Could you please tell me your EDUCATED opinion of homeschooling?

Question

If you have never been homeschooled or have never homeschooled a child, please don't answer. I homeschool my three kids and I've found that many people just regurgitate what they've heard and pass it on. I would like the views of people with experience in this area. Thanks.

Answer 1

It seemed uneffective for me because my aunt would just make us repeat stuff that she learned and I would fail to understand the concept of the topic. The thing is though not everybody can be educated, think about this, "A guy who can recite shakespeare is good enough to clean toilets just as well as a man who can't."

Answer 2

i was homeschooled and I LOVED IT..  I actually learned much more than when I "went" to school in later years.  However, this all depends on the child.  I'm someone who enjoys working independently and getting the job done.. so doing homeschooling was great for me because I was able to complete my work in a relatively quick amount of time and then learn at a more rapid pace.  Not everyone is like this.  

As far as social interaction is concerned:  i was an only child so I didn't really care about social interaction.  now as an adult i have many friends so I do not think it really hinders a child's growth in that respect.  Actually I think it helps when children are NOT around peers.  Peers are a bad influence during grade school, middle school, and high school.  Who needs them?  Usually classmates simply are playing a popularity game or teasing people.  You don't find your best best friend through  grade school (in my opinion).  

However homeschooling requires an organized parent who knows what needs to be taught a specific grade level, as well as being affiliated with an appropriate organization that can check on your child's progress. If you have these things homeschooling can be a blast!  I highly recommend it over regular schooling just simply because the child can become more educated.  Much of what is taught in schools today is simply repeat information- from grade school all the way through high school and even some college.  If you can skip the repeats and keep learning what is new your child will progress far past his/her peers.

Answer 3

i don't really understand what your asking but i've been in a  public school, aplain homeschooled enviroment, and i am nowin my 2nd year of WIVA. I have definet;y never done better. plain public like totally blew my brain! i never liked it or the teachers. i think that it is harder to take school seriousley when your mom is teaching you so i'm now in a vertual public school. I am doing better than EVER b4!!

Answer 4

I am a junior in high school. I started homeschooling this year. I use an online program called Keystone National High School. It is demanding, yet can be flexible.

I have teachers that I send my papers and tests to through email. If you are looking for an alternative to teaching your own kids, but still want them to be homeschooled, this is a great option.

I believe homeschooling has its pro and cons. For example one positive thing is that I am taking the SATs within the next month, so I have taken a week off my regular subjects to focus on SAT study.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

There has been several in my family who have homeschooled. The problem with this is that they do not get the education that they would in the school systems and the interaction with other people like they need. They do not learn to take up for themselves or solve problems on their own as they would if they had to "tough it out" in the system. It does come back to hurt them in certain aspects of their lives including self esteem, self expression, survival, independance, and such. These are things they have to learn on their own and cannot be taught to them. This helps with the transition into the real world. However, I know where you are coming from with the problems in the system and not much being done to correct these problems. We as parents are natural protectors of our children and it is hard for us to let go at any time, but it does benefit the children more when they are in the school system as far everyday living goes but they do have to face the hard times as well. Personally, after seeing the difference first hand, I will continue to keep my children in the system and use my own influence to help them overcome the problems in it.

Answer 6

homeschooling it's good for very very very very shy children but the children have to pay attention but at school they have competition and if they want to be smarter then their class-mates they will work harder

Answer 7

I've been homeschooling my sons for over 9 years. We started out in the public schools - the oldest went from preschool to the middle of fourth grade; the middle through second grade and the youngest through kindergarten.

I think the decision of where to educate your children is a highly personal one. I believe it is a decision that parents must make knowing all of the positives and negatives.

For our family, homeschooling has been a highly positive experience. Our kids have excelled at their own pace and have had time to really explore their interests.

While my husband and I made the decision to homeschool the boys during the elementary years, we did give them the option of attending the public school for high school. Our two oldest did a combination of homeschooling, co-op classes and college classes for their high school years. Our oldest is 19 and finishing his sophomore year of college; the middle one is 17 and finishing his final year of high school and first year of college at the same time. The youngest is homeschooling high school using courses with me and a local cooperative; he will start at the college part time this fall.

I do believe that school is what you make it. I think kids can be successful no matter where they go to school as long as they have support from their parents. Ultimately, I think academic success is possible when kids and parents work together. For some that is at school and for many, like my boys, that is through homeschooling.

Answer 8

Well Done for doing this. I only recently undertook this due to horrendous bullying which resulted in physical assault at the bus stand (30 pupils never saw a thing) It has left her traumatised and she is doing GCSE's yet she is now excelling.  

Our 6 yr old developed a bad skin prob since Oct so decided to pull him out and Home Ed him too and his skin cleared up in just 8 days.  Then he told me about how the boys used to thump him but he thought this was part of what he had to put up with at school !!  Yes he had been to teachers but they kept saying they were just playing, but he wasn't laughing about it.

This is a new experience for me as I have always worked and kept kids at school within the law but boy I wished I'd done this years ago.  Their work has come on and they seem more hungry to learn.  My son now reads every road sign, magazine, packet he just wont stop.  I would recommend it to anyone wanting to explore the journey certainly.  Home Ed is not a cop  out of anything but there does need to be a discipline that goes with it.  We go for bike rides and swim and walk so that is our PE and we have made the lessons up as we go along.  So long as I do 3 hours per day I am within the law.  It is very fulfilling and I think I'm gettin g as much out of it as they are and I didnt think I would ever say that.  I'd have done it years ago if I'd known about it.

Answer 9

I was home schooled but I am unsure exactly what you are asking. What information were you wanting?

Answer 10

I have not been homeschooled nor will I homeschool my child. My nieces and nephew are homeschooled. they cannot read, follow directions, or listen to what people tell them.They do not have to listen to anyone and they tell people that too. I believe that eventually the child will go to school if they go on to college.

Guess what there are bulllies everywhere. In college, universities, in the workplace, and in many stores.   People are rude and mean.

oh by the way I met my best friend in kindergarten and guess what she is still my best friend.

Answer 11

I am a Special Education teacher in the public schools and I have seen both excellent home schooled students, and some really poor ones.  The variable is the parent doing the schooling.  My neighbor home schools her 5 children and they excell in the arts, math and science. On the other hand, at work we deal with a young man who is "home schooled" but really his parent is too overwhelmed to either get him to school or make him work at home.  He is a case and his future is bleak.  Homeschooling is a viable option but only for a parent who is willing to really work.  It takes ALOT of work.  But there are some great benefits that can't be found in our current public school system.  

If you are homeschooling there are lots of supports out there, take advantage of them.  Meet with other parents who home school, set HIGH expectations, and utilize what services the public schools can provide.  Maximize the best of all services.  When you have a student who is ready for high level math you may not be able to teach trig.  So use the school system, or online high school.  But never underestimate the value of home schooling.  I think it is great for those who will maximize their child's potential.

Best of Luck!

Answer 12

I had 2 in public school and 2 in homeschooling.

My husband was totally against the idea until he met a guy at work that had a wife that homeschooled and thought it was a great way to educated their children.

People think we put the kids in a glass bubble and they never mingle with society. Which is so far from the truth its ridiculous but public school system doesn't want to lose that money they get with extra kids.  Even though the kids they turn out barely know how to read and only learn things that the street kids are doing; like they say they are trying to stop bullying or drug traffic but you keep kids together in a system like that and they find ways to do both despite all their checks and balances.

On top of that the public school society is godless with no moral back up and afraid of law suits if they put a bandaid on a kid for a cut on their leg or if a child has some tylenol in their purse for a headache its suspension time.

They are crazy out there!! At least homeschooled kids have common sense and can reason out things better than their counterparts.

Like I told my husband last month, our son now has a Bachelor's degree now and our daughter has a great job in the business world the last 2 years and nobody is even going to care where they went to school, its what they do in the now that counts.

Answer 13

The difference in my child has been like night and day. (A dark and stormy night and a bright new day) Leaving public school for homeschool has been the greatest blessing. We had hoped for improvement in our child's education, but we were not prepared for just how much homeschool would change and improve our quality of life. My child is so proud of herself now and so excited about learning. We have more fun. She has more time to play with her friends. We love homeschool!

Answer 14

I'm 15 and, along with my siblings, I have been home-educated all my life.

(except for five weeks, during which I attended a private prep school and was soon so bored it only took me three days before I announced to the school principal that she was wasting my time, lol!).

Personally I would *not* change a single thing about being home-educated. I'm not interested in going to school; I have no need to go to school. Being home-educated provides me with all the friends, freedom, social opportunities and experiences I want from life.

I will definitely home-educate my own kids when I have them and I will encourage them to home-educate my grandkids when they have them.

We home-educate for heaps of reasons, partly because there are no schools where we live (the closest school being a 16 hour drive away - something that renders the previous poster's suggestion of mandatory school attendance post year 7 unworkable!).

However my central reason for choosing home-education is so that I can ensure I get the sort of education that is going to be useful, relevant and valuable to me in the future.

That, and so that I can ensure I receive the rigorous, broad, demanding education that I reckon I deserve.

Answer 15

The decision on where and how to educate your children needs to be first and foremost with the parents.  As each family is different, each child is unique, as well as each school, each teacher and each life experience.

It is my opinion (and I hope an educated one) that making a blanket statement about all public school have bullies, or all homeschooled children are socially inept or poorly educated are the opinions that are based on one case or another.

I homeschool my daughters because the school system was not up to the standards that I wanted for *my* children.  I made this choice with full understanding that this could be more a difficult road to take as a parent, becoming responsible for not only the nurture and care of my children, but taking on the responsibilities of educator, coach and facilitator of friendships.

I really believe that for any person to state unequivocally that homeschooling is the wrong choice, and vice versa about public schools, it is the biases of the uninformed which are gaining voice, and hurting both "sides" to an issue.

To be successful at educating children, no matter if the child is in a homeschool or a public school, the adult must have the desire, energy, creativity and drive to do so.  Unfortunately, in a public school, the teacher has 25-30 students to work with and be as driven to teach, while homeschoolers have a few.  I am not saying that driven teachers in the public education system do not exist, I am saying however, that they are usually overworked and underpaid, and this makes the work more difficult and harder to keep the drive alive.  (Not that homeschooling is a terribly prosperous occupation, but at least I feel that homeschoolers have the big picture to reflect on . . . after all, if Suzy never learns to multiply, well, being that it is our child, we have to live the consequences of seeing her struggles for her lifetime, rather than a nine month investment.)

I was blessed with many good teachers during my public education as well as blessed with being homeschooled through high school.  Both gave me experiences that I treasure and have given me a lifelong love of learning, which any teacher, homeschool or otherwise will likely say is their goal in educating our young children.

As far as my family goes, we choose to homeschool and give our daughters this path to becoming a educated adults with a lifelong love of learning.

Remember, little fish swimming upstream often get pushed around by bigger fish . . . with persistance they will still swim against the socially accepted norms, and will succeed, being stronger than if they'd simply given up!  I find that our decision to homeschool can sometimes be summed up in this metaphor.

Answer 16

I've been home schooled for over 7 years, I'm graduating this spring. It's the best thing I have ever done. There are somethings that you need to keep in mind. It is not for everybody, will power and discipline are vital. I have used some terrible curriculum's and some WONDERFUL ones. It really depends on the parent's and children.

Answer 17

BEST thing that ever happened.

KIDS are just plain mean in the school systems. No bullying goes on in our home. (it does at school).

I've yet to get on this "totally" - however we are looking into homeschooling right this second.

KUDOS to YOU for taking time to educate your kids instead of having to discuss why so and so said a mean thing to your kids.

Final note: Here in FL it is really easy to homeschool and we are starting for 5th grade.

Answer 18

Don't do it.  Send them off to school everybody needs the break from each other

Answer 19

OK. I am a kid and I had a friend who got home-schooled.  Her life went down the drain. I feel homeschooling depleneshes opportunities for kids to be social. It really screwed her up. Now she rarely does stuff and is missing out. She should be in high school. I feel when kids get to thee 7th grade it should be mandatory that they go to a school. Sometimes parents cant understand that it is not good for kids. It wont get them into Harvard or Stanford; that's for sure. They should at least take a couple classes at a real school.

    Also, now she hangs out with all the other home schooled Baptist kids. She isn't allowed to wear shorts, and her parents are sheltering her way too much. Its really a sad thing. Please. Take it from a kid!