Home Schooling

[Valandil]

Noticed mention from one or two Mooters about being home schooled. Would like to get opinions from those who are home schooled, or have been - or parents who do it, or have tried it. Interested in your thoughts: pros, cons, general observations, overall conclusions (more positive / more negative), etc.

We have just started our oldest in kindergarten. We THOUGHT ABOUT home schooling quite a bit - but opted for what seemed a good opportunity at a nice public school (in Chicago - believe it or not!).

Would prefer this thread NOT become one where those with no exposure to home schooling - and who don't know anyone involved in it - to put it down based on public perceptions of it. It's an interesting phenomenon - and perhaps 2 million school-age kids are currently home schooled in the US today. The greatest concern from those not involved is the lack of "socialization". However, I've come to know lots of home schooled kids - and that generally doesn't seem to be a problem. Besides, a lot of the social activity at schools these days is pretty anti-social (a coupla threads have spoken to that recently).

On the other hand, if you KNOW someone who has trouble in this area, feel free to share it.

Another great thing I've seen, especially in upper grades, is how efficient it is. Friends with high schoolers in honors classes tell me their kids come home from school and do homework late into the night, every night. I know home schoolers who spend a total of 2 hours per day in junior high and 4 hours per day on high school work - and who vastly outperform their peers. Leaves them a lot more time to work on other areas (even SOCIALIZE!) - and just be kids!

So, home schoolers... take it away...

[Elf Girl]

I was homeschooled 2 years ago, just for 6th grade. The curriculum just didn't fit- an hour of reading every day, when I read for hours and hours at home, taking a language assigned to you, when you have to start over again with a different language the next year, and so on. So, I homeschooled, learned to write better, and took Latin. It was very fun, although the transition back to school was a mite bumpy. It has resulted me having very few friends, but I doubt it has that effect on most people. I'm just that way.

[Lizra]

I home schooled my daughter for one year, 2nd grade. I didn't care for it. The homeschool support group was all about christianity, and we didn't fit in....therefore we were pretty dang lonely. It was easy to do (at that level!) and didn't take much time. I only did it because the school situation was negative. So then we moved! It depends on the parent and child. I was bored...she was lonely! She learned alot though!

[Bombadillo]

My best friend had struggles in the very early years of schooling, so his parents pulled him out for second and third grade so he could catch up. This worked great.

Of course, both of his parents work at schools. But still, they say homeschooling is much more effective in the early years of schooling. (I guess you can't be much help in junior high+ because you tend to forget much of the material)

[IronParrot]

The greatest concern from those not involved is the lack of "socialization". However, I've come to know lots of home schooled kids - and that generally doesn't seem to be a problem. Besides, a lot of the social activity at schools these days is pretty anti-social (a coupla threads have spoken to that recently).

Actually, I think the greatest problem is that extremists (such as militant white supremacists, for example) are using home schooling as an indoctrination method, or a way to avoid the constitutional principles of equality and tolerance as taught by the state. I realize that thankfully, they are only a minority of bad apples and they don't reflect on the nature of home schooling on the whole.

I've heard horror stories about the current status of public education down in the States. Up here in Canada, it's not so bad (most of the problems, in my province at least, have to do with unions striking and what I feel is an inadequate curriculum). I think what is very necessary in an education system - private, public, or otherwise - is the availability of accelerated and/or specialized programmes for gifted children as well as kids who just want to get ahead of the came.

I'm obviously not too familiar with home-schooling on a personal level, but those of you who are parents who home-school, I strongly encourage you to get your kids way ahead of the game while you have the chance to be directly involved.

[Tessar]

I’ve been home schooled all my life, so I’ll tell you what I can. Please remember that this is only me! I know that many home schoolers have had a worse time than I have, and some have had a much better time.

Home schooling and how well it goes, is largely determined by the parent. The parent is the teacher, the principle, and also the curriculum designer. Some parents can’t do this, and so their home school ‘experience’ is awful, leaving them with a bad taste in their mouth. Others are brilliant at it, and come away babbling about how wonderful home schooling is.

I personally have only been inside a public school around four times during my whole life. Three of those times have been limited to the inside of the gymnasium, for doing a play or some kind of function. The only time I’ve actually been inside a school was for a spelling bee that my oldest sister participated in.

For me, home schooling has been a bit of a bumpy ride. I’m not very smart when it comes to academics, and I never have been. My mom knows this, and I mean she knows it. Not just based on a report card, but because of sitting next to me and watching me work. Yes individual attention is great, but having to deal with a mother every single day who is determined to get some sort of educational value out of everything isn’t much fun.

A helpful thing is if the parent can turn the teacher mode ‘off’ for the day when the student finishes school, but that’s very hard to do, and some times as late as nine o’clock at night my mother will be bugging me to come look at the next weeks plans, or go over my math lesson that I finished five hours before.

Now another problem is that people expect me to be brilliant because I’m home schooled. That or dirt stupid. It’s hard to say which is worse, the people who think I can name the capital of every state while standing on my head and balancing on a juggling ball, or the people who wish they could pick me up and physically throw me into a public school because ‘home schooling is damaging me.’

I personally don’t have a whole lot of friends, and the only time I get to see them is for an hour each week after church. But that’s simply because I’m picky and I won’t hang out with other guys who do immature stuff. I can make myself outgoing, and I could have all the friends I wanted, except that I don’t want to be with people who are going to drag my morals into the gutter.

In short, I don’t tend to relate well to boys my age. However I can generally strike up a conversation with an adult, and keep it going for a while. So the problem isn’t that I’m home schooled, it’s that I’m twenty something and stuck in a fifteen year old body .

Now on to the perks.

1. Yes, I CAN do school in my PJs. No, I don’t.
2. I work for around 4-5 hours a day at school, and I’m at the same grade level as kids who spend their entire day at school. (Although as I said before I probably wouldn’t be at the head of the class )
3. I can do stuff in the morning, do school in the afternoon, and then do stuff in the evening. I generally work from 1-5 p.m. on school and I can still run lights and sounds for a morning play, and then in the evening act at the same theater, only for a different play.
4. Sick days are no problem. If I’m really too sick to do school then I miss a day, if not I can just lounge around and do school at a more leisurely pace. No worries about picking up lice or anything else nasty.
5. I can go with my sisters to catch a movie, during the time that other kids are in school. No jerks messing up dramatic bits by laughing or booing.
6. I don’t have to worry about problems with bullies. In fact JD just posted about the high schoolers, and while that’s a very extreme case, I don’t have to give it the slightest worry.
7. When I turn sixteen I’ll be able to hold down a job, working shifts that other kids can’t, and keep up with school easily.

And of course my mother isn’t exactly a tyrannical dictator. Only Monday through Friday between the hours of ‘waking’ and ‘sleeping’ .

Would I recommend home schooling? It depends. Home schooling isn’t for all parents, and it isn’t for all kids. In my case I believe that it’s probably a good thing, because I have lots of time to do the things I really enjoy doing like acting, karate, and writing.

[IronParrot]

In short, I don’t tend to relate well to boys my age. However I can generally strike up a conversation with an adult, and keep it going for a while. So the problem isn’t that I’m home schooled, it’s that I’m twenty something and stuck in a fifteen year old body.

From experience, that is definitely not strictly home-school related, because I felt pretty much the same way through high school.

A question for the home-schooled: do you think home-schooling is made more feasible (and likely to get you into a decent university, etc.) by the presence of standardized testing, such as the PSATs and SATs?

[Tessar]

Originally posted by IronParrot
do you think home-schooling is made more feasible (and likely to get you into a decent university, etc.) by the presence of standardized testing, such as the PSATs and SATs?

The ACT and SAT are very useful to have incase you need to wave it under some university's nose when they don't want to let you in because you can't provide report cards.

However everyone has to take the test, whether they're home schooled or not, so I don't see much of a difference.

[Insidious Rex]

I was involved with a girl who had been home schooled since she was in maybe 4th grade. She was very unsocial to begin with so for her the home schooling experience was the worst choice possible. first of all her mother wasnt very serious about it. they basically took her out of school because they felt the local schools were poor but she barely gave her any work or instruction. if that child worked more then 30-45 minutes a day on any given day I would be surprised. and many days she did absolutely nothing. So she would sit at home ALL day just watching tv and feeling depressed because she didnt have anyone to interact with. day after day. month after month. year after year....

by the time she was in her teens she was starved for socialization with her peers and dance class and what not just didnt cut it. she needed a full day school setting. she wanted friends and she wanted to meet boys and she did neither just sitting at home. by the time she REALLY felt she wanted to go back to school both her and her mother felt it was too late because she was so far behind her age group academically that she would have had to go into a class of younger kids and she refused to do this. so she wasted away the rest of her school years sitting at home not interacting becoming more bitter and depressed and angry and what little social skills she had more or less completely disintegrated such that she could never establish a true friendship with others without alienating them.

So for HER case home schooling was definitely the WRONG choice. Talk about a classic case of a kid who slipped through the cracks of society. she would have definitely benefited from a daily setting with her peers but she didnt get the chance. so if yer going to home school your kids you better make sure its right for THEM socially. just having them go on field trips with snooty little church groups aint gonna cut it. and make SURE you treat it with the utmost seriousness and dedicate yourself to DAILY working closely with the kids like its your freaking job. because it is. it shouldnt be just an excuse not to go to school like it was for this girl.

[Tessar]

Originally posted by Insidious Rex
and make SURE you treat it with the utmost seriousness and dedicate yourself to DAILY working closely with the kids like its your freaking job. because it is. it shouldnt be just an excuse not to go to school like it was for this girl.

Thank you, that's another very good point.

IT IS A JOB. YOU ARE A TEACHER!!!

The parent becomes a FULL TIME TEACHER, and they aren't going to get payed for it either.

[Ruinel]

Many states in the US have their own standardized tests that the school districts, and schools are judged by, such as math, writing and science. The Texas one is TAKS (formerly TAAS). Students are given numerous pre-tests throughout the year to make sure that they are learning what is on these tests. Most educators I know are not pleased with the standardized testing because it takes away from time in the classroom, and takes away the spark that interests students to learn more about the subject. Teachers can no longer linger on subjects students find interesting because of the amount of stuff kids have to learn in a year to prepare them for these standardized tests.

My question is... do home schooled kids have to take these yearly tests?

[Valandil]

IR - you seem ANGRY!

A nerve been struck?

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by Valandil
IR - you seem ANGRY!

A nerve been struck?

well Ive always been a little angry at that girls mother and a bit frustrated with the situation because there was nothing I could do about it. I think that would frustrate anyone if you care about them. But in no way think Im condeming home schooling with a broad brush just giving you full warning on what does happen to SOME kids when they are home schooled and how important it is as the parent to work your butt off teaching your kid.

[Elf Girl]

Originally posted by Ruinel
My question is... do home schooled kids have to take these yearly tests?

No, it's actually illegal for us to take them, because the tests are designed to show the /school's/ performence, so a homeschooled child might misrepresent that school.

[Valandil]

IR - yes, you're right. As an early poster noted, the parent is KEY. The main ingredient I've seen is passion for it - along with discipline (ie - staying on a schedule, not just drifting). Actually (with those ingredients), it even seems to work at upper-grades - the students just become more self-directing and rely on the parents less as teachers - they learn to research things...

[IronParrot]

The ACT and SAT are very useful to have incase you need to wave it under some university's nose when they don't want to let you in because you can't provide report cards.

However everyone has to take the test, whether they're home schooled or not, so I don't see much of a difference.

The reason I asked is because up here in Canada, where provinces have different curricula and there are no SAT-like standardized tests, entrance averages for universities are an issue. Some schools, both public and private, exhibit enormous grade inflation compared to other schools in the country. There are provincial diploma exams, but to be honest, they are a joke.

Obviously, the presence of home schooling adds a whole other complication to the matter. I haven't looked into stats regarding whether or not (and if so, to what degree) home-schooled kids are disadvantaged in terms of university admissions, because a smart home-schooled student deserves a spot over someone who got 90% in a school with extremely lax requirements.

[Tinuviel22]

I was homeschooled 1st through 6th grade and then I had to go to Christian school for a while cuz my mom got sick and now I'm doing homeschooling again. (i'm in 10th grade now.)
I really enjoy it sometimes its a little hard not having as big of a social life but still it teaches you a lot.And you can go at your own pace so I'm hopefully going to graduate next year.(hopefully) I read a lot and that helps a lot w/ learning stuff like spelling and grammar and I have the internet for my social life.

[Snowdog]

My daughter was homeschooled til 6th grade, and my son still is via an Internet Acadaemy that is based in a school district. He is doin gthat because he is incorrigible. Actually a six week stint at the local school got him in trouble and the school where my daughter goes, which is in the next town, wont let him attend. So its more a matter of necessity he is homeschooled right now. The younger grades they loved it, but unfortunatly the time needed to continue was not available anymore.

[crickhollow]

ah, Valandil, I'm so glad you asked.

I was homeschooled from Kindergarten through 11th grade, and then went to a Junior College for my last year of high school. My parents didn't start homeschooling because of any kind of agenda, nor did they really have any gripes against the local schools (in S. California). My dad's job kept him traveling, and my parents wanted our family to stay close.

At first our curriculum was more strict (desk time and work sheets, etc), but after a while we got the hang of "learning on the go." When we would pull into a new town, Mom looked up local museums...things like that.

When I was older, then we started looking for other resources--I had a tutor for English for a year, so not everything was done at home.

the socialization issue is a bit silly, to me. I mean, who decided that it is actually a good thing for kids to hang around only people who are their age? If homeschooling creates a bubble, then how much more a school-setting. You just find peers in places like book clubs, youth groups and churches, community theaters, etc. I tend to think that socialization in that setting will make you a much more well-rounded person.

[Insidious Rex]

Originally posted by crickhollow

the socialization issue is a bit silly, to me. I mean, who decided that it is actually a good thing for kids to hang around only people who are their age? If homeschooling creates a bubble, then how much more a school-setting. You just find peers in places like book clubs, youth groups and churches, community theaters, etc. I tend to think that socialization in that setting will make you a much more well-rounded person.

this works ok for some but certainly not for everyone. and for some it is actually quite damaging. giving this kind of advice to some means essentially banashing them to drop through the cracks of our society because they simply cant adapt to that kind of socializing. so basically it depends on the individual.