Educational Reflections

[Cuckoomamma]

Because we homeschool, right around now, we try to reflect back on the year to see if we're happy with how things went, and then plan for next year. Of course, as an over-thinker, it leads me into all these philosphical debates with myself. So-o-o, I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

In terms of subject matter, what did you feel was very worthwhile to cover/emphasize? By that, I mean, what really made a difference in your life either personally or professionally?

We have this incredible opportunity to craft the girls' education however we want, and while that's so wonderful, the decision-making can stress me out!

And, just to be clear, I'm not talking about choosing between different curriculum, just subject matter.

We've had to decide just how much emphasis we want to place on grammer, handwriting, spelling, foreign languages, art history, music, etc. Some of those decisions have been made, and we're secure in those decisions, some I still debate. How much detail do we think it's important for them to know?

So, what really paid off for you? I'm really looking for the success stories of your education. What made you a happier person or more professionally competent than you would otherwise have been. I hope I'm making sense!

Ultimately, we know that they will need to follow their hearts in what subjects they pursue more deeply. I guess I just want to see what you view as the passion or pay off of your education. This includes both traditional school and outside experiences.

Thanks!

[egoldber]

Well, I think this is an excellent question. :)

Personally, I think the aspect of my education that has been the most useful to me long term is (hands down no contest) writing competency. I think mechanics like spelling and grammar are important, but more important is the ability to plan out what you want to say and write it out in a logical manner.

I think I had two really excellent teachers, a middle school teacher who taught me solid grammar, and an English teacher my junior year who taught me how to write an essay. I actually hated that grammar teacher :p but he absolutely drilled in the fundamentals.

I see so many people in my professional life who cannot write. Papers/letters/documents/e-mails riddled with grammar and spelling errors and completely incoherent. I know many incredibly smart people who are just not able to convey in writing their ideas to others.

The other important skill is critical thinking. That is huge. Being able to read something, pick out the main arguments/themes and deconstruct them is also not a widely learned or appreciated skill IMO. But again, incredibly useful and absolutely essential to my daily life and work.

But I think most skills can be learned over time and I don't see a need for a particular order. With traditional schooling, I think that things have to be done in a certain order to qualify for taking particular classes. But otherwise I think there is very little reason to do many skills in a partiuclar order if you're not trying to fit in with someone else's agenda. :)

It kind of bothers me when I see my older DD being taught skills in 4th grade that I didn't learn until 8th grade. I guess it's good that they are emphasizing writing, but at the same time developmentally a lot of kids are just not there yet and I worry that emphasizing writing too early will just make some kids hate it. I would prefer if they did a lot more reading and had exposure to a lot of different types of book and literature than they do.

The only thing that I have ever really felt the lack of and that I do think limits me occasionally (personally and mildly professionally) is I have no other real language than English.

[kijip]

The parts of my education that I am most grateful for:

-learning to write well before college made college so much easier. So much. I agree with Beth- professionally the poor writers get noticed and it is hard, hard, hard to overcome. I know I can write a letter, a case statement, a long report, a mass email to thousands etc and it will be readable, clear and well written. I owe this to my high school history and politics teacher more than anyone else.

-learning to type.

-art history and poetry-/lit means I never sound like a dummy talking about art and literature which is helpful socially and was just a lot of fun (I took enough that I could have taken a minor in art history, and I had years of poetry and literature classes before college)

-strong mental math skills and no fear of math.

-ability to find and evaluate information. Critical thinking and reasoning.

My biggest shortfall is that I did not learn languages when I was young enough to make the biggest difference. I wish I was fluent in 1-2 other languages besides English.

[sste]

How old are your kids?

I very much agree with the lists above but I also agree very much with holding off on "writing an essay" type coaching - - perhaps introducing it late elementary and getting into it in depth during the middle school years. The most beneficial thing you can do is build alot of enthusiasm for reading and writing. When you look at the nation's top lab schools that is the model - - build tons of enthusiasm and buy-in for school and learning for most of elementary and then accelerate subject matter dramatically subsequently.

I would do fun and silly grammar games though - - occasionally and incrementally I think makes it more palatable.

I don't home school and my child is preschool age but the most helpful things I feel like I do with him are to ask him lots of questions to develop logic, critical thinking, and creativity. I am always guiding him to tell me what is wrong, which one is different, what could be done better, what is a new way of doing this other than the way we are doing it right now, etc. I am starting to introduce how would we find X out, could we make an experiment (he doesn't really get that yet but I think your kids are older) and what would that experiment be. And we make up tons of stories and do tons and tons of playing and acting out stories. I think the stories and acting out are often lost too early in schooling.

[bubbaray]

Learning to type was perhaps the most useful skill I learned in school.

[bisous]

I agree with everyone else that writing is such a critical skill! I'm grateful for the ability to write for sure! I do MAKE DS do a little writing every day. He's always been bad at fine motor so the writing part itself is challenging. I've seen strides this year as I've given him the phonics skills so that writing isn't so overwhelming and he's started adding humor to his stories which helped me realize that he's getting it and he's starting to enjoy it even.

I also homeschooled for the past two years (and loved it I might say!!) and love the aspect of being able to craft an education!

I personally spent over an hour every day reading out loud to my kids. I read poetry, literature, ancient history, mythology, in depth books about the search for the Coelacanth, etc. I followed their interests but introduced classics and really sought out great stories. That love of learning and knowledge helped me tremendously in school!

Just for reference, we read poetry 3 times a week. This last year we studied different biomes in science and for history we studied the ancient world.

[pb&j]

Another one chiming in for writing. I had amazing English teachers who really taught how to structure papers, how to make an argument, how to do research. I think good writing and critical thinking go hand in hand. I do think that spelling and grammar are very important; handwriting less so.

Another one for typing - I had to take "keyboarding" (on an electric typewriter!) in 7th grade and it is hands down the single most useful class I have ever taken at any level. I touch type 80 wpm. It pains me to see people typing at 20 wpm, hunting and pecking. Think about how much time you spend typing on computers these days - knowing correct touch typing technique is not just a huge time saver, but can also help move your thoughts from your brain to paper more quickly.

Math. I'm naturally good at math, but I also hit the math teacher jackpot from 7th through 12th grade. The best math teacher I ever had was the one who actually forced me to be careful and diligent - he knew I knew the concepts, but that I would get lazy in my work and make small errors. He started deducting big points for small errors and I got the message. It was a big message to learn about precise, careful, accurate work. I also learned how to use a slide rule, and did very little work with computers and calculators. It's a lot easier to pick up technology later than it is to learn to do without when you've always had it. I am not a fan of allowing calculators in math class except in higher grades. It allows students to get lazy about doing things in their heads, estimation, and planning. These are all hugely important skills in math and life. I know I will have succeeded as a parent when my kids have internalized the concept of compound interest and don't need a calculator to figure out tax + tip on a meal.

I wish that I had been pushed out of my comfort zone a little bit more. I excelled in the traditional academic disciplines in school, but was no good at sports, art, music. Since you don't get tested on those, nobody bothered to push me toward them. As an adult I have gained a much better appreciation for them, and depend on my creative and athletic outlets for my sanity much more than the advanced calculus I was so good at and no longer use.

[jenmcadams]

It kind of bothers me when I see my older DD being taught skills in 4th grade that I didn't learn until 8th grade. I guess it's good that they are emphasizing writing, but at the same time developmentally a lot of kids are just not there yet and I worry that emphasizing writing too early will just make some kids hate it. I would prefer if they did a lot more reading and had exposure to a lot of different types of book and literature than they do.

I agree with Beth's post completely...writing competently and critical thinking skills were by far the most important skills for me in my career (and in my college education). However, I'm also bothered by the current approach to teaching writing. My DD had to write 5 paragraph essays in 3rd grade. By the end of the year, she could follow the format (using transition words, good intro/conclusions, etc.), but I really felt like the content in her essays was lacking. I loved to write as a kid and when I was growing up, the focus was more on content and creative writing. I feel like now they've sucked the joy out of writing and focused so much on structure that it turns kids off. I don't think I wrote a true 5 paragraph essay (in the standard format) until middle school, but I loved to write and wrote stories/books with chapters, etc. in elementary. It doesn't help that my DD is just a physically slow writer anyways, but writing is my biggest concern for her.

[hillview]

Love for learning, love of reading and knowing -- really understanding vs memorizing. Exploring things I was interested in. How to construct an argument written and orally. Presenting orally. Teamwork. Tying history to now. Service (I went to a Catholic school and the one thing I really appreciate is the fact that every week we did a social service event). Time management and organization.

ETA: Check your work and make sure you read the WHOLE test before you start (one teacher drilled that into us, the last questions was "if you read this before you picked up your pen, you don't have to answer any questions and may leave the room now).

/hillary

[TxCat]

A love of reading - definitely not something I picked up in school, but something my family was wonderful about - our house was always filled with books, my parents and older sister all read to me a ton when I was really young, and when I started reading on my own, I was encouraged to read anything I was interested in. I probably attempted books that were "too advanced" for me many times, but my family just encouraged me. IMO, this establishes a great foundation for critical thinking skills, vocabulary, grammar, spelling and writing all through life. Most of the people that I know who are really excellent writers tend to be voracious readers as well.

The one thing I really regret about my education (which is not really pertinent to your question since it would apply to an older age group) is that I never took the opportunity to study abroad. Easily the biggest regret of my high school and college years.

[mommylamb]

I totally agree with everyone else about writing skills. I see so many smart people who have problems communicating in writing. It's really unfortunate. I've also always loved books and read constantly.

I'll put a plug in for history. To me, history is really critical to understanding the political and social construct of so many things that impact our lives. My honors modern world history class in high school was really pivotal for me. I've also always enjoyed reading biographies and non-fiction histories (as well as fiction). And, in teaching history, I love that you can actually do field trips to places where things happened. It makes it so real. When I lived in London, I went to a lot of museums there, and my favorite by far was the Cabinet War Rooms, which is the bunker where Churchill and the critical players in the British government had their command center during WWII. Seeing the phone that was the direct line to FDR gave me chills (is giving me chills just thinking of it now).

Anyway, I know STEM is really critical, as is writing skills, but don't forget history!

[Cuckoomamma]

Thank you all for your replies.

I agree with what many of you posted about not pushing things to early. The girls are 10 and 6. I'm okay with the "how" of teaching them just keep evaluating the "why".

We've been studying the Rennaissance which I love, and so have spent lots of time on art history. I started to question why I was spending so much time on it. How does one go on to use art history in their life? I don't have a concrete example for my own life, just that it's given me such personal joy. It's opened my desire to learn about different cultures and history. But that being said, I started to question myself as to how useful this information would be for them. We do believe that personal growth and satisfaction is equally important to academic success in a larger arena. Just trying to clarify where the value is for everything.

I just wonder where everyone has found value for themselves.

And, I would also place typing as one of the most useful aspects of my education, lol!

Beth, you put your finger right on it, since I don't have to meet up with someone else's timeline or agenda, because I can introduce things in any order or as frequently or less frequently as I want, I want to be sure to emphasize what is truly valuable, not just valuable because it meets someone's idea of a standard.

For example, handwriting is a non-issue for me. Our older never spent any dedicated time on handwriting and has beautiful handwriting at 10. Our 6 yo has better handwriting than her sister did at her age, but she definitely doesn't use lowercase and uppercase letters appropriately. That's just fine with us because we have the luxury of her learning that all on her own in her own time. If she doesn't know when to use lowercase and uppercase consistently by the time she's 8, we'll spend a little time on it. It's just not something that we need to spend time on right now. I know that if she were in school, she'd need to meet the standards of each grade level. Some which I agree with and some which I don't. But, since we're not doing a subject like handwriting or spelling, it opens up time to place the emphasis where we believe that time would be better spent. What's truly valuable?

I remember things like my grandmother helping me untangle string rather than cut it as a life lesson in patience. Not saying that I always untangle it rather than cut it, but it did make a real impression on me as a young child. That particular example was really helpful to me as a new mother when I couldn't get anything done with a small baby.

Where have you all found your inspiration and passion? What was it grounded in?

[Meatball Mommie]

Another vote for writing skills here - the nice thing about homeschooling is that you can incorporate writing, even creative writing, with everything you do. Even writing a small biography of some famous mathematicians to incorporate writing into math!

As a child, I HATED creative writing - probably with as much passion as some pp's loved it, lol! That's just not my thing. Strangely, I am a good technical writer. I love grammar and spelling and did well in those areas (just don't ask me for a poem!) I do love to read and have always been an avid reader. So I'd play the writing thing by ear a bit - if your children love creative writing, great, but if they'd rather write biographies or the results of a science experiment, go with that instead. Does that make sense? I think being able to formulate an idea and be able to communicate that idea by writing clearly should be your goal. It was totally amazing to DH and me that in grad school, SO MANY grad students couldn't write well (not counting those whose first language is not English). DH was a TA and the lab reports seniors at Georgia Tech submitted were horrid - DH, who is spelling and sometimes grammar challenged, was correcting their grammar. He was really appalled!

Along the same lines, I'd say that being able to communicate an idea orally is a skill that loads of people lack. Not sure if you have a group in which you could do this with, but even a presentation to family is good preparation.

I'd also put a vote in for practical and hands-on experience wherever possible. Life experiences go far in terms of education - it's not all about academics and books. So many adults can't grow plants or cook or do some other "life skill" - learning about where your food comes from or how a radio works is important too. Spending time with a grandparent (or really any other adult) who has a hobby to share is very rewarding. Some of my best memories are of working with my grandfather in his garden, canning tomatoes with my grandmother, learning how to care for bees and make a grape vine wreath with a friend of my parents, pruning trees with my father.... I still know those skills and the time spent with someone willing to show me them was priceless.