pagan homeschooling

[treefae]

here's a pagan homeschooling link. http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/religion/pagan.htm does anyone have thoughts on homeschooling?the positives and negatives.

[banondraig]

one of my friends was homeschooled. he thinks it interfered with his social development. i don't know if he would have turned out weird anyway, but he did seem to know more stuff than a lot of other people i know, and was better spoken, too.

[halfwaynowhere]

i was homeschooled when i was younger, i learned a lot more that way than my friends in public school were learning. actually, i was using my older sister's textbooks, so i was practically a year ahead. and then when i went back to school, i had to do the same stuff all over. i was still involved in girl scouts at the elementary school though, so once a week i would head over there with my mom and i could socialize, and my homeschooling group did a lot of activities, so i don't think the homeschooling had anything to do with me being antisocial. i'm just naturally introverted. I think homeschooling is a great alternative to public schools though, as long as you make sure the kids still get interaction with others.

[AmericanMe]

I homeschooled my daughter for a while. I loved having her home, and she loved being home. It was a safe place to learn, she wasn't competing with anyone but herself, and we had the time to cover a ton of subjects. She went into 3rd grade (her choice to go back to school) knowing way more than the 3rd graders around her. She didn't mind doing subjects and topics over, she was really happy to be getting the good grades and not have to try so hard.
I think the anti-social bit was made up by insecure people. If your child is in a neighborhood with other children, she or he gets social interaction. If your child is involved in any activity (girl scouts, boy scouts, karate, dance, soccer, tennis..whatever...) they get socialization. Socialization is a big key word for teachers and school officials to throw around. If you worry about your child's socialization, then you worry enough to send your child to public school. THEN the public school gets your tax dollars. And with the way that the education system is hurting finacially, every dollar counts.
So.. don't sweat the socialization. If homeschool seems right for you. Then it is.

[BlessedByTheGoddess]

I want to homeschool the three neices and nephews since I know that they learn more. As far as homeschooling vs. pagan homeschooling what is the difference?

[fahawk]

I homeschool my 7 and 9 yr. old.. ( homeschooled my two older until 7th grade, when they chose to start at a very small school in our area.)
Socialization is always and forever used as the reason not to homeschool.. I have never found that to be true, nor any of the people I know who homeschool. There are so many places a child can socialize..clubs, groups, other children..all sorts of activities..
and socializing with a variety of "ages" is a GOOD thing..not being stuck in one 'peer' age group.

(the whole socialization thing bothered me ALOT when I started to homeschool..alittle part of me thought maybe all these people are right.. well they werent!) It doesnt bother me at all now, and I do not acknowledge it any more either.

The nice thing about homeschooling is that you can add the bits and pieces to your daily lessons you want you kids to learn about. If you want them to lean more toward Pagan learning, you can add it.. take time for a walk the woods, or do whatever it is you feel important.. :)

[Sasha318]

I homeschool my kids and have yet to see anything negative come from it. We can do things at our own pace, I know how and what they're learning, etc. I'm pretty anti-public school, though, so it was a natural choice for us.

[Tanya]

I really love the idea of homeschooling, i recall being REALLY bored in grade school. But let me temper that with two experiences i have had with home schooled kids. #1 i worked for a lady out of her home who home schooled...th kids were REALLY weird, and we not liked by the people who worked out of the home/office. not by the neighborhood kids. #2 As an educator, I used to give science programs for groups in a state park, the group i always dreaded (as did my collegues) was the homeschoolers... every kid acted as if he or she was the only one there, talking over other kids, refusing to share supplies and equipment, and generally each seeking to dominate the teacher for themselves.... imagine how aweful this was for me as the teacher... 30 kids.... all sure they are the only one there who counts... and why should they think different, when they are educated alone... where they ARE the only one who counts... but is this reality that they are learning about? do these kids know hoow to take turns, share, listen to other kids??? not that i could see... so though i know my little one may be bored, and i agree socialization issues can be overcome,... an almost spiritual issue arrises.. can you teach kids that their feelings and needs and desires need to be tempered by the needs and desires of others in such an insular environment. I guess as an educator in general I think we are all onn a process from beingself absorbed, self caring only infants to being celestial beings who take the needs of others into consideration with their every act. how does home schooling.. where everyone dances for "just you" get a kid to that sense of compasion and awareness of others? .... Flame away....

[fahawk]

Well thats bunk!
My children are homeschooled, an sensitive and caring. They know how to play "nice"..which has more to do with the way they are raised and what they are taught, then whether they are in a "school"" or homeschooled.
As for that..my niece who has always attended public school, doesnt like to share..and I constantly have to watch my kids around her as she loves to shove and push "hard"
Not safe at all!! As a matter of fact my daughter fell hard, and had to see the Dr..because of that very reason..so NO I do not agree in the least!!!

[Ceres]

my experience has been different. i find homeschooled kids are just regular kids. some try to monopolize the teacher, some are shy, some are aggressive, some are quiet. i think (as with all aspects of parenting)it has less to do with the method of schooling than the individual temperment. personally i think its kind of arrogant to think of kids as little lumps of clay that we mold or fail to mold into what works best for the whole. dont get me wrong, teaching manners is wonderful, its just i think of kids as persons in their own right.
as to what becomes of homeschooled kids, socially speaking, as opposed to kids who do go to school, i would question two things: 1)why do we think when our society has the flaws it does that the socialization system of the schools is a positive thing and 2)why assume socialization is best learned in an environment that treats children as second class citizens and is an artificial enviroment not duplicated anywhere else in our culture?

[Tanya]

i am not saying I like the school system we have, far from it. I think its seriously flawed on a human as well as educational level, and I sure think our society in general has some huge problems which are perpetuated in schools. I see lots of schools training kids to be cubical rats.... and it makes me cringe, cause I think kids need to learn to be scientists and artists.. even if they aren't going to do that for a living... what our culture DOES have going for it is creativity and inquiry... and we don't encourage that nough in schools... with 30 kids in a class any teacher is just struggling for control, and teaching kids to sit down and shut up is WAY easier than teaching them to challenge the staus quo and come up with their own ideas and solutions.... this is why i have taught classes outside using the discovery method... throwing a problem at the kids giving out a few tools and floating around offering ideas and encouragement (but never the answer). That was a teacher's paridise, and most classroom teachers never have the luxuries of small class size and commitment to doing things the hard but right way.... its easier to study for a standardized test than let a kid figure a thing out. I like that homeschooling offers the flexibily, and can be away to GET all that good stuff. But i do also think we are social creatures who evoled in and are developed by our interactions with a group. In the old days every kid was part of the tribe/villiage gang of kids and learned how to deal with bullies, work as a group, share, lead, be led, listen to others all that... I like seeing homeschoolers come out in a group to take a class like i give, and i think the behavior I see indicated they need MORE of that kind of 'homeschool group' approach. I'm pleased many homeschool parents see it and are forming unions of parents who do regular group things with their kids, these kids are getting the best of both worlds i hope. What i wouldr eally like tosee though is ALL kids getting to be in a small class with a teacher who loves them and challenges them... instead of teaching them to be little robots... sigh sigh sigh.
As far as being treated like second class citizens... yes they are... as far as it being unduplicated in our culture, sadly i think that is not the case... I've worked in many places that school trained me perfectly for... "follow directions, don't ask questions... don't talk unless your spoken to...ect..."

[fahawk]

Homeschool is great,,cause you can incoporate so many things..Pagan..and so much more..

Funny..my kids are often complimented on their behavior..and my good friend's son who is homeschooled...won an award for his good behavior and manners in "BOY SCOUTS"

Socializing with just "peers" is not and has never been the norm ..all through time..people of all ages worked together, shared stories..and spent time together. All ages!

So everyone has just accepted the "school" system as being the norm..

sadly because it is easier if all the kids are the same age, doing the same thing, acting the same way...teaching and mainting the classroom and school is made easier..and how many kids who do not fit into this "norm" fall by the side..and arent accepted or encouraged.

My two oldest homeschooled..and now attend a small school.... (as well as some other students who were homeschooled)......the teachers actually LIKE that they are self-motivated..and can try for themselves- think for themselves.. :)

Anyway- the question was Pagan homeschooling..and yes..it is something that works at home..cause you can add it to the lessons in the way you want......

[Sasha318]

Right on, Radikalwomyn. ITA. :)

[Ceres]

as far as it being unduplicated in our culture, sadly i think that is not the case... I've worked in many places that school trained me perfectly for... "follow directions, don't ask questions... don't talk unless your spoken to...ect..."

an adult in this situation in a job has recourse. they can join a union or create a union, they can switch jobs, they could even go on unemployment. when they complain about this type of thing at work, other ppl understand and they can even get medical help from their doctor because the stress of it is taken seriously. kids have no recourse if their school life is demeaning, demoralizing or depressing.

what i also meant by the environment being unduplicated in our culture is the segregation of people based on the year they were born in and the social handicaps situtations that arise from that like bullying, shyness and insecurity with other age groups, difficulty with the concept of "looking out for" younger kids and social awkwardness with adults.

[Lady MoonWater]

Thanks for the link I will check it out!!!!!

[Avens]

here's a pagan homeschooling link. http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/religion/pagan.htm does anyone have thoughts on homeschooling?the positives and negatives.

My family did homeschooling...

Long blah-blah-blah story you can ignore:

My brother Ragnar is twenty-nine now, smart as a whip... he was never educated in a school until he was seventeen - when he started college. He was socially adjusted, he had friends from various backgrounds, he did Aikido, and he did fencing, as well as a few other activities (Live Action Role Playing and stuff)... his only problem through college was adjusting to the form of education - my parents weren't just "homeschoolers" they were "unschoolers", and the structure was strange for him. For a short while he was a bit arrogant - felt that because he knew more on an academic level than other students he was better... but that faded quickly.

My brother Hagbard Lars is twenty-six now, also incredibly bright... he started college at fifteen (not because he was smarter than Ragnar - he and Ragnar started the same year). He was also well socially adjusted, he'd been involved in similar activities to Ragnar... though unlike Ragnar he wasn't as arrogant when they started college. He's actually always been very socially capable - he's good at talking, he's witty, and he makes people comfortable. He's now got an awesome career in human services, doing what he loves.

They were raised very similarly (many people thought they were twins) but they do have major personality differences... and they're both a little "weird". They grew up heavily involved in both the pagan community (Mum was an ADF officer for a while and they attended most big gatherings), as well as the Libertarian community. They also played Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. But they both enjoyed their hobbies and their background and grew up with none of the social stigma placed on kids like that, so they were allowed to thrive.

My parents divorced when I was five, and so as Mum was a single mother working very hard to keep a roof over our heads and bread on our table, she sent me to private school (she wanted to homeschool me but couldn't... and she hates the public school system so the alternative was private -CATHOLIC- school). I dealt with a bit of teasing (I'd never heard of Hell until I was about eight or nine, and I wore odd jewelry and talked of Solstices and the Greenman) but I came out rather well socially adjusted.

Aside from getting a good education within school, my brothers used to help me with my homework and teach me when I was sick or curious... and I was ALWAYS ahead of my classes. This combination of homeschooling and private schooling allowed me to begin homeschooling myself in eighth grade - I graduated from Jr. High with my class and that summer worked out the details to apply to a local college. I've been in college since I was fourteen, I'm graduating this May (I'm 17 now). I certainly think I came out for the better due to my situation.

Someone on the thread said something about why a distinction was made between homeschooling vs. pagan homeschooling - I see it as much like the distinction made between homeschooling vs. Christian homeschooling - I know Christians who homeschool because they want to make their childrens' education entirely (Judeo-Christian)God-centred. They integrate their religious beliefs into every part of their lives.

My mother's history lessons covered everything a good comprehensive history lesson should, but she certainly made us more aware of the Celtic lands (and languages) than most people (who aren't Celtic Studies majors) are. We learned about traditional Irish cooking for feasts in Home Ec. classes, and we treated many of the pagan gatherings like field trips. Our education wasn't pagan-centred, necessarily, but there was particular emphasis on paganism. We burned incense in the house, celebrated our holidays, and embraced alternative lifestyles (we had many homosexual and polyamorous acquaintances... growing up I actually thought such things were perfectly normal, I don't have any PROBLEM with them now, but I realize that others find them unacceptable now).

Anyway - that's my 2 cents plus some. I don't believe homeschooling is for everyone, and I've known homeschoolers who fit the stereotypes people have made up. We all come in different shapes and sizes, personalities and characters... I personally wish to homeschool any children I may have, and I'll speak well of my experiences, but it's very much a personal choice.

Avens (the rather long-winded poster tonight)

[Breathless Falcon]

I have homeschooled my 2 kids, now 14 & 15. We have been in & out of public school(PS). Neither of them like it! But when they don't do lessons for me they go back to PS. Social stuff is what they like at PS. When I teach them it is one on one and they understand better, when in a class they get lost and then become just a number(both are ADD). We are using this year as homeschooled, however, they are enrolled in German school. Great for culture learning. (like an exchange program, only instead of living with strangers they live with us!)

I think it depends greatly on how the parents raise and teach the children or if the family had the money available. I have seen children not share because they didn't " have extra $ " when growing up, and others "had everything" and didn't have to share, because when they had friends over they all had there own stuff.( enough crayons, pencils, paper ect to go around). When I had my childcare business, usually the child that was selfish so were the parents or there were other issues. :fishsmack I have seen someone that homeschool ,and it was not for the benefit of the child. :zzz:

If anyone decides to homeschool go into it with all eyes open. The first year or 2 is the hardest and most expensive.

Falcon

[Ceres]

avens, thanks SO much for your story of the education of you and your brothers! its great to hear about unschoolers as it isnt that common.

[Avens]

avens, thanks SO much for your story of the education of you and your brothers! its great to hear about unschoolers as it isnt that common.

You're quite welcome.

Avens