Walking Therein

Parental Responsibility for a Child’s Education: Does Full-Day Kindergarten REALLY Make a difference? Or Does it Depend On Each Child’s Individual Learning Style and Personality?

2:55 PM, Friday, September 15, 2006 .. Posted in Are you Wondering If You Should Homeschool .. 4 comments .. Link

    There is discussion going on in Indiana about the benefits of full-day Kindergarten. At this time, the Governor has not mandated it, but I have heard of parents who are foaming at the mouth to “get their child out of their hair” and into the Full-Day class. Of course, as homeschoolers, who know the best place for children is with their parents, dh and I disagree with this opinion. “Research shows....” Well, I don’t place much faith in the DOE research. Considering how they are failing in most of the areas of educating minds, spirits and social skills... well, enough said. I just hope it doesn’t come to mandating, so that I won’t have to keep more unnecessary records for the state. (No, it isn’t a law we keep records in IN, but I am finding as a 13 yr. home educator with 2 senior high students that records are necessary.)

   I can only offer my own personal experience of full-day Kindergarten.
Our 2nd year of homeschooling, 1dd16 was in 1st Gr and 2dd15 was in KGrade. I used a textbook approach back then, because I didn’t know the benefits of - well, NOT. I also did not see the harm in allowing 2dd15 to go to Full-Day Kindergarten at our church Daycare. At that time, my Mom worked there as well as my sister, and I had worked there previously.   I was pregnant with 4ds9 at the time, and we had just moved the 1500 miles “back home“. I knew all of the teachers and knew 2dd’s teacher well. I knew the curriculum they were using was A Beka, and that was top of the line, so I felt like I was doing the right thing.

Fast forward to today....
   I am so very impressed with all of my children, and seeing our eldest daughters growing into womanhood is such a delight to me. They know and discern things I know they have gotten from their own interests and the Holy Spirit, not from me alone! With the exception of the 1 year of KGrade for 2dd, we have exclusively homeschooled. We did not do “full-day” any grade. They completed the lessons, with my help, if necessary, and when they were done, we were done.

   The fact that the only difference in how we educated our children is that 2dd15 went to KGrade gives me an opportunity to see if it gave one child an advantage over the other. What I see is that learning styles and ‘personalities’ kicked in after Kindergarten.

   1dd has better skills when it comes to getting her work done, because she is firstborn and has a different personality and make-up than 2dd15. She prefers to be in a room by herself and will get her lessons done without being told. She is currently doing her studies in a room with 2dd15 and 3dd12, off from the room the Littles are in, so she is able work with others around her. She thinks analytically and is good at math and business-type skills. She writes well, but does not spend as much time writing creatively as 2dd.

   2dd15 is not the self-starter in school that 1dd is. That being said, 1dd16 is not the self-starter 2dd is with keeping the home. 2dd also has more difficulty with understanding logical subjects like math. It only has to do with her bent and learning style, not her intelligence. It has to do with her experiences being different. She is, however, more artistically-inclined and prefers doing creative projects where her sis is more factual and logical. She also enjoys creative writing and could spend all day writing.

Truthfully, they compliment each other very well in our household.

   My point is that children are different. Here is the government and pss employees again saying they know what is best for each child, because we can formulate a child’s future based on statistics. NO. That is wrong. I know we live in a world where we have to make some guesses, and I absolutely understand that someone does have to take care of some of the children, because there are abusive parents or parents who will leave their children for someone else - or no one for that matter, to raise, so the State steps in. That does not change the fact that children do not fit into a mold.

   And, here we are back at the crossroads of Parental Responsibility. What exactly is that? Bear the child, feed and shelter the child... but, let the State raise him, shape his morals and his mind? Hmmm.... That sounds like the husband who goes to his job and makes the money, pays the bills, and then comes home (or not) to spend the rest of his time doing what he wants to do while his wife and children do what they want. Ok, that isn’t too far off from reality for some. In addition to that, how many people are unhappy about the pss and the way the gov’t spends money, but then give the Gov’t their child to raise?

   The ramifications of the Christian parent allowing someone else to train their child is altogether another ball of wax. Education is only a part of raising a child for the Believer. Allowing any other entity to shape the beliefs about God, family, purpose, life, etc. is sin. Any other entity covers everyone besides parents/guardian, i.e: gov’t, teachers, friends, coaches, pastors, - anyone. The parent is the one who is responsible to teach and train the child in the LORD and His Word. Apply the Bible to life, and teach the child from there. What I am saying is that a parent should know the ability of their child to discern truth before allowing the child to be put into a position where anyone else could influence his beliefs. That is the responsibility of the parent under God's authority.

There is an excellent post already written about this. Refer to my post, Homeschool, Government Homeschool and Public School, for the link.

There is also additional information I did not cover here about The Hidden Costs of All-Day Kindergarten Plan.

MANY BLESSINGS!

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Parental Responsibility for a Child’s Education: Does Full-Day Kindergarten REALLY Make a difference? Or Does it Depend On Each Child’s Individual Learning Style and Personality?

Doesn't "all-day" kindergarten really just mean...

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