We considered public school for our oldest child, but the area we were in at that time was very large and had some violence problems that we were shocked by for an elementary school. We decided to homeschool for kindergarten and found the work load very challenging even with area support programs. For first thru third grade we gave private education a go and found that we were paying a lot of money for even lesser services than the public system offered and we still had all the same problems to deal with as far peer pressure and limited course offerings. The private schools weren't violent, but the social environment was exclusive and encouraging other problems and social views that we just didn't want our kids to be confused by. We moved to a more rural environment and had high hopes about the schools, especially the private Christian school, but with all our efforts in keeping the kids education interesting we neglected some of the basics and thought that we could spend a year playing catch up and then enroll the next fall . We struggled with various homeschool curriculums until one day, while looking for something new and interesting that would help us fill the gaps, we came across a listing of Distance learning schools and Burton's Garden of Schools was the perfect match for us!
Why did you choose Burton's Garden of Schools?
When we found the listing of schools we began
reading each site and Burton's Garden of Schools was the only one that fit our
needs. The other schools just acted as a book store and paper grader.
Anyone who has ever tried homeschooling knows that buying books and
looking over completed work is not were the rub comes in! Burton's Garden of Schools
offered recorded and live lectures, a wide variety of students, teachers
from other counties and individualized self paced curriculum that
addressed all of our concerns. We knew that there had to be other people
who thought like we did but to find someone with the background to build
something like Burton's Garden of Schools was like a dream.
How is your life different now that you are using
Burton's Garden of Schools?
For one thing we don't have remind the kids to
do their work! We actually had to set a limit to how long they are allowed to be
online. This was the biggest and most unexpected change for our family.
The change in our children's attitude. The other is in their and abilities!
Their assignments have changed how we interact as a family and how much more
involved the kids are with day to day stuff around the house. Well,
originally I think we just hoped that the integrated testing and
individualization of the lessons would fill in some of the learning gaps
and in the beginning we even considered only having the kids enrolled for
one year and then sending them to a private school here in the area that they
just weren't academically ready for to begin with.
Now we are recruiting families from that school and singing the praises and benefits of Burton's Garden of Schools both academically and surprise surprise, socially. From the online chats to the personal attention they get from their teachers to the camps that are offered at Mountainside....well it almost seems too good to be true at times.
What is an average day like for your family now that you are using Burton's Garden of Schools?
How much time and effort do you find that you have to put into your children's education?
Now, the question that you knew we would have to ask and you have undoubtedly been faced with by everyone who questions your decision, what about socialization and all the hallmarks or right of passage moments in a traditional teens high school years like the prom, graduation, sporting events and clubs?
We want to encourage a global citizenship
mindset in our children as they grow so they will be able to compete and
participate in society in a way that will keep their options open as
things change. We are very concerned about the artificial socialization
that traditional education offers today. In the name of tradition it
encourages goals and mindsets that only exist in the little bubble of
high school and are not part of the real world or the adult reality that
takes too many young people by surprise. Kids spend too much time
learning social skills and coping mechanisms or ways of thinking that
are for the four year arena of High School. Peer cool, defines and
shapes class choices and the community gets to choose what will be
offered for all the students by majority rules with the limited tax
dollar. Ultimately, we are more concerned with raising adults and not
extending our children's childhood in a way that keeps limiting the
process of self discovery or realizing their destiny.
Burton's Garden of Schools does offer online socializing in the form of chats
and now the VLE (virtual learning environment). We also belong to local
homeschooling support and activity groups as well as have an active
social and church life. All of our children play sports and play with
others in the neighborhood. Mountainside camp offers all the traditional
hallmark moments that you mentioned. Our kids will all attend
senior camp and have a formal graduation, take the college tests, have a
prom and we can even take the whole family for any event we want or a
date to the prom that goes to another school. Their first camp visit was
a terrific bonding experience with all the kids they chat with on a
daily basis and it was nice to go along with our younger ones and all of
us have a fantastic time with the older kids spending time away from us,
but still telling what they did as they passed us along a path.
Burton's Garden of Schools online is really like having the perfect private school
right inside the computer on their desks.
traditional education can squash your dreams or steal your talent if you have discovered an area of gifting instead of giving you skills to further that field you are to conform they focus on buffing out all the "flaws" of the independent thinker. The thinking that is rewarded is based on the McDonalized methods of teaching using the industrial model with scientific standardized system that produces at best little robots of limited skills and cookie cutter identities.
don't even get us started on the arts!