Home schooling: the best and worst examples I've seen personally.

[MarathonMike]

Home schooling seems to be a very polarizing subject. I believe it can be a positive IF the home schooled kids are integrated into a public school by high school age for sports or some other extra-curricular activity. Here are the best and worst examples of home schooling that I know of personally. Feel free to share your personal experiences with home schooling.

Best: A family of 5 kids all home schooled by both parents but mostly the Mother. Very traditional Christian family Father a minister/basketball coach Mother was stay-at-home until kids were high school age. Four of the five have either graduated college or attending now. The youngest is high school age very bright and on track for college scholarships. All five kids have very outgoing personalities and doing very well.

Worst: A wealthy family of 4 kids all home schooled by the stay-at-home Mom. Extremely sports oriented, most of the time and effort was spent on the oldest two kids for baseball and soccer. The baseball player quit while trying out for high school baseball and was basically disowned by the Dad. He was seriously depressed and on strong meds for years but is now doing better. The Soccer player has a scholarship to Ole Miss but is terrified of going because she is not prepared emotionally or academically. The youngest two kids are a mess, no interest in anything, no friends, very very anti-social and OCD to the max.

The other examples I know of fall somewhere in between, but mostly lean toward positive results and religious reasons for home schooling.

 

[rightwinger]

My cousin Home Schooled his kids. They didn‘t like Texas schools. Both parents were PhDs and the kids were in a home school network where they interacted with a lot of similar kids.

I had a neighbor who was a religious nut and her kids got the Jesus Home School experience with almost no interaction with others and no in depth schooling. The kids were downright creepy.

 

[Blues Man]

Home schooling seems to be a very polarizing subject. I believe it can be a positive IF the home schooled kids are integrated into a public school by high school age for sports or some other extra-curricular activity. Here are the best and worst examples of home schooling that I know of personally. Feel free to share your personal experiences with home schooling.

Best: A family of 5 kids all home schooled by both parents but mostly the Mother. Very traditional Christian family Father a minister/basketball coach Mother was stay-at-home until kids were high school age. Four of the five have either graduated college or attending now. The youngest is high school age very bright and on track for college scholarships. All five kids have very outgoing personalities and doing very well.

Worst: A wealthy family of 4 kids all home schooled by the stay-at-home Mom. Extremely sports oriented, most of the time and effort was spent on the oldest two kids for baseball and soccer. The baseball player quit while trying out for high school baseball and was basically disowned by the Dad. He was seriously depressed and on strong meds for years but is now doing better. The Soccer player has a scholarship to Ole Miss but is terrified of going because she is not prepared emotionally or academically. The youngest two kids are a mess, no interest in anything, no friends, very very anti-social and OCD to the max.

The other examples I know of fall somewhere in between, but mostly lean toward positive results and religious reasons for home schooling.

Well we can't really have children learning anything but the government sponsored indoctrination can we?

And I know several people who home school and it has nothing to do with religion

 

[Blues Man]

My cousin Home Schooled his kids. Both parents were PhDs and the kids were in a home school network where they interacted with a lot of similar kids.

I had a neighbor who was a religious nut and her kids got the Jesus Home School experience with almost no interaction with others and no in depth schooling. The kids were downright creepy.

Lots of public school kids are creepy too

 

[rightwinger]

Well we can't really have children learning anything but the government sponsored indoctrination can we?

You don’t think Home School Parents indoctrinate their kids?

Main reason many home school, they don’t want their kids exposed to other views

 

[MarathonMike]

Well we can't really have children learning anything but the government sponsored indoctrination can we?

And I know several people who home school and it has nothing to do with religion

I'm not sure what you are trying to say here. Are the home school experiences positive or negative in your opinion?

 

[Blues Man]

You don’t think Home School Parents indoctrinate their kids?

Main reason many home school, they don’t want their kids exposed to other views

Not among the people I know who do it. They know their kids are going to get a shit education in public school.

Their oldest is 17 and has enough college credits to get accepted as a junior at the State Uni.

And don't forget the only view you are allowed to have in public school is the one the fucking government tells you to have.

 

[BULLDOG]

How many people are actually qualified to teach kids all they need toknow to succeed? How many parents like the idea of home schooling, but refuse to spend the time needed to teach? How many kids reach 7 years old without even knowing how to count change?

 

[Blues Man]

I'm not sure what you are trying to say here. Are the home school experiences positive or negative in your opinion?

The kids of the parents I know who homeschool are far ahead of any public school kids of the same ages.

I was merely trying to dispel the myth that all home school parents are some type of religious wacko

 

[Blues Man]

How many people are actually qualified to teach kids all they need toknow to succeed? How many parents like the idea of home schooling, but refuse to spend the time needed to teach? How many kids reach 7 years old without even knowing how to count change?

Home schooled kids do better on standardized tests so you tell me.

 

[Flash]

Our Niece home schooled her three daughters. All three of them are exceptional. All three played sports, had an active social life and two of them got merit scholarships at Purdue.

It really depends on how much effort the parents put into it. My Niece was a certified degreed teacher so she was very good at it.

The home schoolers in the area would get together for combined classes. For instance, one of the fathers was a judge and he taught the older kids Civics. They went on field trips together and they became a very close social group.

The public schools allowed home schoolers to participate in sports and other extra curriculum activities so they didn't lose out on that.

 

[MarathonMike]

How many people are actually qualified to teach kids all they need toknow to succeed? How many parents like the idea of home schooling, but refuse to spend the time needed to teach? How many kids reach 7 years old without even knowing how to count change?

There are many resources available now that weren't years ago. In my "best" and "worst" examples neither sets of parents had education degrees. It has much more to do with being committed and focused rather than teaching qualifications, in my opinion.

 

[MarathonMike]

The kids of the parents I know who homeschool are far ahead of any public school kids of the same ages.

I was merely trying to dispel the myth that all home school parents are some type of religious wacko

I agree and I'm glad the kids you know are doing well. It just so happens that of the home schoolers I know, most are religious. They are certainly not wackos, all very nice people.

 

[Zincwarrior]

Well we can't really have children learning anything but the government sponsored indoctrination can we?

And I know several people who home school and it has nothing to do with religion

The OP is about positive and negative examples seen.

Myself I have seen three:
1. Well to do family. Dad was a software engineer. Mother was weird. Kept kids out for Churcher reasons. Kids were very smart but weird-they were not socialized at all. The Boy pulled our daughter's hair (same age as the boy), she socked him right in the face and told them to leave and the Wife backed her move so they were not allowed back. Scuttlebutt had them not going to college later and...still being weird.

2. Trades level family. Wife was English major and Husband a construction dude with his own business. They had no problem with public schools but his kid was very Asperger's so the wife stayed home to give him extra teaching. Turned out decent and I think better than public.

3. Well to do family. Extreme churchers. They were extreme antiabortion types but put their money where their mouth was an adopted two kids. Home schooled for elementary level basically to get the oldest on track and then did the same with the youngest. They went to public thereafter. A real success story I will say. The oldest was from Sarejevo and sneaky/scared. He grew up to one of the most kind people you would meet and a surgical nurse. The youngest was black in a white family-with initial issues as the mom had been a drug abuser, had issues but eventually grew up to be great in college, well rounded, and a real looker. I think they are both married and happy. They deserve it,.

 

[Zincwarrior]

The home schoolers in the area would get together for combined classes. For instance, one of the fathers was a judge and he taught the older kids Civics. They went on field trips together and they became a very close social group.

That is a newer thing, and seems to address a lot of the socialization issues. Along with the education packets you can get for higher level stuff it appears to help quite a bit.

 

[Dekster]

Most home school kids I have encountered are really just GED level academics. There was one home school kid in my college dorm back in the day who literally was gone after the first couple days. His parents had wrapped him in such a tight cocoon that he couldn't function around strangers, let alone freshmen guys away from home.

 

[Flash]

Most home school kids I have encountered are really just GED level academics. There was one home school kid in my college dorm back in the day who literally was gone after the first couple days. His parents had wrapped him in such a tight cocoon that he couldn't function around strangers, let alone freshmen guys away from home.

That is not much diffent than many kids in the dumbed down public school system graduating and being functionally illiterate.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

There are many resources available now that weren't years ago. In my "best" and "worst" examples neither sets of parents had education degrees. It has much more to do with being committed and focused rather than teaching qualifications, in my opinion.

There is a big misconception about education degrees. At the high school level, most teachers have a degree in their subject of one closely related with education coursework required for their certificate.

For example, my undergraduate degree was in history, with almost another degree in math because I had been a computer science major for most of my time in college. I took and passed the certification exams for math and social studies at the same time and was given certificates in both areas. To get my certifications I had to complete several education courses and 2 additional math classes.

I taught for 7 years, mostly math and slightly less social studies classes. I then attended graduate school and received my master's degree in educational leadership. Other than that, I do not have an education degree.

 

[BULLDOG]

Home schooled kids do better on standardized tests so you tell me.

Some home schooled kids do better on standardized tests. The ones whose parents are qualified to teach, and who actually spend time every day to teach them. All the rest don't take those standardized tests, so there is no way to tell with them. Odds are that those that don't have their kids take those tests aren't going to teach them much anyway.

 

[hadit]

How many people are actually qualified to teach kids all they need toknow to succeed? How many parents like the idea of home schooling, but refuse to spend the time needed to teach? How many kids reach 7 years old without even knowing how to count change?

When parents use an online curriculum complete with teachers on the other end of the line available via email, text, and in school message, they don't have to be experts in the subjects, they just have to be around to keep the students on track. The point is, homeschooling is an awesome option for parents who want their kids to have the best possible educational opportunities. You might as well complain at those who take college courses at home because they don't get to go to frat house parties and barf all night long.