We were able to raise his test scores from last year. Some may remember that we Homeschooled 1st put him back for 2nd and 1/2 of 3rd. We pulled him out in January of 3rd grade so we only had about 2 months to catch him up to par for the 3rd grade . He scored last year in the "meets expectations" but low...and the writing was not graded because he "wasn't on topic".
Well every single one of his test scores were up from last year! I am sooo excited and proud of him! He actually did better then we expected because we don't do alot of "testing" at home.
Public school was a nightmare, it was a daily stressor for us. Now that he is home we don't have nearly the quantity of stress we had before.
I know that many think that the socialization is so important and he is missing it. It is hard to formulate my thoughts when the subject comes up spur of the moment. I thought I would address our feelings at this time!
I read a really great article about this and one the highlight sentences that stood out was this one.
A family member asked my wife, "Aren't you concerned about his (our son's) socialization with other kids?". My wife gave this response: "Go to your local middle school, junior high, or high school, walk down the hallways, and tell me which behavior you see that you think our son should emulate." Good answer.
another article I found by Dr. Raymond Moore, author of over 60 books and articles on human development, has done extensive research on homeschooling and socialization. this quote makes me think of Isaac:
Children often do not respond well to large groups. They become nervous and overexcited by noise and too many people. Learning becomes difficult. Behavioral problems develop. After analyzing over 8,000 early childhood studies, Dr. Moore concluded that, contrary to popular belief, children are best socialized by parents -- not other children.
What kind of socialization occurs when 20 or 30 kids of the same age are placed in a classroom together day after day? Peer pressure is enormous. Kids feel like they need to look and sound and be like everyone else, at the risk of forgetting or never discovering who they really are. This results in rivalry, ridicule, and competition - hardly the environment for healthy socialization.
Think about it...as adults we are not placed in rows alphabetically, nor are we buddied up with someone because we have the same first letter of our last name. We aren't forced to be a "partner" to someone who just the day before ridiculed us for not wearing a "cool" shirt or saying something dumb. I can tell you that Isaac is socialized. He is in a homeschool enrichment program...where he spends all day Monday with other homeschool peers in a three year age span. He is in the cubscouts and he horseback rides. He also has the neighborhood kids. He also socializes alot with adults. Isn't that who we want him to learn from. Who better to teach you how to be an adult then a functioning adult. We are lucky because he is homeschooled he got to spend alot of quality time with my Grandmother (who is 87) she told him her opinions on life...some historical stuff and all around "Granny wisdom" if he had been in school all day he would have missed out on that socialization.
I guess socialization to me isn't just about peer interaction. We aren't racing to get homework done at night...so that we can race to cubs...and get little or no family time. We are pretty fortunate because we have time to instill the "socialization" and morals that we expect not "Johnny's" morals and values in third period.
Feel free to ask any questions you like. We are a pretty open book about all of this!
