Homeschooling: Your Views, Please

[Dan Daly]

Why go to college and not homeschool for that too?

You mean getting degrees online without ever attending a class? No way, that's like science fiction or sumfin, pilgrim!

 

[Foxfyre]

,

Why go to college and not homeschool for that too?

You mean getting degrees online without ever attending a class? No way, that's like science fiction or sumfin, pilgrim!

Why? If a student learns and masters the material, what difference should it make how he/she achieves it? Homeschooled kids at pre-college levels do have to pass standardized tests to show that they have mastered the material. And if they master the material, what difference does it make how they do it?

I had a college history professor who graded 1/2 on class participation/discussion and 1/2 on the final exam. He gave no tests or quizzes prior to the final exam and he never varied from the text. I attended the first class and the final exam and used the rest of the time working as research assistant for a psych professor--I was dead broke and needed the money. I aced the final exams and got an F for class participation averaging out to a C, but I got six hours of required American History on my transcript just doing independent study. I went on to achieve a minor in history and believe my education in that is right up there with most.

 

[Dan Daly]

So far there is no structure in America to recognize homeschooled credit at college level. Given the shitty education many college students receive, however, I would support achieving one's degree via independent studies.

Incorrect. You can earn college level credits via CLEP tests. I pretty much CLEP'd out of most of my freshman and sophomore general studies requirements when I was in the military decades ago.

 

[Dan Daly]

Why go to college and not homeschool for that too?

You mean getting degrees online without ever attending a class? No way, that's like science fiction or sumfin, pilgrim!

Why? If a student learns and masters the material, what difference should it make how he/she achieves it? Homeschooled kids at pre-college levels do have to pass standardized tests to show that they have mastered the material. And if they master the material, what difference does it make how they do it?

I was being sarcastic. I earned 75-80% of my BS outside of any classroom...and that was back in the 80s when online education was science fiction. My Masters was earned in the late 90s without ever entering a classroom.

I will not comment on the quality of the education.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

If the parent is qualified and dedicated, it can be a great thing. If the parent is not, it will be a disaster.

 

[teapartysamurai]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

Children belong to THEIR PARENTS, NOT THE STATE!

Children should be educated as the parents see fit, NOT THE STATE.

Home schooling shows again and again that parents do a better job of educating their kids than union schools do.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I was being sarcastic. I earned 75-80% of my BS outside of any classroom...and that was back in the 80s when online education was science fiction. My Masters was earned in the late 90s without ever entering a classroom.

I will not comment on the quality of the education.

Did you earn your Masters from "Bubba's bait, tackle, and colage?"

 

[Uncensored2008]

You mean getting degrees online without ever attending a class? No way, that's like science fiction or sumfin, pilgrim!

Since I teach an on-line class, what you say is nonsense. There are VERY strict attendance and participation requirements. Involvement in on-line discussions and projects is very much attending class.

 

[paulitician]

The ole Communist/Progressive argument of Public Schools only producing 'Good Well-Adjusted Citizens', is absolutely preposterous. The other side of their argument is that Homeschooling only produces 'Maladjusted Serial Killer-types.' It's an absurd notion. In reality, Public Schools actually produce Millions of maladjusted future Serial Killers and such. But have we closed down the Public School System as a result of that? No, of course we haven't.

The fact is, Public Schools produce a lot of good people, and a lot of bad people. And Homeschooling is no different. There will be good and bad people to come out of it. So to be fair, everytime someone commits a crime, we'll have to go back and see if they were Public Schooled or Homeschooled. But in my opinion, the Communist/Progressive 'Social Interaction' argument against Homeschooling is dead. There is no evidence Public Schools produce more 'Socially Adjusted' people.

 

[Foxfyre]

So far there is no structure in America to recognize homeschooled credit at college level. Given the shitty education many college students receive, however, I would support achieving one's degree via independent studies.

Incorrect. You can earn college level credits via CLEP tests. I pretty much CLEP'd out of most of my freshman and sophomore general studies requirements when I was in the military decades ago.

I have some CLEP credits too so I will amend my remarks to include that, but I know of no university anywhere in the country who will give a student a degree without that student attending some college classes either on line or in person.

 

[paulitician]

Excellent alternative to Government-run Schooling. Recent studies are showing that kids who are Homeschooled, are better-prepared for College. So don't believe the Communist/Progressive hype about Homeschooling being 'Evil.' They just want to keep the status quo. They want to continue Government control of you and your child. They want to suppress all alternatives.

Also a parent who cares enough about their child's education will also care to see that their child has opportunity to have age appropriate friends and activities. All the hundreds of homeschooled kids I know are involved in sports, music groups, church, volunteer activities, and similar outlets. They are well rounded, confident, well socialized young people who have the added benefit of not being ignored by teachers, not being exposed to bullying and other destructive influences too often prevalent in the public schools, and ability to learn and achieve according to their abilities..

The great nephew I spoke about who was homeschooled was a collegiate grand champion in tie down roping in two of the four years he was in college. And he did graduate with honors in four years from a Division A university. You make a lot of friends.

Yeah, the old Communist/Progressive 'Social Interaction' argument against Homeschooling is dead. There are many ways for parents to provide social interaction for their children. They don't have to attend Public Schools.

 

[Foxfyre]

I don't discount that there may be some "slugs off the street" that are homeschoolers, but I can't seem to find them among the many publicly-schooled slugs off the street. I suppose I need some help pointing them out.

Publically schooled people also need a degree to teach. That should also be required for homeschoolers.

I don't know about that. But I do think some sort of monitoring is necessary. I know a woman who took her kids out, claimed to HS and both kids don't have any education above middle school.

To me, it's just a little scary the way homeschooling has been trending. I am all for the niece who has the degrees, she is a very responsible girl and will do her job making sure they will study. I just don't see everyone being that responsible.

And yet my great nephew, homeschooled by a niece-in-law who had ONLY a high school education, was head and shoulders ahead of his peers in the public school and went on to college to graduate with honors in four years. You just can' shrug off success like that, and we are seeing it repeated again and again and again among home schoolers I know. A degree is evidence somebody has completed the course work, but it is NOT evidence that a person is educated or proficient or competent in the subject matter or a competent teacher..

The fact remains that homeschooled kids are testing higher overall than their counterparts in public school or even parochial and private schools, are achieving great scores on their SATS, and are doing very well in college and in their adult lives. It is difficult to look at those statistics and continue to say that homeschooling is a bad idea.

 

[paulitician]

And so many people have grown weary listening to Public School Teachers constantly whining about how they're so mistreated. And being forced to accept the Left forcing their political agendas on their kids. So choosing an alternative makes perfect sense at this point.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

In theory I'm all for it. Dunno what the reality and quality is, how much depends on the parent, etc.

 

[Dan Daly]

I was being sarcastic. I earned 75-80% of my BS outside of any classroom...and that was back in the 80s when online education was science fiction. My Masters was earned in the late 90s without ever entering a classroom.

I will not comment on the quality of the education.

Did you earn your Masters from "Bubba's bait, tackle, and colage?"

Sorry, I wasn't one of your alumni there, but I am sure you are a wonderful Master Baiter.

 

[Dan Daly]

You mean getting degrees online without ever attending a class? No way, that's like science fiction or sumfin, pilgrim!

Since I teach an on-line class, what you say is nonsense. There are VERY strict attendance and participation requirements. Involvement in on-line discussions and projects is very much attending class.

In my context, "attending" means physical attendance - "boots on the ground" as it were. But thanks for nitpicking so I had to clarify.

 

[Dan Daly]

So far there is no structure in America to recognize homeschooled credit at college level. Given the shitty education many college students receive, however, I would support achieving one's degree via independent studies.

Incorrect. You can earn college level credits via CLEP tests. I pretty much CLEP'd out of most of my freshman and sophomore general studies requirements when I was in the military decades ago.

I have some CLEP credits too so I will amend my remarks to include that, but I know of no university anywhere in the country who will give a student a degree without that student attending some college classes either on line or in person.

We can agree on that fer shure.

 

[Foxfyre]

I was home-schooled between schools, when I was young. But must admit that it would be difficult to home-school at high school level and later, where you actually need to have knowledge of the curriculum, and teach a diverse range of subjects.

There will f course be areas in which a parent will not have the deep knowledge or proficiency in a subject, and that's where tutors come in. I have tutored a number of homeschooled kids in a couple of subjects I have a measure of competency in and I was really proud when it paid off for the kids.

 

[Vandalshandle]

Homeschooling is a really good idea if you don't want your kids to be smarter than you are.

 

[R.D.]

The fact remains that homeschooled kids are testing higher overall than their counterparts in public school or even parochial and private schools, are achieving great scores on their SATS, and are doing very well in college and in their adult lives. It is difficult to look at those statistics and continue to say that homeschooling is a bad idea.

This is where I get lost.

Who are the counterparts really?, the average student taken from the nation. To claim those same kids (most of them) would have faired worse in school seems ridiculous to me because the parenting would be the same. Unless of course those hs kids were plucked for failing schools. Wake, for example was hs for reasons other than curriculum. It's my opinion there are too few objective studies to make the claim it's superior in general.