Homeschooling: Your Views, Please

[Foxfyre]

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.

I take it from the kids themselves. At some point some have been enrolled in the public schools, and most of the kids who had been homeschooled found that not to their liking. As my great nephew said, they wasted so much time and accomplished so little compared to what he could do in independent study at home. The atmosphere was not as conducive to learning and he hated not being able to get his schoolwork done and then get on with his day. He begged to come back home and his parents agreed. Those excellent study habits he acquired in homeschooling were invaluable to him when he got to college.

 

[Dan Daly]

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

Because it's like really impossible to bring other people who are smarter than you into your home to teach your kids, right?

Home school != Parent school
Crazy, I know.

 

[Roadrunner]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

Kids should go to public school to learn how to get along in public, then deprogrammed and educated at home.

Every parent who cares about their kids should debrief them as soon as possible, every day, to make sure they aren't swallowing the bullshit.

 

[Sarah G]

I'm sorry for laughing, that was disrespectful.

On a personal level I agree with you. But I can't find it in myself to be against the situation for others. It's been my opinion it's better to work within the system to make things better, not opt out of it.

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.

You homeschooling fans are just ignoring the idiots out there who decide they are qualified to give their kids a good education. Very few are.

Leave those kids alone. (Unless you're an educated and responsible parent)

To be honest, there are lots of people who aren't even good parents let alone good educators.

 

[Foxfyre]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

Kids should go to public school to learn how to get along in public, then deprogrammed and educated at home.

Every parent who cares about their kids should debrief them as soon as possible, every day, to make sure they aren't swallowing the bullshit.

Why waste all that time deprogramming and unteaching the bullshit? Why not just homeschool and do it right in the first place?

 

[Roadrunner]

I'm sorry for laughing, that was disrespectful.

On a personal level I agree with you. But I can't find it in myself to be against the situation for others. It's been my opinion it's better to work within the system to make things better, not opt out of it.

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.

You homeschooling fans are just ignoring the idiots out there who decide they are qualified to give their kids a good education. Very few are.

Leave those kids alone. (Unless you're an educated and responsible parent)

To be honest, there are lots of people who aren't even good parents let alone good educators.

I note you use the PC term educator.

I was a TEACHER, I'd probably punch a dude that called me "educator'.

I know there are a lot of dumbass parents, but man, you should see some of the dumbass teachers I have encountered over the decades.

Send them to school to get exposed to society; educate them at home.

 

[Foxfyre]

I'm sorry for laughing, that was disrespectful.

On a personal level I agree with you. But I can't find it in myself to be against the situation for others. It's been my opinion it's better to work within the system to make things better, not opt out of it.

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.

You homeschooling fans are just ignoring the idiots out there who decide they are qualified to give their kids a good education. Very few are.

Leave those kids alone. (Unless you're an educated and responsible parent)

To be honest, there are lots of people who aren't even good parents let alone good educators.

I haven't seen any of those idiots Sarah. I see parents who are so frustrated with the ineptness and unsatisfactory aspects of public schooling these days, they are willing to put in the very real strenuous and sometimes stressful effort to ensure that their kids get an excellent education and, usually when they can't afford an excellent private school, they do it by homeschooling. I have yet to run across a parent who was an idiot and who chose to homeschool their kids. Most if not all of the idiots send their kids to public schools and totally ignore what goes on there or what their kids are or are not learning.

 

[Roadrunner]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

Kids should go to public school to learn how to get along in public, then deprogrammed and educated at home.

Every parent who cares about their kids should debrief them as soon as possible, every day, to make sure they aren't swallowing the bullshit.

Why waste all that time deprogramming and unteaching the bullshit? Why not just homeschool and do it right in the first place?

Because far too often the home schooled kid does not learn how to get along with regular people.

 

[Uncensored2008]

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

You must have been home schooled by Arkansas hillbillies, then...

 

[Sarah G]

I'm sorry for laughing, that was disrespectful.

On a personal level I agree with you. But I can't find it in myself to be against the situation for others. It's been my opinion it's better to work within the system to make things better, not opt out of it.

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.

You homeschooling fans are just ignoring the idiots out there who decide they are qualified to give their kids a good education. Very few are.

Leave those kids alone. (Unless you're an educated and responsible parent)

To be honest, there are lots of people who aren't even good parents let alone good educators.

I note you use the PC term educator.

I was a TEACHER, I'd probably punch a dude that called me "educator'.

I know there are a lot of dumbass parents, but man, you should see some of the dumbass teachers I have encountered over the decades.

Send them to school to get exposed to society; educate them at home.

You should see some of the dumbass parents I've encountered. I insisted on meeting the parents, btw.

 

[R.D.]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

Kids should go to public school to learn how to get along in public, then deprogrammed and educated at home.

Every parent who cares about their kids should debrief them as soon as possible, every day, to make sure they aren't swallowing the bullshit.

Why waste all that time deprogramming and unteaching the bullshit? Why not just homeschool and do it right in the first place?

Because far too often the home schooled kid does not learn how to get along with regular people.

And because that itself is part of the learning experience. Most of the deprogramming isn't curriculum, it's liberal bias. But it's important they are armed with first hand experiences.

 

[Uncensored2008]

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.

An involved parent will give a child a level of attention and focus that traditional classrooms cannot match. All other factors being equal, the home schooled child will receive a better education than any other venue. However, all other factors are not equal, in many cases.

 

[Uncensored2008]

You should see some of the dumbass parents I've encountered. I insisted on meeting the parents, btw.

Meeting what parents, Sarah?

 

[Foxfyre]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

Kids should go to public school to learn how to get along in public, then deprogrammed and educated at home.

Every parent who cares about their kids should debrief them as soon as possible, every day, to make sure they aren't swallowing the bullshit.

Why waste all that time deprogramming and unteaching the bullshit? Why not just homeschool and do it right in the first place?

Because far too often the home schooled kid does not learn how to get along with regular people.

And because that itself is part of the learning experience. Most of the deprogramming isn't curriculum, it's liberal bias. But it's important they are armed with first hand experiences.

They live in the real world so they get plenty of first hand experiences. I can assure you and Roadrunner that these homeschooled kids are very much regular people, quite mainstream, not in any way odd or weird. But because the parent with the ability to do so who cares enough to homeschool, he/she also seems to equip the child with values and convictions and ability to think critically and perceive accurately which allows the child to cope much better with difficulties and difficult people than many children can.

One thing that impresses me about homeschooled kids I have met is how self assured and confident they are, and how perceptive. Along with a top notch education, they seem to be getting an excellent grounding in coping and social skills.

Of course all parents will not have the temperament, patience, or ability to competently homeschool and many loving, competent parents choose not to do so. I am both sometimes teacher and tutor, and I was very hands on in my kids' education, but it never occurred to me to homeschool them. And that is okay too and parents don't need to feel guilty or defensive that it is not for them. But the children with parents who do have such inclination and ability are almost always truly blessed.

But if the school my kids attended had been like many public schools are today, there is no way in hell I would send my kids to those schools. And if something else was not available or affordable, I would homeschool.

 

[R.D.]

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.

An involved parent will give a child a level of attention and focus that traditional classrooms cannot match. All other factors being equal, the home schooled child will receive a better education than any other venue. However, all other factors are not equal, in many cases.

An involved parent will do so at home in conjunction with classes.

 

[Dan Daly]

They live in the real world so they get plenty of first hand experiences.

Blasphemy! Only the state can teach us what the real world is, first hand experience is for wussy!

 

[Sarah G]

You should see some of the dumbass parents I've encountered. I insisted on meeting the parents, btw.

Meeting what parents, Sarah?

Parents my kids hung out with.

 

[Uncensored2008]

I note you use the PC term educator.

I was a TEACHER, I'd probably punch a dude that called me "educator'.

I know there are a lot of dumbass parents, but man, you should see some of the dumbass teachers I have encountered over the decades.

Send them to school to get exposed to society; educate them at home.

I am an IT Executive. I teach one class (Econ 206) online. I'm easing into a retirement job that I enjoy and doesn't take a lot of time.

At any rate, we are to refer to ourselves as "learning facilitators."

Often times my students will address me as "Professor;" I correct them and explain that title is reserved for those with a PhD.

I start working on my PhD. in January - so then I will legitimately carry the title.

 

[Uncensored2008]

Parents my kids hung out with.

That is a wise idea.

 

[R.D.]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

Kids should go to public school to learn how to get along in public, then deprogrammed and educated at home.

Every parent who cares about their kids should debrief them as soon as possible, every day, to make sure they aren't swallowing the bullshit.

Why waste all that time deprogramming and unteaching the bullshit? Why not just homeschool and do it right in the first place?

Because far too often the home schooled kid does not learn how to get along with regular people.

And because that itself is part of the learning experience. Most of the deprogramming isn't curriculum, it's liberal bias. But it's important they are armed with first hand experiences.

They live in the real world so they get plenty of first hand experiences. I can assure you and Roadrunner that these homeschooled kids are very much regular people, quite mainstream, not in any way odd or weird. But because the parent with the ability to do so who cares enough to homeschool, he/she also seems to equip the child with values and convictions and ability to think critically and perceive accurately which allows the child to cope much better with difficulties and difficult people than many children can.

One thing that impresses me about homeschooled kids I have met is how self assured and confident they are, and how perceptive. Along with a top notch education, they seem to be getting an excellent grounding in coping skills.

I understand that, and I'm not disagreeing with it.

But the inference that only homeschooled kids are confident, self assured, and top notch in their academic skills etc puts a false face to the issue.