6 ms·

I don't know much about the terminology here, but doesn't "homeschooling" generally imply "the parents determine what the kid gets taught, they just have to mak

I don't know much about the terminology here, but doesn't "homeschooling" generally imply "the parents determine what the kid gets taught, they just have to make it through finals" and "remote schooling" imply "while still following the school's syllabus"? That's a potentially big difference.

cblconfederate 5y ago
u re right -- i had the latter in mind. But if people do choose to become more mobile, they 'll still want their kids to follow a stable curriculum, which means essentially homeschooling (even if it means they follow the state-school classes of their home country)
vorpalhex 5y ago
We're in kind of an interesting time. It isn't weird for homeschooled kids to have a teacher brought in for specialized subjects. Many homeschool groups actually pool and will have parents teach different subjects. Remote learning seems like a good tool in the mix. It does lend to being more hybrid than pure "home school".
- treeman79 5y ago
  Wife is a Teacher and we have a mix of kids. Experience for school is that remote learning was nearly worthless for little ones. Improving for each grade level. School refuses to use remote leaning because of this. Our own experience was same. Older the kids the better it worked. We hired private tutors to keep youngest on target. The school was a waste.
  - vorpalhex 5y ago
    If you don't mind me peppering you with questions... + Would it have been better if remote sessions were smaller? Eg 1 on 1 or groups of 3? + How much did the remote software itself become a problem? Latency, tech issues, bad resolution? + Did you feel the content was suitable and tailored for remote learning?
    - treeman79 5y ago
      Someone who can’t really read is handed a computer. There is a dozen different applications and passwords. Kid knows none of them. The teachers know maybe half of them. The number of ways the kid can turn off wifi, disable the mouse or change computer language is amazing. Mute button took class a month to figure out. Headphones have their own mic button. Did I mention the kids can’t read, yet are expected to open the correct application or website.
rossdavidh 5y ago
Speaking as a parent whose daughter is homeschooled, I can say that many (most?) "homeschooled" students are getting at least some of the curriculum from a coop, company, or part-time school. The parents having to develop the whole curriculum was more common when homeschooling was a rarer thing; there are now lots of organizations (for-profit and otherwise) catering to them. Plus, homeschool coops give the kids more social interaction, which many families prefer. I think the big difference about "remote schooling" is that once you're doing that, it raises the question of "is my public school the one that is best at this, or should I use someone else?" In some cases they may be, but often they are not.
- ThePadawan 5y ago
  Thanks for the valuable insights! I am German and thus have very different experiences. AFAIK home schooling in Germany is still illegal (as in "not being enrolled in a school at all") because it is (edit: in the opinion of the German state, not necessarily mine) basically essential to a child's development to be part of a social classroom experience. Seeing how (a vast majority of) schools are also free and ~good, my very clichéd understanding is that the only parents that want to home school their children are those with extreme religious or political opinions they want to foist upon them.
  - tnorthcutt 5y ago
    my very clichéd understanding is that the only parents that want to home school their children are those with extreme religious or political opinions they want to foist upon them. Anecdotally, this is incorrect. Source: we have homeschooled our child in the past (though we are not right now), and we do not have extreme opinions that we want to foist upon them. I realize I am a sample size of one, but you did say only.
    - pope_meat 5y ago
      I'm sure you don't, but we're mere mortals with biases and blind spots, one person's reasonable views are extreme to another. This is also anecdotal, but every nutcase I've ever met felt their views were reasonable and obvious. Maybe we're all nutcases, even.

cblconfederate 5y ago

u re right -- i had the latter in mind. But if people do choose to become more mobile, they 'll still want their kids to follow a stable curriculum, which means essentially homeschooling (even if it means they follow the state-school classes of their home country)

vorpalhex 5y ago

We're in kind of an interesting time. It isn't weird for homeschooled kids to have a teacher brought in for specialized subjects. Many homeschool groups actually pool and will have parents teach different subjects. Remote learning seems like a good tool in the mix. It does lend to being more hybrid than pure "home school".

treeman79 5y ago
Wife is a Teacher and we have a mix of kids. Experience for school is that remote learning was nearly worthless for little ones. Improving for each grade level. School refuses to use remote leaning because of this. Our own experience was same. Older the kids the better it worked. We hired private tutors to keep youngest on target. The school was a waste.
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  If you don't mind me peppering you with questions... + Would it have been better if remote sessions were smaller? Eg 1 on 1 or groups of 3? + How much did the remote software itself become a problem? Latency, tech issues, bad resolution? + Did you feel the content was suitable and tailored for remote learning?
  - treeman79 5y ago
    Someone who can’t really read is handed a computer. There is a dozen different applications and passwords. Kid knows none of them. The teachers know maybe half of them. The number of ways the kid can turn off wifi, disable the mouse or change computer language is amazing. Mute button took class a month to figure out. Headphones have their own mic button. Did I mention the kids can’t read, yet are expected to open the correct application or website.

rossdavidh 5y ago

Speaking as a parent whose daughter is homeschooled, I can say that many (most?) "homeschooled" students are getting at least some of the curriculum from a coop, company, or part-time school. The parents having to develop the whole curriculum was more common when homeschooling was a rarer thing; there are now lots of organizations (for-profit and otherwise) catering to them. Plus, homeschool coops give the kids more social interaction, which many families prefer. I think the big difference about "remote schooling" is that once you're doing that, it raises the question of "is my public school the one that is best at this, or should I use someone else?" In some cases they may be, but often they are not.

ThePadawan 5y ago
Thanks for the valuable insights! I am German and thus have very different experiences. AFAIK home schooling in Germany is still illegal (as in "not being enrolled in a school at all") because it is (edit: in the opinion of the German state, not necessarily mine) basically essential to a child's development to be part of a social classroom experience. Seeing how (a vast majority of) schools are also free and ~good, my very clichéd understanding is that the only parents that want to home school their children are those with extreme religious or political opinions they want to foist upon them.
- tnorthcutt 5y ago
  my very clichéd understanding is that the only parents that want to home school their children are those with extreme religious or political opinions they want to foist upon them. Anecdotally, this is incorrect. Source: we have homeschooled our child in the past (though we are not right now), and we do not have extreme opinions that we want to foist upon them. I realize I am a sample size of one, but you did say only.
  - pope_meat 5y ago
    I'm sure you don't, but we're mere mortals with biases and blind spots, one person's reasonable views are extreme to another. This is also anecdotal, but every nutcase I've ever met felt their views were reasonable and obvious. Maybe we're all nutcases, even.