Home Schooling!!!!?

Question

*do you like it?

*is it easy or hard?

* what do you like about?

*what dont you like about it?

*how many credits can you get a year?

* can some classes count for college?

* can you graduate early?

Answer 1

1. I LOVE it

2. It depends on what you mean by easy and hard. Some things are easy. It's easy not having to get up early every day, and sometimes I can even do my school work at night, but I do need to be able to stay on track for certain things like clubs and activities and errands durring the day or anything else I may need to get up for. It's easy being able to eat lunch when I get hungry or get a drink when I want one instead of having to try to concentrate while dehydrated or with a headache from being hungry. Same with going to the bathroom. It's easy being able to study in a comfortable place like my bedroom, the park, the library, the back deck, the kitchen, a friend's house, or where ever i happen to be. I travel a lot on my own, and this month I'm goin g to visit a lot of colleges with my boyfriend. I'm able to just pack up my school materials and take them with me and work durring down time or on long bus rides or flights. It's easy because I can help choose the curriculum materials and find materials that match my learning style. I do well with computer software for some subjects, hands-on project based lessons for others, books for some, and audio and video recordings for others. We just go with the materials that will work best. It's great being able to take time on subjects I need more help in, or in subjects i'm just generally interested in and want to study for longer, and I love getting involved in fun, hands-on projects. I just planted a garden, do lots of cool labs for chemistry, role-playing activities or video projects for history and government, using manipulative materials like K'nex, sidewalk chalk, peg boards, and computer simulations for Algebra and Geometry, lots of creative projects in French. Oh, and I love taking unique classes not even offered in public school. This year I got to take 3D animation and Programming and Robotics. I actually built and programmed a working robot.

It can be hard. It's hard pushing myself to work on things I don't like or get discoraged and frustrated with. I don't care much for math, or French, and so when I need to work in those areas I have to find ways to motivate myself. Mom helps some, but at 17 I am expected to be self-motivated, and most of the time I can be. It can be hard, but I usually find ways to push through it, or make it into a game or something fun and interesting by using the above methods. It can be hard at times to stay organized and on top of things. In my state, we need to keep logs of academic activities. They don't need to be horribly detailed, but at this age my mother leaves the logging to me most of the time and it can get a bit dull. Fortunately it doesn't take long to do. It can be hard preparing for college. It's not difficult, but at first it was overwhelming because I wasn't sure where I was going in life or what colleges would expect of homeschoolers. This turned out to be simple though. Just a matter of calling the school admissions office and asking for their homeschool requirements. It can be hard managing time AT FIRST. When you suddenly feel like you have all the time in the world (because the public school isn't scheduling your life for you anymore) you may forget at times that you do still need to manage that time wisely. I, fortunately, adjusted tot his quickly. I don't keep a daily routine schedule, but I know that if I have fencing practice on Thursday night and guitar lessons Thursday morning, I need to get school done some time durring the day while still having time to get ready for both activities, eat, do chores if I have them, and maybe have time to go out with friends after fencing that night. It can be hard dealing with people who don't understand homeschooling and will make assumptions about your education or your social life, or just make stupid comments, but you learn to deal with it, and most people are willing to learn a thing or two before jumping to conclusions. I have found that only a few people in my life think ill of homeschoolers and treat me differently for it. Most people I meet think it's great, or just don't think about it at all, figuring it should be no different than if I went to a different school than they do or than their kids do.

3. I love the freedom I have as a homeschooler. I get to do so much more both socially and academically. I have the freedom to travel when and where I want to, participate in camps or out-of-state programs that would otherwise mean unexcused absenses, take holiday breaks that match my plans (if I'm going on a trip in the spring, call that Spring Break instead of going on break when the public school tells me to). I have the freedom to work as fast as my abilities will let me without having to waitup for the teacher and slower students. I also have the freedom tot ake my time when I want or need to. I have the freedom to study things the schools don't offer, and to choose how information is presented to me and what I do with it (if I take written notes, recorded notes, use graphic organizers, diagrams, or don't take notes at all) I have the freedom to choose my resources (along wit mom who also has a say when she feels she should). I have the freedom to develope more independence and better organizational skills than I would in public school since I have to be responsible for my own schedule, school work, and partly responsible for my own recordkeeping. I also need to take on more responsibility for college preparation, registering for tests like the SAT or ACT, getting information from adults (and therefore communicating well with adults) and finding scholarship information. I feel as a homeschooler I take more pride in my own work and get much more out of it because I am making the concious decision to work and find reasons to learn. You don't always get this when people are just forcing information and assignments down your throat with the only reason for doing them being "because you have to". I have the freedom to participate in more extracurricular activiteis than I'd have time for in public school, because as a homeschooler I can finish a day's worth of work in half the time, or schedule things in such a way so that I can fit in everything I want and need to do. Socially, I am more confident and have the opportunity to experience a wider variety of social situations since my social life is not limited to the six hours I spend in the classroom and maybe a few on weekends. I actually have to get out in the real world without the public school dictating how and with whom I socialize. I also love the extra field trips I get to go on! There is much more, but I could go on forever.

4. There really isn't much I don't like about it, honestly. Somemight say they get bored in their houses, but nothing is keeping you in the house all day. Even when I'm doing school, I could be at the library, the youth center, the park, pool side, a friend's house, a museum, anywhere. Some might say socialization is an issue, my my social life is so active, I sometimes just need a break from it. lol. Some might say they miss seeing friends every day, but nothing is stopping you from seeing them every day (unless they're grounded or something. Even public school friends can be phoned, talked to online, or visited after school hours. I guess the only thing I can think of that I don't like about it is not being allowed to join the National Honor Society, and the fact that there are people who do make stupid assumptions about homeschooling based on little or no information. That's annoying.

5. In most states, you don't earn credits in the usual sense, but every class you take and put on your transcript still counts when applying to college, or just simply towards completing your desired/required course of study. Colleges will treat them the same as classes taken in public highschool, and you can take as many as you want/can handle. I've been averaging at about 10 classes a year, sometimes more if a class doesn't take me the entire year to complete. (I've taken two english courses, 1 and 2, in one year before, and because of that I'm in 11th grade and have completed 12th grade english already). You can also take a wider variety of classes if you have the time, the materials, and the enthusiasm.

6. Yes, some classes can count towards college. homeschoolers can start duel enrollment at a local community college at an early age, take online college courses, or work through programs for gifted students offered through universities that will count towards college. You can also prepare for and take the AP exams at your leisure.

7. Absolutely, you can graduate/move on to college when ever you're ready, state laws permitting.

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Answer 2

I'm in ECOT, an electronically based PUBLIC school that I take on my computer in my home, currently available to only Ohio students.

I love it

It can be challenging, we still do the same work, tests and things other students do in regular schools.

What do I like? I work at my own pace, I can either take my time or do more than one class at a time, like I can get Science done in 2 weeks the beginning of the year, and take a next semester class, and earn my credits faster.

What DON'T I like? You can find yourself getting lazy very fast.

normal credits (I think) are Seven a year, 3-4 of which are full year courses, so the other 3 -4 are semester courses, if you finish these early, and have enough time to complete another course, then you can. So it all depends.

Yes, you can depending on which homeschooling system you go through, you can take College courses WHILE attending high school, ECOT offers this.

As long as you devote your time to doing so, you certainly can.

Answer 3

I LOVE home schooling! It depends, you can make it easy or you can make it hard. Less hours working and doing school. Nothing. Depends how many classes you take in a year. If you CLEP it. Yes but you must have a certain amount of credits.

Answer 4

All of those things are different for every situation and student. Sorry.

Answer 5

I am a homeschooling parent.

Yes, I like it and my children do as well.

It is neither easy nor hard-it is what we make of it.  Some subjects or lessons are easier than others, some more difficult.

I like the freedom homeschooling allows-we work at our own pace, we can change the days lesson if we discover a program we want to attend or if something else comes up, we can take vacations when popular attractions are less crowded and cost less, and most of all we get to be a family unit that spends a lot of QUALITY time together rather than how I think it would be if my children attended school-a family with little time, and none of it quality as we would be rushed to get homework done, eat supper, bath, in bed so we can do the same thing again the next day.

I do not like the ignorant assumptions that non- and/or anti- homeschoolers make, such as my children not being able to socialize, me not teaching beliefs other than my own, my children not being eligible to attend college, etc.

Homeschoolers need not get "credits", but you can indeed take as many courses as you can handle.

You could take classes that are college level and then CLEP the exam, or you can do dual enrollment at the local community college where you get high school and college credit at the same time.

Yes, you can graduate as early as you meet all of the requirements (set forth by the state and/or your parents).

I hope this helps!

Answer 6

Well, I have three friends who are homeschooled. They seem to enjoy it, but I am very pleased with public school. For one, there is the social aspect. You will have way more developed social skills if you go to school. Secondly, at school you get experiences that you wouldn't in public school. For example, music class and wood working and hearing speeches by famous people who vist your school and clubs. Alo, gym claass is way better so you can learn sports you've never heard of and be more fit. All in all, I think that school is the way to go.

Answer 7

I have heard that homeschooling is better than public schooling by far. You can learn on your own pace and takes place in a more relaxed environment where you can take more time to learn what you don't understand instead of having teachers rushing you to a harder lesson.