Jump to content
IGNORED

Sarah Maxwell Report Card Advocate


FloraKitty35

Recommended Posts

http://articles.titus2.com/seven-important-reasons-why-homeschoolers-should-give-report-cards/?utm_source=155&utm_medium=288&utm_campaign=423

I understand that this was Mom's Corner last month, but Sarah reposted it, today.

7. HELPS CHILDREN ADAPT TO THE REAL WORLD

Sarah (Anna & Mary) would need a licensed therapist to help with that, not a report card from the Maxhell Academy, Dining Room Table Campus.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 56
  • Created
  • Last Reply
15 minutes ago, FloraKitty35 said:

http://articles.titus2.com/seven-important-reasons-why-homeschoolers-should-give-report-cards/?utm_source=155&utm_medium=288&utm_campaign=423

I understand that this was Mom's Corner last month, but Sarah reposted it, today.

7. HELPS CHILDREN ADAPT TO THE REAL WORLD

Sarah (Anna & Mary) would need a licensed therapist to help with that, not a report card from the Maxhell Academy, Dining Room Table Campus.

No, no, no! That would be Flowing Streams Christian Schoo, the Maxwells very own “non-accredited private school." <eyeroll>

Yeah, a report card might be helpful if any Maxwell had a real-world job where they were subject to performance evaluations. Otherwise? Not so much. Unti CEO Steve actually DOES hold performance reviews… It wouldn't surprise me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And yet, didn't someone find a Corner from many years ago that said report cards were pointless for homeschoolers? I wonder why the change?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A complete flip flop. Years ago, Teri wrote a corner about the non-necessity of reports cards. She said something like the parents knew how the kids were doing since they were the teachers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes I remember Teri recommended report cards, and then they were asked if they still did them with their last homeschoolers and Steve (maybe) replied that they didn't see the point of them and stopped doing them. Confusing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, via the Wayback Machine, they wrote this on the Master Lists section of their site in 2010;

Report Cards

We no longer give our school-age children report cards. We found them simply to be busy work for Teri, without any real purpose since a report card is designed to give parents information about their child’s academic progress. Teri was aware of how the children were doing in their school work because of her close involvement in their schooling. Our newest book, Managers of Their Schools: A Practical Guide to Homeschooling, has information on many practical aspects of homeschooling: from keeping track of school hours, to planning for school, to school assignment sheets, and so much more. For more information on the book, please click here.

 

So now Teri has not only changed her mind (or had it changed for her), but they're even offering free customizable report cards.

IDK, I always assume the Maxwells are up to something when they start writing Corners and posts pushing something. 

Between this, and things like The Young Presenters videos, I wonder if they're not planning something like marketing their own curriculum.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a student at Christian school who started in tenth grade after being homeschooled for all years prior. His reading level was drastically below grade level; he could not write even a simple sentence; and though he knew basic math facts, he could not do even the most basic algebra or geometry (even though mom claimed she taught both). 

The principal had a meeting within weeks with all of his core teachers and the mother to discuss how far behind he seemed to be and get her to approve some testing to determine where he was and if there were learning disabilities to consider. At the meeting, mom acted incredibly confused and repeatedly assured us that when she did all of this stuff in home school, he "did great and got all A's". 

I'm not sure I would take a homeschool report card from religious homeschoolers too seriously. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For homeschoolers, I can see good arguments for and against report cards. In theory, a report card is supposed to measure how your kid is doing compared to the 30 other kids in her class according to the standards set by the teacher (an experienced professional). If a homeschooled kid is getting straight As, it can mean she truly is excelling academically. But it can also mean she's one of those special snowflakes whose parents think everything she does is wonderful. ("Yay, Bella! You wrote your name on your paper. Here's an A and a gold star!") If the homeschooled kid's report card shows that she is flunking everything, that tells me more about the parent/child relationship (i.e. it sucks) than it does about the child's ability or performance. 

If the homeschooling involves taking a correspondence course, an online course, or if the grades are based on standardized test scores, then a grade on a report card is more meaningful. Ditto if the parents are closely following a prescribed curriculum or using some other objective measure-- Bella gets a B in math because she took the tests at the back of the book and scored an average of 86 percent; Bella gets an A in spelling because she took the spelling tests in the book and averaged 97 percent.

With the kind of homeschooling the Maxwells do, a report card wouldn't be meaningful. Mary gets an A in biology using an A Beka book where Steve crossed out the offensive/defrauding passages with a black marker? John gets only a C in math because of his "wrong attitude"? Everyone's grade in Bible Studies is based on how well he/she can memorize passages and copy them into a notebook; never mind if they actually understand or remember any of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe this post is a harbinger of a new product they want to sell.  Although they did offer the report card templates for free.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As with all things Maxhell, it's a solid case of "do as we [Steve] says, and not as we do". They didn't like report cards because it was just another weight dragging on the fragile threads of Teri's sanity. Now that THIRTY YEARS OF HOMESCHOOLING(™) is behind her, they are happy to shill a new crap packet system to the masses, complete with arbitrary evaluation cards that will help prepare children for life experiences they'll never have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So homeschool isn't part of the real world?  Well that's not at all insulting to homeschoolers!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, louisa05 said:

I had a student at Christian school who started in tenth grade after being homeschooled for all years prior. His reading level was drastically below grade level; he could not write even a simple sentence; and though he knew basic math facts, he could not do even the most basic algebra or geometry (even though mom claimed she taught both). 

The principal had a meeting within weeks with all of his core teachers and the mother to discuss how far behind he seemed to be and get her to approve some testing to determine where he was and if there were learning disabilities to consider. At the meeting, mom acted incredibly confused and repeatedly assured us that when she did all of this stuff in home school, he "did great and got all A's". 

I'm not sure I would take a homeschool report card from religious homeschoolers too seriously. 

Is it bad that I read this and wondered if this students last name happened to be Shupe?  :pb_confused:

I can see Erika at a similar meeting telling the principal that her teaching isn't the problem because her kids were "soaring past the requirements" when they were homeschooling.  And it's totally fine that a 12 year old can't spell "mommy."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Justme said:

A complete flip flop. Years ago, Teri wrote a corner about the non-necessity of reports cards. She said something like the parents knew how the kids were doing since they were the teachers.

I wonder if now that they are grandparents, they want some sort of way to check up on their kids  and grandkids.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

53 minutes ago, AbandonAllHope said:

Is it bad that I read this and wondered if this students last name happened to be Shupe?  :pb_confused:

I can see Erika at a similar meeting telling the principal that her teaching isn't the problem because her kids were "soaring past the requirements" when they were homeschooling.  And it's totally fine that a 12 year old can't spell "mommy."

I can see where you're coming from, but there is no way in hell that Erika would ever let her kids go to school. Public schools are way too ungodly and private schools probably are too, since they don't follow the exact belief system Erika does. Plus private schools would be too expensive for them anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

I can see where you're coming from, but there is no way in hell that Erika would ever let her kids go to school. Public schools are way too ungodly and private schools probably are too, since they don't follow the exact belief system Erika does. Plus private schools would be too expensive for them anyway.

Oh, I know that.  It just popped into my head because Erika is so sure she's doing such a great job of teaching her kids, yet the evidence we've seen shows otherwise.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

58 minutes ago, mango_fandango said:

I can see where you're coming from, but there is no way in hell that Erika would ever let her kids go to school. Public schools are way too ungodly and private schools probably are too, since they don't follow the exact belief system Erika does. Plus private schools would be too expensive for them anyway.

Erika and the Shupes live in the same area as my cousins.  There really aren't many good private options (if any), especially for higher grades.  They would have gone to my cousins' high school for sure, and while it isn't the WORST high school out there, it's definitely not a place I would want to send my kids.  

Not going to lie, I would seriously consider homeschooling if I lived out there.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, Georgiana said:

Erika and the Shupes live in the same area as my cousins.  There really aren't many good private options (if any), especially for higher grades.  They would have gone to my cousins' high school for sure, and while it isn't the WORST high school out there, it's definitely not a place I would want to send my kids.  

Not going to lie, I would seriously consider homeschooling if I lived out there.  

Fair enough on the homeschooling if you live in a shit area. But even if Erika lived somewhere with decent schools, no way would Erika send her precious muffins there. It's nothing to do with area, it's all to do with the fact that public schools are too ungodly and you even get atheists/Muslims/etc going there, no prayer or Bible study, lessons aren't intrinsically linked to God etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it's interesting, because a lot of those points are good. Homeschool parents should keep themselves accountable, report cards do offer tangible proof to the kids that they're progressing and can act as positive or negative re-enforcement and so on.

It's just that I can't take it seriously because Teri never actually practised any of that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haven't report cards moved on a bit, since Teri last thought they were useful?

Here in the UK you get a booklet with detailed description of the child's attainment in each subject area, and commentary on progress, attitude, pointers for improvement,etc.  Teri's cards look like the ones we used to get in the seventies, with a single letter grade for each subject. :my_confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, blessalessi said:

Haven't report cards moved on a bit, since Teri last thought they were useful?

Here in the UK you get a booklet with detailed description of the child's attainment in each subject area, and commentary on progress, attitude, pointers for improvement,etc.  Teri's cards look like the ones we used to get in the seventies, with a single letter grade for each subject. :my_confused:

Not sure, but I think report cards are still like this in the US.

(I'm in the UK too! :))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, CyborgKin said:

So homeschool isn't part of the real world?  Well that's not at all insulting to homeschoolers!

Wait, what?  Who actually said this? 

10 hours ago, Dark Matters said:

Maybe this post is a harbinger of a new product they want to sell.  Although they did offer the report card templates for free.

But haven't report cards moved on a bit, since Teri last thought they were useful? :my_biggrin:

Here in the UK you get a booklet with detailed description of the child's attainment in each subject area, and commentary on progress, attitude, pointers for improvement,etc.  Teri's cards look like the ones we used to get in the seventies, with a single letter grade for each subject. :my_confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

27 minutes ago, blessalessi said:

Wait, what?  Who actually said this? 

By implication that homeschoolers using report cards helps children adapt to the real world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, CyborgKin said:

By implication that homeschoolers using report cards helps children adapt to the real world.

I read the reference to "real world jobs" as being related to the world of work (and ceiling fan cleaning activities).  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, blessalessi said:

Wait, what?  Who actually said this? 

But haven't report cards moved on a bit, since Teri last thought they were useful? :my_biggrin:

Here in the UK you get a booklet with detailed description of the child's attainment in each subject area, and commentary on progress, attitude, pointers for improvement,etc.  Teri's cards look like the ones we used to get in the seventies, with a single letter grade for each subject. :my_confused:

Here in the U.S., the primary grades typically get report cards like you describe (ages 5-7/8). Intermediate grades often do as well (ages 8-11/12). Most middle schools and high schools (12-18 yr olds) get report cards with a single grade for each course. Some schools use percentage grades instead of letter grades and some use other marking systems (one large district I know of uses a number system of 1-5, 1 being the equivalent of an A), but they are all single grades. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.