彼得:想象一下未來,你會讓你的孩子在家上學嗎?你是會讓他們在家上學,還是你認為讓孩子去學校接受教育更好?你會怎樣做?
Sarah: I used to say that I didn't know. But then I got my undergrad degree and elementary education and I had a chance to teach in public school. And that's when I decided, yes, absolutely, I would home-school my own children.
薩拉:我以前會回答你我不知道。不過現(xiàn)在我拿到了本科學位和初等教育證書,我有機會在公共學校教書。當時我就決定,我一定要讓我的孩子在家上學。
Peter: What was the main reason coming to that decision?
彼得:你做出這一決定的主要理由是什么?
Sarah: The main reason was the wasted time that I saw. And also there were so many children in one classroom. It was really hard to get them all to focus and pay attention at the same time, it's nearly impossible. So if I could provide my child with one-on-one attention, I feel like they would learn more, there'd be less wasted time.
薩拉:主要原因是我看到了人們所浪費的時間。一個班級里通常有很多學生。很難讓所有人同時集中注意力,這幾乎是不可能做到的事。如果我讓我的孩子進行一對一教育,我認為他們會學到更多知識,這樣就可以少浪費時間。
Peter: Right. So home-schooling helps with using time productively I guess?
彼得:對。在家上學可以有效利用時間,對吧?
Sarah: I would say so, yes.
薩拉:沒錯,我認為是這樣的。
Peter: Right.
彼得:好。
Sarah: And now that I have the degree as well and elementary education I feel like I'm equipped to be able to do it if I needed to.
薩拉:現(xiàn)在我有本科學位,還有初等教育證書,我認為在需要的時候我能做到在家教孩子。
Peter: Right. Do you think there are any disadvantages to home-schooling?
彼得:對。你認為在家上學有什么不足之處嗎?
Sarah: Probably the number one disadvantage that most people see with home-schooling is the social aspect. And this can be a big deal. It can be very hard, especially with sports, if your child wants to play on a sports team often it's hard to get them in on a team at a regular school. Sometimes there's community groups, but definitely the social aspect is the hardest need to meet with home-schooling
薩拉:可能大部分人認為在家上學最大的缺點是缺乏社交。這可能會成為大問題。尤其是運動方面會遇到難題,如果你的孩子想?yún)⒓舆\動隊,通常很難讓他們加入普通學校的運動隊中。有時可以加入社區(qū)組織,但是的確社交需求是在家上學最難滿足的。
Peter: For home-schooling, what kind of exams or tests are there to make sure that children pass the grade that they're in?
彼得:就在家教育來說,有什么考試或測驗能確保孩子達到他們應讀年級的水平?
Sarah: I'm not sure what it's like in all countries, but I know in the US there's ... you take the end-of-year state testing that everyone does, so it's mailed to your house and your parents give you the test and the results are sent back to you.薩拉:我不知道其他國家是怎樣做的,不過在美國,要參加年末進行的狀態(tài)測試,試卷會寄到家里,由父母監(jiān)督孩子完成測試,結(jié)果也會以郵寄的方式寄到家里。
Peter: Okay. So it's all standardized and everybody goes through the same test?
彼得:好。這是標準化測試嗎,所有人都參加同樣的測試?
Sarah: Yes.
薩拉:對。
Peter: Right.
彼得:好。
Sarah: And then when it comes time to take the SAT or the end of high school test then you can actually go and take them at a public school with everyone else, they'll allow you to do that.
薩拉:在到了該參加學業(yè)能力傾向測驗或高中考試的時候,你可以和其他學生一起在公立學校參加考試,他們批準你可以參加。
Peter: Okay. When you arrived in college did you notice any differences between the education you had and like the education other kids had not having gone through home-schooling?
彼得:好。你上大學以后,你有注意到你接受的教育和其他不是在家上學的孩子有什么不同嗎?
Sarah: The main difference I saw was the social aspect. There are many things sort of culturally almost that I didn't know, that I was sheltered from, just things and sayings and popular things that happen in school that I had no clue about. It's almost a completely different culture than what I was raised in. So that was very different. And also I saw a difference then, it was really hard for me to learn with someone lecturing because I was so used to learning everything out of a book, reading it for myself, and so I'd have to listen and take notes, was a big struggle for me.
薩拉:我認為最大的不同在于社交方面。很多與文化有關(guān)的事情我都不知道,學校里發(fā)生的事情、流行的事物我都不了解。那和我成長的環(huán)境是完全不同的。非常不同。另外,我很難和其他人一起學習,因為我已經(jīng)習慣通過書本自學了,習慣自己看書學習,所以聽課和記筆記對我來說非常難。
Peter: Really?
彼得:真的嗎?
Sarah: Yes.
薩拉:對。
Peter: But it sounds like you ended up being quite a self-driven and self-disciplined learner, if you'd gone through the textbooks yourself.
彼得:看起來如果通過書本自學,你會成為自主自律的學習者。
Sarah: Yes; I think you really can't help but be if you are home-schooled, so yeah.
薩拉:對,這的確是在家上學所帶來的。
Peter: Right. Thank you very much, it was really interesting.
彼得:好。非常謝謝你,這很有趣。
Sarah: Absolutely.
薩拉:當然了。