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Does anyone here have their kids in a university model school (where the kids go to school 1-3 days a week, and are homeschooled the rest of the time)? Why did you choose this sort of school and what do you think of it?
Our twins just turned 3, and we are researching schooling options. I am considering homeschooling, but also like the university model because it means they'd have teachers for subjects I am not so good at (esp when older), socialisation (they already attend a playschool two mornings a week) and I do some work from home so it would be useful not to have them with me 24/7.
Do you feel it is a good schooling model for kindergarten, or more for older kids? How restricted are you as to the curriculum you teach at home, ie are you basically told what to teach?
I think it is a model set up for older children. The idea is that they school on a University schedule. Meaning, they would have Math and English, for instance, MWF and Science, History and Fine Arts TTH.
This is not the goal with a young child. Subjects such as math need to be daily. Work needs to be in smaller chunks of 10-20 minutes, not 1.5 hour courses (remember, little ones still have handwriting time, story time, etc.). The schedule each day should be somewhat the same. In addition, for most parents, homeschooling in elem. school is not a huge academic challenge. They can teach the work and find ample socialization in terms of play groups, scouts, dance lessons, sports, etc.
As children reach middle school and up, sciences, math, reaserch and foreign language come into play. The need to separate on some level from mom and dad increases and the desire and importance of peer relationships becomes crucial. University Model schools, for those homeschooled children, often meets the need to teaching complicated subjects at a school and providing for the peer interaction...while still allowing more time at home than they would have by going to a traditional school. The parents can find outlets for PE, for instance, and choose to teach history and math if that is their strong points, but sign up for other courses at the University Model school.
Does anyone here have their kids in a university model school (where the kids go to school 1-3 days a week, and are homeschooled the rest of the time)? Why did you choose this sort of school and what do you think of it?
Our twins just turned 3, and we are researching schooling options. I am considering homeschooling, but also like the university model because it means they'd have teachers for subjects I am not so good at (esp when older), socialisation (they already attend a playschool two mornings a week) and I do some work from home so it would be useful not to have them with me 24/7.
Do you feel it is a good schooling model for kindergarten, or more for older kids? How restricted are you as to the curriculum you teach at home, ie are you basically told what to teach?
Honestly, I have never heard of this. Many universities have "lab schools" that are private schools run by their education departments, and I know several people who went to such schools. However, they went on a traditional 5 day week schedule and had a fairly traditional curriculum, if perhaps a little experiential.
This is a link to one such high schoo where a couple of my friends wentl; my cousin went to an elementary lab school, but I couldn't find a link for it. It's possible it is no longer in existence. The Obama girls went to such a school in Chicago.
I currently have my children enrolled in a University Model School in Florida. The school is from Elementary through High School. It is FANTASTIC!!! I am relocating to Chicago and would love to know if anything exists like this over there, also???
I currently have my children enrolled in a University Model School in Florida. The school is from Elementary through High School. It is FANTASTIC!!! I am relocating to Chicago and would love to know if anything exists like this over there, also???
You need to post in the Chicago forum. You also need to give a work location and a budget if you want to know about where you should live. You also might want to give the ages and grades of your children currently.
I would guess that the University of Chicago Lab School might be similar, but I don't know if that goes through high school.
There used to be a lab school at National Lewis University too, but I am not sure where that moved to. It was in Wilmette when we lived in Evanston and was k-8. My dd went there for K.
There are lots of these here in the DFW area. You are correct in that the kids go to school 3 days per week and are at home the other 2 days. The days they are home they have teacher assigned work (how much depends on the grade level) that is usually turned in the next school day. You do not have a choice in using a different curriculum than what the school uses as that would throw off the lessons. Kids will do work in the core courses every school day, including the 2 days they are home with you doing whatever the teacher has assigned. If we weren't relocating soon, my 2 would be doing this instead of straight homeschooling.
But the kids have to check in daily on the Computer to create the billable event.
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