Is homeschooling a good option?

Question

I'm trying a second school for high school but I'm not really happy. I get depressed just thinking about having to go to school. I'm always worrying about having to go to school and i just force myself through the days. I have also felt this way at my first school and during some middle school days. Whenever i think of school i feel worry and I feel lonely alot of the times at school even if i'm around poeple. I've been getting more and more depressed. Is this a school phobia? I've thought about homeschooling and i think it might make me happy because i wouldn't be worrying all the time but i don't have much info. on it. Is homeschooling the best choice?

Answer 1

I don't like the people at my school (peers and others). I'm going into 8th grade and I want to be homeschooled but my mom doesn't think she could do it.

As for your question, homeschooling is definitely a good option, talk to your parents about how you feel. See if one of them is willing to work with you on this. Ask them if they think it is a good option and you can all decide what is best for you.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I think that you have given school a good try.   Yes, you may be clinically depressed also and that is worth looking into, but homeschooling is sometimes a good option.    Kat and HSmomlovinit have given you some excellent advice.  Please follow up on it.  Lots of people here can give opinions without any experience or facts to base them on,  so listen to those two ladies.   Talk it over with your parents.  Look for a homeschool group in your area and talk to them.   Not everybody fits in to the public school system and that is okay.  What is not okay is the pain and damage we do to our children trying to force them into a position that does not fit.  Keep reading this board.  It will give you more ideas and also let you know that there is always another way of doing things.

Answer 3

i don't think so...

school sucks we all no that but you'll live through it. Your obvouisly depressed and this might not have aything to do with school. See a counselor. Or talk 2 a close friend who really cares, tha always helps. I dont think homes shooling is really good for like ur esteem. But homeshooled kids 2 learn more and skip ahead. But u want 2 be homeschooled cause well, u dont like school not for the second reason .talk2 someone about ur depression, and ots a releif 2 here form ppl who share the same things that like u do, ur not alone...

hopes this helps:)

Answer 4

Personality wise it sounds as if it might be a good option.  However, you have to have a parent at home with the knowledge and capability to teach you the courses your state requires for a diploma.  You will need to check with the State Education office for its home school requirements.  Your parent may have to be certified and you may have to take exit exams before receiving your diploma.  Homeschooling is not easy if it is done properly.  There are a lot of home schooling websites that can give your parent teaching tips and lesson plans.  Many areas also have groups of home schoolers who get together to do field trips, etc.  Good luck, and whatever you do, get your diploma!!

Answer 5

have you told your parents about this problem? and this is a very real and scary problem and I don't think home school will help that would only be masking the problem. you can't hide from this

this could develop into some major anti social disorder. you need the help of a professional its not the school its the depression that is the cause of the problem, if you address that than you should be OK.

Answer 6

rhsaunders, please know that homeschooling doesn't mean that the parents are the only ones to ever teach a child...it means that the parents have final say over what a child learns, when, where, and from whom.  There are co op classes taught by degreed and/or credentialed teachers (I teach foreign languages at one, and history and geography at another), and concurrent enrollment is an option that many homeschooled high schoolers take advantage of.  Many homeschoolers, by the time they reach 8th grade, are anywhere from 2 to 4 years ahead of their classroom counterparts (check the NHERI stats) and universities across the country are actively courting (read: giving money to) homeschooled students because of their social maturity and academic achievement.  Even Harvard, Stanford, and Yale accept homeschool transcripts - as do the armed forces.

Homeschooling may be a good option for you, but you need to be willing to be self-motivated with your studies.  It's certainly not a cure-all, but it does remove the drama and other lovely things that go along with high school...it frees you up to learn at your pace and according to your interests.

Check out this site - just click on your state and it will tell you what you need to do in order to homeschool in your state.

http://www.hslda.org/hs/state/default.as...

You also may want to find out what the homeschooling groups in your area offer...I think you'll find the majority of homeschool teens more accepting and easy to be around.  They generally haven't been raised with the mindset that they have to be just like everyone else, so they are often willing to openly accept others.

Here is a site that offers tons of curriculum ideas, many at a discount.  It's a good place to get curriculum, as well as to get a good idea of what's out there.  

http://www.rainbowresource.com/index.php

If you notice that the depression remains after the first semester or so of homeschooling, please seek help.  It could just be a reaction to the high school environment, but it could be something deeper.  It's ok not to jump head first into social stuff to begin with - homeschooling takes a transition period, and it's ok to take that time to get used to it - but if you don't notice much of a difference after that, please get help.  It can be of great benefit to have someone to talk with and work through things with.

Good luck!

Answer 7

I agree with Sweet Girl, that if you're looking into home schooling to avoid people, that's not good. You would be more isolated if you were home schooled. You should look into counseling for help. A good person to start with would be your guidance counselor at school. That's what they're there for.

Answer 8

i know what you mean sometimes i go to school and just think i cant take one more day of all the c**p i get there all the annoying coments that kids make if i just think of school i get this annoying feeling of worrying sickness,i just hope i will wake up with a fever so i dont have to go to school for a couple of days. when i think of homeschooling it seems like a Heaven but then again Everything you dont Have you Want and Probably some home schooled kids would Love to go to a School with 100s of Kids

If it Would Make you Happy to Be Home Schooled Ask you Parents or whoever is incharge of that whole thing.

Answer 9

Homeskool is a good option..if u'r nt planning to to go college after!!!

Answer 10

I don't think homeschooling would necessarily fix your problem. It sounds more like you have some sort of anxiety issues or depression which likely won't disappear on their own just by homeschooling.

Homeschooling could still be a good option, but not for the reasons you are looking at it. You really need to look into counselling no matter what you do. Nothing outside us really makes us happy, especially if we're depressed. It all comes from inside, from how we think about and look at things. A therapist will help you with that.

Answer 11

See a counselor / therapist.  If you get Home Schooled for those reasons, your allowing yourself to give up!

But other than that Home School Kids are just as smart as kids who went!

Answer 12

If you are "clinically" depressed, changing schools or homeschooling will not help.  You need to see a professional therapist to find out *why* you are feeling so depressed.  Depression is quite common among junior/senior high students, but it is important to find out what is causing it and if/how it can be treated.

Talk to your parents about seeing a therapist.

Answer 13

I would say that it depends.  The first thing is to get to the bottom of what it is about school that has you depressed.  If it's the work, it may not be any better with homeschool.  I'll come back to that in a moment.  The loneliness is a concern.  If you are lonely because the kids you are in school with do not share your values and tend to drag you down, then homeschool can be a very good choice.  The benefits of homeschool are many, including time to pursuit the subjects that you enjoy on a deeper level than you typically can in a classroom setting.  Another aspect is being able to learn using a method that you are stronger with.  If you are a hands-on learner who primarily gets lectures with lots of note-taking, you would likely be bored and discouraged with school, not getting much out of it.  For the few subjects that might trip a parent up, there are many options available.  There are video type courses to give you the audio/visual of a teacher teaching these subjects.  There are homeschool families who exchange their strong subjects (dad is a science whiz, another dad is a math whiz, so they exchange kids for an hour), and there are homeschool co-ops where they have classes.  There are also options for high school kids to take courses at the junior college.  Homeschool is no longer the backward thing it was once mistaken for and universities are starting to recruit these students as they have proven to be quite intelligent and capable of independent thought (not always so easy to come by from someone who goes through the school system.)  Some states even offer homeschool diplomas - PA for example.  Just check out your intended college (if you intend to pursuit a degree - not everyone needs one) and see what they look for.  Some look for transcripts with prescribed courses, others look at SATs, and others look at the transcripts for courses other than the same old thing that "everybody" does.  If a homeschool transcript should be an issue (which is not as common anymore), going to junior college for a year or two always transcends that and saves money.  Your best bet for now is to find an unbiased person who can help you get to the bottom of your worry.  (A high school counselor's job is to tell you to stay in their school as it brings them several thousand tax dollars.) It may be simply a case of freshman jitters, which should ease within a couple of weeks as you get more comfortable in a larger school environment than middle school.  Either way, get to the bottom of the concern first, then look at the homeschool issue and whether or not it's right for you.  Good luck on getting to the bottom of this.

Answer 14

It's an option.

You have to be motivated and a self-starter to do it effectively.

And I disagree with some of the people about avoiding people.  

Some people are not social animals.  It has been established that by segregating student sexually grades improve.

Isolationism is not necessarily a bad thing, if it helps you study.  It's one less distraction.

Everyone talks about the social aspect of the school system, but they forget one thing.  You are not there to text each other, pass notes and talk in the back of the room.  You are there to learn.

The only social time is lunch and before or after schools.

Anyone who is socializing IN CLASS is not learning and that is why some students with a High School diploma think Demark is a city and New Jersey is the capital of New York, because they were too busying making dates for the weekend and didn't pay attention in class.

You are in school to learn, not to socialize.

Most teachers agree with me on that!

If you go to the teaching section here, you hear nothing but complaints about students talking in class, being unruly, playing hand computer games, sidekicking and then teachers have to confiscate these things and students go to the Secondary and PRimary sections here and complain about the nasty mean teacher.

OK, that is your SCHOOL SOCIALIZATION reality.

You are there to learn not to find out where the best beer bong party is for the weekend.

Answer 15

In my opinion, no.  Homeschooling is fine for elementary, and okay for junior high levels.  But by the time one gets to high school, home schooling is inadequate: few parents have significant skills in physics, chemistry, biology, shop practice, drafting, English, or foreign languages, and you cannot teach what you do not know.  Also, the social interaction that can obtain at a school of some size is of considerable value.  Finally, when it comes time to apply for college, what university will accept a home school transcript?

Answer 16

It sounds like you may have depression with anxiety.  I would suggest that you talk to your doctor.

As for homeschooling, it may be a good option for you if you have a parent willing to take on the responsibility of supervising your homeschool program.  I'd really need to know more about you and your home life to answer that question.