Home schooling the JREF way

[Alareth]

Over on PZ's blog there is a discussion of a recent article on the religious leaning of available materials for home schooling. Since there are a small percentage of people that homeschool for other reasons, it's hard for them to find science based textbooks to use.

Someone commented that they would like to see NCSE, JREF or CFI release an accredited home school curriculum for people that want to teach something other than Goddidit to their kids.

So, my question is, if JREF were to publish a curriculum for a home school education what should it include?

[h.g.Whiz]

ABC's, 123's, Do Ra Me's , and Philosophies.

[tyr_13]

Why don't they just buy some books that the schools use?

[quarky]

I know lots of home-schooled kids. Very many of them are wildly successful, compared to their school-going peers.

From what I've seen, the advantage of homeschooling is that you get out of the way and allow your kid to learn. Most are hungry for knowledge. Public schools often inadvertently repress a kid's natural curiosity, and force them to compromise their intelligence for adult approval. Obedience is the lesson being taught.
The other stuff is easy to learn, in much less time, especially if the parents aren't total jerks.

In rural Appalachia, for instance, 2 hours of the kid's school day is focused on behaving on the bus. Yet, no one seems to notice or care.
Toss in study hall; homeroom; lunch; gym...you're left with the Emperor's new edu-ma-cation.

Too bad we generally hold this sham in such high esteem. Its pathetically inefficient.
Otoh, school is nice as far as getting your kids out of your hair for 8 hours of the day.

But who wants to admit that?
A curious, normal, un-traumatized 10 year old could easily learn all that is required in an hour a day at home, given an encouraging, loving environment.

Such kids, true, they don't really learn how to walk in the halls without drawing demerits; nor do they learn how to deal with the cruel bastards that give them 'noogies' at the bustop. They might even be deprived of the knowledge that their clothes are worthy of torture, or how to cajole their strapped parents into buying the expensive jeans they need to be popular.

Sorry for the rant, folks, but in retrospect, school was designed to inhibit learning.
The brick walls are effective at keeping knowledge out.

[h.g.Whiz]

Dallas Independent School District's budget is about 2.3 billion dollars. I wish I had $40,000 each year to teach my own kids. At home the ratio would be 2 teachers to 4 students, at school its 1 teacher to 30 students. Teachers are getting in the habit putting their job off on the parents anyway in the form of homework.

[BobTheDonkey]

Dallas Independent School District's budget is about 2.3 billion dollars. I wish I had $40,000 each year to teach my own kids. At home the ratio would be 2 teachers to 4 students, at school its 1 teacher to 30 students. Teachers are getting in the habit putting their job off on the parents anyway in the form of homework.

And Parents are in the habit of pawning off their parental duties on the teachers.

It goes both ways.


I will say this: Homeschooling taught me how to learn/teach myself. Public schools are important for the intersocial skills children learn.

[DC]

Home schooling the JREF way, with forum trolls and all that? :D

[Shrike]

Why don't they just buy some books that the schools use?

Wouldn't they do that if it were that simple?

[a3sigma]

So, my question is, if JREF were to publish a curriculum for a home school education what should it include?

I would build the science curriculum around:

The Ring of Truth: An Inquiry into How We Know What We Know by Phillip Morrison

and

The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski

books and videos.

[blutoski]

Over on PZ's blog there is a discussion of a recent article on the religious leaning of available materials for home schooling. Since there are a small percentage of people that homeschool for other reasons, it's hard for them to find science based textbooks to use.

Someone commented that they would like to see NCSE, JREF or CFI release an accredited home school curriculum for people that want to teach something other than Goddidit to their kids.

So, my question is, if JREF were to publish a curriculum for a home school education what should it include?

I think the problem is that the curriculum should also be relevant to the region's academic system or there's no point.

This is why I agree with tyr_13's suggestion: start with the school district's textbooks.

Most school districts support the homeschooled students as much as possible. Parents seeking external resources are often doing so because they *don't* want their kids to learn the normal material, which also happens to be pretty much what skeptics want kids to learn.

My guess is that the scenario outlined in the PZMyer's blog was a parent who simply wasn't aware that the school district was a homeschooling resource, and thought she had to subscribe to some alternative textbook supplier in order to homeschool.

[The True Scotsman]

To start to form a curriculum, I believe it is best to start by brainstorming subject areas, so I will begin a list (feel free to add to it):

I. Natural Science
1. Geology
2. Biology
3. Astronomy
II. Social Science
1. Economics
2. History
3. Sociology
4. Psychology
III. Mathematics
1. Basic (including addition, subtraction, multiplication, logic, etc)
2. Algebra
3. Calculus
4. Trigonometry
5. Geometry
6. Statistics
IV. Humanities and Arts
1. Philosophy (including fallacies and paradoxes)
2. World Religions
3. Visual Arts
4. Music
V. Literature and Language
1. Grammar
2. Spelling
3. Literature
VI. Foreign Language
1. French
2. Spanish
3. Latin

[blutoski]

Wouldn't they do that if it were that simple?

If they knew about it.

I don't see anything on the blog page saying that it was even attempted.

Start with the low-hanging fruit.

Just as an example, when I wanted to learn the content of a particular art history course that was being taught at UBC, I looked up the syllabus and bought the texts from a used textbook store. It seems like the first logical thing to do if you want to get a close approximation of the learning goal, but throug an alternative route.

[Arisia]

I'd add Geography to the list of Social Sciences.

To start to form a curriculum, I believe it is best to start by brainstorming subject areas, so I will begin a list (feel free to add to it):

I. Natural Science
1. Geology
2. Biology
3. Astronomy
II. Social Science
1. Economics
2. History
3. Sociology
4. Psychology
III. Mathematics
1. Basic (including addition, subtraction, multiplication, logic, etc)
2. Algebra
3. Calculus
4. Trigonometry
5. Geometry
6. Statistics
IV. Humanities and Arts
1. Philosophy (including fallacies and paradoxes)
2. World Religions
3. Visual Arts
4. Music
V. Literature and Language
1. Grammar
2. Spelling
3. Literature
VI. Foreign Language
1. French
2. Spanish
3. Latin

[tyr_13]

I really wouldn't include Latin unless the kid ends up being interested in the Romance language roots. Much better to study one of the Asian living languages.

[The True Scotsman]

I really wouldn't include Latin unless the kid ends up being interested in the Romance language roots. Much better to study one of the Asian living languages.

Yeah, I was simply throwing out the common high school foreign languages.

[The True Scotsman]

I thought of 2 more entries for natural science:

4. Chemistry
5. Physics

[h.g.Whiz]

What about Health and Nutrition ?

[Shrike]

If they knew about it.

I don't see anything on the blog page saying that it was even attempted.

Start with the low-hanging fruit.


Yeah, sorry.
Currently at work, I'm surrounded by people who, everytime there is a problem, situation or whatever comes up, always come up with something like 'why don't you just' or 'why don't they just'. Their solution usually is simple, short and wrong. I just lashed out.

[ORUgrad]

A curious, normal, un-traumatized 10 year old could easily learn all that is required in an hour a day at home, given an encouraging, loving environment.

EVIDENCE???

What is "all that is required?" The public school system is plagued with the same inefficiencies as the rest of government run entities are. The school system is not "designed" to inhibit learning.

[Paradox74]

I'd add Geography to the list of Social Sciences.

To start to form a curriculum, I believe it is best to start by brainstorming subject areas, so I will begin a list (feel free to add to it):

I. Natural Science
1. Geology
2. Biology
3. Astronomy
II. Social Science
1. Economics
2. History
3. Sociology
4. Psychology
III. Mathematics
1. Basic (including addition, subtraction, multiplication, logic, etc)
2. Algebra
3. Calculus
4. Trigonometry
5. Geometry
6. Statistics
IV. Humanities and Arts
1. Philosophy (including fallacies and paradoxes)
2. World Religions
3. Visual Arts
4. Music
V. Literature and Language
1. Grammar
2. Spelling
3. Literature
VI. Foreign Language
1. French
2. Spanish
3. Latin


How about Logic and Computer programming?

[MarkCorrigan]

I would add Politics to the Social Sciences list. Make it a course where the students will learn how government works, the way the systems of the US, UK and a few others are set up, and not teach who they should vote for.

[Fnord]

ABC's, 123's, Do Ra Me's , and Philosophies.
^ This ^

Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Reason.

Throw in the secular version of history, a classical musical instrument and music theory, a cooking lesson or two, and basic law (civil, contract and criminal), and home-schooling will produce more than the next generation of inbred religious fanatics.

[The True Scotsman]

I would add Politics to the Social Sciences list. Make it a course where the students will learn how government works, the way the systems of the US, UK and a few others are set up, and not teach who they should vote for.

Hmm...I'm not sure how necessary a pure Politics class is, since a lot of it would inevitably be covered by History, Sociology, Economics, and Philosophy.

[John Albert]

I think a valuable methodology would be to teach kids the basic intellectual tools for doing research. Then whenever they have a question, resist the urge to just blurt out the answer. Instead, instruct them in good practices for researching the answer for themselves. Of course another component to this would be to teach them critical thinking and deductive reasoning skills, so they'll be able to verify their own answers through deduction and/or experimentation.

For example, here's one of the most memorable lessons of my own childhood: When I was about 5 or 6 years old, our family was browsing a neighborhood garage sale and I saw an optics set. I begged my parents, and they bought it for me.

Upon getting it home, I discovered an assortment of lenses, mirrors, and prisms, some hardware for mounting them, and a variety of plastic tubes. The instructions were lost however, so I had nothing to guide me except my own imagination. The first thing I built was a simple telescope using the largest convex lens in the kit. When I looked through my new telescope, I was dismayed to discover that everything appeared upside-down.

I brought it to my father and asked "Dad, why does everything look upside-down through my telescope?" My father's reply came in the form of another question: "What do you think is making everything appear upside-down?" He took the lens out of the telescope and held it up about midway between his face and mine. I looked through it and his image appeared upside-down in the glass.

I immediately answered, "Is it the lens?"

He placed the lens back into the telescope and said, "Okay, if the lens is the thing that's turning the image upside-down, then what can you do to the telescope to make the image appear right-side up?"

I considered the problem. Of course, the answer is very simple and it would have taken my dad all of 10 seconds to tell me to stick another convex lens on there. But he wanted me to think about it and arrive at the answer on my own. He knew the exercise of figuring it out would be far more valuable to my intellectual development. Even when I asked him, "Should I add another lens?" he said, "Why don't you go try it, and see if it works?"

Successfully deducing the answer and then proving it correct through experimentation gave me the confidence to work through problems, instead of looking for easy answers.

[Dumb All Over]

1. Sensitivity Training
2. Underwater Basket Weaving
3. Bullying Etiquette
4. Political Correctness 101

[Arisia]

I would add Politics to the Social Sciences list. Make it a course where the students will learn how government works, the way the systems of the US, UK and a few others are set up, and not teach who they should vote for.

Civics would be more like it, rather than Political Science.

[Fnord]

1. Sensitivity Training
2. Underwater Basket Weaving
3. Bullying Etiquette
4. Political Correctness 101
5. Interpretive Dancing
6. Fashion & Accessories
7. Decorating & Landscaping
8. Makeup, Hair & Nails
9. Fast-Food Preparation & Serving
10. Shelf-Stocking, Cash Registers & Bagging

[John Albert]

1. The fine art of crafting believable excuses
2. The science of successfully diagnosing credulous marks
3. Passing the buck
4. Passing the blame
5. The finer points of talking a good game
6. How to exploit the foibles of others into profitable opportunities
7. Perfectly timing the "blow off" to maximize profits yet narrowly escape justice
8. How to creep around in the dark undetected
9. The art of forgery and information manipulation
10. How to turn States' Evidence

[a3sigma]

I'm astonished that no one has yet mentioned weapons, tactics, or survival training. Nor any useful arts as woodworking or metalworking.

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." Robert Heinlein

[Foolmewunz]

French should be an elective. Replace it with Mandarin.
Add in some practical life skills like cooking, wood or metal shop.
Something on film/computers/media.
Maybe a Community Service qotient of some kind to assure that the kids are getting out and about and interacting and not sitting at home consuming volumes of books to pass the equivalency exam.


To start to form a curriculum, I believe it is best to start by brainstorming subject areas, so I will begin a list (feel free to add to it):

I. Natural Science
1. Geology
2. Biology
3. Astronomy
II. Social Science
1. Economics
2. History
3. Sociology
4. Psychology
III. Mathematics
1. Basic (including addition, subtraction, multiplication, logic, etc)
2. Algebra
3. Calculus
4. Trigonometry
5. Geometry
6. Statistics
IV. Humanities and Arts
1. Philosophy (including fallacies and paradoxes)
2. World Religions
3. Visual Arts
4. Music
V. Literature and Language
1. Grammar
2. Spelling
3. Literature
VI. Foreign Language
1. French
2. Spanish
3. Latin

[The True Scotsman]

French should be an elective. Replace it with Mandarin.
Add in some practical life skills like cooking, wood or metal shop.
Something on film/computers/media.
Maybe a Community Service qotient of some kind to assure that the kids are getting out and about and interacting and not sitting at home consuming volumes of books to pass the equivalency exam.

I'm surprised the guy living in Hong Kong suggested Mandarin instead of Cantonese. :p

But serious, Mandarin would most likely be useful, though probably more challenging to a student who is accustomed to a European language, unless the student is very young.

"Practical life skill" I'd think would be more the realm of parental duties, but that more on a general basis. It would have to depend on the subject area.

Film/computer/media I wouldn't throw all into one category. Computer knowledge is important, but film/media, I don't think is so necessary, at least not for the majority of people. Film seems like it should be an elective rather than a requirement.

I don't know about Community Service, per say, but being active would be important. I'd say have the student join community organizations like a local community sports team.

[John Albert]

How to eat a healthy diet and cook a variety of foods, how to build and make repairs to a home, how to wash your own clothes and clean your house, how to set economic priorities and plan a budget. Basic stuff, but important for any human being.

[Foolmewunz]

I'm surprised the guy living in Hong Kong suggested Mandarin instead of Cantonese. :p

But serious, Mandarin would most likely be useful, though probably more challenging to a student who is accustomed to a European language, unless the student is very young.

"Practical life skill" I'd think would be more the realm of parental duties, but that more on a general basis. It would have to depend on the subject area.

Film/computer/media I wouldn't throw all into one category. Computer knowledge is important, but film/media, I don't think is so necessary, at least not for the majority of people. Film seems like it should be an elective rather than a requirement.

I don't know about Community Service, per say, but being active would be important. I'd say have the student join community organizations like a local community sports team.

Cantonese is as valid in Asia as Quebecoise is in North America.
The others are thoughts of stuff I'd like to see home-schooling think of in lieu of some of the things that school-schooled kids get in their electives and play periods and such. Not all of them are of equal significance, but I think they lead to a well-rounded child/adolescent/adult. (Oh, and I lumped the media stuff together because people tend to think of The Fine Arts with upper case letters and the art forms of the last fifty years have really been electonic/communications media based.)

[h.g.Whiz]

OK, we got subjects, where do we go from here ?

[daenku32]

1. The fine art of crafting believable excuses
2. The science of successfully diagnosing credulous marks
3. Passing the buck
4. Passing the blame
5. The finer points of talking a good game
6. How to exploit the foibles of others into profitable opportunities
7. Perfectly timing the "blow off" to maximize profits yet narrowly escape justice
8. How to creep around in the dark undetected
9. The art of forgery and information manipulation
10. How to turn States' Evidence

Ah, the management track.

But shouldn't a realistic list include cooking and cleaning as well. Plus comprehensive sex ed.

[roger]

While we are at it, why don't we design a nuclear reactor in a thread?

Okay, a bit too snide, but honestly, a thread to design a curriculum?

People get masters and doctorates in this field, and generally have vast practical experience before designing a whole curriculum. Sure, you can find counterexamples, but I kind of think you'll find those counterexamples consist of what the OP is complaining about.

[kellyb]

The expensive option:
http://www.k12.com/what-is-k12/

The cheaper alternative:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=%22Learn+at+Home%22

The skeptical bonus would only really apply in later years, but would include teaching the art of how to use wikipedia (reference checking, etc) and familiarity with Google Scholar, IMO. With Google Scholar's "search by dates" function one can trace the evolution of specific scientific knowledge, reading the original full text research, how experimental designs were improved over time to hone in on specific effects (and why; the discussion section explain the weaknesses a lot of times and the "cited by" function will take you to research that corrected for those weaknesses), and things of that nature.

It would be cool if some skeptical organization would create a framework curriculum for this, and maybe break it down into various "realms" of science...something for kids/teens into psychology, some for kids into math/physics, some for kids interested in biology/medical science, etc.

Also, an education in the various cognitive biases are probably an essential part of a hyper-skeptical education. Moreso than the logical fallacies, even.

[Audible Click]

Two of my grandchildren are enrolled in e-Learning because they spend most of the year in Malaysia. When they are in town they go to the actual school so they can socialize with the other kids, go on field trips etc. Every child is required to have their own laptop computer even in pre-K. The curriculum is aligned to state and national standards, so the parents can rest assured that the student will learn all the necessary skills to advance to the next grade. Quizzes and tests are graded automatically. Real time reports are available to parents, teachers and administrators at any time. The curriculum was the foremost concern of my daughter and her husband as they wanted the kids (twin girls) to have the best home schooling available.

According to my daughter the twins are doing well and when they are in the US they love going to the actual school. They are about to go into first grade and, from what I can tell, are learning all the necessary things and a bit more.
Below is the curriculum for e-Learning. There are choices out there for parents who home school and want to avoid religion/creationism being taught.

eLearningK12's Elementary Curriculum for grades K-8 includes personalized, web-based lessons in language arts, math, science, social studies, and the arts, as well as hands-on projects and offline learning. Also included in this package is access to eLearningK12's custom courses in language arts, math, and Louisiana history. Students also have access to online typing lessons, reading comprehension lessons, and spelling lessons and games customized by their education consultant.

eLearningK12's High School Curriculum for grades 9-12 includes personalized, web-based lessons in the following areas: English 1, English 2, English 3, English 4, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Physics, Pre-Calculus, Economics with Financial Math, Trigonometry, Biology, Chemistry, Earth/Space Science, Health, Integrated Physics and Chemistry, Physical Science, Civics, US Government, US History 1, US History 2, World Geography, and World History. High school level online typing lessons are also available.

Additional optional programs may be purchased including Reading Enhancement for students needing extra help or remediation in reading, foreign language courses in five languages for grades K-12, and additional high school electives.

Since my town's major industries are almost all oil field related (Yes, the oil spill is affecting us.) we have many people who spend almost all their time overseas the e-Learning schools have become an important educational resource for those who have no choice but to home school.

[samanthakayee]

I homeschool and I rent the text books from the school system. In my area Northern CA I do not even have to pay to rent them. If the book feels a bit bias we talk more about the subject. Like in History the point of view of the country that did not win the war. There is a big group that do Secular Homeschooling. Its just that the faith based groups are more in everyones face.

[Fnord]

Are there not enough workhouses and orphanages?

[blutoski]

Yeah, sorry.
Currently at work, I'm surrounded by people who, everytime there is a problem, situation or whatever comes up, always come up with something like 'why don't you just' or 'why don't they just'. Their solution usually is simple, short and wrong. I just lashed out.

Paradoxically, I'm sort of assuming it's too complicated for us to tackle, so fobbing it off a bit.

I have been asked to help out with skeptical homeschooling or tutoring locally, and it's important to understand what the kid needs to learn as core material for the standardized testing, and then secondly, to understand his career interests and supplement with that sort of material.

If the kid isn't really interested in these subjects and they're not required to pass the levels, loading up science topics sort of defeats the purpose of homeschooling as an investment in the kid.

Turns it into just as much a parent's projection / vanity project as a religious curriculum would be.