An Independent Study Program Designed for Your Child
More affordable than any school offering credentialed teacher
support along with parental choice in curriculum and teaching methods.
We believe in the validity of tailoring the program to suit the child,
indeed we believe true learning can only exist under this precondition.
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There
are so
many reasons people seek this alternative to traditional
education... but what about these most frequently asked
questions...
What about
Socialization?
Children
who are
homeschooled, traditionally, are socialized in a manner much
more in keeping with the diverse social interaction employed by
adults of all ages. They meet and interact with children and
adults of varied ages and cultures, within an open framework.
School
children, by contrast, are mostly constrained from this broad
and true socialization model. Indeed, at times, the
socialization effects on the child attending school may lead to
harmful or negative consequences. Some of those consequences
might include negative peer influences, anxiety,
depression, negative behavior at home, loss of self-esteem,
feelings of alienation, and limited educational success.
How Do I Homeschool?
You
may choose to follow a strict school at home model, an
unschooling approach, or fall somewhere in between. Our program
allows you the flexibility and support to find your child's best
fit.
To Test or Not to Test ?
While
traditional public schools, public charters,
public school district Independent Study programs and
some private schools require that their students take
yearly standardized tests,
Arbor Academy
does not
require these tests.
What
about Accreditation?
Arbor Academy
has California Credentialed teachers available for overview of
student work and a Nationally Accredited Online Curriculum
available only.
So What about Homework ?
It
is quite common for traditionally schooled children
to experience stress (sometimes severe) regarding
homework. Some students receive lower grades, fail
classes, drop classes, drop out of school, suffer
extreme anxiety, are deprived the time for any
pleasurable activities all because of homework!
Self-esteem and family relationships can be made to
suffer.
Happily, homeschoolers do not have to
experience any
of the possibly negative effects of homework.
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Who can
homeschool?
Gifted,
Special Needs, Average learner, ADD/ADHD, Actors,
Athletes, All Kids!!!!!!
Some
children have difficulty in a public school setting.
Children often underserved in a traditional school
setting include those who have learning
disabilities, hyperactivity, a short attention
span, or a low threshold for frustration.
Other children
well served by Independent Study are gifted students
who are under-challenged by the schools, often
leading to student boredom. Also well served are
athletes and actors who require the flexibility and
freedom to adapt their educational schedules.
A Background on Homework:
Ideally, homework should give
students the opportunity
to practice and reinforce skills and concepts
learned
in the classroom. Homework should allow the
child to
practice, review, and reinforce material presented
in
class. Homework can also be used to integrate
separately learned skills and concepts and apply
them
in a single product (such as a book report or
science
project). It can also be used as an
extension (transferring previously learned skills
and
concepts to other situations and across the
curriculum). Finally, homework should not be
excessive.
Unfortunately, there are many
inherent problems
surrounding the whole homework issue. First,
consider
the fact that children have been (mostly
sitting) in school for six hours doing "seatwork"
for
most of the day. (Do you enjoy taking work
home with
you from your job?) They may have energy to
burn off
and need to change gears for the rest of the day.
Some children may just simply be exhausted after a
rigorous school day. Others may have trouble
focusing
on lengthy assignments (or too difficult)
assignments.
(This may, in turn, lead to meltdowns at home.)
Deprived of adequate time in
school, teachers may attempt to teach concepts and
skills solely through homework. The child is
unprepared to tackle this material alone.
Assignments may also be irrelevant, not at all
meaningful to furthering a child's understanding of
class work. Some teachers give assignments
that take an unreasonable amount of time to
complete. (Each school or school district
usually provides guidelines about the quantity of
homework according to grade level.) While some
teachers may be accommodating and just excuse the
child from completing any assignment that takes her
too much time, others may
not. (Homework can weigh heavily into a final
grade
in the class.) Besides, the assignment that
may take
one child 20 minutes to complete, may take another
child 60 minutes. Additionally, although it
may be
reasonable for a teacher to check whether a student
has completed (or attempted) an assignment, it is
not
reasonable for a homework assignment to be used as
an
assessment. However, this is not always the
practice;
some teachers will grade homework for correctness
(even if the assignment wasn't previously covered in
class).
One last word on homework: homework
is more meaningful
(and provides for better skill and concept
enhancement)
if the student is given choices about the method.
For
example, when given a specific topic, one student
may
want to write an essay, while one may want to build
a
model, another paint an illustration, yet another
may
want to do an oral presentation.
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Arbor Academy
P.O. Box 3381
Thousand Oaks
California, 91359
FAX
818-880-6043
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