Comments

• • Trevor K@trevorkr

  

  Trevor K November 24, 2020 - 1:10pm

  Nice find! Thank you Prof. Dron! I have bookmarked this for future inspection, looks like it might be a good resource for when I take my educational psychology course.

• • Michelle Dina Lee@michelledinale

  

  Michelle Dina Lee November 30, 2020 - 8:18am

  Thank you for the great openbook site. I bookmarked it for the educational resources I was looking for. 

• • Michelle Dina Lee@michelledinale

  

  Michelle Dina Lee December 4, 2020 - 2:55pm

  Dear Dr. Dron,

  I found some great books on K-12 education on the edtechbooks site you shared. Thank you.

  I consider my formal education on computer science and applied linguistics instrumental fields. I am looking into apply them, in a meaningful way, to the areas of direct social impact such as education, healthcare, and transportation. As for the education field, it happens to be linked to my personal life.  I am weighing pros and cons of home schooling. If possible, I'd like to get your insight on home schooling amid this pandemic.

  Any comment is highly appreciated.

• • Trevor K@trevorkr

  

  Trevor K December 4, 2020 - 3:36pm

  HI Michelle,

   

  I know you were reaching out to Dr. Dron, but if I can help as well I would be glad to. I was homeschooled for the latter part of my school years and could maybe share some insight on the viewpoint of the children.

• • Michelle Dina Lee@michelledinale

  

  Michelle Dina Lee December 4, 2020 - 3:44pm

  Hi Nicolosus,

  That's wonderful! Thanks and I look forward to hearing about your home schooling experience as a child. This is for my six-year-old girl. I am so afraid of this pandemic potentially spreading in schools.

• • Trevor K@trevorkr

  

  Trevor K December 5, 2020 - 10:48am

  Ya this pandemic has been hard on everyone...

  To summarize my school years, from K-5 I was in public school, from 6-12 I was homeschooled. I loved it! But I was also not your typical kid... I love to learn, and I learned at a faster rate than most of the other kids, I flourished in homeschooling as I could go at almost twice the pace. My school year was from October-April/May, and each day was from 8am-12pm. When I was older (14-16) I got jobs with local farmers, and also started lawn mowing for the older ladies who could not do it themselves. My last 3 years of school I worked extra hard and graduated a year early.

  So this was my experience, not your typical! I saw other homeschooled kids and familes with varying degrees of success, and my biggest take away was that if your child needs motivation and guidance, your going to need to invest. If your child is driven like I was, all my parents had to do was find good curriculum and buy it, I did the rest. So tailor your school envirenment to your children, learn how they learn best and work with that. Do some research as well on homeschooling curriculum, there are lots of resources out there, and a good curriculum will fill the gaps where you lack, and you'll probably learn some new things along the way too! Get the teachers guides too, if your going to school when your daughter is older too, solutions manuals for math are invaluable. Mostly, go with your instinct, you know your own daughter best, and obviously want the best for her so you will do great!

  Another tip with homeschooling, just because the books are closed and not in front of you, doesn't mean the learning and teaching have to stop! If your daughter shows an interest in "helping" in the kitchen (our son loves this, he is 3), teach her as you make dinner how things work. If you are adventurous, go hiking and teach about nature while you do it. Planning field trips are a great way to boost your childs learning if it is about what they are interested in.

• • Jon Dron@jond

  

  Jon Dron December 5, 2020 - 12:07pm

  I couldn't add anything on homeschooling that Nicolosus hasn't said far better! Yes, the huge advantage of homeschooling is that you can follow the vein of gold that is a child's curiosity far more effectively than when you have to follow a curriculum (though definitely worth having a menu of more conventional options and support for the trickier bits as needed). The social aspect, though, is really important - really useful to find other home-schoolers online or (especially) nearby and find ways to learn with others. The most inspiring person I ever met in this regard was Dale J Stephens, who was very young indeed when he did a keynote at a conference I was attending, probably more than 10 years ago. Very smart, delightful person, full of passion, and a great advert for the process. He had just founded Uncollege.org, which is a particularly brilliant resource for older kids and college-age students, though it has some very good resources that are valuable for pretty much anyone. Alas, his book on the subject (Hacking Education) is not open, but it's still worth reading.

  Jon

• • Michelle Dina Lee@michelledinale

  

  Michelle Dina Lee December 6, 2020 - 8:44am

  Nicolosus and Dr. Dron,

  Thank you so much for your valuable insight into homeschooling. Your comments are highly appreciated and very valuable to me.