Possible Sneak Preview
I have been asked to write a guest post for next month. I am not sure how or if it will come together, but I am honored!! In doing research for that post, I am sort of interviewing each of my adult children on their perspective on homeschooling. This lead me to an interesting conversation with my second daughter, Jessica (homeschool graduate, class of 2001).
Jessica graduated from college with her degree in Structural Engineering. That means if you have a building design, she is the one that tells you how to build it to withstand earthquakes and such. She did two summer internships and worked at an engineering firm after graduating. When children entered the picture, she quickly switched to tutoring a subject near and dear to her heart- mathematics. So, her perspective on homeschooling may be unique in the fact that she is a homeschool graduate who tutors current homeschool high school children and traditional high school students.
As she explained, her homeschooling students often experience her math tutoring in a different way than their traditional school counterparts. She pointed out that many times her traditional school students meet with her merely to survive. Often they are in over their heads. They must pass a class and move on or risk staying "behind". There is a huge push to get through the right classes and be able to go on the right college. She fears that many of these students are not truly prepared for the college mathematics they will face. This is not true for all of her traditional school students, of course.
On the other side, homeschoolers generally meet with her to learn, not just to survive. Parents are not usually interested in pushing their child through a subject that the student does not understand. The goal is to complete the subject with mastery- even if it takes longer than the traditional school year.
Jessica went on to say that it makes more sense for a child who is not ready for advanced material to master basic mathematics, and then to start at a junior college at beginning level classes. She compared it to being able to read well. They are more likely to succeed on their own in college if they are strong readers. Likewise, most students will be successful in their math requirements if they have a strong foundation in basic mathematics.
Of course, many homeschoolers excel at mathematics. Jessica was comparing the struggling students in both categories.
I was so brave as to ask what cautions she might have for homeschool parents. Her carefully worded evaluation pointed out that homeschool parents are, of course, very dedicated- a good thing she thought! Whew. But... (you knew it was coming- right?) she did observe that sometimes over-involvement can take away from a child's success in learning as much as under-involvement. By letting a child problem solve for himself, and maybe get some problems wrong, it allows her, as the tutor/teacher, to help the student figure out where the difficulties are. She also observed that learning to problem solve is a necessary skill for success, so leaving child to his own devices and not allowing him to call his tutor 24/7 gives him that chance. My loose translation- it is okay to allow your child to flounder a bit.
Just to give a disclaimer. I understand that Jessica is in no way an expert. She is a homeschool graduate with three years of tutoring/teaching experience under belt. These are her personal observations given to me in the course of our conversation.
Jessica graduated from college with her degree in Structural Engineering. That means if you have a building design, she is the one that tells you how to build it to withstand earthquakes and such. She did two summer internships and worked at an engineering firm after graduating. When children entered the picture, she quickly switched to tutoring a subject near and dear to her heart- mathematics. So, her perspective on homeschooling may be unique in the fact that she is a homeschool graduate who tutors current homeschool high school children and traditional high school students.
As she explained, her homeschooling students often experience her math tutoring in a different way than their traditional school counterparts. She pointed out that many times her traditional school students meet with her merely to survive. Often they are in over their heads. They must pass a class and move on or risk staying "behind". There is a huge push to get through the right classes and be able to go on the right college. She fears that many of these students are not truly prepared for the college mathematics they will face. This is not true for all of her traditional school students, of course.
On the other side, homeschoolers generally meet with her to learn, not just to survive. Parents are not usually interested in pushing their child through a subject that the student does not understand. The goal is to complete the subject with mastery- even if it takes longer than the traditional school year.
Jessica went on to say that it makes more sense for a child who is not ready for advanced material to master basic mathematics, and then to start at a junior college at beginning level classes. She compared it to being able to read well. They are more likely to succeed on their own in college if they are strong readers. Likewise, most students will be successful in their math requirements if they have a strong foundation in basic mathematics.
Of course, many homeschoolers excel at mathematics. Jessica was comparing the struggling students in both categories.
I was so brave as to ask what cautions she might have for homeschool parents. Her carefully worded evaluation pointed out that homeschool parents are, of course, very dedicated- a good thing she thought! Whew. But... (you knew it was coming- right?) she did observe that sometimes over-involvement can take away from a child's success in learning as much as under-involvement. By letting a child problem solve for himself, and maybe get some problems wrong, it allows her, as the tutor/teacher, to help the student figure out where the difficulties are. She also observed that learning to problem solve is a necessary skill for success, so leaving child to his own devices and not allowing him to call his tutor 24/7 gives him that chance. My loose translation- it is okay to allow your child to flounder a bit.
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| Jess with her daughter on Easter |
Well, I certainly think she has enough feathers in her cap to give advice and/or suggestions as mentioned above. Great post! I found it very enlightening to hear her professional view from her experiences.
ReplyDeleteBTW, beautiful daughter and grandchild!!!
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