WHY does it seem that alot of people have so much trouble with people that "Home School"!?

Question

I just don't see anything wrong with it..Especially the way that public schools seem to be lately..

Answer 1

People always fear what they do not know!

If you told me 6 years ago I would be homeschooling, I would have told you "I'm not a wacko hippie, No way."

I am now homeschooling a 6th and 8th grader, and have been for 5 years.  My son excells at math and science.  I know he would be bored in a public school classroom, where he would be forced to slow his progress to stay with the group.

They also have a big problem with homeschoolers being socialized, evidently the only place you can be social is in public school.  What do they rest of us do for socialization after public school???  Curl up and die,.... I think NOT!!

I can't even tell you how many places we've been, and things we've done, there are too many.

It's only fear, the ones that object the loudest, are the ones who cause all those stupid laws to be passed and law suits.  You know "Caution the coffee in this cup is hot."  "Seatbelts must be worn, you will die when you crash at 80 m.p.h."

You know "those people", the rest of us can figure these things out on our own.

Did you know the first U.S. public school wasn't started until 1635.  Even then it was in the home of the Schoolmaster Philemon Pormont . (homeschool)  What ever did they do between the time they established Plimoth Colony, (YES I spelled Plymouth correctly) and the time they started the school??

Answer 2

I really don't know.  It seems to me that in this culture where people constantly argue for everyone's right to do whatever they want that most people would support a parent's right to direct the education of their children.  Quite frankly people's attitudes baffle me.  

Often I wonder why they can't just say, "Well its not what I think is best for my kids, but if its what you've chosen to do then I wish you the best."  I mean seriously, that is the attitude I take toward people who send their kids to school, it would be nice if they would return the sentiment.

Oh well, there is no way we can change everyone's mind.  However I think some people are against it out of ignorance, so in the spirit of educating them about homeschooling, I am including the following links on studies that have been done on the subject:

http://www.hslda.org/research/ray2003/de...

and

http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/20...

and

http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/comp2001...

and

http://www.hslda.org/docs/study/rudner19...

Most of those are downloadable PDF files.

Answer 3

Somewhere in society, it became "someone else's job" to raise and teach our children. People are no longer content with having their basic needs and a few comfort items, they want it all. They want to live in a $300,000 home and have a new car for each parent which they trade in every 2 years or so and they want new furniture, to get their nails done weekly, go to the beautician weekly, wear Gucci suits, wear the finest jewelry, afford regular babysitters so they can enjoy their "un-family friendly" friends and lifestyle, be members of the country club, smoke cigarettes and a ton of other things.  This lifestyle requires both parents and sometimes older teenagers to work to pay the bills. Truth be known, if they lived within their means, they too could homeschool and the wife or husband could stay home, whichever was best.

I have found that many parents are envious because of this scenario and they want the finest tangible things and are willing to send their kids to school for 8 or more hours a day to afford this lifestyle.

I think some are jealous, some are misinformed and uneducated on the idea of homeschooling and what it means and some have had a family that tried it and gave "homeschooling" a bad rep.

We must do what we believe is right for our children and no concern ourselves with "Why the world thinks it's wrong", simply because they are "OUR" children and for us as parents to raise-which includes teaching/educating them. Some parents will say that they are not qualified to teach and yet they have a degree in business and have no idea that to be a teacher it does not require a degree in teaching, just a degree-for K-12.

There are many different reasons homeschooling is no longer approved by society, take your pick. I guess society has forgotten about all the great and wise leaders, artist, teachers, doctors, spiritual leaders and so on, who were once homeschooled!

Answer 4

Some people are just set in their ways, and think that things should only be the way they've seen it done before.  A lot of people are just unaware of the purpose and benefits of homeschooling.  They don't take the time to educate themselves on an alternative to public schools.  Some people don't really know what it is...

Answer 5

The Home Education movement grows every year. When I home schooled my kids 10 years ago, the organization that I belonged to was growing.

In the States, I understand they are in the millions now. Some families choose to let the local school boards know they are home schooling, and some don't. I never did. Our school board didn't know my children existed until they started in the public highschool.

There isn't anything wrong with it. when it's done properly, home educated kids are not only well informed, they are also better socialized.

blessings :)

Answer 6

I was home schooled from half way through first grade to the end of tenth grade. I lived in an isolated area, my father didn't want to have to drive 10 kilometers to the nearest bus stop everyday and the home schooling packages were free from the government.

The quality of the learning material was great. I could get my work done at my own pace, which meant I could (if I worked hard enough) get a day's lessons done in about 3 hours.

However, problems started when I got to high school. I struggled with Maths, my mother wasn't knowledgeable enough to help me and my father wouldn't. I could call my 'teacher', the person who my work was sent to for marking but he barely spoke English and I couldn't understand his explanations.

So I failed Maths. I wasn't stupid, I just needed an actual real teacher to help me. When I went to school for the last two years of high school, I won the Maths award for my class.

I don't remember my years of home schooling fondly. I hated it. I was utterly alone and had to teach myself.

For 10 years, I had no association with other children except occassionally on school holidays if children stayed in near by houses. I wound up socially retarded, unable to relate to people, unable to have a proper conversation and learned to hate school work with a passion.

It took a year in an actual school before I could function socially. My grades went through the roof and I was near or at the top of all my classes.

I know that in the right situation, with the right parents, home schooling can be good.

But when the child doesn't get to interact with other children, or if the parents home school because they're control freaks, it all goes horribly wrong.

Answer 7

People don't like things that are different.  Homeschooling is different.  People are threatened by it.  Those in the educational field are opposed to it because it undermines their power base especially when untrained amateurs can do a better job than the "trained professionals" in the public schools.  This is exactly what homeschoolers do every year when they outperform public and private schooled kids on standardized test scores.  The media loves to publicize any wierd case involving a homeschool family.  They go on to question the ability of parents to properly educate their kids.  Most go on to call for more scrutiny.  Who would do the scrutinizing?  The people who run the failing public schools would.  The ones who bring us these numerous school shootings we read about far too often as well as falling test scores, the need for remedial college courses to get kids up to speed, teacher s*x abuse of students and the undermining of faith..

Answer 8

It doesn't 'seem' that a lot of people have so much trouble with homeschooling; there truly ARE a lot of people who have trouble with homeschooling.

People don't react well to change they didn't want or that doesn't appear to be in their favour. Of course, one might also question the quality of our education system that it would produce so many woefully biased people. ;) In the end, the bulk are ignorant and just don't know any better.

I don't think homeschooling will ever become the norm. There are a lot of bad parents out there who really shouldn't homeschool. There are a lot of parents who just aren't interested in spending that much time with their kids, despite otherwise being great parents. There are a lot of parents who simply would want to do it themselves but can't due to the need to work. And there are a lot of people out there convinced that public schools have problems, but it's not a big deal and "our kids need to learn how to deal with those things". It always makes me think of the whole story of how you can't keep a live frog in boiling water--it'll jump right back out because the water's too hot--but if you slowly heat the water up, it'll never really know that there's something wrong.

Answer 9

Many people who send their kids to public schools would like to home school but can't because both work.  So if I can't do it neither should you mentality comes into play.  If we could shrink our education tax base (more than 1/2 of most state governments, only one parent would have to work and they could home school.

Answer 10

I agree, that in 10 years it will be the norm.  Many public schools are trying to imitate home school by offering online classes.   I think that is better than public school, but not as good as home schooling.  

The reason people have problem accepting homeschool is because they were trained in public school to accept the word from  certified teachers who were trained in public school to accept the word from  their teachers.

Answer 11

I homeschool my children and we love it! I think adults are jealous that we home schoolers have the patience and desire to homeschool our kids; and school kids are jealous because they'd rather stay home too!

Answer 12

A good Christian friend of mine homeschooled her kids and one of them is in medical school.   I think it's great as long as the parents bring them out to be in contact with other children.

Answer 13

Simply, people are afraid of what they don't understand, and are defensive when they feel guilt.

It's the same as people who say, "Oh, I wish I could have/would have breastfed my child, but I just COULDN'T have!  I have medical reasons, see?  My baby didn't grow.  I didn't make enough milk.  And is breastmilk really better anyway?  My sister breastfed her daughter, and she had two ear infections.  I gave my baby formula and he's fine.  I had formula and I'm fine.  You are a breastfeeding n**i!  Bfing is the same as bottlefeeding!  That's gross!"  

It ranges from ignorance to guilt to attacking.

It's the same with homeschooling:  "Oh, homeschooling. Huh.  Well I went to public school and I'm fine.  I know this one homeschooler who never learned how to dance.  Imagine that!  How embarrassing for her at the prom... well, if she could have gone to the prom!  Child abuse, I tell you... these homeschoolers are so unsocialized!"

Or:  "Oh, I WISH I could homeschool.  Yeah.  I just do'nt have the patience.  I would hate to be with my kid all day.  My four year old needs medication because he can't sit still for 6 hours at preschool/daycare.  I could never handle that.  Besides, I have to work fulltime to PAY for his preschool/daycare, so you know, I just can't do it.  And besides that, I want him properly socialized.  I mean, he has to learn to deal with bullies sooner or later, right?  You just keep on doing your homeschooling though... I hope you take them out in public sometimes though, because you know, you do'nt want them to be UNSOCIALIZED."

Or even better:  "I'm a teacher.  I went to school for years and years for classroom management.  How can you think that you know all you need to know to teach your six year old?  Who do you think you are?  You're not a professional!  And what about socialization anyway?  I know this one homeschooler....."

If you see the responses of people who are against homeschooling, you will notice (along with a lack of basic grammar and spelling skills) that they are functioning out of either guilt or ignorance.  Both lead to defensiveness.

Shrug it off.  Really, it does'nt matter if people are offended by your ability to think out of the box.  And teach your children to not get offended as well... as adults, they will also be thinking/acting out of the box, and will need to let other people's comments go in one ear and out the other.  ;)

Answer 14

Some are good but here is a scenario for you.

2 fulltime working parents...Im not sure when the kids actually get educated.

The 2 kids they have, have no social skills and literally freak out in social situations.

Answer 15

A lot of people are ignorant and there are a lot of union people and school officials here who worry about their futures.

Answer 16

Because many people have not taken the time to educate themselves......once you shut down their arguements that are based on stereotypes (Socialization, sheltering, quality of education) and reveal the TRUTH about the myths they believe, they really don't have a leg to stand on.

I wish some people would just be honest and say "You know what.....I don't like homeschool. Not because I am going to rely on some silly MYTH, but because I just don't LIKE it". I'd respect them a lot more

Answer 17

I have no idea...I know a girl who is home-schooled who comes to school just for choir.  She's one of the nicest people I know at school, and she has more social skills than a lot of kids I know who have been educated in the public school system.

Answer 18

I don't know for sure. As I said in another thread, I'd never heard of anyone in my country (Australia) bashing those who home educate. Not like the Americans here on yahoo - they're rabid!

Why are they so anti-home education?

Jealousy?

Ignorance?

Fear of anything different?

Fear of anything that doesn't validate them, their decisions or their own upbringing?

Teachers who feel they have to validate themselves and their jobs?

People who fear that, without mass education, society will have no way to indoctrinate children to its values, beliefs, pov; meaning of course their values, beliefs, pov?

Or maybe they just resent knowing that they have allowed a pretty big part of the child rearing role to be assumed by the State?

Or maybe they themselves suffer from the anti-kid attitudes that often permeate anglo-saxon societies and they just believe that kids should be contained in school i.e. kept out of their way!

Mind you the type of person who comes in here bashing homeschooling/insisting on the importance of mass education also appear to believe in the 'positives' of things like the peer group/peer group dependency and the existence of 'the generation gap'. They seem to believe that society should be structured horizontally (by peer group) whereas I'd say the overwhelming majority of homeschoolers believe in and practice a society that is very much organised vertically.

At least there was one person here a while back who did admit that his reason for wanting all kids in school was that he hated the idea that some (homeschooling) parents were giving their kids 'an unfair advantage'.

Mind you when you read of adults who insist that -8 is a higher number than -6 (as just seen on the bbc news website) I won't be grieving for whatever it is I'm supposedly missing out on by not going to school!

Then again when the bbc are also reporting this afternoon that there are 17,000 substandard teachers in england who are seemingly incapable of teaching, how many incompetent teachers might there be in a country the size of Australia or the US given the differences in the number of teachers employed!

...Then consider that all the systems, proceedures, policies in existence are there to support the 'right' of every incompetent teacher to have a job and give no weight whatsoever to the rights of kids to get a half-decent education!  

Oh, as for numbers, I read that it is expected that 1 in 30 children will be home educated within the next 5 years.

Answer 19

You've received a lot of great answers that I completely agree with. I can identify with the answer by JS B and her views of homeschooling prior to doing it herself (I pretty much said the exact same thing myself!). I suppose most people do automatically dismiss things they do not understand.

Instead of delving in to the why's I wanted to point out that homeschooling could quite possibly be one of the (not THE, jut one of the) top issues in the next presidential election here in the US. Two contenders have their viewpoints on homeschooling on their websites: Ron Paul and Rudy Guiliani.

(disclaimer: I am still researching this, these are the only two I have looked at, so don't freak out and send me hate mail, lol)

I found it interesting. I really don't remember homeschooling to be an issue in prior elections. That tells me homeschooling is on it's way to losing this "that is so weird" status and gaining the title of an educational choice in America.

It will be interesting to see who the homeschooling community backs and how the NEA responds.

Answer 20

Why? Simply because it goes against the norm and a lot of people are afraid to go for it. They are afraid that if they go against the norms set by our screwed up society then people may look at them differently. I guess I'm lucky I live in an area where home school is really well excepted (funny since the public school in the area is the best rated in the state Not saying much there for Louisiana) But we have more home schools here in this area than in most other parts of the state.  With the way public schools are today I can't see why any one would put there kids there but to each his own and what works for them doesn't necessarily work for us!

Answer 21

Im homeschooled and i love it . I do twice the amount of work then i would be doing if i went to a regular highschool plus i dont have to deal with all the DRAMA highschool is all about

plus i dont miss out on prom. my independant studies program has one

so theres nothing wrong with homeschooling

Answer 22

I have no idea. I'm home schooled, and my entire family (even the ones who's house I stay at to do my work) seems to think that I sit around watching TV all day, which most certainly is not the case.

I've had a few kids tell me that I must be unintelligent if I have to home school, and telling me that because they go to a normal school, that they're 10 times more intelligent than me. Or just the plain old "you must sit on your *** all day, lazy pig." or "I bet you never leave the house, lazy pig!" people.

I don't let it get to me though, I love home schooling and how I can get away from bullying and peer pressure. :D