Parents, why do you homeschool your children? Or, if you're homeschooled, do you enjoy it?

Question

I am interested because I was watching Dr.Phil, & they had this whole thing about home schooled. & There was this 20 something year old girl, who was homeschooled, & felt "socially retarded" when she went to university, and etc.

So parents: why did you choose to homeschool your children? Why not public or private school- or even like an all girls/or all boys school.

OR, if you're homeschooled do you like it? Would you ever want to go to a normal public/private school?

I'm a teenager, btw, never been homeschooled but I've been educated in both public&private schools.

Answer 1

we did remove our girls from public school(oldest was in 2nd) and put them in private school because the public school was turning into a police state, and the reading program was lousy.  My oldest just graduated from the private last year (8th grade) so we have moved on to cyber/charter to finish high school.

We didnt want to put her into another private or catholic school, because she is a figure skater that she needs to train alot, and the hours conflict with school.  Also the catholic schools arent much better where we are, the kids bully and there are knives and fights etc, and the private schools are getting out of our budget for high school.  In fact, we are talking about switching our younger one out of the private because they keep raising the cost $400 every year.

I wish the private school went all the way to 12th, and I wish it were more affordable.  My girls love to be around their friends, and it is a very small private school so there are no problems like in larger ones.  But my 15 yo has her friends at skating, church and is making wonderful friends thru the cyber school

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btw, to the poster that thinks ALL hsers are socially inept, does that mean I can lump all public kids into a no good, bully, snotty, socially immoral catagory?

just because ONE child didnt have what others have does not mean you classify all!

"Homeschooling is not good for children"?

Lie and unfounded generalization

"They don't meet any other children to interact with so they dont know when to mature."

another unfounded lie and generalization

"Once I saw a boy..."

yeah, once i saw a boy that threw lit matches at kids at school...I guess they are all sadistic flame throwers.

"Children dont get to innteract or see other people and make friends. so that makes them amture later than their supposd to."

most hs'ed children that I meet are far more mature than children in public school as they have been around many types of people in social situations and know how to show RESPECT

Answer 2

I homeschool my children because of my experiences, and my husband's experiences, teaching in the public schools. It just had us think a lot about child development and what's the best place for children to be. We decided that our family was a better place than school for our kids, for social, academic and other reasons. Private school still has the same single-age social structure and academic rigidity that we didn't want.

I do hear on occasion that some who homeschooled in the past felt socially retarded. Now, coming from an adult, that sounds a bit like a cop out. My social skills were not the strongest all through school and I went to public school. When I really started feeling okay was in university when I had a chance to really get a sense of how other people worked, what was normal stuff to do, to not feel self-conscious, etc. At 20, even if you were homeschooled your whole life, you can take responsibility for your present social skills and work on changing them.

My kids are 7 and 10 and are happy homeschooling. We are socially active and they are well guided. With each year, they become a little more independent and a little more knowledgeable about the world and how to function. They might go to school at some point, or they might not. But I believe growing up in their family and staying close has far more benefits for them at their young ages than sending them to school.

Answer 3

Like others have said, just one person on Dr. Phil, who describe themselves as socially retarded does not paint an accurate picture of every or even many homeschoolers.

If that were the case, the following guests who public school or who have public school as their alma mater would mean something that could be applied as broadly as you imply this one example applies to homeschoolers:

- 24 year old Leslie needs to know how to solve her baby blanket obsession.

Dr. Phil and Jay speak to Angela, a troubled 17-year-old who is failing school and running away from home. Her mom is terrified that Angela might end up in jail ... or worse. Now, she feels that Dr. Phil may be their last hope.

Judy needs to know if she has a gambling problem

Christopher, who is 12 and weighs 250 pounds, says he feels bad about the way his weight affects the family.

Wendy admits she withholds affection from her 8-year-old daughter Melani because of her weight.

Dr. Phil uncovers events in the troubled teen's past to discover why she is so out of control — and encourages Angela to leave her self-proclaimed "h**l."

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And it goes on and on and on and on and on...

Can something be inferred from these guests about the "products" of public schools?

There are, by the way, much more reliable sources of information available on nearly any topic.

Answer 4

I am homeschooled and I think it's harder.

I'm homeschooled because i was bullied to death and went through very very bad emotional trama that scard my life. This is my first year and I'm doing it for seventh and eight and that will be enough time for me to build up my self estem and go back for highschool. Right now anyways it's working because I am independent. I'm ahead of my grade right now.

You actually learn things when you homeschool because all schools do now a days In USA is study for the fcat.

Answer 5

There are many types of homeschooling. Dr. Phil only shows one view. The parents has to get the children involved in homeschool groups, field trips, activities in their local communities. The homeschool families that are free to homeschool their children the way the see fit are free to choose lots of field trips, activities, courses, events, sports and so on for their children. The homeschoolers that are regulated by the public schools has to abide what their state says. To me that would socially r****d anyone. You have to do this and that, you can't do this and that. What a shame!

In our state it is a very free state. There are hundreds upon hundreds of homeschool groups that plan hundreds of activities a yr. They get together for parties, spelling bees, sports that compete against other christian, private and public schools.

Children can also elect to go to high school or get online with a school to get their diplomas.

Answer 6

I love my homeschooling.   I have no doubt that there are some strange homeschoolers, but PLEASE. Don't make me start on the incredible numbers of VERY strange public schoolers i have met.   In a straight thinking world, i dare say death and vampire obsessed goths, whiny emos, and mirror dependent 90 pound girls are a little stranger than a few kids who have insecurity problems, or "lack of socialization."

The fact is, in relation to public schooled children, there are so fewer homeschoolers, that people seem to like to pick on the homeschooled kids who come out a little odd, rather than the numbers of wacko children from public schooled systems.    Because people have somehow developed a phobia of homeschooling, people will jump at anything that will make it appear to be a foolish or strange alternate form of upbringing.  And I beg to differ.  Homeschooling has been around 10 times longer than any form of public schooling has been around, and those who do homeschool are simply people who haven't fallen to the 20th century trend of giving children to someone else for raising.   As for socialization, give me a break.  I don't call an environment of 2000+ immature, often foul, s*x obsessed, teens a totally healthy environment for a kids well rounded unbringing.  Not to mention that it develops a ridiculous amount of peer dependancy.  I firmly believe that the rate of teen suicide has increased so much, largely because of the public school system.  Kids get picked on and bullied if they are fat, pimpled, or ugly, and there is constant pressure to look the best, be the best, be the skinniest, have the most dates, whatever.  

I refuse to listen to anyone who has a problem with the way homeschoolers have been raised. As for myself, the homeschoolers i know are very mature, respectful, outgoing, and smart.  I have no problem with that.

Answer 7

Maybe if people woke up and actually started to take more control of their children's PUBLIC schools instead of leaving it to the inane governments people wouldn't be so stupid.

Answer 8

I have though of home schooling for the child I have custody of for the reason that schools now expect the parents to do all the teaching anyway. The home work they send home is many times the work that should be done in school. I cant understand why I am even paying the teachers salary if my child and I am doing all the work.

Answer 9

I started home schooling in the 6 grade and it was because all of the kids at my school were getting dirty and bad so my mom didn't want me to be around that and I didn't want to be around it.  Since i was public schooled 'till 6 grade i don't feel "socially retarded" I still go to all of the football and basket ball games and talk to all my old friends. Now I have made new friends through my home school group called "co-op" this is where i do all of the fun classes like P.E. , cooking, Music etc. I am also graduating through an online course. I do my major classes like biology and government online. I love home schooling! I don't plan on going back to public school because i am ahead and don't feel like being the smart nerd. I would rather just continue being friends with all the public school kids at the games.

Answer 10

I'm home schooled and i used to go to a public school, one downfall to homeschooling would be you see your  friends less, and an upside is you can travel anywhere and take ur books with you and if u set ur mind to it you can get ur school done in a few hours and u can have the rest of the day off my parents home schooled us because we moved alot and they didn't like alot of the junk they teach kids in school . Its also cheaper than private school,

Answer 11

I got the best of both worlds where I went to public school til 8th grade and finished school at home.  I think it keeps kids out of a lot of trouble.  I loved homeschool because I graduated when I was 15 and was able to start working and going to  college right away.  I know that when I have children I will homeschool them and make an effort to join other homeschoolers so they get more social activity as well.

Answer 12

like i guess cuz they wanna keep there kids outta trouble and stuff but then again i wasn't homeschooled (=

Answer 13

Well, Dr. Phil tends to be just "this side" of Jerry Springer on some topics...homeschooling is one of them.  He doesn't bother to show the millions of perfectly normal kids that are homeschoooled (and excelling with it), he shows one girl who probably didn't bother to take part in anything social while she was growing up.

I homeschool my 5th grade son because our local schools are unable to meet his academic and health needs.  He tests several years above grade level and has a (moderate) lingering immuno-deficiency resulting from a near-fatal bout with SARS five years ago.  

Our schools, while they have incredible sports teams, often leave a lot to be desired academically.  (I'm referring to those in our district, not US schools as a whole.)  Our state also has a very strict age-grade correlation law which says that all children ___ years old on Sept. 1st are in ___ grade - and it's very hard to get around.  This law applies to all public schools as well as any accredited private schools.

So, I have the choice of sending my son to a school that will not only bore him silly most of the time, but it will also have illnesses floating through the hall that can land him in the hospital.  On top of that, logistically most classrooms can't teach him how he needs to be taught, so chances are he wouldn't catch 50% of what's being taught anyway.  (He is very auditory and kinesthetic, which means that he learns from audio resources such as books on CD/MP3 and videos.  His textbooks are on MP3 that he reads along with, and many of his curriculum resources have online and CDRom supplements.  Being kinesthetic, he also learns best while touching, moving, and manipulating objects...not something that is often allowed in classrooms.)

I homeschool my son because it's what's best for him.  He learns best through individual attention, which I can offer him.  He also needs a curriculum that ranges through 4-5 grade levels in various subjects, which is nearly impossible to do in a classroom.  I can give him all the audio resources he needs while working with him to develop his visual (text-reading and research) skills, and I can allow him to move around while reciting information to himself.

Due to his health needs, he's much healthier at home too.  He participates heavily in Scouts and community theater, and plays baseball, so he is out and around other kids on a regular basis; however, not being around 1500 other kids (and whatever sicknesses they may have) in a confined space on a daily basis has done wonders for his health.  When he was in school - even a smaller private school - he was at the doctor's office almost weekly.  Now, he only goes in 2-3 times per year, outside of his annual physicals.  His doctor has credited homeschooling and the schedule it offers with the dramatic increase in his health.

Homeschooling allows him to work at his own level, be challenged according to his interests, and take part in things that he enjoys without having to work around a school schedule.  He can research things from several different viewpoints (creation/ID and evolution side by side, differing viewpoints about historical figures and events, etc.) and make his own decisions.  He can learn in the way that is most effective for him and have a strong say in his own education....and he can get the rest that he needs, and the environment that he needs, to stay healthy.

Anyway, that's why we homeschool!

Answer 14

Well I went to public school til my sophomore  year then i started home studies for my junior and senior year. I did it because its easier and i could pass highschool easily.

Answer 15

Homeschooling is not good for children. They don't meet any other children to interact with so they dont know when to mature.

Once I saw a boy who was homeschooled on TV and he was 12, and he had ' flying dragons ' in his room and ran around the house like a toddler. - It was scary.

Children dont get to innteract or see other people and make friends. so that makes them amture later than their supposd to.

Answer 16

I was home schooled (at least for a short time) and HATED it... then we went to a meeting where a bunch of families with home schooled children got together and I was afraid that the other children there might stab me because they were that AWFUL...

Answer 17

I HATE IT!

It's one of the worst things that's happened to me!

No friends....

No outside life....

If you have any questions, please email me....

[e-mail]

All my best!

=)

-Max

Answer 18

We homeschool for many reasons, that I've stated before. Four of them have been to public schools, and have toured private schools. None of them liked it.So I'll just stick with what my kids say.

DS4yo: yeah, I like homeschool.

DS6yo: yeah, I like homeschool. No, I don't want to go to school

DD8yo: Homeschooling is more fun, because we get to learn stuff by seeing how it works, or doing it.

DD9yo: Most of the time. (do you want to go back?) Not really, because I like homeschooling more.

DD10yo: I don't wanna go!

DS13yo: YES! No.

Answer 19

Good question, I just started homeschooling this year, and i do it because i get to work at my own pace, people do not bother me at all, and there is more freedom for what you can do.  I also live in the country.   This played a huge part in why i homeschooled, because i have one school that i am able to go to, and the school there is terrible.  That is why not a private school.  I enjoy homeschooling, because if i wanted to, then i could get finished all my schoolwork before lunch, and then get a job somewhere.  The thing is, is that i dont want to work that hard, so i pace myself through the day, and i can get done whenever i want, and if i dont want to do schoolwork one day, then im not missing out on anything, because the teachers will still be there when i go back.  As for being "socially retarded", well, some people may be that way, if they do not ever make friends, which is sad to see, but that is not a direct effect of homeschooling, that is largely due to the type of person that you are.  Some people would not want to ever pick up the phone, and would never want to do anything, and then they would never get out, but homeschooling is alright socially if you can get out often, otherwise, it can get kind of boring.  Homeschooling is good, and i might go back to a high school in the future, but for now, i think that i like it the way it is.  There is teachers that are available to talk to when you are stuck on something, and it teaches how to be a good individual worker.

Answer 20

I was home schooled for about 3 years, now I'm in college. Of course, it would have been a lot better if I'd had gone to public school, because I didn't have many friends, but I still went out, made new friends and stuff, when I went to college I felt okay, my social skills were hardly lacking.

Answer 21

My kid was not learning in school and her teachers wanted her medicated for ADD. The meds were stunting her growth and I did not feel they were necessary. (Now that she is learning at home, she does not take nor show signs of needing medication.) The classroom was out of control and the cafeteria food was not fit for a dog. They cut out the music program and recess. My daughter was miserable, illiterate and bogged down with homework she did not understand and she was only in the third grade. We had to get her out of there. All local private schools are Christian (we are not), use the same teaching style as public school and are expensive. Homeschool was a wonderful alternative. I don't watch Dr. Phil, so I don't know about what was on his show, but I can tell you that freaks make for good ratings. You will never see a normal or healthy person on Dr. Phil. Plenty of homeschoolers do very well academically and socially. My kid is making progress and has friends and interests outside of the house. Why wouldn't she? I don't go to public school and I have those things. People who homeschool in isolation, do so by choice.

Here is another bonus of homeschool: It is sleeting heavily here. The schools have let out early. We have not. We have had to cancel our trip to the library and my daughter will not be able to go to community chorus practice tonight, but we've altered our plans and kept on schooling. We're going to work on history and art instead. My daughter's public school friend just called. She is on her way over to work on her homework right now. How is that for a slice of fried perfect? I love homeschool.

Answer 22

LOL socially retarded. Please.

A child is going to be an adult when he grows up.  Thus it is more important for him to learn how to socialize with adults than children. The only way a homeschooled child would not have human interaction is if that child was locked in a room and fed under a door.  Don't throw extremes.

We homeschool our children because we don't want them brainwashed by a liberal government who tells them that everything is relative, it doesn't matter what you believe, but DON'T you DARE speak about Christ in school.  

Also because we train our children up in the way they should go.  When they are old they will not depart from it.  My daughter does not need to be baraged by half-dressed teenagers and have evolution stuffed down her throat as truth.

Now, don't insinuate that we don't teach our children about evolution. We also teach them about the koran, about sexuality, about everything, but we also tell them what is RIGHT and GOOD.

Answer 23

i hate it!!!!!!! and im kinda lost in math..i think its much much better to b in public..and im goin back, thank god lol