that matter, each child. My children have lived in a foreign country,
moved numerous times and are generally social champions adept at meeting new
friends and socializing easily. However,
for a shy child or child with a learning disability, the outcome may be
different.
A quick Google search
pulled up the Ph.D. thesis by Karl M. Bundy entitled Socialization: A Great Reason Not to Go to
School. In this thesis, Mr. Bundy
exams research about the topic and makes some compelling arguments.
The
first argument from educators and school boards is that homeschooled children
lack social skills and therefore suffer from self esteem problems later in
life. Mr. Bundy found that self-esteem is a concept that was born in
the school system, and it is best for parents not to overemphasize the
self-esteem of their children. Professor Martin E.P. Seligman, in his helpful
book The Optimistic Child discusses how self-esteem has been more and more
emphasized in schools during precisely the same years that the youth suicide
rate has increased in the United States. Seligman suggests
"optimism," a concept he defines in The
Optimistic Child, is a
better thing for parents to develop than self-esteem. I have read, and
am still trying to confirm in other sources, that Seligman is himself a
homeschooling parent. Whether or not he is a homeschooler, I know that he is a
highly respected psychologist, as I have read many books and articles that cite
his research, and have confirmed that Professor Seligman was recently the
president of the American Psychological Association.
Also
examined were the findings of Larry Edward Shyers in
that he found no significant difference
between his two groups in scores on the Children's Assertive Behavior Scale.
But direct observation by trained observers, using a "blind"
procedure, found that home-schooled children had significantly fewer problem
behaviors, as measured by the Child Observation Checklist's Direct Observation
Form, than traditionally schooled children when playing in mixed groups of
children from both kinds of schooling backgrounds.
While
my wife and I are still not convinced that this is the best route to go, we are
certainly open to the concept and are planning on researching this more in
depth. At any rate, if it all checks
out, we may try it next school year as we also start our “Legacy Dad
Confirmation Program.” Which I would call a Christian Worldview Primer as well as the core beliefs of Christianity.
If
anyone has any insights, comments or suggestions please post them or email me
at lance@legacydad.com
