Which is harder, Homeschooling or Public School?

Question

I am thinking about homeschooling my child, she is 8 and might have to repeat 2nd grade. What is the best decision? Is homeschooling hard to teach, or would public school be the best answer? We can't afford private school!

Answer 1

If your daughter isn't fitting in the public school plan, homeschooling may well be a great choice.

No, it isn't difficult to help your child learn.  Homeschooling can be a wonderful experience.

Contact a local homeschool support group for info on laws and what support is in your area.  

Good luck :D

Answer 2

If your daughter is borderline on having to repeat 2nd grade public school obviously isn't working for her. Homeschooling produces better academic results than public school and you can be pretty confident that given a year at home she'll be able to catch up. Is it hard to teach? No. Think about it, 2nd and 3rd grade? It's hardly rocket science :-)

Answer 3

Elementary school is great for kids. But at middle and high school you should start home-schooling. Public schools are nothing but a day-care. I can learn more in home-school in a day then a student would in a public school in a month. Home-schooling is easier because you learn at your own pace and you can learn about more real world things.

Answer 4

We homeschool for 2 reasons.  For me, it is because our son was being passed from grade to grade in public school and was not learning.  He did not qualify for LD resources but the teachers did not expect him to learn.   The teachers were great but they had other children to teach and could not take the time to indiviualize a plan for a child who did not qualify for IEP (Individual Education Plan).

Second reason, for my husband, was the behavior of the children he came in contact with while driving school bus for local public high school.  

Yes.  Public school is harder for a child who has problems learning in a classroom setting and trouble 'measuring up' to the measuring stick that the public school uses to measure success.    It is easier when you can create a curriculum that fits your child's style of learning, her interests, her goals, and  your schedule.  For example,  If she is more alert in afternoon, you can do academics in afternoon.  If she learns better with doing rather than reading, you can adapt the reading to include activities to help her learn.  You can take advantage of homeschooling activities   in your area and local library events.  

The statistics show that holding a child back to repeat a grade is not an effective way to help a child.   Doing the same thing, the same way, over and over again is called insanity.   If public school is not working, and again the statistics show that it only works for a small percentage of the population, then you need to try something else.

Homeschooling is a very good option.

Answer 5

Do you know how to teach?   I don't mean helping your child learn to tie her shoes, but the theory behind the different methods, how to lesson plan, how to honestly evaluate, etc.... If not then let your child learn from the professionals.

Answer 6

Which is harder in which way?

If you homeschool your child, you will be able to tailor everything to her abilities and let her go her pace. You could find appropriate resources at her level, and the only difficulty would be in helping her with that and establishing a routine/style.

Personally, I believe if you are willing to give your daughter an education that meets HER needs, instead of the school's structure which is designed to meet the GOVERNMENT's needs, it will be far better for her in the long run. Repeating grades has been shown to usually be detrimental--they don't even allow it where I live except for Kindergarten or in cases where the child is obviously immature. In the majority of cases, the kids don't do any better the 2nd time around in a grade. (Truly!) The things they didn't get the first time don't miraculously become clearer because they're still being show in the same way.

Try to connect yourself with a homeschool group in your area and start asking these same questions and anything else that pops up. You might be able to even find a group in Yahoo Groups. You'll be able to connect with other parents, make some friends for both you and your daughter, learn about resources, events, activities, etc. Even if you decide to not go through with it, you'll be far better informed!

Answer 7

I think a dedicated parent is always a better choice. You can change your approach on-the-spot if need be. One of the good things about home school is she can advance in one area even if she needs help in another, it's not grade based. Take her out and "Pass" her to third grade. Focus on what she likes to bring her back "on-level" one-on-one attention is always better.

Answer 8

Trust your mother's instincts.  

My son attended public school through 6th grade.   He fell behind and felt just awful because everyone seemed smarter to  him.

And I could tell you horror stories about the kids she's going to hook up with because they're  not feeling so great about themselves either.  For example, a 12-year-old got caught giving her boyfriend ******* (I'm sorry you would not want me to mention this outright if yahoo didn't bleep it out anyways)---We live in a high taxes town, one elementary, one middle school and one state of the art high school.

This is not inner city.  A doctor lives next store to me--and we've been told we have the finest house in the neighborhood.

Not to mention if your daughter has some type of learning disability the run around you are going to get from the school---you would not believe what they try to get away with, UNLESS you get a parent advocate, probably cost about $100.  Then the school will give you everything you want and need for your daughter because they were supposed to anyway!!!   (She will still feel bad about herself, kids know when they are different)    I need to take a break and BREATH.  Ah that's better.

I think you should scrape up the money for a parent advocate,

have the school test for learning disabilities (so you won't have to!).  Then decide.   Actually, I found it less expensive to teach my son the younger grades  (he was that far behind--teachers denied it, said he was doing it on purpose) as you can get a lot of what you need off the internet.   Now it's getting a little bit expensive--I've spent about 500 this year.   I buy interactive textbooks for the computer for my son.   PearsonSchool.com., he's in 8th grade level, jumped I don't know how many grades in 1 year because we don't have to play that game.   For PE,  he rides his bike, is becoming quite the terminator on the tennis court, and is interested in playing guitar!   He also loves to draw,  I told him if he works hard at his studies, we will get  a paint shop for computer.

Good Luck to you.  I'll think of you often.

Answer 9

Its hard to learn, not to teach. I usually teach myself, and my mom rarely helps me. Though its tough. I was in public school and tried out homeschooling in 7th grade, i am now in 11th grade, and I want to go back to public school.

I agree that socialization is important in your childs life. School is also a time to justget away from home and experience life. My mom and I had a huge fight last night that I would be pregnant if I went back and a failing student. I was ALWAYS a straight A student, and Im still a virgin. So, education is important to, its easier to send your little one to public school and hep her with her studies when she gets home.

Good Luck.