Why do people who have no experince with homeschooling...?

Question

...think that they know so much about it? I mean, some of the people that are criticizing it here don't even have kids. We homeschool our three kids and they are loving it and thy are thriving intellectually, socially, spiritually, physically and in all other ways. Then people who don't even get it come on here and criticize it. What's up with that?

Answer 1

Another Albertan! :) (And for others reading, Alberta is the only province in Canada that has that particular setup.)

As for your question, they do it because they think that just having an opinion about it means knowledge. It should probably be put down to a lack of proper education. ;) There are also those who are incapable of separating a case of poor parenting from homeschooling itself.

Of course, there are those people who are simply critical of everything, so there's some sense of satisfaction for them to come in here and let out their criticism. Truly, these people are to be pitied because those who are the most critical are the ones who are the most self-critical.

Answer 2

Exactly. People who are often most against it don't have any idea what they're talking about. I had two close friends growing up who were home schooled and they were years ahead of anything I was seeing at school.

Answer 3

i go to an on line school. Some people i know don't know because they are against it but get this there kids DID NOT GRADUATE. I am very smart and was bored in school. I am in the u.s.. My mom loves canada.I get out. I skate. If my kids want to be home schooled i will let them. In my state home schooled kids don't get a High school deploma so this is why i do the online school. I LOVE IT

Answer 4

If I had a dime for every time I wondered that....

I think it is just that some people are so arrogant that they think they know what everyone else's lives are like.  And of course, they don't.  

I could rant all day about things people have told me about my life, how I live and why... because it's so annoying to feel judged.  I suppose it makes them feel superior to be so judgmental.  They can live high up in their little boxes and judge all the rest of us.  

If people could just get these facts through their heads, it would help the situation out tremendously.  While obviously not all homeschool kids are thriving like yours, not all traditionally school kids are either.  Some people are not good parents, it's not exclusive to homeschool or traditional school.  Life does exist outside of school for many people, adults and children.  

:D

Answer 5

It happens everywhere. In any group or list on almost any subject you can imagine you'll get people coming in to tell you that you're stooooopid for liking, doing, thinking whatever it is. I guess some people just feed off negativity.

Answer 6

sounds great, can i send my kids to your homeschool?

actually, i think its because people may think you are deluded and your kids wont be able to socialise with others, etc. half the fun of school is getting out of HOME and being exposed to different things and having more freedom! change of scene if nothing else.. why would you want to homeschool them, dont you have other things to do?

Answer 7

Well......now wait a tick. Is this a question or are you just a bit angry and trying to vent, friend? I have to say that homescholling has gotten a bad name, but not all of it is perfect. My husbands parents are a bit nuts, and they home schooled him to basically seperate him from the world. Nice thought, but it made it very hard for him once he stepped out in the real world. I was home schooled (in a way) and loved the experience, but I had a pretty good group of people to socialize with.

People fear what they don't know, and sometimes with good reason. Ask yourself, do you trust everyone who home schools? I don't, and I'm considering home schooling my own kids. (When they arrive, that is) The sins of a few have smirched the good works of many.

Answer 8

I loved Home schooling, The I started getting sick of it.

What my family does is home schools until High school so it is easier for graduating..(We live in America)

Answer 9

Well I may be out of place since I haven't criticized homeschooling through YahooAnswers before, but my guess on their reactions would be the simple cliche answer of people always fear what they don't know.

Personally, my only criticism would be that you pull them out of a very standard, social environment. I for one would be remorse had I never attended public schooling despite my disdain for being there at the time.

Answer 10

yup

Answer 11

Omg i know! Like what the f!

They now nothing about it ..

(Im doing homeschooling)

To tell the truth i wish i never did.. it's drawin me to thinking of suicide... :S

Im glad you are happy about you kids doing it! my dad,grandma and a bunch of other peaple dont want me doing it..

>.< Just ***** slap them if they say think they know what there talking about ..

Hah

Answer 12

I think often, it's out of ignorance - the inability to accept anything different than what they see to be the status quo.

Some people have honest reservations about it, which I respect; and although I don't completely agree with Feisty - there are standards in place in every state for elementary-high school - there are people who probably shouldn't homeschool their kids.  It does take commitment, and it does take legwork to find all the resources - but they are out there, and they are available to everyone.

And about the GED - many kids graduate high school today without being able to read above a 4th-5th grade level.  My son is far above grade level in nearly every subject and tests above the 90th percentile.  Why should he have to "prove" anything, especially to the general public?  The only people he needs to "prove" anything to would be a college admissions board and future employers, both of which he is more than prepared to do.

There are plenty of upper-level resources that will teach directly to the student with access to teachers when the student gets stumped.  These are available for pretty much every subject - higher math and science, advanced lit and writing, history, foreign languages, and pretty much any elective you could name - right up through AP level.  There are also classes taught by degreed experts in their field at many co ops, as well as college classes/concurrent enrollment.  Whether the parent chooses to take advantage of it or not is up to them.

It is worth noting, though, that not every student *chooses* to go to college - and that's ok.  Not everyone has to.

However, many of the people who come on here think that homeschooling is still stuck in 1973, when it was illegal in many states and parents hid their children inside the house with shades drawn from 8-4.  That's no longer the case!  Homeschooled kids from every area get out of the house - every week even - and join in with society.  They take classes and lessons, participate in clubs, volunteer, and form groups of their own when they can't find a particular resource.

Homeschool kids, on average, also consistently outperform both public and private school kids by several percentage points on standardized and college entrance exams...I know these are not the be all and end all of evaluations, but c'mon - we can't be doing that bad if our kids are consistently at the top of the list.  (In several states, the laws are actually tougher on homeschooled kids than they are on classroom-schooled kids, yet they still consistently outperform their classroom age-mates.  Huh.)

Anyway, that's JMHO, derived from what I see.  The only comments I've ever personally received were born out of complete ignorance from people who chose to believe a stereotype, and except for a few well-spoken folks on here, most of the anti-homeschooling rants are born out of pure fiction.

Answer 13

Hey, people are afraid of what they do not understand. Send this to this site:

http://home.earthlink.net/~aabc_homescho...

Answer 14

I agree. However,homeschooling should be done because you and the child want to. They should never be forced, and some people choose it for the wrong reasons, like if their kid gets diagnosed with ADHD and they wouldn't homeschool otherwise. That's an excuse. It should be something you want to do for your child's education no matter what.

Answer 15

I love analogies and it seems like this could be put into one:

It's kind of like how some people just don't like to try new kinds of foods. Before they even try it, just from the way it looks or smells they don't like it. They push it away and say that it's gross. Which is what a lot of people do to homeschooling. I completely believe that your children are doing fine and I see nothing wrong in homeschooling. Sometimes people just don't see it that way (they just don't take to time to even look at it, actually) and you have to ignore them, because the only thing that matters is that your children are prospering and you know that it is working perfectly fine. And you also happen (I know this just from reading your question) to know that these people don't know much about it. So why let their comments bother you? Good luck with the homeschooling critics!

Hope this helps!

Answer 16

I think I "hear" a rant!

However, I'll tell you my reasons for not favoring homeschooling (at least for high school aged kids).

Many states do not have good standards for home schoolers -- if their parents aren't decently educated and they don't have access to good resources, then they don't turn out to be well educated (not that there are guarantees in public schools either).

I would not object to home schooling if students had to take and pass something similar to the GED to PROVE that they have been educated.