Do you know: Private home-schoolers have more freedom to learn than those in public-funded at home programs?

Question

Public school at home is not the same as what most home-schoolers are doing.

-Private/at home/parent directed education is by far different than the programs pushed through the public schools.

-We are free to choose from curriculum that will benefit each child as an individual. Our children can study things that they find interesting and they are not limited in subject matter.

-There are Home-School Conference's all around the U.S. and even in other countries. The information that is available through conferences and curriculum sale shows is phenomenal. You can choose from thousands of styles of learning material. The math options are seemingly infinite. Reading and writing programs are available in every price range. Many top companies provide science curriculum of all sorts, history programs, and much more.

- Check out www.hslda.org to find information for your state, county and community. Find a conference to attend and meet hundreds and even thousands homeschoolers

Answer 1

Yes because what the government gives it controls. You can however add your own onto the program. No one can stop that.

Answer 2

I have been debating whether or not to homeschool my son, he is failing horribly and school is a special kind of h**l for him. He is extremely bright ( scores in the top 3% on all the state tests) yet flunks every subject. He has ADD but is not a behavior problem, just "out there". The poor kid can't seem to please anyone and the school system just doesn't care.

But I work full time (no way around that) and wonder if it is possible to homeschool and work.

Answer 3

Yes.  I've always been an independent HS'er, but I'm very familiar with virtual public schools.  In fact, I worked for two of them in my former state getting them off and running (training parents to use the system, helping w/ placement, etc.)

My son will never fit into the confines of a virtual public school.  He's too asynchronous.  So we've never enrolled in one.  We could have in our former state.  Our current state doesn't have any state-wide virtual schools.

I've seen public virtual schools work for SO MANY families, though.  Many times it's a bridge b/t PS and HS'ing.  It's also great when one parent is against HS'ing in it's "pure" form.  It's also great for parents who just feel they need the "backup" of a certified teacher.  It's not always about money.  I know many parents who could afford to HS with expensive curriculums and they still choose to use a virtual school.

Answer 4

Barb, I think most people who asked questions here on Y!A do not understand.  It is like comparing apples to oranges when questions are asked about different programs.

Our family cannot afford the high priced programs and I doubt they would be effective for our son even if we could afford them.

I think many people think that homeschool is an expensive option when it does not need to expensive to be a good way to learn.

I don't 'put down' the programs because the public school is doing what they can to try to reach the students who are failing in the typical classroom setting.  They are initiating programs but it is not the programs that are the success in homeschooling.     The success is what you say above:  We are free to choose the curriculum that will benefit each child as an individual.

It is also our relationship with our children.  The public school teacher is with 25 students for 180 days of the year and then the students go to another teacher for the next year (180 days).   The high school situation is  more like one teacher for 75 students each year.  (Typical class in block system is 25 students in class with teacher teaching 3 classes a day)