The No-School Preschool
Home schooling is on the rise. As a backlash to overcrowded classrooms, subpar schools, or the crazy process to get kids accepted in private academies, more and more parents will decide to homeschool starting with pre-school. The U.S. Department of Education cites that homeschooling has grown seven percent per year over the last four years. If you're considering this option, you should read this.
"Today's parents are more educated than ever, and do not want other people making the learning decisions for their children," says Teri Flemal, educator and co-owner of Quality Education by Design (QED), a guided family-education program that helps New York parents hire personal teachers and build their board-certified home curriculum. The benefits? Perfect pacing. Flemal explains that your child can progress at a much quicker academic rate, not waiting for the rest of the class to catch up (and on the flip side, spending extra time when it's needed). Also, a unique, engaging curriculum can be tailored around your child's interests. Your kid's a huge dinosaur fan? Lessons can all be based on his favorite subject. (If five T. rexes meet a triceratops, how many dinosaurs do you get?)
Trend Tips: Considering stepping off the track? Know that you're not alone, and it can be done. "I think that first and foremost, parents need to be sure their children are on board with this idea. Then I'd say you have to take an inventory of your resources. Do you have the ability to stay at home with your child to teach them? If not, then you'll need to hire someone to teach your children." She also recommends local support groups of to get information from other parents on how they are proceeding, as well as learning the state requirements that you need to follow.
Check out your state's homeschool laws at:
Source: parents.com
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Ken Glover
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Dear Editor, Again this summer St. Mary’s Church in Milford is collecting school supplies from parishioners in area churches to be distributed to children in the local area. The church distributed over 700 backpacks last fall. Although I applaud this effort, I think the people that donate should be aware that these backpacks are only distributed to children that attend the local public school. Children that attend Christian, Montessori, Charter (which is a public school), or that are home schooled do not qualify. Being I thought this was discriminatory, I contacted St. Mary’s to verify. I was advised by the Pastoral Assistant Valerie Thompson, as well as Father Ron Anderson that this was indeed true. I fruitlessly attempted to explain that there were many needy families in the area that attended other schools. They both advised me that the decision to exclude these children was their decision and it was not going to be changed. Since I can’t seem to get my point across to the leader of St. Mary’s, I would appreciate if you could post this in your paper to at least let local parishioners know what is happening before they decide to donate or not. Sincerely, Ken Glover Highland |
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