What Do You All Think of Homeschooling...and the Homeschoold Kids that are Produced?

[TheBlondOne]

A spinoff from this thread.

Homeschooling is a big thing for some of my friends. I was even homeschooled one year of my life. At my college, many homeschoolers come here, but most of them stick to their little safe group of friends and seem afraid to confront anything in the real world.

On the other hand, two of my best friends (one of them being Bethel, whose picture many of you have seen) were homeschooled and have no problem dealing with the real world.

So what do you all think? Do you think that homeschooling is good in that many of the kids come out of it being well educated, or do you think it only messes them up socially and will lead to a life of misery in the end?

--Sarah

 

[EagleKeeper]

You stand an excellent chance of having a more well rounded educations (of course this depends on the parents). Parents with a degree are usally better qualified than those with only HS or GED. Their backgrounds are stronger. The parents with BS or educational backgrounds will also be stronger in teaching. Parents with a lower level of educations will be hard pressed to challenge the child and understand the new ideas.

There are support groups for parents that are into home schooling.

For the child:

Difficult to play hookie.
Impossible to forge your parents' signature on the report card.

Will affect your social skills unless you have a lot of social interaction with out of school activities.
Some school systems will let home schoolers participate in intermural sports.

Due to the nature of home schooling, it is reasonable for the child to gravitate toward others with similar backgrounds/experiences.

This social action is usally consistent with any child, regardless of educational upbringing, social status, etc.
Look at the ghetto kids or rich brats. Both groups usally hang around with others of similar orgins.

 

[AreaCode707]

18 and a junior in college! Homeschooled from 10-15, then in junior college until this year.

I have to admit to being rather a computer hermit last quarter, but my social reluctance sprang from pre-homeschooling. I was a tortured little kid in my private school before I left - very picked on, no friends, etc. Homeschooling gave me a chance to recover my self-worth and social skills and I did fine on friends in a new town during high school years. I don't stick in a homeschooling group here, though I've met a few homeschoolers. I'm hooked up with about four different groups of people this quarter than I'm hanging out with.

So I think I got a better education and escaped a socially crippling situation when I started homeschooling. It varies from person to person of course, some work and play better in school, some don't. But I've been totally prepped for college academically and, now recovering from my resurging grade school fears, I'm doing good socially.

 

[theknight571]

My mom has a friend from church who has 9 (last I heard) kids, and has home schooled all of them. (Note: I only include the number of kids for the wow factor...hehe )

I met the family a few years ago and they all seemed to be really smart and personable, and had no problem interacting with groups or others. They seemed to not have suffered at all from home schooling.

The oldest was just starting "high school" at the time (as I recall), and I've not heard much about them since then, so I don't know if it affected their college at all or not.

But from what I saw, it wouldn't (or shouldn't) have.

- TK

 

[d0ofy]

Homeschooling is great! Leaves more space in the public education system.

 

[AreaCode707]

<< Homeschooling is great! Leaves more space in the public education system. >>



Exactly! For those kids who do well in the public school system, while letting the kids who do better in another environment work at their best. Especially those kids who are inclined to excell or fall behind - individual attention seems to help them out best while the work-the-class-at-the-same-pace policy of the public schools takes care of the majority.

 

[Facin]

I was homeschooled for 5 years when I was a kid. I was definitely above the curve in terms of academics when I got done with it. I started back in regular school around 7th grade. I think that is the latest that this should happen. I think early development is great with parents, but once you start maturing socially (middle/high school), I think it is important to be in a school. It might be worthwhile to put the kids in a private school for middle school to kind of ease them into the whole "regular" school thing.

Another thing that can help is if homeschooling is common in your area. If it is not, your kids may feel kind of alienated because they are different than everyone they know (this was my case). It is not the end of the world, but something to think about.

The biggest thing with homeschooling is balancing the academic/social ration. I had no problems socially other than my natural hangups (everyone has some). I am an extremely social person though by nature, so it might affect someone with less inclination to be social a little worse. Also, I think it helped that I had a lot of siblings being homeschooled at the same time. This allowed for a decent amount of social interaction while I was a kid. Also, I played like 8 different sports (hockey, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, swimming, etc.) while I was being schooled, so that helped making friends as well.

I definitely think it is a good idea for young kids... it creates a wonderful bond between siblings/parents that I think is missing too often these days. I hope my future wife is on the same ground as I am when I finally get around to having kids. I think the most important thing about the whole process is to make sure the parents do not isolate their kids too much. If the parents are doing it solely based on protecting their kids and they are reluctant for their kids to participate in other activities...that seems like big problems to me. If it is more to give your kids a solid education, I think it can be a wonderful thing.

Hope at least some of this made sense.

 

[Maverick]

I think it depends completely on the parents. If the home schooling parents are overprotective and sheltering, I would consider home schooling the child a bad thing. How is the child to know right from wrong when all he/she ever see is right?

In public/private school kids are exposed to both good kids and bad kids. They learn to recognize right from wrong first hand. Not only that, they get the experience of many different teachers with different perspectives on life. If they are taught from one person (a parent) their whole lives, they are bound to learn certain biases that cannot be helped.

Basically I think home schooling can be really good, but it does have a few loopholes that can easily be overcome by sending the child to regular school for a few years (which most homeschoolers end up doing anyway).

 

[Saltin]

Hame sckuling nevar did me no haerm. I ame forr it !!!``

 

[linuxboy]

A spinoff from this thread.

Homeschooling is a big thing for some of my friends. I was even homeschooled one year of my life. At my college, many homeschoolers come here, but most of them stick to their little safe group of friends and seem afraid to confront anything in the real world.

Sarah, allow me to make a preliminary objection from a developmental viewpoint. Personality (based on genetically inherited temperament) creates a sort of "best fit" with the environment. A child usually will seek out the best fit, based on the personality (which is malleable in a child). If one has bad early socialization experiements, there is not a great chance that the child, if left in a public schoo, would develop different social skills that one who was home raised. There are more opportunities, but the trend of for those people sto still remain in a very close "in-group" with all of that related dynamic. But the point of confronting is a valid one since more avenues exist in a large social setting such as school. At the same time, if the parents make these experiences available and develop proper coping in the child, the results for home schoolers are BETTER due to parent dyad script-sharing.

On the other hand, two of my best friends (one of them being Bethel, whose picture many of you have seen) were homeschooled and have no problem dealing with the real world.

That's it exactly. It just depends. That's why correlations in social sciences are notoriously low. Continuities can be broken if one knows how and sets a child on a different life trajectory.

So what do you all think? Do you think that homeschooling is good in that many of the kids come out of it being well educated, or do you think it only messes them up socially and will lead to a life of misery in the end?

Statistically, the results are in favor of home schooling. People will screw up their kids no matter what. At the same time, those who care enough and have the resources (implies decent socio-economic status) will do a better job parenting (simply an empirical fact).

I think I gave a good overview of the phenomenon. I really don't have much more to add without reiterating previous ideas.


Cheers !

 

[Queasy]

I don't know any homeschoolers personally...but, the public schools have gotten so ridiculous these days that I'm considering home schooling my kids. My wife's 13 year old little brother has no idea who H.G. Wells is and he is in honor classes. Her little 13 year old cousin doesn't understand anything about Pearl Harbor or the Statue of Liberty.

I'm going to end up homeschooling my kids or supplementing their public school education at home. I don't know if I'll be able to afford a good private school by the time my baby gets old enough but I'll have to find something to make sure they get a well-rounded education.

 

[Athanasius]

I think linuxboy said it very well.

My kids are homeschooled, so I will only add one point that I think relates to HotChic's experience.

The "lack of social interaction" critiqiue is frequently leveled against homeschooling. On the surface, it seems quite legitimate. It was my greatest concern before my wife and I opted for homeschooling. But what exactly is this "lack of social interaction"? What is it being compared to? If I compare it to the traditional educational environment, I think that being placed in an environment with 30+ kids all the same basic age of the child is not a model that correlates well with reality. What about interacting with wide age groups and across generational lines?

The "role models" and "losers/scapegoats" that are typically created in the classroom setting are often neither one. If a child interacts almost exclusively with her own peer group, she will tend to follow people that maybe she shouldn't follow and scapegoat people she certainly should not be scapegoating. Both tendencies are immature (which is understandable; one expects the immature to be immature.) But these tendencies tend to run unchecked because there is no easy way to check them in the traditional school setting.

So, the "social interaction" so prevalent in the traditional school is not necessarily a meme that we should perpetuate.

"Educate" literally means (from the Latin), "to draw out." The education process should draw out of the child that which is best and brightest and exorcise that which is harmful. Homeschooling gives those who know the child best and hopefully love her the most the opportunity to succed in a way that public schools often cannot.

That is not a critique against traditional schools. My wife has her Master's in Elementary Education and has taught in the public schools. She loved it and may eventually return. Our kids may return. We evaluate what seems best for each of our kids every year. But the "social weakness" of homeschooling is overstated. Where there is lack of social interaction, it can be remedied through group classes, boys' and girls' clubs, scouts, religious organizations, sports, etc.

 

[Arschloch]

<<

<< Homeschooling is great! Leaves more space in the public education system. >>



Exactly! For those kids who do well in the public school system, while letting the kids who do better in another environment work at their best. Especially those kids who are inclined to excell or fall behind - individual attention seems to help them out best while the work-the-class-at-the-same-pace policy of the public schools takes care of the majority. >>


I'm pretty sure that individual attention for every student would help out the vast majority of students the most. You're right, public schools "take care" of the majority adequately enough, it's still a bad system.

While there is something to be said for acquiring social skills through school, there are other ways to do that outside of school. However, for most younger kids, little of their learning is done outside of school.

In other words, I think homeschooling is great. It gives parents the ultimate control over how and what their children are taught. Considering the evolution of the public school system has taken away that power from parents in most communities, it's definitely a Good Thing (TM).

 

[gopunk]

i could have sworn i've seen threads on this before....

people got upset, flamed a little, and the conclusion i came away with was that it depends. but doesn't it always?

i've known 2 homeschooled kids in my life. one is your stereotypical no-social-skills geek, and the other is normal.

 

[SpongeBob]

I don't have anything against home-schooling. I know people that were home-schooled and are pretty normal(well what's normal these days anyway?). I'd never home-school my kids though. I had some invaluable experiences in both private and public schools that I would also want my kids to experience. I would however, review the schools curriculum and make sure it was up to my standards. If it wasn't, off to a better school district we go!

 

[aimn]

My ex threatens to homeschool my daughter who is 8 years old. Its because the school charged the ex with educational neglect. My daughter missed 30 days of school last year. Mom is either not home from the night of partying or she is to hung over to get my daughter up for school. Anyways, the ex has about a 10th grade education. I sure hope that there are regulations about who can homeschool and who cant. Otherwise, my daughter doesnt stand a chance.

 

[MajesticMoose]

I think homeschooling is a horrible idea. I also don't like the idea of kids going to private schools for the same reason, although it isn't as bad. You can only shelter your kids so long. The more you put it off, the harder things will be for them later on.

m00se

 

[ViperMagic]

No. I am picked on (usaually, though not always, in good fun) alot at school. But would I give it up for anything? no

 

[Arschloch]

<< I think homeschooling is a horrible idea. I also don't like the idea of kids going to private schools for the same reason, although it isn't as bad. You can only shelter your kids so long. The more you put it off, the harder things will be for them later on.

m00se >>


If your most important purpose of school is to educate (that is, education is more important than socialization), it seems to me that home schooling and private schools would be superior to many public schools.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

But I would of never been able to smoke in the bathroom at home!

 

[SpongeBob]

If your most important purpose of school is to educate (that is, education is more important than socialization), it seems to me that home schooling and private schools would be superior to many public schools

I think an important part of education is learning how to interact with people of all different races, creeds, etc.. In high-school I learned a lot about different cultures because I made some friends that were jewish, indian, black, agnostic, etc. It's just my opinion from my experiences that there are a lot of things you can learn in school that aren't in books, and are not necessarily things your parents or whoever are going to teach you.

Like I said, there's nothing wrong with home-schooling, I just don't happen to like the idea.

 

[BD231]

You have to take into account that some people just arent as social as others, home school is a God send for me because I deal with Diabetis and sometimes going to school every day of the week would be an impossibility for me. Private schools are good because they dont have nearly as many kids as a public school, this allows teachers to give one on one help to all the kids when they need it. Kids who get picked on at a young age are bound to have some type of social restraint later on in life, some kids shake it off but other kids can really take it bad. Overall homeschooling/private school is much better than any public school, homeschooling being the best. Kids are a$$holes.

 

[Athanasius]

<< I think homeschooling is a horrible idea. I also don't like the idea of kids going to private schools for the same reason, although it isn't as bad. You can only shelter your kids so long. The more you put it off, the harder things will be for them later on. >>



Again, on the surface such a statement's truth seems self-evident. But what real-life situation is it being compared against?

Who says that homeschoolers inappropriately shelter their children? Can such a generalized statement even be tested? I have had frank and honest talks with my ten year old son and my eight year old daughter about pornography, sexuality, good-touch/bad touch, politics, religion, handling injustice, personal responsibility, etc. What is meant by "sheltered"?

Plus, my older ones actually help care for their younger ones. My eight year old daughter makes great pancakes from scratch. My ten year old son can do his own laundry or clean up the dog poop in the back yard without too much complaining. My six-year old can set the dinner table by himself, and does two nights a week. We don't brow beat them into doing these tasks. They do it because they see their mother doing those things and realize that real life comes down to such "menial" acts of service. They see a mother who could easily make a great living in the "working world" (she was a health benefits consultant with an international firm and has a master's degree) leaving that behind to put them first and serve them. That's real life. A real life that many kids have no concept of because they never see it. They are sheltered.

Furthermore, they are academically ahead in almost every subject. Why? They are not geniuses or prodigies. It is because they interact on a one on one level and thus get their needs met in a way that the massive school system simply cannot manage (nor should it be expected to). Where they excel, they are free to excel. Where they struggle, they get tremendous one on one help.

Again, I am not knocking public education. If we choose to pursue that route at some point, we will be quite proactive, supportive, and involved. My wife may even teach in the public arena again.

 

[SpongeBob]

Kids are a$$holes.

That's partly my point, adults are assholes too, and when do you want to learn to deal with them? When you're in a career and have important things to do? I think not. You may end up going crazy and going postal on the person being an ass to you.

That's part of what being with such a large mix of people provides, you learn how to deal with people and how to function as a healthy member of society. Some people can do this even though they are home-schooled and I say more power to them.

 

[Optimus]

It really depends on the children.

Some kids thrive at it, some find it socially difficult.

Also depends on the parent's abilities. An adult of average education and good effort can school kids to about the Jr. High level, then it gets increasingly difficult, again depending on the kids.

For compatible, willing kids and decently educated parents willing to commit to it, and include social development, it can be fantastic. Certainly the average home-schooled child is better educated usually.

I was home schooled 4 years. I liked the interesting work and challenge in learning, as I was often bored in regular school. I never had social problems at public school, so I did wind up missing the social aspects greatly, which is why I returned to school. But again - it depended on me as an individual.