Homeschoolers?

Question

How do homeschoolers experience more "real life" situations than public school students? I am NOT looking for answers like "because they often get to go to the grocery store and banks" or something like that. also, i am trying to defend homeschooling so dont think i am anti-hs.

Answer 1

My children are homeschoolers we have real life situations. My children get up in the morning , enjoy a good breakfast without hurriying up for the school bus, gets in to our home classroom on time, play with other children in our community in the afternoon, play video games, watch tv like everybody else. They do meet other people from all walks of life and all kinds of nationality. Even though we are not rich we've had the priveledge to travel out of the country, dine in fine restaurants.

We can't please everybody, every individual has different views and I respect them.

If you will say not attending a prom, graduation program, for HS students miss out a chance to meet a cute guy, if these are the basis of getting a real life, I don't know what to say, I mean this is our life and it is more real to me.

If to some ,going in a traditional school is "real life" , fine with me . I am just in pain to see kids waking up so early, hardly enjoy breakfast, was not allowed to go outside after school to do tons of assignment, staying up late to make school projects. Some graduating HS student, achiever, met a cute guy got  pregnant unable to attend graduation program.

Well, this is just an info on how we get  our real life.

Answer 2

They don't.

Answer 3

I've been home schooled all my life, and I think that we deal with the same ''real life'' situations as public schoolers do. Like me, dealing with friend drama, and boy drama, and stuff like that. The advantage? I have my family close to me. So they can advise me in the right way.

Answer 4

I was a homeschooler...A long time ago :)I began homeschooling the summer my family moved to California...so as we began driving cross country, I was being home schooled... While I was getting my credits for school, once in CA... I went to welding school and also had a part time Job...Both my kids graduated through what's now called independent study...Same thing as Home schooling... I pulled them out of public school for the same reason I wanted to get out...As far as experiencing more real life as you put it...That's funny...I believe that's individual...Has to do with everyone and the choices they make...It might appear homeschoolers deal with real life more, to you, but , realistically I believe that's totally an individual issue...

Answer 5

We get involved with sports i do tae kwon do and baseball. and my tae kwon do place has a homeschool class for all the homeschool students to go to.

Answer 6

There's dance classes, gymnastics classes, karate, soccer, baseball, basketball, football, co-op, home school groups that do field trips and get togethers, church, youth groups, our church sponsors a club for grades 4, 5, and 6, neighborhood kids, kids at the parks, health clubs, the list is as limited as the parents imagination. You might meet some one at the grocery or bank or running errands but that is only a few minutes usually although I do believe that even a few minutes can have an impact on our children. Every person you meet has the potential to change your life in some way big or small. It doesn't matter if you just meet them or you've known them for years.

Answer 7

Go to a Co-op {i do} once a week on Fridays. Its 4 classes and 45min a class. The classes are actual school stuff but others are just plain FUN classes. I love it!

Answer 8

I read other answers and they've said alot so I'm not going to repeat them.

From my own experience....one of the biggest "real life situations" I've seen with my son (now 7th grade) is that he can study independently. In public school he was used to the teacher  holding his hand to make sure the class passed the tests so they could move on. I don't give him the answers to what he is to learn...he has to find them on his own. I don't tell him what he is to study so he can pass my tests but that this is the topic I want him to study. I allow him to tell me what he's learned because I believe that anyone can memorize a chapter so they can pass a test then forget what they memorized the next month. Instead of tests we do lots of projects and research writing. I have homeschooled for 3 years and for the 1st year it was a battle of daily arguments because he didn't want to learn but wanted me to tell him what he needed to know to pass the test. Now my son can take a given topic and research it and tell me what he needs to know...I have found that doing it this way he learns more than just what's in a chapter of a book. He recently decided that he was in need of going back to public school so I let him go. Two months after going back he asked me to bring him back home because the teachers were smothering him. He said that they don't let you learn and he was always having to do stupid things (put his head down because someone was acting out, walk silently down the hallways, miss recess because someone was acting out, miss PE for punishment, learn to walk in a straight line with his hands behind his back, have silent lunch as class punishment, etc etc etc) All of the "stupid things" are things that in the "real world" you don't do on a daily basis unless you choose to.

Hope this helps!

Answer 9

Well there's always social activities like church groups or scouts or whatever. Also at one point or another a kid is going to interact with another kid at a playground and become friends with someone that way. Besides how much "real life" happens in public schools anyway? You don't see a kid go to the bank and pay bills or do grocery shopping or work in a store after all and thats more real life then being told to do your homework.

Answer 10

My oldest daughter has her own jewelry business, she is only 14 and 100% responsible for her business.  She has her own checking and savings, makes her own income (around $1000 a month).  You cant get more "real life" than that.  As for social situations, she is involved in swim team, rock climbing club, tennis, and volunteers at our local library.  She has friends of all ages and is confident in social and business situations.  My middle child is only 11 and already has a job working for a local vet.  She helps with surgery and is learning every aspect of the business, she deals with customers, handles accounts, and cares for the animals.  She also has her own pet sitting business which funds her animal rescue program for feral cats.   She also has the same social opportunities and has many friends, some of whom are adults.   All of these opportunites give my children real life experiences.  They will be better prepared than the average public schooled child because they are already working, handling money, practicing responsibility and they are living in the real world while most of the kids their age are only concerned with the school social status.

Answer 11

"Real life" doesn't consist of people spending their days sitting at a very small desk listening to someone tell them what to do.

Real life doesn't consist of being sequestered into a small room with 20-30-some other people, all doing the same work at the same time.

Real life doesn't consist of being only with people the same age, day in, day out.

Real life consists of meeting a variety of people in a variety of situations. When you go to college or work anywhere as an adult, you aren't usually dealing with the same people day in, day out. Most homeschoolers get this regularly as homeschooling activities are often not the same people. They don't have to wait until they are adults to experience it.

All I can come up with at the moment.

Answer 12

Well, think about it.

Which is a more realistic model of life?

Working in a building with 2000 children the exact same age, with the exact same interests as yourself?

or

Working in a tiered environment with individuals of different ages and levels of experience?

Answer 13

I am not sure if they ALWAYS do, because it depends on the family and what they are involved in.  Also, many things I list could also be done by kids who go to school, though it might be more difficult to find time to do them.

Volunteer work: humane society, nursing homes, food banks, environmental centers, oil spill clean up, organizations that help handicapped kids, crisis pregnancy centers... there is a lot of real life stuff happening that is available to a kid who has a parent to come with them.

Missions trips-  my oldest child has traveled out of the country to build houses for poverty stricken families in other countries.  Can't get much more "real world" than going to the third world.

Clubs.

Starting their own business.

Getting a job.