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Ask Slashdot: Teaching Chemistry To Home-Schooled Kids?
First time accepted submitter mikewilsonuk writes "I have a 10-year-old grandson who has shown an interest in chemistry. He is home educated and doesn't read as well as schooled kids of his age. He hasn't had much science education and no chemistry at all. None of his parents or grandparents have chemistry education beyond the school minimum and none feel confident about teaching it. My own memories of chemistry teaching in school are of disappointment, a shocking waste of everyone's time and extreme boredom. I think there must be a better way. Can anyone suggest an approach that won't ruin a child's interest?"
http://www.amazon.com/Thames-Kosmos-645014-CHEM-C3000/dp/B00007B8M6
A good place to start is "The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments" by Robert Brent. Some of the material is a bit dated but the overall presentation is great.
This sounds like one of those classic cases where the client thinks his knows what he wants but doesn't realize he's wrong.
First, why isn't the child in a regular school system?
Assuming that he's not in public school for some reason, what system is the parents using for education? There exist full homeschooling packages that are intended to give students all the necessary resources to learn.
Assuming he's using one of those and the parents find that the chemistry in it is lacking, why not part-time enroll the child in a local school? From what I understand this isn't all that uncommon for home-schooled kids to get science instruction.
Assuming that's entirely untenable, what about hiring a private tutor for science education? Is there a local university you can contact for resources on this?
Finally, why are you asking Slashdot and not a homeschooling community?
(I'm attempting to avoid any assumptions as to the reason for home schooling.)
to learning anything.
I'm glad to see, judging by all the "Anonymous Coward" comments, that I'm not the only one who believes that parents that aren't specifically trained to replace the teachers their children would normally encounter in a public/private school *shouldn't* be allowed to home school. You are doing nothing but a HUGE disservice to your child(ren) by keeping them from their peers, sheltered from the world, and away from opinions that are different from yours. We all *NEED* these kinds of interactions in order to better cope with the world when we become adults and move out on our own.
If the parents that do this to their kids use the "schools aren't safe", "schools aren't teaching what I think they should be", or "schools are failing our children" excuses should *get involved* in their local school, and encourage all other parents to do the same. If their schools really are falling behind in some way, it's *THE PARENTS FAULT* for not being involved.
I specifically left out any of the varied religious excuses, as I don't believe they're valid -- religion has zero place in a publicly funded school, and should be reserved exclusively for church and home. If parents want their child to have some schooling with religious content, they need to pay to send them to such a school.
I also don't want to hear any of this "I don't have the time to get involved in (insert public school function) here" excuses. If you don't have the time to raise your kid(s) properly, DON'T HAVE THEM.
bork bork bork!
A lot of Irish were blowing stuff up in the 80's...
http://www.khanacademy.org/#chemistry
Sounds to me like home schooling is letting the kid down a bit. I loved my public Chemistry / physics education... Making rockets, playing with Science Olympiad, Egg Drop contests. I remember on the first day in my High School chem class, the teacher demonstrated infra-red radiation and the speed of light by taking a bowl filled with soap water, and a propane tap, and creating (and then lighting on fire) propane bubbles. He pointed out that as soon as you saw the flash, you felt the heat, and then went into a lecture about wave radiation and the light spectrum.
You can probably do that with your own kid, but there is something to be said about the benefits of learning something from someone who is passionate about the material.
- Holy crap, I've got MOD points! Who thought that was a good idea.
http://www.khanacademy.org/#chemistry
As a student of the US education system, I can personally attest to the problems of the public system. I didn't fail any of my classes, perfect attendance for years, and in my senior year I was told I would be there again next year. Turns out those 'qualified educators' scheduled and taught me classes, but not the ones needed to meet state requirements, my parents pulled me out and I finished that year in a private school taking independent study.
Now I have a 8 year old boy who seems fine to me in second grade, that is until the 4th nine weeks and 2 suspensions from school. One for eating his sandwich into the shape of a gun, then later that day making "finger guns", and going "pew pew" like boys do. They said he was threatening the school with violence. Two weeks before he was suspended for "not keeping his hands to himself" I asked the teacher and found out he was trying to play tag at recess.
I have zero tolerance for zero tolerance school policies.
FYI all of this occurred in the Florida, Treasure Coast area.
Why is this rated troll?
If he reads below grade level and none of his current teachers feel qualified to teach him, maybe he should go to school to be taught by qualified folks.
Home schooling should not even be an option if you are not qualified to teach the subjects the child needs or cannot bring in someone else to do so.
If all parents cared, school systems could focus on what they are best suited to doing -- educating. School systems "fail" when they have to pick up the slack from parents who won't/can't take responsibility for their own children.
Schools can not effectively manage malnourished, abused, ignored or otherwise un-nurtured children no matter how much they "care". Especially when they are dependent on support for the same people who don't think their kids are worth any investment of money or time in the first place.
I agree that universal (and I'll throw in equal) education is good for society. The question is how to bootstrap this potential good from a society with such perverse priorities.
All of my children are in a home school program to specifically achieve the following:
* Dramatically improved science curriculum over state requirements.
* Aggressive reading and mathematics programs.
* Enhanced educational environment (a quiet, well equipped classroom).
* Teachers who really care, and want each child to be able to compete in a demanding global economy as adults. We love our students like parents should, because we are both.
In order to teach my nine year old chemistry, I do not have to be an expert chemist. I simply have to know more than a nine year old does about chemistry. It really isn't that hard, and it has been fun for all of us to expand our knowledge. If you are going to engage in home education, you can't do it sitting on the sidelines. You have to educate yourself first. Then you can teach. Expect more from the teacher than you do the student.
If none of the above is happening for your grandson, consider placing that child in public school. Many public education options are abysmal. If results from home education are worse than the public option, consider that a major red flag. Your benchmark should be a grade or two ahead in most subjects (unless the child has a learning disability).
Teaching at home doesn't work for everyone. It isn't always the ideal solution. I wish I had a bazillion and one dollars to hire private instructors with decades of experience to do the teaching. There is no doubt, though, that what we are doing is working. All of my children, even the ones who struggle, placed in the top 5% in the last round of state required testing. They are not geniuses. They simply know how to work. Something their peers tend to have a hard time with.
I have seen children who have made it to 3rd grade not knowing how to read due to dyslexia but the school did not know because of clueless or careless teachers
Please be aware that teachers are not allowed to make those kinds of determinations. My wife is a 2nd grade teacher - with a masters degree in special education from a very prestigious university - and is required to refer students to the administration for screening. If the parents don't want their obviously autistic child tested, it doesn't happen. A lot of parents don't want their child labeled with a learning disability, even it it will help them in the long run.
So don't blame the teachers.
:wq
Because all religious people wind up working for churches? I did not grow up in a religious home, however I am a theist. I'm also an engineer. The idea that religious people somehow do not or cannot contribute to society is weird at best. In fact there are other engineers on my team who are also theists and they do an excellent job. One coming to a logical conclusion that there is a God does not correlate to their ability to do work.
Now my daughter is being home schooled. Not for religious reasons but because public schools teaches to the lowest common denominator. If she was going to public school, she would be in pre-school, but she already reads, adds, subtracts, multiplies, does simple algebra (2 times duck = 2 ducks) and has basic science concepts. The only place she is lacking is writing (she writes like a kindergartner) and history/government. But she's only 5 and Kindergarten doesn't even teach that. So this weird concept on Slashdot that th== dumb is plain academic intolerance in action.
Well, you can teach him to make things that blow-up and things that burn through counter-tops. Thatt ought to maintain the attention and interest of a ten-year-old boy, for many years to come!
Seriously, try Aurora Lipper's site. She produces age-level appropriate, experimental science education for home schoooling and kid's programmes.
http://www.superchargedscience.com/
Science teachers, in underfunded districts use this, too.
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Virtually all of the home-schooled kids I know are at least as well educated as their public school counterparts. I know one that finished Calc II while still at home, and he plays the French horn beautifully well. (I haven't heard what college degree he graduated with, but I'd be shocked if he didn't ace it.) But this same kid believes that dinosaurs never existed. He can go forth in this world and will no doubt succeed in any field he chooses. He'd make a fine engineer, or lawyer, or mathematician. He'll probably go on to be a deacon in his church some day. But I also can pretty much guarantee you he won't choose a career in paleontology. And I don't think he'll be teaching biology, geology, or astronomy if he thinks god created the universe 6,000 years ago, because those professions simply wouldn't fit with his worldview. I'm good with that.
While having a religious upbringing may sound like it correlates to success, I'd postulate that the primary reason the kids you and I know who are succeeding is because their parents have cared greatly about their children's success for their entire lives. And I consider home schooling to be prima facie evidence of parents who care. Parents who use the schools as babysitters, as surrogate parents, as the disciplinarians, or to provide their moral compasses, those who abdicate their own responsibilities for raising their children, they're far more likely to have the kids that don't reach their potential. And that comprises a depressingly large percentage of kids.
John