homeschooling

[reptileexperts]

Completely disagree. Parents level of education did not change my education level in the slightest of ways.

[Mike41793]

Well, I don't . From what I've gleaned, he's some football person. I don't pay attention to sports, so, yeah.

Oh em gee!
I need to start working with you lol!
Jk, but describing him as "some football person" is quite accurate.
Now brady on the other hand... "some football legend".
Its ok. I had a friend who came to my super bowl party and when he arrived he asked what inning they were in lmao.

EDIT: i just realized that you wouldnt get the joke because youre not a sports person lol. Nevermind ill just stop haha

[rebelrachel13]

A lot of people in my extended family have been homeschooled. About half of them turned out fine and are furthering their education in college and beyond, but the other half is struggling to keep up with age-level academics. They have speech problems, very evident social setbacks, and are generally clueless about the world outside their yard. I am not saying this is the case for all homeschooled kids as I do support responsible independent education, but I fear that this is the case for all too many of these kids.

I think a lot of it has to do with the reasons for homeschooling, and the individual kids and parents who do it. Some families homeschool b/c they are overbearing or fear the government "indoctrinating" their children, some do it because they refuse routine immunizations and vaccinations, some are insistent on telling their kids only what they want them to know. Of course, many and most do it because they are sincerely dedicated to providing their children with the best and most thorough education possible, and believe they are able to facilitate it. I do commend that attitude. But for the most part, if they can afford it, I'd say that most homeschool-minded parents are better off sending their kids to a private school.

As a public high school junior, I am proud of my education thus far and would hardly say that the public school system is beyond repair. Many teachers - mine, for example - are still absolutely passionate about their jobs. I know I've been lucky. I know that many schools are indeed lacking in devoted faculty and balanced curriculum, but I do feel that the average parent is not qualified to be the sole educator for a child. Thankfully, these days there are a lot more options like homeschool groups, online curriculum, and local independent classes.

[youbeyouibei]

I've seen the best and worst of homeschooling within my own family. My brothers and I were started with homeschooling prior to being enrolled in public school. I think in some ways it gave us a leg up in our comprehension of certain subjects. My youngest brother has been homeschooled his entire life. He's married at 18 to a girl who had to be emancipated after they got pregnant because she was too young to legally marry on her own, he still lives at home with his wife and child and he has no life skills to speak of should his hourly job fall through. I know for a fact my mom didn't provide any type of sexual education to him and I have to wonder if she didn't purposefully hold him back in life because he's the baby and she wants to be needed...anyway, that's a whole other topic for a different thread.

Like rebelrachel said, I think some parents do the homeschooling thing to be able to indoctrinate their children into one way of thinking; that's proven to be the case with my own family. Their opinions are fact, their is no discussion on anything and if you don't follow their way of living, well...you won't be invited over for Thanksgiving dinner, to say the least! Whatever. I have mixed emotions about this topic, as I've met some incredible people who are extremely talented who were homeschooled all of their lives and then there is my own family who I think represents some of the worst examples of how not to do things. I go back and forth on it, as I've seen the best and worst of both sides of things from the homeschooling crowd to the public school systems. Neither is perfect but both can be made to work and give the kid(s) the best possible chances later in life; it all comes down to the motivations and commitments from the parents and the teachers, regardless of whether it's public, private, or home.

[Raptor]

Completely disagree. Parents level of education did not change my education level in the slightest of ways.

Consider yourself lucky. It screwed me over in the math department.

[Slim]

As someone who both went through the public school system and has several relatives who teach in it, I take offense to that idea. While there are certainly teachers who are nigh on worthless, there are tons of great ones as well.
Also, good job attacking people who aren't in the conversation to defend themselves rather than answering the question I posed.

Take offense if you must, but If you think I said what I did about public school teachers without a large amount of personal insight in to the profession, you are mistaken.

The only question you posed in your post was:

Do you honestly believe that you are a better teacher in *every* subject than the teachers in whatever public or private school your kids would otherwise attend?

And even though I did answer it indirectly, let me be less cryptic; while a homeschooling parent might not be the best teacher in every subject, most are better overall educators, and certainly in a better position to know when outside sourcing is needed for specific subjects.

And,

Who did I attack that wasn’t in the conversation? If you took my post as an attack, then that is on you. I was making counter points to your debate. That's how debate works. At least that's what I teach the homeschooled kids on the debate team I coach. A two time Virginia state VISAA winning debate team, at that

even a completely, should be fired, burnt out teacher is still going to know their material better than the average person.

Your statement both sells homeschool parents short, and idealizes teachers. A mistake on both ends. If you are an average person, then you should probably send your kids to public school. The parents of the homeschooled kids I work with are far above average.

I also say Public schools because the state I grew up in had a program that you could attend local colleges during your junior and senior years.

Several states have the same program for homeschooled students. In fact, per capita, homeschooled students have a higher acceptance rate and generally carry a heavier course load both in terms of number of hours and academic challenge.

Consider yourself lucky. It screwed me over in the math department.

I'm sorry your experience was less than desirable. I seriously doubt luck had anything to do with good a outcome versus a bad one. Everyone's mileage will vary.

[Rob]

Can someone tell me an upside to homeschool? ( not being sarcastic)
I just don't see one. School is far more then just education. Even if a parent is able to educate their child as well as a teacher would they can't duplicate everything that goes on at school. Making friends, playing sports, getting involved in clubs, relationships, dances, The list goes on. These are all things that kids shouldn't miss out on. Now negatives, dealing with a bully maybe? If you don't encounter some sort of getting picked on how are you gong to deal with it in the real world. There are bully's out in the work place as well. My opinion is home schooling will do nothing more then force a kid to live a sheltered life.

[Slim]

Rob, I'm not against traditional schooling, but I violently support a parent's right to take matters into their own hands and not trust the government to know what's right when it comes to educating their kids.

One of the main advantages to homeschooling is the individual attention that can never happen in a traditional class room environment. Also, homeschool parents can tailor the curriculum (within state standards) to fit the child’s needs and interest.

The home school kids I work with as a debate coach have friends, relationships, play sports and do 90% of the stuff you listed. What they don't have is a locker in a hallway, crappy lunchroom food, and distracting, disruptive class mates.

There is a large difference between education and training. Most of the homeschooling parents I work with feel the traditional public school system has transitioned from education, and into training...training to pass state mandated standardized tests. Education is a level above training and that's where these parents want their kids to be.

[lizlopez]

As someone who both went through the public school system and has several relatives who teach in it, I take offense to that idea. While there are certainly teachers who are nigh on worthless, there are tons of great ones as well.

Thank you from a public school teacher who works her ass off to make sure her students do well.

Also, good job attacking people who aren't in the conversation to defend themselves rather than answering the question I posed.

I did not always teach. I worked in a lab for 6 years before making the change. I took a $35,000 pay cut to do it. I thought it would be easy. I would be done at 3pm. I would have my summers off. Boy was I wrong never worked harder in my life.

[Raptor]

The reason I was homeschooled? My dad is a bit of a nutjob and was paranoid about the government. Not to mention, he was severely controlling.

Thanks to homeschooling, I'm socially awkward, anti-social, have issues relating to people my own age (and people in general), have issues in higher levels of math (what happens when a parent who only had pre-algebra tries to teach algebra 2), and a nice other host of issues that I won't go into.

Sure. I was in camp fires and I played with the other kids in my housing development. In campfires, I was treated as an outsider and picked on because all the kids knew each other from school. My "friends" at the housing development were not only several years older than me, they borderline abusive because they saw me as a smart allelic and I put up with it because I was so starved for interaction with people in my own age group.

So, I reiterate, don't homeschool your kids. It'll screw em up.