Why do it?

Question

I've never done homeschooling, but I'm just curious to either those who have been the teachers, or the students. Why did you do it? Why do you continue? What are the benefits, and do those outweigh losing the socialization of a normal school environment?

Answer 1

The "socialization of a normal school environment" is one of the reasons I'm choosing to HS. I'd rather my daughter learn how to behave in society from people who actually know, not a bunch of kids her own age.

I also want to spare her the hours of crushing boredom and to give her the opportunity to achieve her potential. Why continue? Because if it 'ain't broke don't fix it, my dd is well ahead of her peers already and she's only 4.

Answer 2

i am doing homeschool but its an online high school program and the teachers are all online. i did cuz my parents took me out of my old school. i continue cuz i have to. the benefits are graduating a year early. and no cuz i could of graduated a year early in my old school to. i miss my friends and sometimes i feel like i can't talk to others cuz i haven't really in a long time.

Answer 3

Well, my son, who is 10 is GLAD to "lose the socialization of a normal school environment".  Uh, schools are places to learn, NOT socialize.

My son is HS'ed because he's profoundly gifted and no brick & mortar school can meet his needs.  He never wants to be in a public school.  His sister goes to one and everytime he's there he thanks me profusely for not putting him through that.  It is simply like a prison.

He'd rather be able to choose courses he likes (or that I make him take!), go at his own pace, be out in the "real world" every single day, and be around other HS'ed kids who are highly respectful to him, their parents, and other kids.

The benefits are *real* socialization with people of ALL ages, not just kids who are 1-3 years on either side of you (mostly w/in one year of age as you).  He is able to deal with everyone from babies to the elderly in his typical school day.  He can take courses at all levels, just not his grade level and go to some "one hour pullout gifted class".

Answer 4

Hi, I find your choice to use the words " normal school environment" very interesting.  We homeschool 6 children in our family and we have what I would perceive as a very "normal school environment." Our children begin their lessons at 9am [sometimes a little later] and study through the morning until roughly 10.30. They head outside and play, talk, read etc and come back in for more study until lunch.

After lunch we have a shared activity that we all participate in together....   Our children have only been homeschooled and are very confident individuals who no what they want to learn and how they are going to learn it.  Why do it ???  Why not do it!!!!!!!

Answer 5

I chose to homeschool my kids because I thought there must be a better way than public school.  I continue because it seems that I was right.

The benefits are that we are a very close family unit.  My children are bright, energetic, intelligent, kind, helpful people with such incredible skills. They have achieved so much already, beyond my wildest expectations and I look forward to seeing them completely grown to see what else they do.  

They have had opportunities that would never have been possible in traditional school.  They have travelled over most of the world, seen and met people in many different cultures.  

When my oldest wrote her first novel at 11, I was told that most kids couldn't do it, but I think that's because most kids don't have the time or support to do it.  By age 14, they were both novelists (took me to age 38).  

I think the socialization benefits of homeschooling outweigh the loss of the socialization of a "normal school environment".

It's been a great ride for the last 16 years, and hopefully I'll have the same view in 16 more :D

Answer 6

Define normal? Why do you assume the social environment in a public school is "normal"? Where in real life will your day be planned for you, your peers chosen for you, and will you raise your hand and announce to the world that you need to pee? I find public school isolating from real society and experience and homeschool socially liberating. Some of the social effects of homeschooling are often that students are more mature, have better manners, better family relationships and better self esteem than their public schooled peers. Drug addiction, cutting, eating disorders, casual s*x and other results of the kind of socialization that is often prevalent in public schools are all but unheard of in studies done of homeschool students. Therefore, I would not say that public school socialization is exactly a benefit.

To answer your question: I homeschool my child because she was not learning in public school. She was frustrated and the school insisted she be on several medications for ADD. She was labeled and we had to do something before it was too late. With homeschool, she learns, is happy, drug free and very social. Remember, homeschoolers do not stay locked away all day. They get out in their communities far more than the average public schooled student.

Answer 7

I was homeschooled from 7th -12th grade and for the most part loved it (and now miss it).  My family had a problem with the public school system (which is extremely corrupt) and pulled me out of it.  I could have gone to a public school, but didn't have any desire after I started homeschooling.  The benefits are endless!  I spent almost everyday hanging out with my sister and our friends (yes, two different age groups hanging out!), we could play tons of games, like frisbee, basketball, we made our own summer Olympics one year, and played street hockey with broom sticks.  

Educationally homeschooling was great too.  I excelled in all subjects because I didn't move to a new concept until I understood the first.  I was able to study what I wanted and to incorporate my piano lessons, rabbit breeding, chick raising, and other interests into my "school work."  I don't think I understand what you mean by "normal school environment."  At one time the "normal" school was a one-room K-12 school house or even homeschool!  This segregated by age system that is now "normal" is anything but that.  But to answer your initial question yes the benefits of homeschooling do outweigh the artificial socialization system of a public school.

Answer 8

My husband and I (both teachers) decided to homeschool because we felt we could provide a better education, environment and lifestyle to our kids through homeschooling than through sending them to school. The social atmosphere at schools was our first reason to think of it: we didn't want our children to have that socialization (socialization means to adopt the societal norms around you). Sure, we could possibly have counteracted it, but it felt a bit like administering doses of poison and then daily use an antidote. ;)

Before our first was school age, we added academic reasons--she was very advanced and would have been bored in kindergarten. Not only that, but as teachers, we knew the ideal education is one that is tailored to the individual student. Unfortunately, it's usually only those with problems who are approved of by the district to get the education program adaptations; those who are advanced often get nothing. (At least, that's how it is where we live.) Once our daughter was school age and she had a little brother we could observe, we knew that academically, NO school program where we live would meet his unique style. Homeschooling for academic reasons makes even more sense for him than for our daughter.

We also continue homeschooling because we like having them be raised by us, because we like how close their relationship is, because we like the lifestyle (relaxed, flexible), because it's working for us and our kids enjoy it.

What benefits do we see? We have kids who are far more social than either of their parents were at that age--the ease with which they'll do things with kids they've never met before, not caring about age or grade, these are great things. (Yes, they do things with other kids a lot--homeschooling shouldn't mean being home all the time.) We see that they are mastering academic things according to their abilities and timeline, not to some governmentally decided standard. We have kids who are less concerned about popular styles and music and all that than the average public schooled child; they have a good sense of what THEY like and their likes are accepted. There are so many I could share. (Do let me add that the benefits for us aren't going to necessarily be universal--not every homeschooling family is going to have the same experience.)

Do these benefits outweigh the socialization of a normal school? In our opinion, yes. As I already said, it's the school socialization that we wanted to avoid: attitudes, language, behaviours, styles... When our dd was a baby, my husband was teaching gr. 8's whose hallway had been nicknamed "The Red Light Hallway" [for those who don't understand the significance, the Red Light District is an area in cities where prostitutes hang out] because of the way the girls dressed, and if you didn't dress like that, you were an outcast of the group. Since then, one fad has been for boys to spray Axe deodorant on their arms and light it on fire; they decided to try a girl's hair one day. (This isn't some bad, inner city school either.) One student arranged for a gang member to come into the school and try to attack this other student--over an iPod. My dh is very aware of the use of alcohol and drugs among a number of the students, as well there is just a certain attitude that prevails.

Do we believe our kids would necessarily become like this? No. But why subject them to that type of environment on a daily, full-time basis when they'd be better off developmentally elsewhere?

Answer 9

I started getting homeschooled because school was literally giving me migraines. At least three times a week, I'd get really dizzy and have to go home anyway. I'm more of a creative person, and all the teachers taught everyone to think like they do, and I didn't like it, so it turned out to be the stress, because we took a two week trial of me staying home from school [doctor told me to] and the migraines were gone so I just switched to being homeschooled.

I know lots of kids who feel really strongly against school.

and I didn't lose socializing at all.

I still meet new people all the time, and hang out with my friends on weekends, talk to them after school and email them.

the only thing that's really different is that you have more freedom to be yourself, and not have teachers trying to fit you into a specific mold.

Answer 10

I started homeschooling my son for a few different reasons; first, he is highly gifted (10 years old and working through high school and early college level work in some subjects), and our local schools are honestly not able to even accommodate, much less challenge him.

Second, he had a near-fatal case of SARS 5 years ago which weakened his immune system.  He cannot be around the illnesses that go through schools - something that might put another kid out for a few days with a low fever could put him in the hospital.  His doctor has credited his good health the past 4 years to homeschooling because we can both control who and what he is exposed to (i.e., sick kids and adults) and he gets the schedule that he needs.  If he's feeling fatigued, we can take the day off and rest.  He's fine with doing a few hours of school on Saturday to make up for it.  He's grown a lot stronger in the past few years, and his immune system is slowly catching up, but we still need to watch it.

That's why we started homeschooling; we continue because it's the best environment for him - socially, academically, and physically.  He's very motivated and loves to learn on his own, and he's the kid who really wouldn't take well with having to track with a class lesson plan.  There have been subjects for which he's competed 3 full grade levels inside of a year, with almost perfect scores and retention.  Schools in many areas aren't bad, but the schools in our area just don't have any programs that can keep up with him.  Heck, I have trouble keeping up with him sometimes!

Through homeschooling, I am able to teach him at his pace, according to his interests, and in the ways that best make sense to him.  On top of being highly gifted - which is challenging in and of itself - he's also dyslexic, which is a learning style that doesn't track well with traditional curricula.  He needs to see the big picture before he gets the details, and he needs the information presented in a number of ways.  The vast majority of schools just plain don't have time to work with that, but I do.

As far as socialization goes, his social life is actually more active than a lot of classroom-schooled kids.  He has friends that he sees and works with on a regular basis, and because they all get done with school earlier - even though many are advanced and working on extra subjects - they can get together and play, work on projects, or participate in field trips and service projects during the day.  At night, they can either hang out at home (when they want to) or do things like take lessons, go to Scouts, participate in church activities, or just play some more.

Homeschooling isn't for everyone, and there are people who really shouldn't homeschool (or be homeschooled).  Some kids thrive in a classroom, while others thrive in a small group or one-on-one environment.  My child happens to be one of those that thrive in homeschooling, so we homeschool :)  It's just the best choice for him.

Answer 11

Normal?  The typical school environment is artificial.  I homeschool my kids because, well...I like them.  We love learning together and playing together.   I learn so much from them as well as the benefit they have of one on one learning opportunities with me.  Socialization is not lost because they are not going to a school building every day.  Most children have friends outside of school.  My children have lots of friends outside of oneanother.  They have relatives, children at church, neighbors and other homeschooled children.  They socialize with the elderly, teens and infants.  So, yes, the benefits of homeschooling far outweigh the socialization and educational opportunities provided in a "normal school environment".  People choose to homeschool for various reasons.  My reasons have little to do with the school system (we live in a pretty good school district) and a whole lot to do with the morals and values I want to instill.

Answer 12

My son was homeschooled through kindergarten because the state I was in had no manditory kindergarten and, since he could read, he was waitlisted.

He also was "gifted but troubled" and I homeschooled him in 4-5th to get him over a rough patch in life.