What do you think about Homeschool?

[tfosriA]

The problem with schools where I live is you're told to man up and deal with it. But not everyone likes violence, lol. When I tried to defend myself my school suspended me, and then asked what my mother intended to do to punish me at home. She laughed in their face, and we enjoyed a nice meal together. I then enjoyed several days of sleeping in and playing games all day.

They caught on I was enjoying my days off, I even just refused to do the work I missed. So they had me have in school suspension in a isolated room with other "disruptive kids". So glad I'm homeschooled. Nobody tells me when I can or cannot use the bathroom, nobody to start fights because they don't like my shirt; I can just live my life in peace.

 

[Cimorene]

Do kids who homeschool usually follow the same school yr as most others do? Just wondering if they get summer vacations. Most kids I know how homeschool go to an online school that has a schedule similar to what physical schools do.

 

[Saricharity]

Do kids who homeschool usually follow the same school yr as most others do? Just wondering if they get summer vacations. Most kids I know how homeschool go to an online school that has a schedule similar to what physical schools do.

It depends on your philosophy or style of homeschooling. Some homeschool all year around with breaks throughout the year. Some will homeschool around life events...for example, a woman is going to have a baby so she takes two months off mid year after the baby is born. The beauty of it is you can mold your homeschool towards what works for your family.
My mom follows the actual Sept-June school year that the public/private schools do. We always took the summers off. I do remember a few years we took extra time off when my mom had a baby. Homeschooling takes less time to begin with because its tailored to each child's specific learning needs. Also one year when my dad took a hiatus from work, we did some traveling in Europe so we didn't have formal sit down school that year...however we still learned so much...just not from traditional textbooks. I have a friend who was homeschooled on the road as her mom is a photo journalist. She traveled all over the world. She had an amazing homeschool experience. It really just depends on the family.

 

[Saricharity]

I red a lot about it recently. This is not very well-known in Europe, so I wanted to know a bit more about that. It seems quite dangerous to me: how a child is supposed to integrate into his own society if he doesn't even attend a school with very different people? To me this isn't good for a child to grow up in a cocoon. Moreover we learn sociability in our first years. And every child needs friendship and to be confronted to someone else's eyes.

So basically I would like to learn the advantages of such a schooling and the reasons why it is so popular in America!

I'm Canadian. Homeschooling has become very popular within the last 20 years or so.
I was homeschooled for most of my education. I did attend high school for grade 12.
Homeschooling worked well for me for many reasons but most importantly it allowed me time to pursue my music and drama interests. I have studied piano and voice extensively as well as been involved in community plays and musicals...most recently South Pacific. I also was able to spend time learning about SARI and getting my certification to teach Therapeutic Riding. Homeschooling gives a student so much freedom and time to pursue so many interests without the confines of being at a brick and mortar school. School is not the only place to learn about integrating with different people. I was also able to do street ministry with my church, as well as do Missions in El Salvador. Most homeschoolers do not grow up in a cocoon at all. they are very involved in the community and large homeschooling groups. I also live in a large family. Socialization was never an issue as there are nine of us in my family. I have lots of friends from my homeschool group, Missions, my trips to Scotland (my moms family is there), summer camp, church and so on.
The year I spent in high school was enjoyable to a certain extent but I also found it annoying.
Plus there is so much wasted time. At home I was finished school most days by noon so I was free to do what I wanted in the afternoons and evenings.
I plan to homeschool my children in the future as well.

 

[Cimorene]

I agree! Europe is the best!


I am definitely not convinced by homeschooling! To isolate a child in order to keep him "safe" is not a solution to me. On the contrary, it can be devastating: a child, or more likely a teen can't build his own personality and identity without observing how others behave. The school is not only a place where a child learns the fundamental basis, but also a "school of life". Like Aristotle said, "man is by nature a political animal" (by political he meant societal). We shall never forget it. Our old Europe is doing well to me!

Neither am I! I am so glad I went to school from kindergarten through grade 8 to grow up engaging every day with other kids outside of my own family. I go to an online school now bc my family travels for my parents' work. I have the flexibility of homeschooling but I have teachers with advanced degrees in their subject teaching each of my classes. I'm in a classroom with other kids from around the world.

 

[Cimorene]

I'm Canadian. Homeschooling has become very popular within the last 20 years or so.
I was homeschooled for most of my education. I did attend high school for grade 12.
Homeschooling worked well for me for many reasons but most importantly it allowed me time to pursue my music and drama interests. I have studied piano and voice extensively as well as been involved in community plays and musicals...most recently South Pacific. I also was able to spend time learning about SARI and getting my certification to teach Therapeutic Riding. Homeschooling gives a student so much freedom and time to pursue so many interests without the confines of being at a brick and mortar school. School is not the only place to learn about integrating with different people. I was also able to do street ministry with my church, as well as do Missions in El Salvador. Most homeschoolers do not grow up in a cocoon at all. they are very involved in the community and large homeschooling groups. I also live in a large family. Socialization was never an issue as there are nine of us in my family. I have lots of friends from my homeschool group, Missions, my trips to Scotland (my moms family is there), summer camp, church and so on.
The year I spent in high school was enjoyable to a certain extent but I also found it annoying.
Plus there is so much wasted time. At home I was finished school most days by noon so I was free to do what I wanted in the afternoons and evenings.
I plan to homeschool my children in the future as well.

I think a lot of homeschoolers grow up in a cocoon. They probably don't realize it though bc their friends & siblings are in the cocoon with them. The way you socialize with your sibs isn't the same as the way that you do when you're in a classroom with kids from families unlike your own every day. It's also totally different than the kind of interaction you'd have with things like volunteering. The dynamic is totally incomparable. I went to school from kindergarten through 8th grade. Loved it. Learned so much that I believe will help me for the rest of my life. I want my future kids to have the same experiences I did, most definitely. I go to an online school now, only bc we moved to Canada just before I started HS. I hope to go to college in the US. I am going to apply to U of Toronto but I want to go to the same college as my sister, in Chicago. That's my dream. Also switched to online school bc we travel a lot for my mom's job, & it gives me a ton of flexibility w our schedule. I can follow along wherever I am bc I just have to have an internet connection & my laptop.

I just finished the 10th grade & Level 10 in piano with the Royal Conservatory of Music. It's the highest level. Now that I have my certification I can teach & get paid a real salary. I got hired to teach piano at a music center this yr. I had been playing the clarinet in the youth orchestra but I did quit that bc we weren't going to be home for the season. I'm going to rejoin this yr. I play sports with community leagues.

I go to a private OHS but there's public ones too that are great. I still think going to school is the best option but that an OHS is the 2nd best. It gives the same advantages of homeschooling but you have teachers who are certified in each of their subjects. You get to be in a classroom w other kids every day. How do you have a class discussion every day in every subject if you're just homeschooling w your sibs? Even if you're meeting w other homeschoolers it's probably not every day for every class.

I have all the advantages of homeschooling, but I have teachers who all have advanced degrees in their subject. I'm in a classroom with kids from around the world every day. My best friends are in California & in Belgium. I get to visit them. We have meet ups several times a yr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson came to a meet up to talk with us!! It was incredible. We have homecoming, prom, & graduation like other schools do too. We have a ton of clubs that are fun.

How do you have class discussions in homeschooling? Did the homeschooling group meet together for classes every single day? With nine kids in your family, how could your mom have the degrees necessary to teach each subject for each one all the way through? Even if you hired tutors or something it wouldn't be the same as having a teacher who has made a whole career out of teaching that subject or age group. I'm glad you had a nice experience though. Thanks for sharing about it.

It depends on your philosophy or style of homeschooling. Some homeschool all year around with breaks throughout the year. Some will homeschool around life events...for example, a woman is going to have a baby so she takes two months off mid year after the baby is born. The beauty of it is you can mold your homeschool towards what works for your family.
My mom follows the actual Sept-June school year that the public/private schools do. We always took the summers off. I do remember a few years we took extra time off when my mom had a baby. Homeschooling takes less time to begin with because its tailored to each child's specific learning needs. Also one year when my dad took a hiatus from work, we did some traveling in Europe so we didn't have formal sit down school that year...however we still learned so much...just not from traditional textbooks. I have a friend who was homeschooled on the road as her mom is a photo journalist. She traveled all over the world. She had an amazing homeschool experience. It really just depends on the family.

Most of my teachers have gone on maternity leave when they have babies. Nine kids. Wow. You must live on a farm or something w a ton of space. Traveling must be a challenge! There's only 3 of us & it's enough of a challenge getting seats together on the plane. I don't know that tailoring learning to a child's specific needs is really for the best for the whole education. Maybe for tutoring or something in a subject that's harder, but not for the entire education. Bc at college & in the work force you're going to have to learn alongside everybody else. It's not tailored just for each person.

 

[Saricharity]

I think a lot of homeschoolers grow up in a cocoon. They probably don't realize it though bc their friends & siblings are in the cocoon with them. The way you socialize with your sibs isn't the same as the way that you do when you're in a classroom with kids from families unlike your own every day. It's also totally different than the kind of interaction you'd have with things like volunteering. The dynamic is totally incomparable. I went to school from kindergarten through 8th grade. Loved it. Learned so much that I believe will help me for the rest of my life. I want my future kids to have the same experiences I did, most definitely. I go to an online school now, only bc we moved to Canada just before I started HS. I hope to go to college in the US. I am going to apply to U of Toronto but I want to go to the same college as my sister, in Chicago. That's my dream. Also switched to online school bc we travel a lot for my mom's job, & it gives me a ton of flexibility w our schedule. I can follow along wherever I am bc I just have to have an internet connection & my laptop.

I just finished the 10th grade & Level 10 in piano with the Royal Conservatory of Music. It's the highest level. Now that I have my certification I can teach & get paid a real salary. I got hired to teach piano at a music center this yr. I had been playing the clarinet in the youth orchestra but I did quit that bc we weren't going to be home for the season. I'm going to rejoin this yr. I play sports with community leagues.

I go to a private OHS but there's public ones too that are great. I still think going to school is the best option but that an OHS is the 2nd best. It gives the same advantages of homeschooling but you have teachers who are certified in each of their subjects. You get to be in a classroom w other kids every day. How do you have a class discussion every day in every subject if you're just homeschooling w your sibs? Even if you're meeting w other homeschoolers it's probably not every day for every class.

I have all the advantages of homeschooling, but I have teachers who all have advanced degrees in their subject. I'm in a classroom with kids from around the world every day. My best friends are in California & in Belgium. I get to visit them. We have meet ups several times a yr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson came to a meet up to talk with us!! It was incredible. We have homecoming, prom, & graduation like other schools do too. We have a ton of clubs that are fun.

How do you have class discussions in homeschooling? Did the homeschooling group meet together for classes every single day? With nine kids in your family, how could your mom have the degrees necessary to teach each subject for each one all the way through? Even if you hired tutors or something it wouldn't be the same as having a teacher who has made a whole career out of teaching that subject or age group. I'm glad you had a nice experience though. Thanks for sharing about it.



Most of my teachers have gone on maternity leave when they have babies. Nine kids. Wow. You must live on a farm or something w a ton of space. Traveling must be a challenge! There's only 3 of us & it's enough of a challenge getting seats together on the plane. I don't know that tailoring learning to a child's specific needs is really for the best for the whole education. Maybe for tutoring or something in a subject that's harder, but not for the entire education. Bc at college & in the work force you're going to have to learn alongside everybody else. It's not tailored just for each person.

Public schools in Canada seem to differ quite a bit from what I've been told from some other teens in the US, most especially in comparison to rural public schools. Some of the courses I've seen offered in the US don't even make it onto the same playing field. The private schools are so much better. And if you look at grading scale in public school in Canada and compare it to US, it's not even close. For example, an A is considered anything from 80-100 or 4 whereas in my homeschool (which my mom fashions after the private school she teaches in) an 80 would certainly not be anywhere close to an A.
The standards are just so much lower.

I beginning to think, we will never see eye to eye on this topic. Homeschooling cannot be placed into any one box...it is not one size fits all...and I can see why you can't fathom it. It is not something you can identify with and I understand that.

Congrats on finishing your grade 10! I completed mine at the end of grade 11 as well. My passion has always been music. I teach piano lessons at my church on the baby grand. I had my students perform their first little recital at the end of June. It was so delightful! I'm not a big one for sports but I do run. I love running. It helps me manage my stress levels.

I took many courses online. And I did do my final year at the Christian School. I didn't meet in a classroom everyday, thank goodness. The whole "stuck in a classroom" thing drove me batty...it was such a waste of time in many ways. I finished my classwork quickly and was bored silly waiting for the class to end...not to mention teachers dealing with classroom misbehavior. I enjoyed the social aspect and being able to hang out with my friends everyday but the actual school part, frankly, I didn't enjoy it that much.
Nine kids doesn't mean my mom teaches them all at the same time. Plus my mom also teaches school part-time at our Christian school. My oldest brother is married. My oldest sister helped my mom teach the smaller kids. My next youngest sister attends Christian High school (because she wanted to and my parents allowed her that option) Plus I had several younger siblings not even school-age when I was being homeschooled.
I had private music teachers. I took courses online. Our homeschool coop had teachers teaching certain math and science courses, as well as physical education. Homeschool kids can join sports teams at the church, community, as well as the christian school.

We do live on a farm My parents own an organic hobby farm. We have horses, cattle, pigs etc...a little of everything plus large gardens. We raise and grown most of our own food.

We don't travel a lot, but we do fly to Scotland quite often. My mom's family lives there.

Homeschooling is just a lifestyle for our family. I love it and plan to have that kind of lifestyle for my family in the future.

 

[Blue Wren]

I think attitudes, about homeschooling, vary greatly, based on culture, and location. It's prohibited, in Sweden, except in extraordinary circumstances. Parents who have a special reason, to want to homeschool, such as prolonged travel, can request it. Rarely, is the request granted. Most Swedes, are very content with this, as we believe that all children have the right, and the entitlement, to a proper education. Some of the reasons, for homeschooling, that I've read about on this forum, that are more common in rural areas of North America, are extremely uncommon, in Sweden. I've read about parents using homeschooling as a means to avoid compulsory vaccination, for enrolling them in school. We believe, that vaccination, is responsible parenting, and a civic duty. There are some people, opposed to vaccination, but they are in the very small minority.

The way Swedish high school and university systems are structured, would also make homeschooling, far less feasible. We immediately commence studies, in our field, so a thorough preparation in high school, is crucial. If you are studying medicine, or law, you start this straightaway. In America, you go to undergraduate first, and then to a professional school.

I am in Japan, for the summer. Homeschooling is technically legal, but very complex, for obtaining permission. It's virtually unheard of, and definitely a foreign concept.

 

[Cimorene]

I think attitudes, about homeschooling, vary greatly, based on culture, and location. It's prohibited, in Sweden, except in extraordinary circumstances. Parents who have a special reason, to want to homeschool, such as prolonged travel, can request it. Rarely, is the request granted. Most Swedes, are very content with this, as we believe that all children have the right, and the entitlement, to a proper education. Some of the reasons, for homeschooling, that I've read about on this forum, that are more common in rural areas of North America, are extremely uncommon, in Sweden. I've read about parents using homeschooling as a means to avoid compulsory vaccination, for enrolling them in school. We believe, that vaccination, is responsible parenting, and a civic duty. There are some people, opposed to vaccination, but they are in the very small minority.

The way Swedish high school and university systems are structured, would also make homeschooling, far less feasible. We immediately commence studies, in our field, so a thorough preparation in high school, is crucial. If you are studying medicine, or law, you start this straightaway. In America, you go to undergraduate first, and then to a professional school.

I am in Japan, for the summer. Homeschooling is technically legal, but very complex, for obtaining permission. It's virtually unheard of, and definitely a foreign concept.

I live in Canada but homeschooling like how described by some people here is a foreign concept to me, too tbh. I think homeschooling should be a Plan B kind of thing. Like if the child is sick & can't go to school, homeschooling makes sense. Or if the family is traveling a lot or lives in such a rural area so far removed from civilization that attending a school isn't feasible. In some areas of Canada that may be the case, but it definitely isn't where I live. Even then I think I'd do an online school if I had an internet connection instead of homeschooling. I think it's hugely important to have teachers who are credentialed in the subjects / grades & to have interaction with other kids in the class whether it's in a virtual classroom or a physical one. I think we should take advantage of the times we live in & access to technology. In the 1800s families would be huge, with 9-10 kids so that they could be farmhands & it made sense bc that was necessary for survival. They had to homeschool bc of a lack of access to schooling. Today I think most families have way better options. Socially, I definitely think that many homeschooled kids are also at a disadvantage. Not all maybe, but a lot of them are.

I hadn't known that people would homeschool bc of vaccinations until reading about it here. Tbh all those posts make me even more convinced that kids need to be going to a real school, online or brick & mortar. Bc most of their reasons are totally based on ignorance & that ignorance just gets passed down. Their ignorance-based choices have an impact not just on the innocent kids in the family but on everybody else they come into contact with, & that's not right IMO.

 

[J. Elias]

So, as far as my personal experience has shown, my homeschooling through middle and high school has helped me tremendously:

--Better grades
--Less time "doing schoolwork"
--Better focused study on what you enjoy
--Increased vocabulary (I had to read a LOT, not so many lab exercises)
--Overall maturity
--Home economic skills (might be just me because I was the oldest and had all the chores)

The main objection I see most people having is the lack of social interaction. This can be seen in one of two ways, either the child will not develop properly, or (my opinion) society does not drag the child down. In my case, I find myself leaps and bounds ahead of my would-be co-students not only in academics, but in emotional maturity and, yes, social maturity. I have a far better ability to interact with professionals than I see many others my age (and many others that happen to be older than me)

The reason, I feel, is that kids in middle/high school tend to obsess over platonic things that, frankly, seem childish. Obsessing over crushes, the latest social trend, whatever happened to so-and-so, avoiding the bullies, irritating teachers, etc. With my homeschooling, my parents told me to read books. I read and read and read and here I am now. I have a well-paying job that I landed while in the first interview, I have 3 blue-collar skills I've learned from a trade school, and I am off to college this fall to study philosophy.

While I think socializing is important, I think most people don't see popular culture as toxic as it really is. I'm thriving currently, and I think it's largely in part due to the fact that I wasn't in a public school with a bunch of hormonal teenagers for eight years of my life. But perhaps that's just me.

 

[Jeronimo890]

I lived in Belgium, and was entirely homeschooled, as were all nearly all my siblings. It's the best way of learning! ;-) Here's why:

1. Socialization.
The problem with school is that you spend 45 hours a week with people of the same age as you. This is not good at all. When I look at my friends (none of them were homeschooled) they all have the same problem, they can't socialize with older or younger people.

2. It teaches you self discipline.
When you work at home, no one is there to watch you, so you must learn self discipline. I think this is really important, because in real life there won't be anyone to watch over you. It is better to fail an exam and get the lesson than fail at life.

3. Each one of us had the best grades of the school or or close to it during exams and this is confirmed by all the studies on homeschooling.

4. I've heard of too many people getting bullied at school, homeschooling is way safer!

I could give you a hundred more reasons but it would be too long. So if you have more questions, please ask!

 

[Go Braves]

I red a lot about it recently. This is not very well-known in Europe, so I wanted to know a bit more about that. It seems quite dangerous to me: how a child is supposed to integrate into his own society if he doesn't even attend a school with very different people? To me this isn't good for a child to grow up in a cocoon. Moreover we learn sociability in our first years. And every child needs friendship and to be confronted to someone else's eyes.

So basically I would like to learn the advantages of such a schooling and the reasons why it is so popular in America!

I've known several people who've been / are being homeschooled. Nearly all of them are extremely sheltered, and immature for their age. They make friends with us at church, in their homeschooling groups, but that's just about it. I just don't think homeschooling is for the best for most kids in the long run. Some of my friends who were homeschooled did have parents who took it really seriously, made an effort to give them a good education. It doesn't even come close to giving the same kind of structure & socialization as at school, or the same academics. You're not going to find too many parents who can teach every subject no matter how advanced for K on up to graduation.

Other homeschooling parents were just using it as a way of having child labor. We lived in a small peanut farming community for a while, taking care of my grandma when she was sick. All the homeschooling families I knew there lived on farms. Had their kids from the age of 7 or thereabouts out there working in the fields. Now, I think it's well and good to give kids chores to do, that's Biblical, it builds character, but this was far beyond that. The kids would be working out of workbooks, no real teaching. Then out doing work on the farm.

Three girls from my church who were homeschooled & from wealthier families went off to college. All three were back home by Christmas. They'd grown up in a bubble, couldn't function outside of it too well. One of my buddies was homeschooled too, but at least he did play sports. He started going to school for HS and liked it so much more. He was ahead in some areas, on account of his mom having him take some good online classes. He was behind in other things. He said he will not homeschool his kids when he has them one day.

 

[Go Braves]

I lived in Belgium, and was entirely homeschooled, as were all nearly all my siblings. It's the best way of learning! ;-) Here's why:

1. Socialization.
The problem with school is that you spend 45 hours a week with people of the same age as you. This is not good at all. When I look at my friends (none of them were homeschooled) they all have the same problem, they can't socialize with older or younger people.

2. It teaches you self discipline.
When you work at home, no one is there to watch you, so you must learn self discipline. I think this is really important, because in real life there won't be anyone to watch over you. It is better to fail an exam and get the lesson than fail at life.

3. Each one of us had the best grades of the school or or close to it during exams and this is confirmed by all the studies on homeschooling.

4. I've heard of too many people getting bullied at school, homeschooling is way safer!

I could give you a hundred more reasons but it would be too long. So if you have more questions, please ask!

I am glad you had a good experience, but plenty of folks have all that or better with going to school. I sure did.

1. Most kids who go to school do interact with folks of different ages, at church, other functions, in addition to interacting with the kids at their school. Lots get jobs in HS.
2. So does attending school, especially if you're taking demanding classes and playing sports. I played 3 varsity sports, took about 10 AP classes, and had a job. Trust me, that took a lot of self-discipline.
3. Well that's good for you, but that's not the case for everybody who is homeschooled.
4. Kids should not grow up up in safety wrap. Living in a bubble away from the world doesn't make you safer in the long run. I'm a huge believer in kids learning resilience. Now, some bullying really can be terrible, but for most it's pretty minor, routine kid stuff. I wasn't bullied much at all, and I honest to God feel like the few times I was, it helped my character get stronger.

 

[Go Braves]

A buddy who was homeschooled just posted about 2 awful cases of it in the news now. 1 out in California y'all may have heard about on account of it being in the news so much. I won't even post the links to that on account of how depraved it is. The other is about a lady up in Connecticut who pleaded guilty for starving & abusing her teenage son with autism. He was 5'8 & only weighed 84 pounds when he died. Since he'd been homeschooled & kept inside, decent folks weren't aware of him to intervene. Now, I fully realize that such families are at the extreme of things. I'm not implying that homeschooling families are more likely to abuse their kids. Not at all. What I am saying is that I think it's reasonable to have more oversight, regulation on homeschooling to have a safety net to catch kids who are being abused. I think it's good that there's been advocacy in light of these high profile cases for such regulation.

 

[Benama]

I go to an online school so I do home school, but it's completely different from homeschooling where your parents are your teachers.

Which online school do you go to?

 

[keith99]

So, as far as my personal experience has shown, my homeschooling through middle and high school has helped me tremendously:

--Better grades
--Less time "doing schoolwork"
--Better focused study on what you enjoy
--Increased vocabulary (I had to read a LOT, not so many lab exercises)
--Overall maturity
--Home economic skills (might be just me because I was the oldest and had all the chores)

The main objection I see most people having is the lack of social interaction. This can be seen in one of two ways, either the child will not develop properly, or (my opinion) society does not drag the child down. In my case, I find myself leaps and bounds ahead of my would-be co-students not only in academics, but in emotional maturity and, yes, social maturity. I have a far better ability to interact with professionals than I see many others my age (and many others that happen to be older than me)

The reason, I feel, is that kids in middle/high school tend to obsess over platonic things that, frankly, seem childish. Obsessing over crushes, the latest social trend, whatever happened to so-and-so, avoiding the bullies, irritating teachers, etc. With my homeschooling, my parents told me to read books. I read and read and read and here I am now. I have a well-paying job that I landed while in the first interview, I have 3 blue-collar skills I've learned from a trade school, and I am off to college this fall to study philosophy.

While I think socializing is important, I think most people don't see popular culture as toxic as it really is. I'm thriving currently, and I think it's largely in part due to the fact that I wasn't in a public school with a bunch of hormonal teenagers for eight years of my life. But perhaps that's just me.

I would suggest you look up what 'platonic' means. Your claim of an increased vocabulary is not impressive in light of your gross misuse.

 

[keith99]

Which online school do you go to?

Cimorene is no longer active here but she told me that it is OK to say which online school she went to. It is Stanford Online High School. My understanding is that it is mainly real classes connected through the video on most computers. So one still has the commitment to be there on time, just that there is in front of your computer instead of in a building on campus.

 

[keith99]

So, as far as my personal experience has shown, my homeschooling through middle and high school has helped me tremendously:

--Better grades
--Less time "doing schoolwork"
--Better focused study on what you enjoy
--Increased vocabulary (I had to read a LOT, not so many lab exercises)
--Overall maturity
--Home economic skills (might be just me because I was the oldest and had all the chores)

The main objection I see most people having is the lack of social interaction. This can be seen in one of two ways, either the child will not develop properly, or (my opinion) society does not drag the child down. In my case, I find myself leaps and bounds ahead of my would-be co-students not only in academics, but in emotional maturity and, yes, social maturity. I have a far better ability to interact with professionals than I see many others my age (and many others that happen to be older than me)

The reason, I feel, is that kids in middle/high school tend to obsess over platonic things that, frankly, seem childish. Obsessing over crushes, the latest social trend, whatever happened to so-and-so, avoiding the bullies, irritating teachers, etc. With my homeschooling, my parents told me to read books. I read and read and read and here I am now. I have a well-paying job that I landed while in the first interview, I have 3 blue-collar skills I've learned from a trade school, and I am off to college this fall to study philosophy.

While I think socializing is important, I think most people don't see popular culture as toxic as it really is. I'm thriving currently, and I think it's largely in part due to the fact that I wasn't in a public school with a bunch of hormonal teenagers for eight years of my life. But perhaps that's just me.

Bolding mine. While I would have loved to focus on the subjects I liked but that would have resulted in a grossly inferior education. I would have been years ahead in math and science and lacking in history and English.

I honestly do not see how my parents could have provided a reasonable substitute for brick and mortar school for High School. The knowledge to teach math and science would have been there, but a huge part of real science is lab work and while getting the materials for biology would have worked out OK for chemistry and physics there would have been major cost issues. A full set of glassware for chemistry is not cheap and one also needs a lab counter with a gas outlet for the Bunsen burner. And the ways stand now there would be difficulties getting a lot of the chemicals needed. (There are lots of nasty things that can come out of a good chem lab).

And the problem with lab work would have been exacerbated by my ability. I would probably been a couple of years ahead of schedule in the sciences. Math would have been even more of an issue. My mom could have taught it well, but she would have been rusty and she would have had problems once we were past college calculus.

Still once upon a time it could be argued that home schooling allowed students to progress at a far faster speed in the subjects where they had aptitude. This is far less true today. School systems allow rapid advancement through magnets and other means.

I don't want to give the impression that I think the current school system is perfect or even all that good. I just do not see home schooling as a viable solution.

I do however see learning at home as an important part of learning. I was cooking gourmet meals at 16. At or before 12 I was making devices that required hand soldering on a circuit board. Earlier than that I was doing Euclidian constructive geometry. By 16 I could take down or top a tree using a chainsaw (though topping was dangerous work and my parents did not allow me to do it).

It seems to me that those favoring home schooling are making an implicit assumption that if someone is going to a physical school they cease learning elsewhere. That is simply untrue. But there may be cases where their parents cease actively teaching and if so I would say those parents are not doing their job.

 

[Go Braves]

Bolding mine. While I would have loved to focus on the subjects I liked but that would have resulted in a grossly inferior education. I would have been years ahead in math and science and lacking in history and English.

I honestly do not see how my parents could have provided a reasonable substitute for brick and mortar school for High School. The knowledge to teach math and science would have been there, but a huge part of real science is lab work and while getting the materials for biology would have worked out OK for chemistry and physics there would have been major cost issues. A full set of glassware for chemistry is not cheap and one also needs a lab counter with a gas outlet for the Bunsen burner. And the ways stand now there would be difficulties getting a lot of the chemicals needed. (There are lots of nasty things that can come out of a good chem lab).

And the problem with lab work would have been exacerbated by my ability. I would probably been a couple of years ahead of schedule in the sciences. Math would have been even more of an issue. My mom could have taught it well, but she would have been rusty and she would have had problems once we were past college calculus.

Still once upon a time it could be argued that home schooling allowed students to progress at a far faster speed in the subjects where they had aptitude. This is far less true today. School systems allow rapid advancement through magnets and other means.

I don't want to give the impression that I think the current school system is perfect or even all that good. I just do not see home schooling as a viable solution.

I do however see learning at home as an important part of learning. I was cooking gourmet meals at 16. At or before 12 I was making devices that required hand soldering on a circuit board. Earlier than that I was doing Euclidian constructive geometry. By 16 I could take down or top a tree using a chainsaw (though topping was dangerous work and my parents did not allow me to do it).

It seems to me that those favoring home schooling are making an implicit assumption that if someone is going to a physical school they cease learning elsewhere. That is simply untrue. But there may be cases where their parents cease actively teaching and if so I would say those parents are not doing their job.

I can't cook a gourmet meal but I can fry up or BBQ just about anything & make it taste better than gourmet, lol. I learned Spanish from playing with the kids of migrant families who work the peanut farms where my grandparents lived. It's definitely odd for folks to assume that if someone is going to a physical school they are ceasing to learn elsewhere. Not true in the least in my case, for sure. Most folks went to school, still learned plenty at home, Sunday school, & such. Good point about science & lab science in particular. You can get some cheap home kits of Amazon but they are no where close to what you'd have in a real lab.

 

[keith99]

... And if you look at grading scale in public school in Canada and compare it to US, it's not even close. For example, an A is considered anything from 80-100 or 4 whereas in my homeschool (which my mom fashions after the private school she teaches in) an 80 would certainly not be anywhere close to an A.
The standards are just so much lower.

...

I have found that having a 'high' grading scale does not indicate a difficult class. Quite the opposite. It as often as not means the test is a mere regurgitation of facts or in math the completion of comparatively simple problems where all one needs to do is turn the crank. I recall tests where being in the 60s was a solid A. But I also recall getting back the results of one such test and having the Professor when presenting the 'right' answers told us that for one of the problems he was giving us what he thought the right answer was and if any of us had something different that we thought was correct to please see him after class and explain it so he could give more points on that question.

I've also had classes where the time element was so significant that even I did not finish and I was very fast. One calculus test I took had 5 questions and we were to do 4 out of 5 questions and if any of had extra time we could do the 5th for extra credit. The instructor doubted any of would have the time for that. I did all 5, double checked everything and had time left over. Yet that other test I did not finish.