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 Educating Parents (currently 813 views) |
| Natalie_Barela |
| Posted on: June 19th, 2006, 6:57pm |
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I reside currently in Ca but am from ALb. and intend to move back in one year. I am a teacher here and plan to take time off with my children when we get back to ABQ. (Right now my husband is Mr. Mom and homeschools my children--I can't wait for the switch!)
I have been toying with the idea of beginning some sort of business that caters to homeschoolers in the areas that I hear there is need. I wonder what any of you think? I have been teaching special ed, high school English and Math for years and am getting certified also in GIFTED ed. I notice that when I talk about my own children's ed. parents are often interested but feel they are not capable. ALso, I meet many parents who homeschool but are not educated in teaching higher level subjects, such as English--which is the most often declared area of need. There are other areas too, art, music, math science. My idea was to create workshops for parents and students. For parents, I would love to meet and help them learn the pedagogy (how to teach) that we are taught in college programs. Specific to working with the children, but also in teaching them certain curricula. For students, I thought to create workshops for students. For ex. a creative writing course or Shakepeare course, whatever, that teaches maybe what a parent feels they can't. I plan to charge for this--how much I don't know, but it would help me as a stay at home mom and help parents of homeschoolers. I see this as an area of need that here in CA many jump on and are willing to pay a little for. Of course, these workshops ARE classes, but they are short term so they can work for everyone and they are curriculum specific. And they give students a chance to get to together. Of course, its most likley for the older student, middle school age and above, since this is where parents start to get lost. And each workshop would have a parent section, so that the parent knows what the student learns. I'm looking for feedback on this idea and would welcome any suggestions.  |
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| debgwest |
| Posted on: June 19th, 2006, 8:44pm |
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I love the idea. My family used to attend APS Family School and had lots of great "workshops" during the school year for the parents (4-5 per month) and some activities for the kids. We met for some of the things like you wrote about, but also about how to evaluate where our children were/needed to be in their education and to learn to teach them to be responsible for their own learning.
I love homeschooling but occasionally need a kick start because I feel like throwing up my hands at times. Those meetings also gave me the support I needed to keep it up. To hear the stories of other trials and tribulations are invaluable.
Keep us informed. I do have younger kids than you spoke of (7 & 10) but I would pay for workshops for myself and my kids so we could have a more rounded education. |
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| josacli |
| Posted on: June 20th, 2006, 1:20am |
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This could go either way - first, a lot of us chose not to send our children to public schools because we don't like the way that traditional educators are taught or we don't feel the schools fulfill the needs that our children have. There are those that are ok with the schools but prefer home-education because of the closeness, individual attention and possibilities that it provides. Personally, I don't think it is necessary to have a teaching degree to be a sucessful homeschooler, but I am sure there are those that would disagree or prefer the degree to "back up" thier knowledge.
It would be very difficult to judge at this point how successful this type of business would be. I don't know if a lot of parents would have the time to attend classes themselves. Not only that, in the upper grades, TVI accepts students and that could eassily and cheaply solve the situation of a parent being uncomfortable teaching a topic. Something to remember, NM does not have the economic/social (dare I say social climbing) base that CA has. I have several friends in CA that homeschool and most of their fellow homeschoolers (we're talking northern CA here) are doing it with tutors, and like to tell people that they are homeschooling - granted, that is not the case with everyone but there is a growing number of families like this. Here, most of the homeschoolers I've met are working class individuals, depending upon cost there are families that might not have the means to pursue courses like you are thinking of offering.
I don't say this to dash hopes, there might very well be a need for this type of service - it will be interesting to see what others on here have to say. I personally could not forsee using the services you described above but I am one of MANY homeschoolers. That said, if you have an idea and think it would work there is never any shame in at least trying to make it work. Good luck in your endeavors and welcome back to Albuquerque - soon. =)
Jo-Anne |
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| josacli |
| Posted on: June 20th, 2006, 1:21am |
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I just reread my post and it seems kind of snooty - that is not what I intended - I do not mean to offend anyone. I just thought that if I was going to open a business that I would want to know pros and cons - since someone above already mentioned pros - i was the opposite side of that coin.
Jo-Anne |
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| voulaprossnitz |
| Posted on: June 20th, 2006, 2:12pm |
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Hi
I also moved from California to Albuquerque. I am homeschooling my two boys and would love help in English. I also have some other friends who would appreciate the help and direction. I will be homeschooling til 8th grade. Please contact me if you do this (voulapross@yahoo.com). |
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| Natalie_Barela |
| Posted on: June 28th, 2006, 2:01am |
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I know that homeschooling doesn't require education, but believe me, knowing things like how to teach a child certain things, how things connect, how the child's brain learns--the things that they do teach in college when you are learning to be a teacher are things that could be very valuable to a parent. When you are ready to throw your hands up, maybe you need a new strategy for teaching.
My idea is really stolen because there are some teachers here who do this. Yes, realize the economic base of ABQ is different--but its changing. I visit family at least once a year and man has that placed changed! Part of why I am preparing to move back is because I feel it has what my children might need in the future, including more possiblities for job security, but I need the culture of ABQ and the ???that So CAl does not have. (It's quite disgusting reallly, if you think of it too long.)
s DEbquest--thanks for your comments as well. I like the idea of taking the homeschool community, the activities and get togethers and to supplement that with some expertise when folks need it. What I'm thinking is along the lines of 4-6 week courses, set up like a college class that meets 1-2 times a week on a certain topic. Its not tutoring so to speak because I am not interested in doing this full-time all the time in all subject areas. Maybe two "workshop" classes at a time for slightly mixed age groups who are at the same achievement level. Maybe offering something once a season or something. I would love to welcome the parents to attend as well, and then maybe have time, like a parent workshop that may help with methodology.
Its interesting to hear others talk about public school teachers. You should see my friends, most are teachers too, when I talk about what's wrong with the public schools. But they have to agree about a lot of what I say--in fact, they usually add their two cents. I think many teachers are in school to help keep track of their kids. That way, you know all the info on the school, friends, and so on. My son attended a private kinder last year at t Christian school. It is right across the street. But it was only half day--which was good cause it left time for us to homeschool in the morning. Its a tiny school--I know all the parents and kids in his class and it provided a circle of friends. I live in a small desert town and we don't have a homeschool co-op here. THe public school has something of a group--but then they claim the kids as attedning their system and get fed $. THey don't do much--we could do better. My son will attend the same school next year for first grade, but we have issues before he starts cause he is way ahead of most of the kids. He can read about forth grade today and does some 6th grade math. He has a lot of higher level thinking skills. Part of why I want to move is to get prepared to keep him and my others at home--they are all ahead. But he loves his friends. Well, I guess I've said enough for now--talking my ears off! Thanks for listening. |
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