Why are some people so against homeschooling? Also, if you home school, what were your reasons for doing so?

Question

I was wondering why so many people are so against home schooling, but can provide no reason other than the lack of socialization, claiming a home schooled child will have no socialization skills. First of all, as a home schooling parent of a 7 year old, I realized very quickly that I did not want my child socializing with a lot of the children in the school system. Why is it that people say that a child can't get any social skills being home schooled? There are other places that other children are. Activities such as dance, karate, church, 4-H, and numerous home school groups to meet others.

My second question is, why did you decide to home school your child(ren)? I found that in the public school my child was being exposed to things that I didn't feel needed to be exposed to a 5 year old child. She got picked on for being different, or picked on for no reason at all which is damaging and she's got little to no self-esteem. Secondly, we have religious beliefs. We use a Christian lesson plan that follows those beliefs and teaches our child. I also feel that with home schooling, my husband and I can teach our child the opposing views of our beliefs so that she can learn and stand up for what she believes in when she makes that decision. I would love to know other people's reasons for home schooling! Thank you so much!

Answer 1

My child went to public for K-2nd grade. She had learning problems the whole time that the school did not want to help her with. I learned the special ed laws and followed them to get the school to help.

They violated laws, cheated, was intimidating and hostile toward me, and everything else with the knowledge and approval of the GA dept of education.

I finally got tired of my child being so upset over not understanding her work.

I decided I can do better than the school. We have been homeschooling for 3 yrs now and she is doing so much better!

And yes, we do 'socialize'  being in 2 homeschool groups, 4H, girl scouts, etc.

I don't call being in 4 walls all day with the same age kids, drugs, bullying, etc 'socialization'.

I call being free to go and do what you want (with parents permission) and being with people of ALL ages, helping ALL people,

'socialization'.  

Answer 2

Honestly, I think that many people simply buy into the stereotypes and myths that are propagated by ignorant people, rather than researching it for themselves; however, it's also a difficult thing to understand if you haven't been there.  I know that I had an incredibly different view of homeschooling when we first started than I do today, five years later.

We first decided to homeschool for a couple of reasons, but mostly because we moved to a new state that had restrictive educational laws.  Our son started out in a state that would allow him to accelerate according to his abilities; however, when we moved to our current home, we found that the laws required him to be placed solely according to age, rather than taking abilities into account.  This would have required him to re-take almost two full years of school, which would have bored him silly.  We tried an "accelerated program" that promised to challenge him, only to have the teacher label him as an "extreme problem child" and "ADHD" on the second day of school, simply because he was bored.  (Today, he's 2-5 years ahead of grade level in pretty much every subject and going on 11, chooses to work on school for 6 or more hours a day.  Somehow, I don't think that translates as "extreme problem child" or "ADHD".)  :)

The other reason we decided to homeschool is because our son nearly died of SARS when he was 5, and it took about 18 months to get to the point where he could stay awake all day.  We weren't financially able to homeschool him at that point, and his original school was excellent in accommodating his needs, but his bout with SARS left him with a weakened immune system.  Illnesses that would put another child out for a couple of days would land him in the hospital; there's no way that he could get stronger if he was around all the illnesses that commonly go through a school.  Now, almost 6 years later, the only thing he has to deal with on a regular basis is allergies.  In the past two years, the only thing he's had to see a doctor about (other than normal physicals) was a spider bite.  If nothing else, his health is completely worth the effort of homeschooling.

We started out for those reasons, but we continue because he thrives in homeschooling.  His learning style works very, very well with independent and small group learning, and his flexible schedule allows him to really focus on the extracurriculars that he enjoys.  Homeschooling doesn't work for everyone, but it's been extremely beneficial for our son, and for our family.  He is strong in his faith and in his self-confidence, and has no problem explaining why we do what we do.  It's just simply the right choice for us.  :)

Answer 3

We home school our daughter who is 11 years old, and here is an outline of what our life is like.

We belong to two home school groups, one of which meets weekly, where she learns so many things from Archery, Cooking, Chess and Karate.

My daughter studies Engineering, Genetics and Computer studies every month at the University near here with another home school group of 15 - 20 kids, where the classes are taught by University students.

She is an active Girl Guide, loves Camping, sings in a 4-part harmony Choir and also a Christian Choir in our community, she is on a Soccer team, learns Highland and Irish Dancing, and has Voice and Piano lessons.

She has been a volunteer in our community since she was 2 years old - we deliver Meals-on-Wheels weekly to Seniors and disabled people.

When people see us out during the day, I hear comments such as "It's nice that she get's out now and again" as if I keep her locked in the basement doing school work!

Last year we went to Europe for a month and spent time in England and also a few days in Norway, so we decided to study the Vikings, and this fall we are planning to go to England and also spend a little time in Italy, possibly Florence and Pisa.

I like the freedom to teach what I want, when I want, the way I want it taught.

She tells me that this year she wants to study Ancient China and Greece (because of the Olympic Games) and Explorers in the past such as Vasco da Gama, Magellen, Marco Polo, Bartholomew Dias, so all I need to do is organize a trip to the library and she will select the books and study them.

I wish people who don't know anything about home schooling would realize that HOME schooling does not mean that the child is kept in the home, it means that the home is the base for Child-led learning!

I see all "Pros" and the only cons are that I don't get as much Mommy time as most of my friends, but that's not a big deal.

The Pros are that my daughter has never been bullied in the school yard, nor has she been teased on the school bus, or had a teacher who did not like her. She get's "A's" because I make sure she understands each subject completely before we move on to something else.

Answer 4

When did the old mantra change? You know the one that says your in school to learn not socialize. I always thought that was why we sent our kids to school to learn. From one that was constantly teased because I have a very heavy eye prescription and it made me bug eyed I can understand what teasing does to kids. Roach and insect did plenty of damage to my self esteem for many years. If that is a reason alone to home school I would do it.

We home school because the public school we put our oldest in couldn't teach her how to subtract. She was repeating second grade when my husband and I just got plain tired of the nightly 4 hour homework sessions. We hated teaching her things that are contrary to our beliefs but figured that was better than home schooling her like my sister was doing. It was only after the third time my child was beat up on the bus that my husband and I opened our eyes and decided to home school.

My son was in preK at the time. We started home schooling him at the same time not to spare him what his sister went through but because we refused to have him put in a box in which he doesn't belong. My son is developmentally delayed. At 4yo he was acting like a 3.5 yo. Mentally he is about 6 months behind. This was explained throughly to the pre K teacher who had him. About a month later the teacher told us he was ADHD and needed to be on medications. We thought OK and spoke with his Dr. The Dr told us that they don't test for that until 5. We pulled him. The teacher is not going to label my kids with things just because she wanted to sedate him. That boy is 6 today and was tested for ADHD last year. There is no ADHD. He showed up delayed not hyper! You can hardly tell the difference between him and the other boys his age now.

In short home school has been the best decision my family has ever made!

  

Answer 5

My spouse and I are both christian public school teachers.  We are on the inside and know that there are certainly issues with the system and often our child is confronted with behaviors and situations that we would not like her to be exposed to.  We have had to explain blended families and why certain words are not appropriate to use.  As christians it saddens us to see a continual pullout of christian influence in the school.  It is difficult to forsee how the schools and frankly the families within will ever improve if we abandon.  We walk into a missionfield of 450 kids and their families everyday and if they never experience the love and influence of another christian, how do we ever expect them to find their own way to our church doors?  I don't think I can site any other example where the church has publicly decided to give up on a mission field.  I have come to realize from my seven year old that she can be a missionary to her friends as well.  We attend a church where many homeschooled and private schooled children can't name one person they know that does not attend church and it is very difficult to teach them to have a burden for the lost.  I have witnessed my daughter already have a strong worry for classmates who do not know Christ.  

     As educators we have also had many experiences of children who have entered public school somewhere between second and fifth grade and their academic skills are very delayed.  These are looked at as examples of "homeschooling until the parent realizes they don't know how to teach."  But the state holds the schools accountable for accelerating these kids to their appropriate grade level despite the lag when entering.  I realize that these kids are typically a small percentage of all homeschooled kids, but these are the kids that educators see and tend to make their assumptions from.

     On the other side, my spouse and I feel very judged at our church by other families, as well as from the pulpit, because we send our child to public school. Please be aware of families like us who have made a prayerful decision just as faith based as your decision.

Answer 6

I don't personally know anyone against home schooling, but it is a huge amount of work to home school.  Actually, since our State now allows home schooling without a person having to have a teacher's degree, it is popular.

My daughter home schools my granddaughter because she has a mild form of autism, called PDD, and requires much repetition and clearing what words mean and using them in sentences.  It takes hours of work to deliver, and more hours to prepare the work.

Sometimes she is returned to public school for awhile for social contact, but mostly she has a few friends who come to our house.

The value of home schooling where there is a problem cannot be underestimated.  The very bright also have a problem in school because it is very, very boring.  Too easy, too hard, good reasons for home schooling.

Answer 7

I think people are against it because it is different

and when its not the norm then it must be wrong

Also I think some send their children to school and assume they are being educated but not really checking how much the child is actually learning

i begain homeschooling because my child was bullies to the point she was sucidal

when I began It wasnt something I thought I should or could do but we have been going for 5 years now and she is doing great

she is even 12 months ahead now

Answer 8

Many people are against homescooling simply because it is not mainstream, and they have never been taught to think outside of the box.  Socialization-or rather, the supposed lack of it- is the most common "negative", which of course is easily proved wrong.  I suppose that if that is the worst they can come up with, we have no problems.

Our decision to homeschool was a slow process, and not really made for one specific reason.  Rather, it was all of the many reasons, when combined, that made it the only logical choice-our daughter was working on a Kindergarten/1st grade level at the age of 2-3.  Then we started thinking about the negative socialization she would receive at school, the fact that we would have very little family quality time on a school schedule, etc. etc.-the reasons kept adding up.  So, in general our family homeschools because it is the best option for us on a variety of levels, from academic to familial to social to health to religious...

Answer 9

I think people buy into the myth that a brick and mortar school teaches socialization skills.  They also buy into the idea that teachers have some kind of magic knowledge about children.  Since the majority of parents attended school and send their children to school, they don't know of anything else.  I also find that homeschooling parents awaken guilt in many schooling parents.  The way many people deal with this guilt is to lash out.  

We decided to remove our child from school in the middle of fourth grade when a classmate tried to murder her.  This happened in one of the top districts in the country.