Whose Standards Do We Follow?

In an article pertaining to standards that are set for students I found myself wondering what are my standards for my children as I homeschool. Although Wyoming does not have mandatory standardized testing for homeschoolers I sometimes feel the need to see where my kids rate in relation to their peers. Coming home from public school to be homeschooled in the 5^th and 7^th grade, testing is something that they and I have been used to. It is something that was expected yet dreaded. It wasn’t dreaded because we were afraid that our kids would be low on the scale, or that there were huge gaps in their learning. No, it was dreaded because it was hours and hours out of their school day that they had to sit working on the tests. That in itself wasn’t so bad, but they would get done with their tests long before the rest of the class and yet were not allowed to move on or work on something else.

We were always proud of our children however when they would bring home the results of the test. Both of my children were labeled as ‘gifted’ by the public school based on the results of these tests. That was a wonderful feeling, for them and for us as parents. One of the problems with the label however was that is was simply a label. There were no special classes or curriculum for the ‘gifted’ children in the schools that they attended. It was a problem to be labeled as needing special attention from the teachers and school and yet to receive none of the attention. Still, just the label was encouraging to both of my kids’ egos—and their parents’ egos…

When they came home to be schooled it was initially because of the lack of ‘special’ attention that they supposedly needed because they were above their peers in learning. (That and I really enjoy spending time with my children and just two hours a day with them being in public school was not enough.) The curriculum that I chose that first year included diagnostic tests for placing the kids in the correct or best level (grade) of the curriculum. Just another form of testing that we—the kids and I both—thought would place them higher than the public schools standard grades. After all, they were ‘gifted’.

What a shock we received! For the most part, each child placed ‘average’ on these diagnostic tests but on a few subjects they were up to two grades lower than the public schools! How could they be simply average or below their peers when the public schools had labeled them as ‘gifted’?

I don’t know why I let it bother me but for quite a while it did—a lot. There are many references to homeschooled kids being advanced compared to their public school peers. Admittedly, I strove to raise my children above the public school systems levels simply due to the fact that as homeschoolers they had a reputation to live up to!

As I look back on it, I laugh at myself for the way I thought. What was I doing?

In the article “Whose Standards Do We Follow?” in Home School Enrichment magazine Kimberly Williams questions following the worlds standards as homeschoolers. Granted the purpose of the article is to point out that instilling a love of God and His creation should be the reason behind schooling. Williams concludes that all subjects that we study should ultimately follow God and His Word. An example is language arts would be used first and foremost to be able to read the Word of God. After learning to read the Bible, language arts enables our children to build the skills necessary to share the Gospel with others. She also points out teaching home economics to a daughter is good for her own purposes—learning to sew, cook, and take care of a baby; these will help her when she is on her own. However, Williams says that it is also necessary to teach a daughter the traits and characteristics that are written in Titus, such as being sober, loving, chaste and obedient. By including these standards in teaching a daughter she will be of benefit to others as well as herself in her adult years. Not to mention the daughter will be pleasing to the Lord.

When I read the beginning of Williams’ article I was struck immediately by how much the public school system isn’t concerned about teaching our children to be individuals that will be useful to society by having Godly traits but rather to see how high the bar of academic excellence can be raised. I am sure there are those who are in immersed in the public schools will disagree with me about the ultimate intentions of the public school system. It would difficult to disagree that the majority of schools ‘teach to the test’ to increase their appearance on paper.

When the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) laws cropped up in the Clinton era, I cannot say whether school was effective in producing children that were what I would call productive, useful additions to society with Godly traits because that is when I was in public school. Of course, I feel that I have turned out okay but I am very aware of the lack of actual learning that took place in the public schools. I was ‘intelligent’, my teachers said. They labeled me as ‘gifted’ as well but did not push me to live up to my ability. I was book smart in school and that is all that was needed to be ‘gifted’ in the schools I attended. I could read, study little, and take a test. I would ace my tests almost every time. I am not bragging but bringing out a point. I wasn’t taught to use what I learned, just know it enough to pass the test.

With my first child, my first negative encounter with the public school system was because her birthday fell 20 days later than the cut off for starting school. She was so ready for school; she was thirsty for learning. I started to do pre-kindergarten from Calvert homeschool with her right then. My second child, my son, was in Head Start at the age of 3 because he was what they called ‘very smart’ and they wanted to give him the opportunity to get a head start (no pun intended!) on learning. Where were the advocates for my ‘very smart’ oldest child before that? What had happened was that the NCLB laws were really starting to be implemented. But the laws were to increase the numbers not to truly teach our children what they needed to know. My son, however, did not do well, at all, in Head Start and I pulled him out after only a few months of stress.

With my daughter in kindergarten, she learned to read shortly after starting but her teacher was in disbelief. The teacher did not feel that she could truly read because she had not been taught everything that she supposedly needed to be able to read. My son learned to read before entering kindergarten. The reason was because he was there when I taught my daughter the mechanics of reading, which she took with her to kindergarten. My second negative experience with the public school system standards was when my son went into kindergarten; his teacher was adamant that he could not read. She made him start at the beginning and by the end of kindergarten he no longer could read.

These two situations point out to me that the standards the public school uses to gauge students are very flawed. Each year in the school system, my kids were subjected to half a year of learning what they needed to know to pass the tests administered in the middle of the year. The purpose was to pass the test; make the numbers go up on paper. What a reason to ‘learn’ something!

Not only are the academic standards flawed, how do their character standards stand? What do they see as important?

Public schools seem to fluctuate with their character training and acceptable behavior standards. Each of the public schools that my children have attended promotes, on paper, that bullying is wrong, stealing is wrong, that being helpful to others is right and applying oneself to the best of their ability is great. However, they set a double standard. Quite often, even if not experienced directly by my own children, there were children that were bullied on the playground and yet nothing was done when the teachers were informed. Other children had at times taken what did not belong to them and the offended child was told to share. As for doing work to the best of their ability was drastically underscored by the teachers telling the child that work half-done was acceptable.

Should we as parents rely on the public school to set the standards for our children? but not only the public school but the publics standards in general. To quote Williams, “We want to know that what we have built into our children will last. It is those things that we must pursue and by those standards that we must live.”

I cannot say it any better than she does.

I want my children to be educated no doubt, but not just so they can ace a test and have an A on their report card or a high GPA. I want them to be able to think for themselves; to think about something before they act; to consider what is acceptable to God. The standards of the public are not the standards I want to follow in our home and our school.

Whose Standards Do We Follow?
an article by Kimberly Williams
Home School Enrichment Magazine
Issue #44 Mar/Apr 2010