Being Honest: Home School Supplementation pt 1
Nothing is more emotional to parents than the subject of their children. It’s hard to be moderate in discussions when it comes to children and what’s the right decision. Obviously, most decisions are extremely personal. Major decisions and issues are filled with complexity and it’s difficult, if not impossible, to speak from a calm center. This said, we can agree there are very good schools available to most all US citizens, places wherein children can get a quality education. And it goes without saying there is the opposite and this may be why so many parents have chosen to home school.
This message is straight forward. Readers used to passive aggressive authors will find this style different. This paper is written without mincing words. There is NO intent to label or blame. This is written out of respect for the great endeavor the home school parent has taken on. This honesty and style is out of respect for your strength and temerity. Home school parents have already made the toughest choice, to educate their children personally. This 2 part series is intended to help the home school parent, to share some observations and to offer some ideas, tips and resources.
Since no one can be all things necessary to a child, employment of resources available is necessary in home schooling. Even the most versatile and dynamic person can learn from and provide excellent opportunities for a home school child if they’re willing to acknowledge there can be better teachers for some applications.
Being in our world, working through daily life provides each of us hands on learning. We learn by experience: experiential education. Our world is filled with rules, structure, it’s how we are able to function without stepping on one another, both figuratively and literally. In our experience, this global-socialization is the most common lacking element in home school children.
There are rules of the road, unspoken rules of behavior in a grocery store, rules at the theater, at the movie complex, etc. So, being out and about, in the world is a good thing for kids as they’re developing. As a home school parent/educator, one must be hyper-cognizant of getting the home school child into the world, out of the house. Americans have extremely busy lives, this busyness is amplified when the task of educator is added to ones role. School then, is a place kids go and learn life is a series of rules, especially so at school. Home school children can get this experience, school’s don’t hold exclusivity rights but parent/educators must make concerted efforts make it so.
In addition to this “worldly” type of socialization is the more specific peer-socialization. More and more home school families are getting together with other home-schoolers and allowing the kids to mix. This is better than no peer-socialization; however, it’s tough to compete with a school in this regard, simply because school is generally 6 to 7 hours of non-stop peer-socialization. Of course there are drawbacks and “drama” with school relationships that adults can find tiring but it’s exactly these interactions that help shape the child’s ability to cope with real life situations when they’re grown. Above all, this element, socialization, should remain in the forefront of the parent/educator mind. Of the home schooled children we have contact, this is the single weakest element in their development.
Conversely, it appears whatever may lack in the time spent socializing is more than made up for in the core subjects. Spend a few minutes with a home schooled child and one will be surprised with the depth of understanding in core subjects. Spend time with a few different home schooled children and the surprise quickly fades, it becomes expected. This result is why so many parents turn to home schooling.
Walking away from the first of this two part series a parent/educator can take a few ideas. One, they should be proud of the courage it takes to decide to home school. If they haven’t already they should recognize the advantages they have over institutional schooling: schedule flexibility, location flexibility, subject matter flexibility,etc. Then, they should take to heart the socialization issue and get their child/children out into the world. Have the students experience a variety of situations at a variety of locales. Let them experience the world and learn lessons from these places. Take field trips either as a family or in home school groups. Some places that could be visited: grocery store, library, bakery, construction zone, gym.
In conclusion of part one, there is a place for home school kids to go, wherein they get global-socialization, peer-socialization and new subject matter to learn from. This is at the doorsteps of outdoor education and or adventure camps. These programs focus on all the areas mentioned above as well as a whole host of others. There are two major benefits to residential style camps of this nature: one, the kids are receiving concentrated levels of socialization, community development and two, they’re away from home, learning from and hearing the teaching from a different voice. Camps are wonderful for the development of children.
Specifically we recommend a camp that mentions experiential education or speaks of adventure excursions. These camps engage the child in a mind/body manner. The child must engage their bodies in the adventures and their minds in the social settings. You should email or call the camp you’re interested in, or the couple you’re interested in, and interview them, deciding which you’re most comfortable. We strongly encourage a residential camp. These camps address all aspects we’ve mentioned here as well as the others we’ll address in part 2.
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