{"id":1767,"date":"2013-09-16T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T08:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/09\/dcs-shows-why-we-home-school.html"},"modified":"2013-09-16T08:45:00","modified_gmt":"2013-09-16T08:45:00","slug":"dcs-shows-why-we-home-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/09\/dcs-shows-why-we-home-school.html","title":{"rendered":"DCS shows why we home school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Ten years ago we kicked around the idea of homeschooling. \u00a0But to be honest, back then it didn\u2019t have the best reputation. \u00a0Reading Mark Shea got me to kick it around more, since Mark seemed to have an almost idyllic setting with his homeschooled kids, stay at home wife, and his own domestic vocation. \u00a0As times evolved, and the public schools unraveled, I became concerned that my boys weren\u2019t being educated. \u00a0And there were many reasons we could pinpoint. \u00a0Problem was, I have a degree in Secondary Education, and have taught adults. \u00a0But I was not ready to teach elementary level, and at that time, I was the stay at home and my wife worked.<\/p>\n

Even so, before her position was cut, we began seriously to consider homeschooling. \u00a0And the main catalyst, the primary issue, was the treatment our second son got by the schools, and the resulting conversations that took place. \u00a0Our boys always did well in school growing up, but he was designated as \u201cgifted\u201d. \u00a0I never particularly like that, because we felt all the boys, if not all kids, are gifted in some ways. \u00a0But we went with it. \u00a0From early on, he was set aside with a group of students of like capabilities. They went through several years together, being pulled out of class and given special instruction.<\/p>\n

When they went to our intermediate school (itself with myriad problems), he was in a scheduled team along with the other gifted students. \u00a0He continued to impress, scoring high on his standardized tests and getting As straight across the board. \u00a0He particularly loved science, and talked of being a geologist. \u00a0We actually got him things revolving around geology and astronomy for his birthdays. \u00a0In 4th grade, he took a standardized test administered to high school freshmen, and outscored over 70% of 9th graders that took the same test. \u00a0He was good. \u00a0He was very good.<\/p>\n

And then my Dad died. \u00a0During that time, they had another round of tests, called the Terra Nova tests. \u00a0Because of the stress and strain, he didn\u2019t do as well as he normally did. \u00a0He didn\u2019t do badly, just not as well as normal. \u00a0He stilled aced the science part, scoring 98%, and getting one of the highest scores in his grade. \u00a0But he still didn\u2019t do as well overall. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, his scores were good enough to place him in the honors Math program when he advanced to 7th grade. \u00a0But he was booted from the Honors Science class, known as the Advanced Science Program for gifted students. \u00a0How could that be? \u00a0He did worse in his math and had one of the highest scores in his grade in science. \u00a0 He had a better science grade than some of his friends who were in the class. My oldest had also gotten As in science and almost all As through school, but hadn\u2019t been able to be in the program because of his science score on the tests. \u00a0What was going on?<\/p>\n

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Well, we were told, it was because of metrics. You see, the Science program was part of a different state funded category, and required different standards than the Math, which was simply based on test scores and grades. \u00a0To get the state funding, the schools had to develop \u2018a plan\u2019, and that had to include a metric for evaluation. \u00a0The state didn\u2019t develop it, each school district did. But the district had to have one. \u00a0And Delaware\u2019s was that a particular score was required in both science and math<\/i>. \u00a0He made the science, but missed the math, even if it was good enough for the Honors Math class. \u00a0And because no attention was given to grades, that was it. <\/p>\n

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The problem was, not only did he miss out on that class, but his schedule had to be recalculated, with him being pulled from those friends he had spent years with. \u00a0As they went on science field trips and special retreats, he was left behind. <\/p>\n

I took it to the person in charge of the gifted program. \u00a0I took it to the principal of the school. I went to the members of the school board and superintendent. \u00a0But no dice. \u00a0I was told that\u2019s how the ball bounces, sometimes life depends on a single moment. \u00a0They offered him the chance to retake the tests, but he dug in his heels. \u00a0What about my grades?, he asked. \u00a0How about straight As my whole life? \u00a0Didn\u2019t matter they said. \u00a0When I objected that this suggests his grades in school didn\u2019t matter, the head of the gifted program told me they didn\u2019t. \u00a0That crushed my son. \u00a0I objected and told the superintendent what I\u2019d been told. \u00a0And he more or less confirmed that they didn\u2019t. \u00a0According to him, if it wasn\u2019t for military academies, we\u2019d do away with grades. \u00a0After all, he said, we don\u2019t think all those kids who are getting As are really getting As do we? \u00a0Because I was focused on the issue at hand, I didn\u2019t pursue what he meant by that. But I have a feeling I know.<\/p>\n

So my boy was tossed out of the pack, left to stand on the sidelines and watch all his friends continue on together. \u00a0His grades unraveled. \u00a0So did the grades of my boys. \u00a0When I met with his teachers in the fall, they said they felt he was capable of more. \u00a0I told them the story. \u00a0Most of them hung their heads. \u00a0I said it was difficult to tell him to improve his grades since he would gleefully look back and me and say, \u201cI\u2019m sorry Dad, did someone say grades matter?\u201d<\/p>\n

The other boys lost their gumption as well. My oldest had already struggled in high school for other reasons. \u00a0But this just confirmed to them that it didn\u2019t matter. \u00a0Plus, our observation was that despite their getting As, they didn\u2019t seem to be as \u2018educated\u2019 as you would expect for all-A students. <\/p>\n

So it was that, despite the complete upheaval in our lives, despite surviving on a thread, we decided to go all out and go for broke and give our sons an education better than they were getting, and one in which, hopefully, they will feel the reward for a job well done. \u00a0 With that, I have to say, it comes with a little gloating to see on the local and Columbus news<\/a> that, in light of an evaluation of the Delaware City School district, in addition to getting an overall grade that was lower than expected, the Gifted Program at DCS received a whopping \u2013 hold on for it \u2013 F! \u00a0Yep. \u00a0And F grade. \u00a0Now we know. \u00a0I just wish this would have happened years ago. \u00a0Part of me so wants to write to the schools and say \u2018told you so!\u2019 \u00a0It\u2019s too bad my boys \u00a0had to be thrown under the bus before they figured it out.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago we kicked around the idea of homeschooling. \u00a0But to be honest, back then it didn\u2019t have the best reputation. \u00a0Reading Mark Shea got me to kick it around more, since Mark seemed to have an almost idyllic setting with his homeschooled kids, stay at home wife, and his own domestic vocation. \u00a0As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDCS shows why we home school<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ten years ago we kicked around the idea of homeschooling.  But to be honest, back then it didn't have the best reputation.  Reading Mark Shea\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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