Home Schooling and Raising Chickens

[MyPerfectChicken]

It rocks being homeschooled!!!!!

 

[RyanAndMeri]

I thought I'd add my 2 cents here.

I absolutely regret the so-called education I received in the public school system. With the exception of a few dedicated teachers, I felt that most were just putting in time and the curriculum was so dull and slanted that I felt like I was in a brain-numbing prison for 12 years.

Most of my education came from my parents and books I found interesting. I learned a lot from their hobby farm and really grew to appreciate gardening, milking goats, raising pigs, ducks, geese, chickens, and horses. I think the 4 years on that small 1 acre farm were the best years of my childhood. (Although at the time I might have complained about my chores!)

I had a friend in college that was home schooled and although she was a little awkward socially, she was so much better educated, mature, and better prepared than any of my other friends. I think the argument that home schooling makes a kid socially awkward is a feeble one at best. Look how most of the kids coming out of high school act, and then ask yourself if you want your kid to "fit in" with other degenerate, illiterate misfits.

It's REALLY bad lately. I feel sick to my stomach when I see these kids coming to college who have had the worst education I could imagine. They're predominately lazy, rude, unable to reason, and have poor (if any) morals. There's a book out there called "The deliberate dumbing down of America" that helped me to understand just what was going on. I'd recommend anyone who is interested in their child's education to read that book. It's free on the internet if you do a google search for it.

Peace,
Ryan

 

[BlueDevilGirl67]

My DD is in private school but my niece is home schooled by her babysitter. My niece is not to happy with the arrangment since she was pulled from her school and her friends. I don't know if her babysitter tries to incorporate any "fun" stuff into learning. She didn't strike me as having the warm and fuzzies but my sister thinks the sun sets and rises in her. I have heard of a day at the YMCA being used as the PE for the day, piano and violin lessons as the music part.

 

[hsm5grls]

I homeschool; my 5 dd. They have never gone to public school. I am really more of an un-schooler although math is a daily must. The two older girls are trying to learn japanese right now. The middle 2 (the youngest is only 9 mths. old) are very excited about the chickens and goats that will be coming and so we have been learning about eggs, Proper names of chicken body parts etc. They jump in when the become interested in something I am studying for my mini farm and ignore the things they are not interested in. I am assuming every one's interest will peek when the goats are finally here. The chicks come on Thursday so we will see who jumps in. I hope they learn to just find joy in them. We did learn a lot when building the coop and run. We all had are hammers and measuring tapes LOL. We had never built anything before. One project on our list is to build a bator like the one prissy built. That should be fun. It's sometimes hard to know what they are learning exactly at any given moment. It is later when they say mom remember when we did this or that and start telling you things you had no clue they had absorbed.

 

[billyroo]

Well I don't HS (I teach science at our high school) but I use our chickens in class. Study of feathers, eggs, development, genetics...I also use fishing, hunting, trapping, logging and mining.

Having a live bird there when you discuss the so called end of the dinosaurs helps the kids realize that not all "dinosaurs" died…. some evolved into birds.

We also cover natural insulation, resource segregation, food selection and nutritional requirements using our birds.

billyroo

 

[Judymae]

I have no gripe against loving parents that want to HS. I have actually HS in the past with my oldest son. When he reentered public schools he was way ahead of the other students. My prob is that not all parents actually HS. I have a neighbor who claims public schools picked on her children. One is a major distraction in class. Ver disruptive. Her oldest struggled and they claimed if the teachers explained right she would catch on. So they took their kids outta school and now HS. The children are left alone all day while she works 6am to 6pm. Her dh isn't home either. The kids are left to fend for themselves and play video games all day. Their 7 yr old can't even write his own name. Reading is outta the question. They aren't allowed to go outside at all. When my kids are out playing their kids just stare out the window at them. Their 13 yr old son weighs 250lbs!! All he does is sit infront of video games and the mother allows him to have a cooler of food in his room so he doesn't have to get up from his game. I feel for those kids. I also feel for me and my kids. We will have to pay for her kids. They will never be able to hold down a job and will live off of welfare their whole lives.

I believe if you take on the responsibility of HS then you should take it seriously. I did. Most do~but I wonder how many people are out there in the world that are like my neighbors?

 

[nightshade]

HI
I know no one has posted on this thread for ahile but this subject came up in our house hold again lastnight and well it has got me thinking again. As alittle background quick, I was home schooled for three years in highschool (9th-11th) and went back for my senior year. Simply because I wanted to be the third generation to graduate from that highschool. I found it shocking when I went back how far ahead everyone else I was, and how they had only been taught the basic subjects. Skip ahead to now, my husband's fokes had never approved of me being home schooled back in the day as we call it. Yet tonight his grandfather who is pushing 80 and is rather old fashioned asked if we were homeschooling our little boy instead of sending him to public school next year. I was shocked to say the least. I have never expected any of them to want us to homeschool.
I have little faith in our local school and had wanted to move to another school district before our son started school. But that opptunity never came. So I have been rolling around the idea of sending him to public school for atleast part of him elementry school time to get more socialized. But reinforcing a learning enviroment at home. Then if after a few years I still think the public school is failing him pull him out and complelely home school him.
Does anyone out there think this will work? He really doesn't have any children his age to play with, he is currently an only child. And I worry about him not spending time with children his age. But he has nothing in common with them usually and often would rather play alone then with other little kids.
He is 4 and would rather watch discovery channel then cartoons. For Christmas he asked for Mutual Of Omahas's Wild Kingdom DVDs. He learned basic sign launage in 2 weeks and counts to 100 on his own all the time, like in the car for fun. His Nanna is currently teaching him German off and on, which would be okay if she had ever taught me so I knew what the heck he was saying, lol.

I guess you can say I am comfused. I see the potental this little boy has and I know how much more I learned being home schooled. But I am unsure of if it is better for a young child to be in a traditional school setting? Even if that setting would rather buy new football gear then text books. I can always make up for it at home right? :|

 

[Rosalind]

Just curious...

Those of you who homeschool, what do you do when your kids are 16 or so, ready to start looking to apply for college?

One of my techs is homeschooled. Very bright, knows two languages fluently, excellent writing and communication skills, best math skills I have ever seen in a non-college grad. Knows her science quite well. Her parents pulled her out of school because other kids were picking on her badly.

Two things that bother me deeply about her education:

1. Her parents, who were well-educated in Russia, had no idea how to get into college in America. They knew nothing beyond the basics about the field she wanted to go into (science), or how one goes about getting into a profession in America--of course, in the USSR you only had to belong to the Party and have good family connections. Their idea of college was just not workable in America, and especially not for the field. Now, although she's certainly bright enough and educated enough to attend any school she likes as an undergrad, she's wasted a lot of time and doesn't have the family support she needs to go to the really good schools. Her parents' lack of knowledge about the professions and the culture are basically wasting her career. Even a barely-competent high school guidance counselor would have been able to shepherd her into schools more appropriate for her interests than the local community college.

2. She never did learn how to deal with bullies or how to tailor her behavior to a situation. She showed up for a job interview for a white-collar job in jeans, and when our sexist manager bullies her mercilessly she either practically hides in a corner or has a big emotional crying fit. She doesn't stick up for herself, she has almost no character judgment, and, well, when confronted with a difficult situation, she cries. No one ever made her learn how to cope with just regular life, where most people are not nice and you have to size up situations before jumping in to them.

 

[BirdBrain]

I found it shocking when I went back how far ahead everyone else I was, and how they had only been taught the basic subjects.

It hasn't gotten any better. Only now the schools teach so that the students can pass the mandatory tests.

Yet tonight his grandfather who is pushing 80 and is rather old fashioned asked if we were homeschooling our little boy instead of sending him to public school next year. I was shocked to say the least. I have never expected any of them to want us to homeschool.

The proof is in the pudding, as they say. Obviously they see some benefit. Homeschooling isn't as "weird" as it used to be thought of.

I have little faith in our local school and had wanted to move to another school district before our son started school. But that opportunity never came. So I have been rolling around the idea of sending him to public school for at least part of him elementery school time to get more socialized. But reinforcing a learning enviromment at home. Then if after a few years I still think the public school is failing him pull him out and complelely home school him.

Okay, so I don't want to be a complete cynic here, but if you had little faith in your mechanic's abilities but felt that you should take your car to him anyway because that is what all your neighbors did and figured that you would fix anything he busted when your got home, how well do you think that would work out? You obviously have a VERY gifted child on your hands. When you put a child like this in a situation that does little or nothing to peak his curiosity or drive to learn, you will end up with a sullen little boy who has lost his spark. I have 3 children. Gifted kids develop asynchronously and while you may think that sending him to school would be good to socialize him, what are your goals in that department? Are you wanting him to learn to play nice with others? My oldest who is now 10 is very bright and asks more questions than the "law allows" and enjoys his siblings but he still prefers the company of his parents than other kids his age. As we see it on our family, we are training our kids to be adults (call it an apprenticeship in adulthood that takes 18+ years) so why would we want to have our child spend copious amounts of time with poorly behaved children of his same age? At no other time is his life will he (and his siblings) ever be strictly age segregated (not even in college) and as we do not like what we see in the character and values of his generation--what their parents let them get away with.

Does anyone out there think this will work? He really doesn't have any children his age to play with, he is currently an only child. And I worry about him not spending time with children his age. But he has nothing in common with them usually and often would rather play alone then with other little kids.

Yes and no. Yes, he will get an education. That education will not be all scholastic in nature. Based on how you have described your little guy, he sounds like he doesn't have much in common with most kids his age (my oldest doesn't either) and that is not likely to change much and he may suffer some teasing.

No, I don't think you will get out of it what you are hoping for. If you are looking to appease your inlaws by sending him to school "as expected" then that is very short sighted. You can and WILL do a better job ANY DAY OF THE WEEK at teaching your son from day one tham the school district every hopes to do. The world of homeschooling is a different place than when you were in highschool. I don't know where you are from, but every spring and through the summer there are major homeschool conferences throughout the nation and you can get lots of ideas, inspiration and encouragement for your endeavor. As you know, homeschooling is a tutoring model rather than a "industrial-people management" model. You can get done in under 2 hours with one child what it takes a classroom teacher all day to do, and at the end of that time you will know exactly where your child's strengths and weaknesses are, and you can do something about it faster.

I could tell that my middle child was very bright (but didn't have her IQ tested like the oldest) but she was having trouble spelling and reading. I did some research and took her to a local reading institute that in 9 months has done wonders with her. She is now reading much higher than grade level and fairly consistently spelling words right. I say that to show you that if you find a "missing link" there is help available and you can access it faster if you are there day in, day out.

He is 4 and would rather watch discovery channel then cartoons. For Christmas he asked for Mutual Of Omahas's Wild Kingdom DVDs. He learned basic sign launage in 2 weeks and counts to 100 on his own all the time, like in the car for fun. His Nanna is currently teaching him German off and on, which would be okay if she had ever taught me so I knew what the heck he was saying, lol.

My kids love the science shows on PBS.

I guess you can say I am confused. I see the potential this little boy has and I know how much more I learned being home schooled. But I am unsure of if it is better for a young child to be in a traditional school setting? Even if that setting would rather buy new football gear then text books. I can always make up for it at home right?

I think you just answered your own question. NO. It is ALWAYS easier to do things right the first time rather than fix something that is broken. THere are a LOT of really dedicated, really wonderful teachers out there who are working there hearts out to educate this nation, but their hands are tied by a lot of things. Their kids performance on tests (atleast around here) is tied to whether they have a job next year and all that is tied to this silly "no kid left behind" law. So what ends up happening is we spend (as a nation) orders of magnitude more on special education than we do on gifted programs (which many are being phased out ) and the bright ones like your little boy are left to be bored and find other things to occupy their interests--stimulating things that are exciting (atleast for the moment) and far more interesting than the monotonous repetition they are subjected to.

You can do this!!


Roxalind,

You have brought up some good points, but I think you have answered your own questions in regard to the young Russian gal. This is a young lady who has cross-cultural issues and is not the norm for homeschooled kids in America.

Those of you who homeschool, what do you do when your kids are 16 or so, ready to start looking to apply for college?

If I wait until my child is 16, then I have waited too long. The time to start thinking about college (in my opinion) is when they are finishing up 6th or 7th grade. Here is why. By that time they may know generally what their field of interest is and even if they don't then we can start to look at what to plan for highschool. Homeschooling just doesn't happen. You don't just open the box, add kid and stir. Some programs are set up that way though. It takes me long hours of planning and individualizing what would be best for that child. Last year I was down to 2 weeks away from school and realized that what I had planned for my youngest (rerun from a previous child) wasn't going to work for this one at this point, so I had to revise my plans and it has been so much better than if I had gone with the original ideas. Likewise, when you are planning for highschool, you have to look at how the courses will fall and what extracurriculars you want to add. You may also want to try to have your child test for college credit or takes courses at the local community college for dual credit when they are 16 or so. There is a lot to think about and a lot of helps out there for HS parents who are preparing their kids for college. There are also a lot of colleges that give preference to homeschooled kids.


Oops, I didn't plan to right a book.


Edited to add: Nightshade, your little boy can get lots of "socialization" at church, boy scouts, volunteering, you name it.... You are better able to gauge the type of socializing he is doing and determine if it is what you want for your son.​

 

[hsm5grls]

She never did learn how to deal with bullies or how to tailor her behavior to a situation. She showed up for a job interview for a white-collar job in jeans, and when our sexist manager bullies her mercilessly she either practically hides in a corner or has a big emotional crying fit. She doesn't stick up for herself, she has almost no character judgment, and, well, when confronted with a difficult situation, she cries. No one ever made her learn how to cope with just regular life, where most people are not nice and you have to size up situations before jumping in to them.

This is her personality. I doubt public school would have made her anymore forward or taught her to stand up for herself. Her parents could have helped her to have better self esteem whether she was homeschooled or in public school. I don't think it is related to homeschooling though. I think she is just shy. I am a very shy person and I was in public school my whole life. It took me years to start to come out of my shell. I am not good in face to face situations with people I don't know. I am getting better though. It is just who she is and she will find her voice. I doubt public school would have helped she would have just been a good target for the bullies. IMHO​