Are there dangers of home schooling your children?

Question

Are there dangers of home schooling your children?

Answer 1

Dangers???

As opposed to them getting, singled out and mocked, beaten up, shot, stabbed like in some public schools?

The only danger I suppose is if the Teacher does not teach them properly.

Public school teach social skills???HAHAHAHA

Kids, who no nothing of how to act, teach other kids who know nothing of how to act. Yeah that sounds about right.

Answer 2

No.

Answer 3

Dangers? No. If you join a homeschool association, or plan activities they won't lack for social experience. If you want the public school experience, let them join the public schools sports or activities (it's usually allowed.) That way they'll mostly get the good part, without all the downsides of actually homeschooling. They won't have a problem with not learning enough if you teach them well. They won't be in danger because they don't know how to react to the dangers in the outside world if you talk to them about it all. Lol unless there is a break-in at your house, you don't really have to worry about people coming in with guns trying to kill you all either.

Answer 4

There is a very high risk (near certainty) of being stereotyped by people who have no clue.

There are also dangers of

- advancing beyond the "normal" grade level.

- being recruited and accepted into a top college.

- success in life.

- happiness.

- learning to learn and loving it.

- having to pick and choose from among a bunch of social activities

- not actually being home much.

- the child will probably learn to think for themselves.

- the child not becoming rebellious.

As the old time maps say on the edge of uncharted waters: There be dragons here!

Yo ho, yo ho, a homeschool life for me...

***UPDATE: Melissa - love the phrase.

Answer 5

I noticed your question and was going to make some specific comments and observations about the benefits of home schooling children, but now I only have to say that Archer, ysn…, Melissa and Katie have all done more to echo my sentiments than I ever could have stated them.

However, I will add this one bit of advice. Home schooling is the way to go if you cannot afford a private school, but whatever you do, do NOT let your kids go to a public school. Public schools, I believe, are beyond repair.

Answer 6

Yes.  Homeschooling is not for everyone.  And please don't give me the thumbs down for this.  I support homeschooling  totally, it is the best way for all the positive reasons stated above.  It is great!   But.   It doesn't work for everybody.  I feel that the parent and the child have to be dedicated to the effort.  There are the few rare parents who do it and damage their children, these parents are bad anyway, but hiding their children at home can exacerbate their bad parenting.  But this is not a homeschool problem, it is a parenting problem.   If a person doesn't have the time, the energy, or the desire to make it work they should put their kids in school.   It is a huge decision to homeschool and should be made for the right reasons for the best interests of the child.   The majority of the homeschoolers are not like this and they can produce a strongly educated child.   Unfortunately it is not always the case and the media picks up on it and the stereotype is born and perpetuated.   We need to advertise our succeses more.

Answer 7

I was homeschooled for the first 13 years of my life, and all thatcrap about being "unsocialized" is a steriotype.  I'm 16 and in college.  I have tons of friends in all of my classes even though everyone ells is 4-20 years older than me.  I love to learn, and I think for myself.  When I was a kid, I hated homeschooling for that very steriotype, but I got over it as I matured.  And for people who say public schools give you a challenge, well they obviously have never been homeschooled.  You are forced to know who you are and rise above others thoughts of you.  I did go to public school for one year, and I fit in great because of all my years of homeschooling.  It just depends on the homeschooler.  I know public school kids that are super shy, and I know homeschool kids that are super shy.  But same thing with outgoing, fun kids!  

By the way, my oldest brother was homeschooled his whole life.  He is an eagle scout, a medical missionary, he speaks fluent japenese, he has started his own bussiness for tutoring people for the M-cat, he has gone on a month trip to Japan with only his own money, and he can choose any school he wants for med school.  He is only 20 years old.

And my other brother is going to be a lawyer, and he is smart, but in a toltally different way.

And I am so different from both of them.  I am not a prodigy like my brothers, bit I have lots of friends and I love life, but I still do well in my classes.

Answer 8

There is no real dangers. My friends are homeschooled and so in order for them to see friends her mom homeschools other kids as well. The only danger that is non serious is not beiing able to see friends and see what other kids have to say. But the benifit is that they get to slow it down a bit and that they learn better because they are secure and comfortable at home.

Answer 9

Do not listen to people when they say that there is, it is actually safer and your child does not see and hear some of the stuff that they should not.

Answer 10

(please check answers/forum for my question about home-school success stories -- add yours to it!)

The dangers of home-schooling:

1.  Many children that study at home have proven that they become smarter than their parents.  They actually surpass the parents' level in math, writing and reading.  If a parent cannot stand the idea of their child advancing at such a wonderful pace then they shouldn't take the risk.

2.  The student often becomes the boss in the workplace.  It is intimidating to others to have someone in charge that they once considered infurior due to their educational circumstances.

3.  It is a danger to the status-quo:  Teachers that have gone through many years of college and that have spent thousands of dollars to get their teaching certificates are reluctant to admit that home-school students really do get a great education.  Not all teachers are in danger because many of them agree with the process of home-schooling.  Others are intimidated and sense a threat to their career.  No need to feel this way -- their will always be group schools for them.

4.  Home-schoolers often take the top awards at spelling and geography competitions.  

5.  Home-schooling is at times a hindrance to the necessary study-habit because their are way too many activities and events to choose from.  Too much social contact is often a problem because the students end up too busy with extra-curricular stuff to get the academics down.  The danger lies only in the imagination -- because all it takes is a bit of scheduling and diligence.  My children always get their work done and then they are free to go participate in all of the options.

6.  Learning way ahead of their age-group peers.  I watched a report about a home-school girl that could finish ALL of her 3rd grade material in only one month.  From that point on she was free to learn anything beyond the 3rd grade level.

7.  Being bad mouthed by people that do not know them.  This happens quite often here in the answers forum.

8.  Being so well liked by so many people that do know them.  This has been a strange "danger" in that it used to be quite hard to make sure they actually had time to spend getting their own studies completed.   People were always calling for them to come and babysit, do yard work, help in construction, paint houses, etc.  My oldest had many job offers because he was so smart and such a hard worker.  The danger was because he wanted to work instead of study -- it's tough when their are 4 business men "bidding" for his help -- the $ offers kept going up and it was hard to withstand the desire to earn it all "right now".  

9.  Having friends and family think that because we are home we are available for constant phone calls and drop in visits.  This can make it hard to get any studies done.  All it takes is an answering machine -- and to ignore the phone.  Many homeschoolers have problems with people that drop their own children off thinking, "oh you're always home, you can watch them."  argh!!!!  I had to learn to tell people that my children are STUDENTS first and helpers later.

Answer 11

One danger of homeschooling:

if you are a parent with a poor relationship with your child, homeschooling will probably not work for you unless you really buckle down and focus on the relationship first.  Any weaknesses in that area will affect your homeschooling.

Another danger of homeschooling is that your teenage son may not be exposed to a twenty-something year old high school teacher who propositions him.  Gosh, that could really scar his psyche @@

Answer 12

IMO, the only danger is that many don't start homeshooling soon enough.  Even 1 year of exposure to the public school environment can be detrimental to some children.

Answer 13

there is more Danger being in the Public Schools then there are being Home schooled.

added: Katie if you mean mcas you must live in Massachusetts (so do I) (my family belongs to the Western MA homeschooling group, as well as the Catholic Homeschooling group)

Answer 14

I have been active in a homeschool support group for years, and I can tell you that socialization is not an issue.  The kids in our group are very social and more well-adjusted and well-behaved than the average non-homeschooled kid.  They never fail to impress me.

I remember a Focus on the Family radio show in which Dr. Dobson interviewed a number of college recruiters and presidents about homeschooling.  They all said that their top students, both in academics and overall leadership, tended to be the ones that had been homeschooled.  The only negative thing said during the program was that homeschoolers tend not to believe in deadlines, but that the college quickly adjusts their thinking on that issue.

This is not terribly surprising since homeschooling is more flexible than other schools.  I have to admit that this was the case in our family.  Something would come up, and tests/homework would be postponed.  But it didn't seem to be a problem when our kids went to a "regular" high school; they quickly figured out that this wasn't the way their high school operated.

Larry (home-school dad for 10 years)

Answer 15

Here comes the no socialization drones! Gag me!

Dangers of home school? The kids are allowed to think too much. Thoughts aren't controlled by a text book and teachers. They might get burned helping to cook dinner. A paper cut from reading too much. The occasional knock on the head because they aren't watching where they go (its hard to do with a nose stuck in a book). If you can't tell one of my kids is a bookworm. She devours books like most kids devour candy! Dropping the lesson plan on ones foot. That would hurt.

Yes I'm being sarcastic! There are no real dangers to home schooling!

Answer 16

One huge danger that you might not be factoring in is the danger that homeschool children actually enjoy learning.  I know this can be hard to accept, but it happens quite frequently within the homeschool community.  You need to prepare yourself.  It might happen to you.

Another not so extreme danger is that your child will become a bitter, resentful adult because they can't take the same stupid questions about homeschooling anymore.  I know sometimes I feel like committing acts of violence against my computer when I click on the homeschooling section of Y&A and see the same 'socialization'/'pros and cons of homeschooling' question I just answed yesterday.  Luckily, I was homeschooled and I was taught violence is not the answer so my computer is fine, but you never know....

Answer 17

Gosh, no! The person that said social skills will be an issue are so wrong! Children in schools are subjected to terrible peer pressure and are "herded" all day long like a bunch of animals. Homeschooled children are in contact with the world constantly (unless you plan to lock them away!) and learn to deal with people of all ages and backgrounds - not just how to fit in with the clique, you know? Please feel free to email me if you want to know more about the positives of homeschooling!

Answer 18

The only dangers I can think of is being stereotyped by uneducated or uniformed people, case in point, the first two answeres.

Other than that, unless there is abuse in the home (which could be in a home school or in a child who is public schooled), there is no danger.

As for them learning social skill in public school, NO THANKS! I would rather teach them how to deal with people in the REAL WORLD, not the subculture of public school.

I think this little phrase I found is noteworthy....

"The only other place you will be:

A) put in a totally supervised facility

B) Subjected to a preplanned routine and a largely

unchanging environment that you are more or less

powerless to change or escape.

C) you are surrounded by people your own age all day long

----Is a NURSING HOME!"

Have a good day.

Answer 19

Them not developing normal social skills.  I think one of the secondary functions schools teach is the social order and acceptible public behaviors.

Answer 20

Are there any dangers in parenting?

Of course there are. There's always the danger you won't really find out what you need to know or do the right thing. 99% of homeschooling parents I've met are willing to constantly learn and really meet their children's needs. The biggest danger has been, for them, the reaction of non-accepting people towards homeschooling. For one girl I know, this non-acceptance came true--after weeks of hanging out with some kids who didn't know she was homeschooled, one completely snubbed her and refused to continue hanging out with her the minute she found at about the homeschooling. However, it's hardly a reason to not homeschool.

Answer 21

Absolutely not!

I suppose if your afraid of them not getting enough social interaction but that's why there are so many groups and park days specifically designed for them. In allot of ways its better than public school because you can progress at your own pace and level and not be stuck wasting time and waiting other kids.

Answer 22

Probably the worst thing, is the lack of socialization. And also the fact, that in most cases, going through the school experience makes kids stronger. Public schools also help   them deal with problems better in life. Kids need to be faced with problems, so they can learn how to take care of them.

If you have good kids and set good morals and set a good example for your kids, without being to overbearing. They will be good kids no matter what. Drugs and alcohol won't be an issue if you talk to them about it, and if you build a strong child.

So I say go public schools.

One more thing to think about is that kids who are home schooled also have a tendency to slack off a little more on homework and such. In public schools they really don't have that option with out consequences.