Who seems to be most satisfied/dissatisfied with the homeschooling experience?

Question

As other have alluded to before, I am starting to see some trends in attitudes, at least in those participating in Yahoo!Answers.

What categories of homeschoolers do you believe are most satisfied/dissatisfied and WHY? Could you mention what impact you think this will have on homeschooling legislation in the future?

Ex. traditional homeschoolers who have parent led homeschooling from a very early age on?

Cyberschoolers/on line learners with no or minimal parental involvement?

Those who spent the majority of their school careers in traditional school settings and "pull out" in middle or high school?

Some other category?

Answer 1

Just judging based on the people I have met in homeschooling groups (not in this forum) , it is the people for whom there is consensus in the family.  Without that cohesive mindset, the frustration level is high and often leads to failure or at least makes life for the homeschooling parent quite miserable.

I don't see the style as being a determining factor in satisfaction.   All are great if the entire family is involved and committed.

Answer 2

The homeschoolers I've met (not on Yahoo! Answers) that seem to be most satisfied with the experience are unschoolers, especially those that have been doing it since birth. I think, since there have never been any set expectations, there tends to be much less frustration for both parents and children. Also,  more attention is focused on the wonderful things that are learned and enjoyed in everyday life that others tend to overlook. We are unschoolers, by the way, and are thoroughly satisfied (thrilled, even) with our homeschooling experience.

Those that seem most dissatisfied (speaking ONLY from my own experience) are the ones who have had their kids in school for a while and then pull them out and try to do school-at-home according to whatever curriculum they decided to buy and whatever schedule they think they *should* be following. I've noticed many arguments between parent and child, refusal to do work, "this is boring," and so on because of preconceived notions of what homeschooling *should* be. Those parents also (as mentioned by a previous poster in an answer to a different question) tend to be the ones that contribute as little as possible to co-ops and have trouble figuring out how to meet friends because of the dependency they have built on the school system.

Answer 3

In my experience, I'd say our government may be the body most satisfied with the homeschooling experience...without home education, the government would have to build, staff and equip an entire school in every single family's backyard or forego their "education is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15" rule!

We're unschoolers so our parents play a supporting role rather than a directing role. They were both homeschooled themselves (as were their parents and their parents' parents) so I'd say our family is very satisfied with home education. After all, we've been doing it since 1901.

Answer 4

I was homeschooled and I thrived.  However, the quality of the education hinges on the quality of the parent(s).  In my case, both parents were involved in my education.  My father has degrees in both mathematics and engineering, so he guided me in math.  My mother is an art historian, so she guided me in history, art, languges, etc.  

In the end, what society needs to realize is that each person is able to learn anything they want to learn.  All you have to do is start asking questions, pick up books, read peer reviewed magazines, go to museums, meet with professors, go out into the field you are interested in and shadow a professional, etc.  

I would say the main criticism of homeschooling is in regards to socialization, but that can be compensated for by joining clubs, volunteering, music lessons and memberships, etc.  You don't have to be in school to be around other kids.  

Also, I think that some people need to realize that religion is not the only reason for opting to homeschool.  Often, it is assumed that you are religious if you are homeschooled, but that's just another stereotype.

Having said all of this, I think that there are those parent(s) who should not be allowed to homeschool their kids, as they tend to limit rather than expand the world.

Answer 5

Im satisfied.

Its better then what they are teaching in school,

Did you hear about them giving kindergardener's and middle-schooler's birth-control? I could learn more in 3 hours then they learn in 8. You can tell if they are homeschooled. By the way they answer the phone and how they act. And people who say "Your Child needs to be soclized!" Are wrong. If your child can talk to someone without being shy does not. The child who is shy NEEDS it.  I learned to read when I was 1 1/2. And people brag about how well there 7 year olds are doing on learning to read. The more homeschoolers there are theres a less chance that they will drop out of college. Most of them will finish.

Answer 6

The most satisfied haven't necessarily followed a specific style of homeschooling but have had parents who were caring, responsive, and made sure to meet the student's needs (social, academic or other).

Those who come in here dissatisfied seem to often have parents who don't establish good social connections for them or who sort of abandon their child's education to the child with no coaching of any sort.

Answer 7

I did a little homeschooling and a lot of unschooling and quite statisfied (published at age 16, in corporate management by age 24, production work on TV by age 30, production work in music on international radio by age 45).

I think the biggest catagory here, however, is the religious homeschoolers who want a more creationistic or spiritualistic based program as opposed to an agnostically based program.

Parents who want a drug, violence and s*x free environment.

People who want values, ethics and moral standards applied as well as education.

When I was in elementary school we used to get milk every morning if we paid for it monthly.  A christian child with a traditional upbringing would be compelled to say a prayer of thanks before drinking it and that woud be in class for all to hear.  Some religious people have to say prayers verbally.

It bothers atheists and they, then, bother the Christians so there is an animosity building between the two over rights.  The rights to say a prayer and the rights not to hear one being said.

Home school solves that problem when you can't afford $5,000 a year for a private religious education.

The same applies to a Muslim kid who is expected to face a wall and bow and pray 5 times a day or a girl who is expected to wear a Hajib.

Now, people LOVE talking about socialization.  Go tell that to an Atheist who goes to court to get the Muslim and Christian to stop infecting their kid in school with nonsense and then they WIN.

If we are to be in school for SOCILIZATION then that ATHEIST must face the same issues, learning to get along with others no matter what and their parents should not be suing other parents and school systems to STOP things or everyone should be allowed to do that.

You can't stop them from teaching darwinism even thought parents of Jews, Muslims and Christians don't accept it.

What WE FORCE them to accept ONE VIEW, but we STOP them from presenting their VIEW.

That isn't socilization, that's FACISM.

That's one group telling another what they can and can't do.

So the Atheists are driving them out with their lawsuits and the Agnostics are driving them out with their inability to believe without proof.

The druggies, gang members and bullies are driving the rest out.

You will NOT find ANY of this attitude in College.

An Atheist or Religious attempts a law suit, they get expelled and once you are expelled from college you will have a hard time finding another to go to!

College will not tollerate that.

College will not tollerate kids talking and socilizating and listening to music with Ipods in their classes.

You go out the door.

So when a Goth goes to college they participate and get good grades if they want to stay there.

They just dress differently.

If an Atheist makes a stupid move like going to Notre Dame for college and they go to a football game and there is a prayer said and they get a lawyer, they will be on the street as it is a Catholic based university that admits eveyrone, but will not tolerate traditions being played with.

So these are you main groups and their reasoning.  Religious and those who are finding it hard to get a good education because of the riff raff and sub standard eduction found in some schools.

Homeschool is both a protest and a viable alternative form, especially taking over croweded classrooms and voters who refused to ante up for more classrooms.

So you can classify homeschoolers into one of two main groups.

Those who are actively involved in the boycotting of a system for one reason or another.

Those who are finding a better approach to education on their own, which is basically a form of 'boycot-lite' because it initmates the system is not right for everyone.

I fell into the latter group.

Answer 8

I am satisfied with homeschooling. I was pulled out of regular school for highschool, and i'm so glad, i have a few other friends who homeschool too. I have alot more freedom, and i can work on my own pace without some buttheaded teacher breathing down my neck.

Answer 9

I definitely think that the moms that really dig into homeschooling find it to be very rewarding on a personal level. I know that my love of learning really came alive as I have been homeschooling the kids. I think that if I had never 'gotten my hands dirty' I would have really missed out on a lot for myself and my kids would have missed out too. I think that they have enjoyed their homeschooling a lot because of the enthusiasm and curiosity that has been developed in me through the experience.

Some virtuals and cyberschool still require as much from the teaching parent as would be from a traditional homeschool curriculum. We did a K12 virtual for one of our four children for four years (4th to 7th grade). It was an ideal match for him at the time. It was expected and the curriclum is designed for significant parental involvement. Though at the high school level I think there is more outside teacher involvement in the actual teaching process. At the 4th to 7th grade though, I was just as much involved with the instruction as I would have been as a traditional homeschooler.

There are online courses and schools though that do not require parental involvement. Some of them have a lot of content-based contact with the teacher for the student, others have the kids read, do  homework, and send it in with only grading and record-keeping involved for the hired instructor. Maybe this is why I have been feeling there is an increase in parental non-involvement though. With trying to get a homeschool online course co-operative off the ground, lots of parents who want this are contacting me. The thing is we are trying to get a co-op going with everyone taking a share of the teaching and keeping the courses free because it is entirely volunteer run. We are not trying to be an online school for hire.

Maybe it is good that this new element to homeschooling is evolving - hiring out the instruction. It means homeschooling has gained enough market attention that we can get online instruction when it is wanted and there is some competitive bidding. Even the most hands-on homeschool mom will find a class or two that they would rather let someone else teach. For me it is physics and calculus. I would love to find a high quality, live, online class where my teens can have online classmates and have the teacher right there giving the presentation and answering questions. The tools are there for this to happen.

However, there are many parents that are not interested in online courses, that use the more traditional forms of textbook, that do not get involved either. I don't recall ever meeting any like this before the last four years. Now I am seeing it more often. It isn't an unschooler philosophy at work but just plain disinterest. Sometimes the kids are motivated and independent learners that they are just fine with it like that, but I see many of these families end up with teens that end up hating homeschooling because of it. They find it too hard to learn all on their own without a parent that is learning right along with them to at least answer questions. They find it lonely. They find that without the added enthusiasm of a parent that is mentoring them through the learning process and locating interesting resource helps it becomes boring. This is what I am worried about.