Successfully home schooled?
Last night, Jon Stewart was talking about home schooling (one word or two, I'm not sure, but I don't doubt that someone with a badge and a dictionary will tell me). Did I mention that I love me some Jon Stewart. I have a fantasy that he develops a new segment called "Heather's Marketing and Finance at Marketing Blog as Read by Children"...how cute would they be saying "whee!"...really, they are the only ones that have a right to say that anyway!
Also, I have been loading up on the reality TV. I have lots of comments to make about what I have been watching. I may need a purge post to get all my opinions out there (anyone see Average Joe last night?). One of the shows that I am watching is The Scholar, which I have to admit caught my attention because it takes place at USC. The premise of the show is that there are ten (I think) kids that need money to attend a top school. They are all incredibly bright, but their financial need was not met through scholarships. On one hand, I want to invite them to the wonderful world of student loans that I am still (yes, still...thankfully, I got scholarships to cover most, but the loans were absolutely needed to live) living in. But I also have to admit that I really love some of those kids (and if being smarter makes you more deserving, which is one of the points of scholarships, then I'm OK with them getting the cash). My favorites are Melissa (who wants to be Melissa when the grow up? I know I do!) and the home schooled guy, Scot (I would have had a crush on Scot when I was in high school but that is beside the point, I guess).
Back when I was growing up (I'm sure there's some prehistoric era associated with it), you (or at least I) never really heard about people being home-schooled. I started school private and moved to public in fifth (eleven schools during my K-12 education...now that deserves a whee!) and never have known anyone that was home schooled. I'm fascinated by the concept. Especially since I am in an occupation where I'm responsible for assessing skills and intellect (you decide if I am qualified to do the latter).
When you hear about successful people, you often hear about their college background. For example, it's well-known that Bill Gates did not finish college. Or that Harvard MBAs run several Fortune 100 corporations. So I guess I am just curious if we are at a point now, where people that were home schooled as children are prominent business leaders. It would be interesting to know, if we can identify these people, what unique qualities they bring to the table that those of us with more *traditional* education channels lack. Would also be interesting to hear from anyone that was home-schooled.
Comments
- Anonymous
June 29, 2005
The Daily Show is by far and away the best thing on TV these days.
I wasn't homeschooled but you might find this New Yorker article http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050627fa_fact about a college that targets homeschoolers (one word, apparently) and aims to produce the next generation of politicians interesting.
Andrew. - Anonymous
June 29, 2005
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June 29, 2005
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June 29, 2005
My wife and I are trying the homeschool thing with our first of 4 kids... so far, our boy (Grayson) is thriving and the other siblings are picking up lots just by being around it. My other boy who just turned three is counting to 100, which is kinda scary (my wife & I are natural teachers, so that has something to do with it..). I do sometimes wonder what they're missing (from the traditional route) but then again I recall being SO bored during most of my public education. Grayson's favorite subjects are history and building killer lego spaceships :-) So far, so good. - Anonymous
June 29, 2005
I'm not homeschooled but I have at least 8 close friends that were and I know quite a few more people now who are in the process of homeschooling their kids currently. From what I have seen so far it turns out very creative thinkers and the kids seem to like it a lot more than I remember liking school. I went to private school but I was still bored a lot no matter how advanced the school was you just can't beat one on one teaching. If you look at a lot of people I work with it's no surprise that they can homeschool their kids either. I mean who better to teach a kid than people with Phd's in engineering and Computer Science. Most of the folks I know homeschooling their kids have a much better education than your average public school teacher. Personally I think the idea rocks. I wish I had been homeschooled my Dad was a programmer and a college professor and he's a million times more interesting than most of the teachers I had in school. - Anonymous
June 30, 2005
Interesting discussion. I also wonder about the reasons why people home school. Kids too smart for a limited curriculum (maybe some of those spelling bee kids you mention Jonathan), creative thinkers that learn better in a non-traditional setting (sounds like Mark's brainy brood) as Andy mentions.
Noah-cool! I wonder if Microsoft's culture is more comfortable for people that were home-schooled because it's kind of casual and entrepreneurial. Of course, we'll want to track your progress now that we know! And good for you for all the you have achieved! - Anonymous
July 01, 2005
I was catching up with my Tivo'd Daily Shows last night and imagine my surprise when the very author of the New Yorker article I recommended to you came on the show. Somehow a 'whee' seems very appropriate.
Andrew. - Anonymous
July 05, 2005
From a recruiting perspective, if we stay focused on results achieved (whether traditional business achievements or non-traditional accomplishments achieved through alternative "paths"), I'd like to think it's moot whether someone came through a public, private or home school! As you noted, the $64K question is "Can you think?" Full disclosure: I definitely have a bias toward transferrable skills and non-linear career paths since that's my own background; if someone can accomplish or drive a great result in life without having had the structure and network provided by traditional schooling or career paths, then more power to them! - Anonymous
July 06, 2005
Carla-I agree that it is the results that count, but don't agree that it's moot. The whole point of the blog is to discuss and educate each other. I, for one, am definitely interested in understanding how experiences for home-schooled students can be different. For example, many student may have been home schooled because their learning style is different than the way most schools teach. Knowing that, are there opportunities to adapt our interviewing process to people with alternative styles? Also, many students may have been home schooled because their rate of intellectual development exceeded that of their classmates (ding,ding,ding...those are definitely people we would want to talk to down the road). As a recruiter, that is totally interesting to me. Not moot at all! - Anonymous
July 07, 2005
I have a few friends who home school their children, and while the kids are obviously extremely smart they are also socially behind other kids their age. I'd be interested in learning the difference in the TYPES of success home schooled vs. non-home schooled kids have. Does one group excel at more social pursuits (Fortune 100 CEO) while the other excels at creating new ideas/"thinking"? Hmm - Anonymous
July 09, 2005
I went to public schools for k-12 and undergraduate. I learned a lot, had fun, and met lots of nice people. - Anonymous
July 10, 2005
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July 14, 2005
Wow Stephanie! I meant to respond sooner. Thanks for all your insight. I definitely see your writing background! Great info and you sound like a great Mom. It's nice that there are so many resources for people pursuing home schooling. I think you are right about the socialization thing. I think that if the parent makes socialization a priority then the kids do fine but if it doesn't come naturally to the child, it needs to be pursued (listen to me sounding like I think I am an expert...I'm not so this is totally just opinion). I was in private and public schools and I could have used a little help with socializing as a child (I know it sounds strange now but I was painfully shy).
So my two additional questions are first, whether there were qualities that your boys had very young that made you feel they were good candidates for home schooling or was your perspective that you could adjust it to make it work for them. Sounds like the latter since you mentioned the flexibility. Second, I know it's a ways off, but I'd love to get some insight into how home school transcripts are received by college admissions. Hopefully, the best schools that want the best students are mindful and flexible as well. Great insight. Thank you! - Anonymous
August 01, 2005
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