School Choice: Introverts Vs. Extroverts

Tonight, I asked my 7yo son a question. "If you could spend time with zero, one, two or five people, how many would you pick?"

"Five!"

"What if you got to choose between zero, one, five, or ten people?"

"Ten!"

That's my very extroverted 7yo!

Over the years, my five kids have spent time in public, private, and homeschool. We've tried to make the best decision for each child on a year-by-year basis. Unless there's been a compelling reason to do otherwise, we've allowed the kids to weigh in on the decision.

Enter my 7yo son.

Last year, we encouraged him to go to public school kindergarten. We live in a small, friendly community, and felt that a half-day in school was exactly what he needed to gain some more real-world experience after arriving home from China at the age of 3. This year, we were very open to either homeschool or public school. He chose public school even while his older brother remains in homeschool.

I find the choice interesting from an introvert/extrovert standpoint.

I am (thoroughly!) an introvert. The other three kids that I've homeschooled are introverts. We like spending time at home.

In contrast, if nothing is scheduled for the day (and sometimes even if there is), my 7yo wakes up and immediately says, "What are we doing today?" Translation: WHO are we seeing today? Preferably a LOT of people. And family doesn't count!

Although I would be happy to homeschool any of my children, I fully recognize how difficult it would be to homeschool this child if only because his social calendar is never full enough to suit him. Never.

Has anyone else ever thought about how being an introvert/extrovert applies to school choice? 

Graduation Reflections

My daughter graduates from high school this week.

[Weep, cry, SOB!!!!] Sorry...I'll try to keep it under wraps for the rest of this post.

I've been reflecting on the last 13 years of my daughter's education. I learned a few things in that 13 years:

• even if you've already packed a note for your child in his backpack, check the corner before you leave the house. Just sayin'.
• if you can't tell the difference between your high schooler's room and the inside of a dumpster, SHUT. THE. DOOR.
• AP stands for "aggravated parent"
• snuggling on the couch with kids and a good book is memory making material.

And this biggie:

Homeschooling is the best thing for some kids. Public (or private) schooling is the best thing for some kids. And a combination of both is the best thing for others.

This child went to public school kindergarten. Then spent 1st-7th at home. Then spend 8th-12th in public school. I know some people worry about transitioning kids from homeschool to public. But here's the thing...a good education is a good education, no matter where you get it.

She is so ready for the world. And her momma is so not ready to send her off (...or to make the food and decorations for the upcoming grad party, hence the lack of posts you might see this week.)

I'm feeling mighty respectful of the educational decisions that individual families make for their kids. The decisions we've made have been hard. (Still making them as we try to decide which youngers are doing what for school next year.) But, at least this time, we got it right.

Feeling mighty thankful.

Homeschoolers & the Common Core State Standards

I might seriously regret this post. If it suddenly disappears, you'll know that  I'm a scaredy cat
I tend to avoid controversy.

Over the past few weeks, I've encountered a series of comments (blogs, facebook, the web world) in which some homeschoolers criticize publishers (homeschool) who are updating their materials to reflect the new Common Core State Standards (aka CCSS).

I sorta don't get it.

Let me clearly state that this has nothing to do with my feelings about CCSS. That's another post. Which I won't write. (See I'm a scaredy cat.) 

It does have to do with my reflections as a homeschool mom. And yes, as an educator. But primarily as a homeschool mom to my kids. For the record, I have 5 kids. The kids' total experience in both worlds:

Cumulative years in homeschool: 18
Cumulative years in public school: 27 (higher because one child went entirely to public school...otherwise, it's pretty balanced for the other kids)

During that time, I have also taught classes in BOTH homeschool and public school. You might say that makes me just dumb enough to open my big mouth qualifies me to speak.

As a homeschooler, I feel a responsibility to have at least some sense of what my children's peers are studying, and what is considered above/below/on target. I'm not going to get all freaky about it. But when I walk into a homeschool store as I did this summer, and hear a parent ask the resident expert about how the CCSS will affect homeschoolers, I expect the expert to at least know what the CCSS is. (And in the conversation I overheard, the homeschool rep had NO. CLUE.)

Why do I want to keep abreast of the CCSS as a homeschooler? For our family, the following comes to mind:

1. My children may not always be homeschooled. Circumstances can change things in a heartbeat. If your children are public schooled and you are reading this, also note that it could happen in the reverse for you. I used to say I'd never homeschool. (#beforeIhadkids)  I changed my mind because of a given set of circumstances. I now know many homeschoolers & public schoolers who've suddenly had to consider the opposite for a myriad of reasons: health, economics, job status, etc...  And again, it could go either way.
2. My children will eventually meet up with their peers. Be it in middle school, high school, college, or the job market, they will eventually meet their peers. Even if I don't follow the same exact content plan, I do want to know what it is and whether they are ahead/behind/on target.
3. My kids do have to take a standardized test. Over time, I'm guessing that all standardized tests will have to move toward CCSS content for financial reasons. (Since 45 states and D.C. have adopted it, I doubt that the market outside that group will be viable.) While testing is never a big personal motivator for what I teach, I think it's unfair to my kids for me to not have some idea of what's coming.

But back to the CCSS and publishers...

It seems unfair to criticize homeschool publishers for being responsible. Any publisher who keeps up knows that the CCSS is here. If they know that over time, homeschool students are likely to be held to those standards in testing, they are leaving themselves pretty vulnerable to not cover that content. It's also important to note that the assessments coming down the pipe are going to be different than what most of us are used to in standardized testing--rote thinking and fill-in-the-bubble. Apparently, kids will actually have to think.

If publishers don't cover CCSS, there is a decent chance that the students they serve will do poorly in comparison to their peers...and eventually, their business will end.


Be kind. I scare easily. ;)

Gifted Kids and Standardized Testing

I'm not big on labels. But sometimes, labels give you access to resources that you wouldn't otherwise receive. In the public school system in my state, it's convenient to have a designation of "talented and gifted" or TAG. Despite the fact that schools have no money (and therefore no cash for TAG activities), the label can sometimes help you to access services, quicker and with far less hassle.

So it was when my DS14 entered public school for the first time, almost two years ago. Homeschoolers (and public schoolers/educators, for that matter) may be interested in knowing what's happened with him. It may apply to kiddos you know.

DS14 is bright. No doubt. However, in our state, "bright" isn't enough. In order to receive a TAG label, you have to qualify using more than one piece of information. One of these MUST be a nationally standardized test, scoring above the 97%.

So, consider. I send a child to school who has, for seven long years, been taught to THINK...not to TAKE TESTS. I ask to have him tested, knowing full well that he has the ability to qualify.

He takes the computerized test. Comes home that day and says, "I wrote some comments in the comment box below a couple of the questions."

"Why?"

"Because several of the questions didn't have any correct answers."


WHAT?? I'm sure that's what the public school teachers would have said, too. Let me explain.

For much of my ds's life, he's participated in testing curriculum. That's right. TESTING CURRICULUM. On a daily basis, we made note of which questions needed editing. Which were confusing. And which were simply *wrong.* I taught my son to be critical of outside sources.

I taught him well. So well, that he missed TAG qualification in his first round of testing...because he was testing the testers.

I explained to him that these tests have been thoroughly checked and that he could be sure (ha...relatively) that one of the answers was right.

So he went back to public school and took more tests. His scores went up. And more tests. His scores went up. And more tests. His scores went up. After exactly ONE YEAR in public school, he tested at the 99th percentile and qualified for TAG.

What does this tell me?

Nothing that will surprise you, I'm sure. But the system of testing to qualify for TAG is insufficient at best, harmful at worst. My son was a brilliant, creative thinker--clearly TAG material--but it took him a year to learn enough test taking skills (by doing it over and over and over again) in order to qualify. (Either that or he gained so much "content" in one year of public school that his scores skyrocketed!!)

I am very aware of a great number of kids who will never qualify based on tests. Kids who've experienced early trauma. Have large stressors in their lives. Or simply freak-out when it's test time. We know that the thinking parts of the brain basically go into lock-down when stressed or anxious. So how are kids under stress ever supposed to qualify?

Maybe it doesn't matter. No money exists for services anyway. But how have we reached a point where the ability to fill-in bubbles counts for more than the ability to think creatively, pose interesting questions, and problem solve?

161 Days in School?!?!!!!????

Last night I attended a meeting at our local public school. Our superintendent was the guest speaker. He spoke to the crisis currently facing schools here as well as across the state and nation. Over the last couple years, our district has reduced staff by 10%, followed by a big reduction in school days. We are now at an unbelievable 161 student-contact days a year. (And this doesn't take into account whether they are completely "full" days...we have one day a week of "late start" to boot!)

Many states have a mandatory 180 day school year, so we now have about a month less of school than many districts. In November we had what the superintendent called our "forced fall spring break",--a full week off of school for Thanksgiving--followed by a 4-day week, a 5-day week, another 4-day week, then almost 3 weeks off for winter break.

Can you spell P-I-T-I-F-U-L????

At the same time, standards are going up and up and up. Teachers have more and more pressure. (I've seen the trenches and they're not pretty.) Kids are frequently tested. All while class sizes increase. In one school district in our state all the 4th grade teachers have more than 30 in the class and several have 37!

What do I feel?

Sad?
Superior?
Frustrated?
Overwhelmed?

When I hear all the bad news, on the one hand, I feel like patting myself on the back. I started my 8yo's school year in June. We're almost done with 18 weeks of school. We're even ahead in some subjects that we didn't start until September.

On the other hand, I feel SICK. I have children who are directly affected. And even if I didn't I should care. A LOT. These are the children who are going to grow up and run our world. Kids only have ONE opportunity to be first graders. Seventh graders. Seniors. To learn to read. To learn critical thinking. We are losing a generation to a failing system. And even if I didn't care about all those other kids? At any time, any of us might have to send our children to school--due to health reasons, special student needs, finances...the list goes on.

With all due respect to my superintendent...I don't think a large, local committee can solve the problem. We have a huge problem as a nation.* [*Please note, this is NOT a political statement. This is a "what do we want for our future" statement. I do not consider them the same thing.] I hope it doesn't take us several generations to figure it out.

Math Transition from Homeschool to Public School

Frankly, the idea freaked me out. Why?

1. I didn't want my child(ren) to suffer unnecessarily.

2. I didn't want to look like a lame teacher.

Those are two of the big concerns that went through my head as I prepared to transition my children from homeschool to public school MATH.

In our case, one child went to public school kindergarten and then was homeschooled from 1st grade until the last couple months of 7th grade. Another child was entirely homeschooled--from kindergarten through the last couple months of 6th grade. So both were entering "middle school"-ish math classes, not having been in public school math for basically all of elementary school.

I didn't doubt that there would be holes in their learning. I think holes are pretty much inevitable when children only have one teacher...even when the teacher is a math genius...which I am not.

Someone recently posted a question on a math forum asking what to do to ensure that a child is at grade level and ready to transition from homeschool to public school. Here's a couple things to consider...

Check Out the Current Curriculum
One of the first things I did was ask to see what curriculum the school was using in my child's grade. However, it was important to also ask "how far have you gotten in the book this year?" It's not unusual for a class to not make it through an entire curriculum (or textbook) in a year. In one of my children's cases, I think the class had only made it a little over halfway through the book. If I would have assumed that the child had to know everything in the book, I might have panicked. (More than I was already!)

It's not a bad idea to ask to borrow a book for the summer prior to the child entering school. Although some schools may be reluctant, I think that most administrators would be happy to see that parents are interested in ensuring that a child is entering at grade level.

Look at NCTM's Focal Points/State Standards/Common Core Standards
National Council of Teacher's of Mathematics published "Focal Points" which specify what math content is to be covered at each grade level. Most states are aligning their standards with these Focal Points. Unfortunately, states aren't all interpreting the Focal Points the same way. So it's worthwhile to check your state standards to see what is expected for students in your state at each grade level. In June 2010, the National "Common Core State Standards" were released. This changes the playing field slightly, as each state considers how to implement. But if you look at the three--Focal Points, State Standards, Common Core Standards--you get a pretty good picture of what a child in a given grade level is expected to know.

The only other advice I have? Relax. I did not and I should have.

Yes, my children had a few holes. But for every hole, they were ahead in another area of math; they've spent more time waiting for the class to learn things that they already know than trying to catch up in things they were never taught. It all worked out.

The kids didn't suffer.

I didn't look too lame.

This time.