Do many people still do "regular" "book-centered" homeschooling?

Question

I was homeschooled beginning in second grade, but I'm now a senior in college, so some of my education happened quite a while ago. When I homeschooled, nearly all the homeschoolers I knew either used an eclectic book-based curriculum (a little Saxon here, a little Bob Jones there) or a book-based curriculum from a single company (like Abeka). Now, when I come to this part of Yahoo Answers, it seems like everyone is asking questions about online programs and tutor-type schooling. Has paper-based, parent-taught homeschooling fallen out of fashion in recent years? Do many parents still homeschool their children directly, or is it now being left up to virtual schools and such? To me, "homeschool" programs don't seem a lot different than public schools -- but that's just my uninformed opinion.

Answer 1

Good question.  I think there is a little bit of it all now.  My issue is I have a reader and there are no good math programs that teach math concepts in that way.  I know that you have to have drill for math, but the teaching steps are often hard to find for math to explain what to do or how to do it.  A person will learn what they want to, what they need to,  mostly how they want to, and most of the time will come out smarter then one that is forced to try to learn things they are not interested in.  A teacher can make a difference in a public school if it is a good teacher that cares and takes their time. Virtual school is good too, but only if a child is interested what they are teaching, ever heard of free learning?

Answer 2

Quite a bit of the Q&As here are public-school-at-home program / Homebound related questions and answers.

Similar to other answers, our approach is mostly traditional resource oriented but we will be trying out one online dual credit course (through Indiana University) next year as part of the mix.

Answer 3

It's just that there are WAAAYYY more options now.  HS'ing grows by leaps and bounds each year, as do the number of curriculum providers and other "educate/school at home" programs.

The Internet has been a big reason for the explosion.  There are many 'net-based curriculums now (full or partial).  Also many CD-roms.

Take Teaching Textbooks for example.  The two authors (Harvard-educated brothers) taught HS'ers for many years.  They saw a need for a "hands off" for the parent-teacher math curriculum, especially in high school math.  Their books are so popular now, that they are adding middle school and elementary courses.

We've used an online curriculum for five years.  We just added Spanish instruction online through Power Glide.  My son is taking a college course online.  But he also has "traditional" books and workbooks also.

EDITED to ADD:

I forgot to mention that my son's learning style fits computer learning the best.  He's a global learner and needs the visual and auditory part of computer work.  He's also hands-on, so his curriculum has plenty of that also.

My teaching style, and planning and progress tracking, is much better on a computer.  So online/CD-rom courses fit *my* teaching style better.  DS and I would both go nuts with a textbook-only approach.  It's one reason I didn't choose to use Sonlight 5+ yrs ago.  All of that reading would have put DS and I asleep!

Oh, and we do NOT use a virtual public school for our online work.  We purchase online/PC curricula.  There is a difference.

Answer 4

Thousands of families still do regular, book-centered homeschooling; I'm a convention rep for a homeschool curriculum company, and between the four conventions I've got coming up in the next couple of months, somewhere around 6-8,000 people will come to buy regular curriculum.  That's just in my little part of the midwest :-)

We do lots of regular homeschooling; we're very eclectic, but very little of my son's curriculum is computer based.  I'm looking at letting him do SOS for Bible, simply because he wants something interactive that he can do independently, and once he gets into General Science (Apologia) and above I'll use the CDRom and MP3 supplements - but that's mainly because he gets a lot out of the interactive approach.  He'll still be book-based in all subjects, with computer supplements in some.

There are a lot of people flocking to the cyber schools, simply because parents may not have the ability to be home to teach their kids, but the school situations are unacceptable.  It's sort of a happy medium for some, and the lesser of two evils for others.  However, the majority of homeschoolers still work the regular way :)

Answer 5

I homeschool my three kids.  We still use a predominantly book based curriculum.  We use some computer and internet stuff, but I actually do teach them.  Neither my kids nor I would be willing to completely do away with books and literature.   We use Sonlight, which includes a lot of fantastic literature.  We do a lot of hands on stuff, too, and the more we can do outside, the better.  They are being taught computer skills, but it's not being allowed to become all encompassing.

Answer 6

We use an ecclectic mix of A Beka and Harcourt for our curriculum plus educational computer programs. The computer programs are mainly for the subjects that I'm not able to teach on my own, such as Spanish.

Answer 7

I'm not sure, but that is how we do it.

Answer 8

I use an eclectic, mostly book based approach.  We are independent, not enrolled in any kind of correspondence school or on-line program.  

I think homeschooling in general is growing in popularity, but the face of it is changing, fewer people are going it alone with the pioneering spirit that started the movement.  Only time will tell whether this will have a negative impact on homeschooling or not.

Answer 9

it is still being used

Answer 10

I homeschool my 2 children and we use primarily ABeka.  I think most people just want the best for their children and a lot of people research a lot of things to be sure they are getting it "right."

Answer 11

Almost everyone I know does what you term 'regular' 'book-centered' homeschooling.  I think *probably* the reason you read those other questions online is that the people asking them are online-oriented.  The people who do the other type of teaching ask opinions of people in person.

I can understand why that type of teaching/learning would look the same to you on the outside, but it just doesn't turn out that way.  I currently live in an area with a VERY poor ps system, so this will affect my answer here...  I do not know a single ps student here that I would consider to be a good reader [and I am talking teens here, just so you'll know] and/or in possession of knowledge that I would consider 'normal' for their ages.  For instance, a few months ago I chapped a group of teens that were at a fast-food restaurant, and an 18 yo senior said to me, "I have $1.75. Is that enough to buy a soda that costs $1.35, with tax?"  Eighteen is waaay too old to be asking a question like this, but I run across this type of thing ALL THE TIME.

Answer 12

Plenty still do the regular homeschooling. I think what has happened is that online and tutor-type programs are being confused with just regular homeschooling. Most of the people asking these things don't realize that you can pretty much do your own thing.

Answer 13

We've been homeschooling for six years. I have one in high school now and we regularly use books. We like the fact that there are options open to us if we chose to go another route. Homeschooling gives us the freedom to tailor the education to the interests of the child.