Where you homeschooled?

Question

We are thinking of homeschooling and I would like to hear from kids who are or were homeschooled. Our local homeschool group consist of about 45 kids K-12, very small. Did you feel as if you missed out on anything being homeschooled, SGA, Athletics, Math team, computer team, parites etc?

Answer 1

You would think that homeschooled kids would miss out on alot. Homeschooled kids probably did miss out on alot years ago, but these days there are so many homeschooling groups and things that if homeschooling is done right then the kids won't miss out on a thing.

The #1 argument against homeschooling is that people think homeschoolers are not socialized. They think that school is the only place kids can make friends. Well, how naive is that? There are TONS of places for kids to make friends.

Homeschooling groups, play groups, church/youth groups, sports, classes, etc. The good thing is that homeschooled kids learn how to properly socialize. They have to learn how to make friends, unlike in public schools where kids are forced to be friends because they are in the same classroom each day.

I know I sometimes feel like I miss out on stuff..like prom and all that. But alot of homeschooling groups throw their own proms (and they're usually nicer!). Plus, for everything that I feel that I'm missing out on I know there are tons of things that I have that public schoolers are missing out on. For example, free time.

Anyway, I hope that helps.

Answer 2

I think you mean "were you homeschooled". Yes I attended elementary school for K and 1st grade, then a Christian school until the end of 6th grade, and homeschooled after that. I did very much enjoy not having to go to school everyday, however my experience may be a little biased because my parents didn't put a whole lot of effort into my homeschooling so I kinda had to discipline myself to do it. But I skipped 12th grade and got my GED a year early and went to work. My advice from a former homeschooler would be to make sure it's in the best interest of the child and whatever you do, please don't let a 12 year old  make the decision if they want to be homeschooled or not, they have no idea the pros and cons. I will admit i felt quite sheltered at times, and still do, Personally I think it would be better for a child to be in public school, and just be very closely monitored and to be very involved in their life. There are certainly times when I wish I had not been homeschooled but it's too late now. Just think about ALL aspects of the child's potential future academically, and socially before deciding.

Answer 3

No. I still have all of that, and I don't even spend a lot of my time involved with the homeschool group.

I'm not in any form of Student Government, but I am taking a government course, and applying the things I learn to real-life activities like passing new "bills" (alterations to rules) in the household, or having debates about certain subjects with other homeschoolers or with my parents or my public school friends (yes. I kept all my old friends. If anyone doesn't like you because you start homeschooling, well they aren't worth your time then.) I go to music lessons twice a week, and even play in a small band (one bassist, one keyboardist, and I am one of the two guitarists) made up of me, my boyfriend (that's right, homeschoolers are social enough to date, and no, my bf isn't homeschooled) and two of our close friends. I still get to do art at the community center, and am a member of several clubs. And I DON'T miss out on athletics. Right now I am a fencer (competitive sword fighting. Look it up) and fence twice a week at a local fencing club. Only one school in our entire county has a fencing club, and theirs is lame compared to the one I go to. I also used to play soccer for a city team, and you know, local schools are supposed to still let you play sports with them (depending on state) even if you don't go there. Your parents' tax dollars still keep their doors open even though you aren't a student.

As for friends, I have more now than I ever did in school because i actually have TIME to socialize. No seven hours a day in school then four hours of homework, then just that little bit of time left to actually rest up for the next day. I only do school maybe four hours a day tops and the rest of that time is mine. And even doing it for such a short time, I'm still way ahead of my peers, and even graduating early! I get invited to go to the movies or to the mall with frfiends on weekends (AND durring the week sometimes) and I also get invited to parties. Actually, I'm going to a public school friend's halloween party this Saturday night. And Friday is another friend's 18th birthday so we're going to the mall so she can pick out a present. See, as a homeschooler, you make friends with who you want to. You aren't being forced to hang out exclusively with people in your grade. I have friends in 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and even college! And it's better this way. It isn't like in the REAL world you're always going to be grouped with people your own age and your own intelligence level.

And those are just the social benefits. Imagine the academic ones! Like having the upper hand in college because universities tend to prefer homeschoolers to public schoolers, and because you're so much further ahead and so much more motivated and independent than public schoolers. Homeschooling is definitely the right choice.

Answer 4

My kids are homeschooled and I have such a problem with the type of question you are asking. Why? Because it makes it sound like that a construct of the school system (math teams, for example; not even something that exists everywhere) is somehow not only really important but is so important that kids who homeschool (who may never hear about those things, just like public schooled kids who don't have those things at their school) are going to feel as if they 'missed out'. (I have to ask the question: if kids never hear about these things, how are they going to have a sense of missing out on them?)

Can we look for a second at this idea of "missing out" on something? What does it mean? Do we worry about our kids missing out on the whole winter/snow season if we're living in Hawaii? Or do those of us who get snow focus on how we're missing out on the whole year being snowless? No. Do we think about our kids missing out on the boarding school experience because they're schooling where we live? No. Do we in North America think about our kids missing out on living near the pyramids in Egypt? No. Is it really any different with all these things that *some* schools offer? No.

We are ALWAYS missing out on something. Every thing we choose to do means we are going to be missing out on something else. Lawyers are missing out on being dentists and doctors are missing out on being preschool teachers and preschool teachers are missing out on being astronauts and going to summer camp means missing out on family time and having family time means maybe missing out on time with friends and spending time on the computer means missing out on time elsewhere... We can choose to live our lives bemoaning what we "missed out on" but it's silly to do so. When we avail ourselves of what's there and create situations for what we want to do, there's no need for a sense of missing out.

I sense that when this is talked about regarding homeschooling vs public schooling, it's often tied to the "sameness" mentality: when schooled kids talk about it, it's because they're caught up in the whole notion of being the same and everybody doing the same thing; I suspect when parents worry about it, they, too, are worrying about their children not having the same thing as the schooled children around them. It is so important that we get out of our heads that different means that something's not as good. It doesn't mean anything of the kind.

Answer 5

h**l no! i was homeshooled up until grade 8. mom used books by "rod & staff" a christian schoolling. only problem was that we had to order it from the states (we're in canada) but that was the only problem.

(well that & having your mom for a teacher as well as a mom...lol)

ANYway...for the last 4 grades i did it by correspondence with fraser valley school. they'd send my work to me & i'd mail it in over so often. any questions i had was easy cuz the teachers were jsut a phone call away.

im 27 now & i think its best that way if you want to homeschool. use correspondence for the last few grades so the kids can see what its like having real teachers & all. schooling can even be done online these days so if you want, keep a spare computer for them.

kids dont have to "be in school" to learn how to grow up. they'll eventually go to school anyway for college or university. im thnking of going back maybe next summer to major in writing & art. maybe do a bit of piano again to...

being homeschooled or a correspondent wont degrade the kids. well it didnt hurt me anyway. & its still fairly easy to make friends anyway. the best thing was i often finished my lessons in a few hours & could go & play all day afterwards. around 2 or 3 (depending which school they were in) i could go down & meet the neighbors kids as they came out of school & then we could play out all afternoon. also since i went to church, i had a few friends from there as well.

the hard thing about homeschooling for both the kids & the parent(s) is not having a set schedule. like "oh i only have a couple lessons to go before im finished that subject. i can take a day or two off" (this usually ended up being a month for me...lol)  so just watch out for that cuz its my only regret. not finishing right away & then get stuck doing the last odd lessons on a day i could of gone horseriding or something. lol

if you're still worried they wont make a lot of friends, enroll them in a group activity like horse-riding lessons or swimming. (dance ballet music are good to) i also joined a martial arts class for a couple evenings a week to.

Answer 6

Yes I am homeschooled and of course at times I felt like I was missing out on things, but now I really don't think I did miss out on anything (I'm a senior in highschool).

The thing is, all of those things you listed in the end, homeschool groups do have them. You can join all of those types of things if you have someone hosting them in your area (or you could even host them).

Answer 7

I was homeschooled K-12 and was not part of a homeschool group till senior year.  And that was only becuase my mom really wanted me to be in a real graduation ceremony.  But, honestly, I graduated with 125 other kids I really did not know and I could have done without it.  I do not feel like I missed out on anything.  At all.  In fact, some times I was so busy with 'after school' activities that I had a hard time fitting my school work in.  But that's what is so great about homeschooling, I did not have any specific deadlines to meet 'or else'.  If I wanted to do my school work till midnight, on Sunday, in the car, outside on my porch, it was perfectly ok!  And mom always let us off on our birthday. ;)  If you are most worried about activities, stop your worrying!  I don't know any homeschoolers that are not in three or more activities every week.  Here are some things I did when I was homeschooled:

Violin lessons (once a week)

Music theory classes (once a week)

Piano lessons (once a week)

Ballet class (three times a week)

Modern class (once a week)

Political campaigns (whenever there is an election)

Orchestra (once a week)

Summer church and music camps

Music workshops (throughout the year)

Art classes (once a week)

Youth group (twice a week)

Studying with other homeschoolers (anywhere from 1-4 times a week)

Tutoring younger homeschoolers and public schoolers

Volleyball (fall)

Softball (spring/summer)

School work (whenever I could find time!)

As you can see, with my schedule and two other children my mom had a full time taxi job!  And yes, we did alot of reading the car, but mom always made us read out loud so we could help each other.  And I don't know if your last word is supposed to be 'parties', but  we had parties all the time.  When you are homeschooled, you can invite other homeschooled friends to spend the night during the week and not just on weekends.  You can call then at nine in the morning and ask if they can come over.  My family had other homeschooling families over all the time for lunch 'just because'.  There were also lots of birthday parties to go to all the time becuase of all the home/public/sports/music/dance/art friends we had.  Trust me, there are plenty of activities to do.  You just have to look!

Answer 8

My children really did not miss out on anything, since everything they are interested in we can make happen.

We can either join an existing group who has organized these activities, or when it is not offered we start it.

We have a home school athletic organization; they belong to the same association as do the private schools, and compete both at the state, and national level.

We have parents who organize the spelling bee, science fairs, math counts, speech and debate both at the state, and national level, 4H for many electives, prom, graduation, teenpact (government), skiing; the sky is the limit.

None of these are out of any ones reach, you simply have to take the lead, and go for it.

Do not think that because your group has not offered this before you cannot do it, just start it, get the information, and see if anyone else is interested; if not join an existing group even though it may not be all home schooled children, or young adults.

Answer 9

Until you can proofread better, I wouldn't suggest homeschooling.  Your children need to grow up knowing how to spell.  Spell checkers don't catch real words used incorrectly.

Answer 10

Our family is homeschooling right now. We didn't like our local group, it's okay for some things, but I worked with a friend to create a group that is more our style. it's an hour drive, but we make that three or four times a week because it's worth it.

As far as missing out on stuff, we've found things either through parks and rec dept, or through the local businesses or colleges. For the most part though, things like math team, computer team, foreign language clubs, are rewards handed out to students to give them something worthwhile for all the c**p they deal with in school.

Why a math team? If you like math, do math. Why computer team, if you like computers, work with them. There are classes at the local library, there are chess clubs and sports clubs and band and cheerleading/dance, all independent of schools. Like art? Take a class at a museum....or hang out at a gallery. Foreign language? Find a group for international people, we joined the scandanavian club and a native american group. We hang out with the Chinese language classes for fun when they meet at the library. We shop at the Indian market.

If you do some brainstorming, you can find all kinds of ways to fulfill those needs your children have. Some are easy and cheap, others are more work, harder to find, and you might have to pay. But it's totally worth it to set up these experiences outside of school, where kids see that it's real world, not just some artificial structure set up by the schools, and they won't see it again after they graduate.

Answer 11

45 kids isn't a bad number to work with.  The homeschool group won't be the only place your kids can socialize, besides, even in school where there are 30 other kids in class with you, most people are only good friends with a small handful of other kids.  As far as kids "missing out", they may not have the exact same experiences as kids in school, but often they have many experiences that kids in school never get opportunity for.  Things like running their own business, enjoying astronomical phenomina, knowing that they can stay up late and sleep in the next day, having friends outside their age group, etc.  Homeschoolers do often have Athletics, dances, computer clubs, etc.