homeschooling

[garweft]

Lol. I couldn't self teach myself math. When you get into the higher levels, you really do need someone to show it to you because generally, the books tend to be very vague.

They are not really vague, but to be honest, math textbooks don't make sense unless you already know what they are talking about. Kind of defeats the purpose of a textbook, huh.

[garweft]

Heh. I had to redo four years of my highschool education because what I had been using was utter crap. Even then, I had to do developmental math classes. I see homeschooling as a way for parents to be overly controlling of their kids. I would have gotten a much better education had I gone to public school. All my books were either out of date, or a christian curriculum that twisted everything. Only when I managed to get into an online school did things actually go decently.

Everyone who I know who was homeschooled had parents that I would describe as overprotective and "having a hard time letting go"

[purplemuffin]

I was homeschooled for a few years, and in my experience it actually set me FAR ahead of the other schools I went to later in life. My parents were always hard on me though, and I was really put to the test to learn my new skills--but the way they did it made it fun, I actually basically taught myself algebra, and when I went into a real middle school I made straight As in the advanced class.

I was homeschooled between 2nd and 5th grade, only entering school again for 6th. I went to all private schools my whole life other than that..Except I tried a public school my freshman year in highschool but was bullied and bored, Texas public schools aren't the best in most areas. My charter public arts highschool was AWESOME though... As an artist, there is more to getting into an art school than good grades in your classes..you have to have real world skills a lot of schools don't teach, sadly.

My favorite schooling experience was actually a mix between homeschool and regular school. You could choose which classes you took at the school and which you took at home. So if your parents were bad at math, you took math monday, wednesday, and friday, as well as your electives and other classes you wanted to pay for, and took the rest at home. You were still required to take tests at the school, and tuesdays and thursdays were study days for homework and for private time with teachers to make sure all students are not just keeping up with the pace of the class, but going as far as they can in their studies so they can improve more than maybe a strict classroom setting would. I would have stayed, but sadly that experience was sadly cut short when the new principal sort of went insane, fired 60% of the faculty, claiming it was a "time of cleansing"..and then left the school a month before classes started. The school was left in shambles as no one was hired to replace him in time for classes, so... we sort of backed out of that crazy mess. Now they are back on track with the original teachers(as well as some new awesome ones) and a new, STABLE principal.. But I'm in college, so it doesn't matter anymore Besides, if that hadn't of happened, I wouldn't have found FWAFA, and without that school I would not have gotten as far in my artistic career as I have now!


Basically I think it's important to be aware of your own personal limitations when homeschooling. My mom worked from home, and so she always had time for me to ask questions. She knew she wasn't as good at math, so she always talked with her friends who had kids in private schools and used their homework as examples to see if I was keeping on track despite her issues teaching it. Thankfully the textbooks were very clear, and so it took very little help. We also did summer classes and took tests and made sure I was always a few grades above where I was supposed to be. If the parent can't teach a certain class well, I think it's important to supplement that subject with other things as well as make sure that the child is on track and can do work at the same level/above regularly schooled students. You can't be lazy and homeschool!

Also, making sure the kids get social time is really important. There is a difference between a homeschooled kid and a homeschooler... One of them has friends, goes out and does social things, and is basically a kid who goes to school at home..The other ends up socially awkward and sadly becomes the face of what homeschooling does. It's very hard to end up like this with how many options there are to make friends. I joined a swim team and a choir as well as taking art classes..I made a lot of friends, and no one really knew I was homeschooled. It made me sad when I heard what people said about homeschooled kids..Because well, not all of us end up socially inept.

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Well, I had a nice long post written up but decided it was all words repeating what has already been said by myself or someone else.

So I'll just say that not all homeschoolers have over controlling parents. I don't. My parents normally let me do what I want school wise.
They'd prefer I do spanish later on when I have to learn a language because it's more useful(and at somepoint it wouldn't hurt learning it) but I'll be learning Japanese probably since I already can understand more Japanese words thanks to some of the animes I watch.
I took classes too last school year and I talked to other people. I wasn't anti-social. I'll be social when the occasion calls for it. My main time to be social is at my church and when I do classes outside of school. (Not sure what I'm doing next school year, but I'd like to ride horses).
So yeah, we don't all end up under-educated than people in public schools(Whether people have said that or not, I'm still keeping it)nor do we turn out as antisocial wallflowers.

I do like the fact that in homeschool, you can have 1X1 time with the teacher(whether through another teacher or your parent) and there are less distractions from other people.

And public school kids can have over controlling parents too, not just homeschoolers. My neighbor's in middle school, she goes to a public school, but her dad is very controlling and strict. She was told she'd have to play trombone in the school's Jazz band or they'd stop the lessons for her. She likes playing trombone, but doesn't want to be in Jazz Band.
Her parents are way more strict than mine...(mainly her dad) I couldn't cope with parents like that myself...

Anyway, many people have a certain view of homeschoolers that is completely wrong. I had a friend a few years back and her parents didn't like homeschoolers until they met our family. We changed their perspective of homeschoolers. They didn't like pull their kid out of school to homeschool her, but they had a nicer view of homeschoolers after us.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I also think going through a public/private school system is an important step in a childs social developement.

Unless the child has a major social development issue which prevents them from having proper social relationships with children of their age group.. For instance. A grade schooler with aspergers who is either unsocial, or the type who bothers and annoys other children so badly that they refuse to be that child's friend. Which creates a chain reaction. It is impossible for that child to realize why other children don't want him around but children are clicky. Things like this can create a problem which lasts all through grade school. Now we've taken an incredibly intelligent child who could have been a rocket scientist, and ruined him by forcing him to stay in social situations that he didn't understand and he didn't understand why he was hated for it.


Home schooling can be very beneficial for some.

[Obscurus28]

I can understand what your saying about it , everybody different and homeschooling works for some and doesn't for some and vice versa w public school. It is a touchy topic in my life right now and im sorry if i was inappropriate or hurt someones feelings. honestly, i would have liked homeschool if it wasnt for those things im supposed to call parents. if the parents and child are on the same page, i believe it is a good choice to homeschool.

[Jessica Loesch]

I think this issue needs to be treated with individuality.

It depends on multiple factors
-Education level of the parents in different subjects required to get a diploma
-The child and their personality
-The child's preference
-The public schooling in your area
-The home school support in your area

And so many more I'm not going to list.

[purplemuffin]

So true!

Know yourself, know your kid... Honestly that needs to happen with more parents, homeschooled or not!!

I know that I personally could not handle fully homeschooling my own children, although my parents were wonderful at it, at least that is my view right now based on my own personality and choice of profession. I may be home all the time, but my job keeps me very busy, often having to spend hours at a time on a single illustration.. While the kid is at school would be perfect time for work. I WOULD like to tutor my child in art and possibly do one of those partially homeschooled schools, teaching the classes I feel most comfortable teaching using the best resources available. But I don't have a kid yet, and I know that is many years away, so who knows what the future will bring.

[Raptor]

They are not really vague, but to be honest, math textbooks don't make sense unless you already know what they are talking about. Kind of defeats the purpose of a textbook, huh.

Yup. I remember being in my first year of college and doing beginning algebra online. I was doing a section on radicals and absolutely confused. It wasn't until the following semester did I actually learn that the number in front of the square root was the number than had been squared. Of course, when I was homeschooled and doing algebra, I was on my own. Mom had never gotten past Algebra I, and that had been two decades or so ago. My dad? Well, we weren't on speaking terms.

Overall, when I was growing up, I had no friends my age. Just two older kids. One treated me as an annoyance at best, the other kinda treated me as a friend. There were no social groups outside of christian groups, and with my dad being a strict atheist..Yeah. Sure, there was the occasional trip to the playground, but that didn't happen often. Camp fires? Already went over that. 4H when I was in my teens wasn't much better. So, yeah. I'm now 23, have little desire to deal with people and find them annoyances at best that bug me at the most importune time. Had I not been homeschooled, I probably would either be finishing up my time at the community college, or I would have already transferred to the university.

Do you kids a favor. Don't homeschool them. You don't want them to end up like me. There's a reason why there's a sterotype about homeschooling. Yeah, sure. I used to be cocky that I was well adjusted. I wasn't, and it was a rather depressing thing, too.

But hey. Your the parents. Screw up your kids if you want to (isn't that what parents are best at anyways?). As long as I don't have to deal with anyone, I'm happy.

Yes, I'm cranky. It's 6:30 am and I haven't finished my coffee. Sue me.

[Valentine Pirate]

This seems to be getting somewhat sensitive, but as a home schooled child I don't think it was a bad experience. Granted, it was K-6th grade and not through my teens, but it helped me develop a good sense of self outside of peer pressure and (for me personally) a better grasp on maturity. I can see how with different parents, or other various factors, it could have been much worse. As far as socializing goes, I wasn't around groups of children constantly, but we traveled a lot and it gave me a lot of social experience in dealing with people in general.