How many home-school parents have teaching credentials?

Question

If a person has studied K-12 material and wishes to teach what has been learned to another person there should be no obstacles. As a high-school senior, age 17 and 18, I was given a task of being a teacher's assistant in a kindergarten classroom. The certified teacher spent her hours in the coffee room while I worked with the children.
Later as a graduate at age 18: I was asked to help teach children how to swim -- not knowing how to swim nor having any confidence in the water --- do you think they learned anything? They did. Each student in 4 classes for 1/2 hr each day learned entirely from *a non-swimmer*. By the end of the week they were all floating successfully, dog-paddling about in the water, and using beginning strokes to get to the rope and back.
If a non-swimmer such as I can teach children how to swim it must be less of a stretch of the imagination to realize that a graduate of K-12 material can successfully teach the learned material to anyone. Know it: Share

okay, okay.... honest, this is the last question I will post today. I do have a life beyond the computer.
Please answer the question IF you are the home-school parent or if you are the student of a home-school parent.
No guessing from those that don't know.... okay????? :-) Have fun!

Oh Polllydooodle, that is mean! Why would I let them drown? Besides, their parents were all right there watching... why would they let them drown? And on the main issue --- if homeschooling works well (very well!) without a parent having teaching credentials why would credentials make any difference? My students are finishing and done, they can do math through Algebra 2 and Calculus --- no gov't credentials here.... Is there no other credentials besides State mandated? If it ain't broke don't fix it. How many homeschoolers do we hear hollering for more money and smaller classrooms? Fix what is broken and agree that homeschooling works! You don't have to join us but some support would be nice.

down2earthsmiles:
Of course you can do it! Check into a local homeschool support group and find out everything there is to know about home-education. It is very worthwhile!

Wow, polllydooodle! you changed your answer! Well, I don't want a debate over teaching swimming lessons. You have assumed many things that are not in fact. Safety is always a concern and the children were never in any danger --- I was not arrogant, never have been, don't expect to be. Sorry if I give the wrong impression.
Parents hire teachers. Whether through the gov't or not. We are free to choose to use them or not. Please take some time to sit down with some kind hearted home-schooling souls and relax as you watch and listen. Maybe try it for a year. Find out just how good they are and see what a good job they are doing.
I have met many retired and current teachers that strongly support home-school as it is now in Oregon -- minimal contact -- 4 tests in 12 yr. No certification, etc. Personal friends (teachers) of ours recommend home-schooling over public and even private school. Many home-taught children are from secular families. Personal opinion does not change facts.

There should be a test for parents to be allowed to homeschool?????
We took all of those tests --- mine was rewarded with an high-school diploma. What is it that you really want?
Will you write the test and let us see it?
Who will get the revenue from the fee that we will pay?
Anyway, if you will write the test and it is truly pertinent to the needs of home-school students: I will take it!!!! But, don't ask me to pay for it please. We have a limited budget -- even after my husband's 4 jobs and my one. Our income is such that we should be living in a one bedroom duplex but with 2 children still at home, one married and one in college we do the best we can with living. The debt is astronomical -- as it is for MANY homeschoolers. Home-school costs more than you know. It isn't easy and it isn't a bragging right.
We use a program that is as cheap as we could go and still be confident that our children will gain strides in their studies.
www.robinsoncurriculum.com

Answer 1

I have teaching credentials. I honestly don't feel that they help me teach my kids in ANY way. Truly. My training was all about setting up unit studies for the prescribed curriculum, breaking textbooks down into school months, tying in different subjects together to be better able to cover everything, learning how to plan and give a lesson with a captivating intro to catch the entire class' attention, I had an entire course on classroom management, another on teaching phys.ed., designed entirely for a group setting, obviously, another course on assessment and what the difference was between assessment, evaluation, what should be counted in final grades given the course objectives, how to design proper tests in different formats... Things only applicable to teaching a group of kids.

Not that it was all a waste of time in terms of becoming a homeschooling parent. There were some great ideas on activities to do with kids, but just about all of that can be easily found in books or on the internet today. I had one fabulous professor who told us that we didn't need any textbooks to teach anything and to remember to treat them as tools. I may have been the only one in the class who really caught that idea because I kept in touch with a few after that and they all religiously followed the school textbooks for their programs. And it's probably the biggest help in terms of homeschooling. We did a bunch of courses on human development, psychology related to learning but most of the technical stuff you learn in those things, while interesting, aren't super helpful as a teacher.

I mentioned in other answers that here we don't study the specific subject matters we are going to be teaching in elementary and that it is also very common for a junior high teacher to be teaching a subject he or she doesn't even have a major or minor in. The expectation is that the teacher will learn what he or she needs to learn to implement the current curriculum, which may change in 5-10 years. It is expected that the teacher is a life-long learner and will participate in all the in-services and conventions and other things to keep improving their ability to teach in the classroom.

Teachers I went to university with as well as my husband and his family full of teachers do not think they are the only ones qualified to help a child learn. They know they've learned special skills to work in a classroom setting, but they've never presumed to think that those classroom skills made them superior to the average parent who wants to teach their child something.

Parents are capable of teaching their children how to count and identify colours and letters and even learn to read. Parents are capable of teaching their kids how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, identify geometric shapes, measure angles with a protractor... Parents are perfectly capable of reading a passage in a history book and explaining it to their child and if there's missing information, they know how to do research to find what they're looking for. Parents are capable of following directions for science experiments. Any parent not capable of that or unwilling to do or relearn what they may have forgotten is not a parent who is going to even be interested in homeschooling.

Added:
I was thinking about this last night. People have misunderstood the point of the credentials. The government set up a requirement for schooling and increased the amount of free (public) schools and had to have teachers hired. The teachers are in essence employees of the government, not the schools. With that mass responsibility, it's only natural that the government would want some minimum standard for those the schools are hiring. The credentials are about being allowed to teach in public schools. Of course it's a good degree that can be used elsewhere, but the main purpose of it is to be able to teach in a public school.

Answer 2

Wow that was nice food for thought. I have always been debating whether I should homeschool my kids. The only thing that stops me is that fact that I'm not a qualified teacher, could I really do it? What you said really gave me some hope and lots of encouragement to go ahead and just do it! I know my children better than anyone. They will benefit more with the one-on-one teaching as well....

Thanks. Really!

Have a nice day~!

Answer 3

I have a Bachelor's, but not in education. Surprisingly, in many states, an adult can get an "emergency" teacher's certificate based on life and job experience. The teachers kids have in public school may not even have "proper" credentials. I don't think that one MUST have teaching credentials to be able to teach one's own children. While I'm teaching my children, I am drawing from my own k-12 education, and if I don't know the answer, we look it up together.

Answer 4

I homeschool all four of my kids. I have a masters in computer science, but gave up working to teach tme, for it was the right thing to do for various reasons. I have never regretted it. As far as teaching credituals goes, well, I was a straight A student all the way. Anyone can teach something, even the dumbest person on earth knows one little thing. I learn daily as well, I believe teaching and learning is a lifetime affair.

Answer 5

I think all teachers should be certified ** home schooling or public, private or whatever.......you are lucky none of those children drowned.


PS: Dear Barb B.....I find it incredulous that anyone would allow a NON swimmer especially someone who had no confidence in the water to teach a group of children how to swim. You did not say adults were present.......Regardless there is so much to teaching swimming, that I will say it again.....you are lucky no one drowned.....No matter who was there it takes a second...just one second for anyone that cannot swim to drown. You are lucky you yourself did not drown. It was a very arrogant move on your part to put your life and the lives of children in danger.

http://www.relaxnswim.com/
Here is a very basic Dick and Jane read on how to swim....I hope you yourself have had lessons by now......It is difficult to teach children, I know I was a certified lifeguard for many years when I was in my twentires/thirties and much younger than I am now. I was raised at the beach community, so I worked at the beach and private swim clubs.......It is a major responsibility EVEN WITH ADULTS THERE - it takes only a second)........The good part at the beach was going surfing after the beach closed to swimmers......I surfed up until about 5 years ago, and plan on doing it again when I am feeling better.....


It is nice that at age 18 you were given the job of babysitting
kindergartners' while their teacher spent all her time in the coffee room........Come on now! A teacher would not spend all her time in a coffee room while leaving her class to a young assistant .....unless you were supervising drawing, or reading a book to his age group. A teacher must be present 99% of the time while supervising a assistant so no harm comes to the children (not that you would harm them, but if an accident happened the teacher is responsible legally - not you, and has to be there.............are you well versed in Advanced First Aide? in case a real emergency had happened?).http://homeschooling.about.com/od/kindergarten/ss/kindportfolio.htm Things this age group does.....does not take a rocket scientist.

I stick by what I said.......... a teacher should be certified.....Home Schooling is becoming a big thing for people that live far from schools, or just plain do not like the public schools, live in bad areas and want their kids to stay home, or are upper middle class and have stay at home mom's.......There should be a basic test for parents that are teaching at home. They don't have to go to college, but some test to show they have the education to pass it along....or as you say KNOW IT: SHARE

Calculus is difficult, do all home teaching parents understand it? I doubt it. If you have a bachelors degree you can get an emergency teachers degree......we are at a all time low in teachers and for that matter nurses.. But the public schools are good if you live in a good area. I went through public school, and then college, worked hard and got my masters...my son went to a great public school learned a lot, no problems.......now he is in a band and making a wonderful salary........It baffles my mind the amount of money people pay to hear his band play! (but he has played guitar since he was very very young ).....I worked full time and the schools were great......I feel that children need the interaction with other children....how else are they going to learn to social skills, meet friends? have play dates? hang out together? go to dances when they are older? dating? Movies?......They don't get this from home schooling.......



I have to admit home schooling is very big......I pulled this off the net and it is very PRO Home Schooling

Characteristics of families
Families that homeschool in the USA are quite different demographically. 94% are non-Hispanic whites (compared to 71% nationwide). 97% of parents are currently married. (compared to 72%) 62% have 3 or more children (compared to 20%). Nearly all the mothers are stay-at-home housewives. 58% are Fundamentalist in religion (compared to about 10%) 64% of fathers have college or postgraduate degrees (compared to 24%) Average income was $52,000 in 1997, (compared to $36,000)

Thus the profile is a group of well educated, high income white parents with several children and a possible strong commitment to fundamentalist religion.



I have my opinion on this but will keep it to myself........

Answer 6

I Homeschooled My Son through 4th grade, with High school Diploma... no teaching credentials... I live in TX.

Answer 7

My mum is a qualified teacher, but you don't need credentials, you just need to know what to teach them when.