Re: Question (LONG)
Jac & Liz Grimes
A brief intro--I've been lurking for a few weeks. I'm Liz (45) just
celebrated 27th wedding anniversary with Jac, parents of 6 kids (4-24, 3 of
each) grandparents of 1. I am currently homeschooling 2 of ours, 2 are
older & out of school (well 1 is in college) and 2 are in public school.
The question of the good things about public school draws me into this
conversation. I know that this is antedotal and very personal.
My 13 yo son is in a special public school that only deals with
multipl-handicapped children birth -21 yrs. He has cerebal palsy, mental
retardation, attention deficit disorder, impulsivity, pervasive
developmental delays and AIDS. We adopted him when he was three and had
lived in a hospital all of his life (they told us he wouldn't live to enter
school.) The public school is able to offer him activities and equipment
that we could never access. His needs are so great that I could never
homeschool him and meet the needs of the other children. However, over the
summer I do see remarkable progress is some areas due to my focus on his
development. But by the same token, I see remarkable progress during the
school year in other equally important areas due to their ability to work
with him. His school has a adult child ratio of 6 adults to 1 child (this
includes speech & physical therapists, occupational therapist, councilors,
teachers, aids, etc.) So he gets the best of both worlds.
My 15 year old daughter is in public high school after 1 1/2 years of
homeschooling. Her social needs (she is quite an outgoing social
butterfly)are such that I could not involve her in enough outside activities
to keep her happy. She needs to be with lots of people all of othe time in
order to be happy. She is also bi-polar and just to be honest, I couldn't
deal with her mood swings and constant needs and demands on me. Once back
in public school she and I both became much happier (even though I fought
putting her back in school due to academic problems). She is better able to
deal with multiple instructors and such so much better than she can deal
with one on one instruction and guidance. I feel that we made a lot of
progress during her time at home and probably could have made more progress
if her mental illness had not disrupted the family so severely, that I
really needed the respite from her. This may sound like a cop out and
sometimes I feel that it is, however, it is reality for my family.
So, I feel that there can never be a blanket answer to the question of what
is best for every child or every family. Each child even within the same
family really needs to be treated individually and their educational options
left open to meet their needs. I believe that institutionally there is not a
lot of good about ps, but individually ps can be good for certain children &
families.
Even in homeschooling I find that the 2 kids here must be dealt with very
differently, not just because of the 10 year span in ages, but in learning
styles & needs. My 4 yo balks at being taught anything, he is more
interested in learning & doing on his own. Unschooling is the answer for his
education. My 14 yo needs structure and much more guidance in her studies
(may be due to the 7 years in ps), she isn't interested in learning for the
fun of it. She hasn't developed any real outside interests that keep her
occupied. TV & rock music are her only interests at this time. Yes, alot of
this is age appropriate for both kids.
Just my $.02.
Peace,
Liz
celebrated 27th wedding anniversary with Jac, parents of 6 kids (4-24, 3 of
each) grandparents of 1. I am currently homeschooling 2 of ours, 2 are
older & out of school (well 1 is in college) and 2 are in public school.
The question of the good things about public school draws me into this
conversation. I know that this is antedotal and very personal.
My 13 yo son is in a special public school that only deals with
multipl-handicapped children birth -21 yrs. He has cerebal palsy, mental
retardation, attention deficit disorder, impulsivity, pervasive
developmental delays and AIDS. We adopted him when he was three and had
lived in a hospital all of his life (they told us he wouldn't live to enter
school.) The public school is able to offer him activities and equipment
that we could never access. His needs are so great that I could never
homeschool him and meet the needs of the other children. However, over the
summer I do see remarkable progress is some areas due to my focus on his
development. But by the same token, I see remarkable progress during the
school year in other equally important areas due to their ability to work
with him. His school has a adult child ratio of 6 adults to 1 child (this
includes speech & physical therapists, occupational therapist, councilors,
teachers, aids, etc.) So he gets the best of both worlds.
My 15 year old daughter is in public high school after 1 1/2 years of
homeschooling. Her social needs (she is quite an outgoing social
butterfly)are such that I could not involve her in enough outside activities
to keep her happy. She needs to be with lots of people all of othe time in
order to be happy. She is also bi-polar and just to be honest, I couldn't
deal with her mood swings and constant needs and demands on me. Once back
in public school she and I both became much happier (even though I fought
putting her back in school due to academic problems). She is better able to
deal with multiple instructors and such so much better than she can deal
with one on one instruction and guidance. I feel that we made a lot of
progress during her time at home and probably could have made more progress
if her mental illness had not disrupted the family so severely, that I
really needed the respite from her. This may sound like a cop out and
sometimes I feel that it is, however, it is reality for my family.
So, I feel that there can never be a blanket answer to the question of what
is best for every child or every family. Each child even within the same
family really needs to be treated individually and their educational options
left open to meet their needs. I believe that institutionally there is not a
lot of good about ps, but individually ps can be good for certain children &
families.
Even in homeschooling I find that the 2 kids here must be dealt with very
differently, not just because of the 10 year span in ages, but in learning
styles & needs. My 4 yo balks at being taught anything, he is more
interested in learning & doing on his own. Unschooling is the answer for his
education. My 14 yo needs structure and much more guidance in her studies
(may be due to the 7 years in ps), she isn't interested in learning for the
fun of it. She hasn't developed any real outside interests that keep her
occupied. TV & rock music are her only interests at this time. Yes, alot of
this is age appropriate for both kids.
Just my $.02.
Peace,
Liz
[email protected]
In a message dated 6/28/99 8:50:20 AM, JGrimes@... writes:
<<The question of the good things about public school draws me into this
conversation. I know that this is antedotal and very personal.
So I'm glad you posted some.
I can really learn from hearing from other people's experiences. They are
enlightening. But I find I like to draw my own conclusions from them. So
when the conversations gets philosophical, instead of personal, it sometimes
gets frustrating. (Not your post, just in general.)
My believe is that we need to give people information, and let them draw
their own conclusions. If we push the conclusions on them, they are more
likely to fight us in frustration.
Betsy
<<The question of the good things about public school draws me into this
conversation. I know that this is antedotal and very personal.
>>I just want to say that I think anecdotal and personal stories are the best!
So I'm glad you posted some.
I can really learn from hearing from other people's experiences. They are
enlightening. But I find I like to draw my own conclusions from them. So
when the conversations gets philosophical, instead of personal, it sometimes
gets frustrating. (Not your post, just in general.)
My believe is that we need to give people information, and let them draw
their own conclusions. If we push the conclusions on them, they are more
likely to fight us in frustration.
Betsy
[email protected]
In a message dated 6/28/99 11:50:08 AM EST, JGrimes@... writes:
<< So, I feel that there can never be a blanket answer to the question of what
is best for every child or every family. >>
This is so true, there are so many variations within a family. My two boys
are a lot like yours, the older wanting and thriving on the structure, the
younger so creative and "outside the box"! It takes all styles of learning
to and then some to keep these guys going!!
Teresa
<< So, I feel that there can never be a blanket answer to the question of what
is best for every child or every family. >>
This is so true, there are so many variations within a family. My two boys
are a lot like yours, the older wanting and thriving on the structure, the
younger so creative and "outside the box"! It takes all styles of learning
to and then some to keep these guys going!!
Teresa