One interesting dynamic about home educating your child is that as parent/teacher you drive the educational boat, so to speak. Using your own cognitive ability as a parent, utilizing a variety of good counsel from the sources you select, perhaps even applying intuition and creative imagination as well as abilities and skills, you, as parent to your child, the one who birthed them into this world, actually customize your child's education. Homeschooling allows a parent to influence as well as significantly input into the education of their child, tailor it to the child's particular talents, needs, or individual stage of development or learning style. But opponents of homeschool and the whole homeschooling movement are never quite willing to give up on the money they can make educating kids. Parent partnerships are not enough. There's a new term for parents working "in partnerships" with schools: Hybrid Schooling.
It sounds too good to be true, -this "new" option in public education. a.k.a. "hybrid" school. It basically sounds as if it's simply the idea of making use of the best of the two worlds... "home" and "school." It sounds like it is all in favor of kids, (and their parents too,) as it is touted as the kind of publicly funded education, that allows for individual choices, a tailored educational process; but is it?How does this "new option" advantage those who "home school?"
Well, let's think this through: It is still publicly funded education... a.k.a. "public school." Pulblic school, as you may know, is continuously being paid for by, 1.) your ever-increasing. going-out-of -your-own-pocket, tax dollars, (your neighbor's pocket too!) and 2.) an already deficit monetary support system called THE national debt. In contrast to "homeschooling" which requires no public funding and puts that system at ease, hybrid schools are not "new." It is home-schooling, repackaged.
Home-based educators have always been keen on tailoring the educational process and utilizing various resources for their kids. Like the parenting partnership programs, these programs work more to increase the need for funding of the local public school while not only "sharing the wealth" but decreasing the public-schools established responsibility for education.
As an example, a "school board" is no longer "enough" with hybrid schooling. A hybrid schooling feature of public school need to have a hybrid school board. With home education, the parent is making those decisions about their child's education, not a board of directors; and it is not costing the public education system any salaries either to make it happen.
Another example is that many hybrids like
USC Hybrid, (from the Los Angeles area... USC/
"Ednovate." is also known as a "charter school)) are utilizing what is known as "Mastery Learning."
Mastery Learning first proposed in the late 60's is probably the impetus for a lot of the homeschooling movement that took place in the 1980's. It's the philosophy that began the destruction of real education because it really is about control... mind control. It's prime philosopher,
Benjamin Bloom had some specific objectives when he introduced this concept. His objective was not really teaching anything, but rather re-organizing, how children think.
Mastery Learning, as it is called, is nothing short of mind control; it is not real "education."
…a large part of what we call teaching is that the teacher should be able to use education to reorganize a child’s thoughts, attitudes, and feelings.”
Benjamin Bloom “Major Categories in the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives,” pg. 185
If you think "Mastery Learning" is the solution to education, think again. Note that Bloom is not interested in helping children get organized, but in reorganizing. Perhaps yyou have heard of the repacked version of this MAstery Learning concept? It is called,
Common Core.
Interestingly enough.... we now have
"hybrid" schools. If this concerns you, you might want to read this book...*(an oldie, but very informative)
Brave New Schools, by Berit Kjos, A Christian writer and education, (in the true-est sense of the word,) advocate. If this concerns you, remember... read and remember Proverbs Chapter 2:
Discretion shall preserve thee,
understanding shall keep thee:
It is good to be informed, especially on educational issues. Here are a few internet articles regarding this "hybrid" schooling to add to your understanding of what it is:
