Homeschooling: Your Views, Please

[Dan Daly]

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.

Maybe you need to move to a better neighborhood? (that is a joke...you should see the parents in my neighborhood...some don't even need costumes for Halloween!)

 

[Foxfyre]

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.

Yes, but sometimes it just doesn't seem practical to spend all that time countering indoctrination in your kid, in trying to figure out what he has or has not learned, trying to determine where any deficiencies are. And the best parent cannot restore wasted time or undo the negatives that their child might encounter. The parent who homeschools is on top of all of that and can use time much more effectively and efficiently with good results. And they don't have to worry about their kid having to put up with a lot of crap that no human should have to put up with.

 

[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.

That has not been my experience at all. The hundreds of homeschooled kids I have met are all regular people themselves and get along with regular people just fine. In fact most are more confident and more socially adept than are a lot of the kids going to public schools.

 

[Sarah G]

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.

Yes, but sometimes it just doesn't seem practical to spend all that time countering indoctrination in your kid, in trying to figure out what he has or has not learned, trying to determine where any deficiencies are. And the best parent cannot restore wasted time or undo the negatives that their child might encounter. The parent who homeschools is on top of all of that and can use time much more effectively and efficiently with good results. And they don't have to worry about their kid having to put up with a lot of crap that no human should have to put up with.

Wait, wait.. The indoctrination is what I believe the homeschooling is all about. You have entire militias in Michigan homeschooling their kids just so they don't learn anything but their own political and religious beliefs. Please...

 

[Sarah G]

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.

That has not been my experience at all. The hundreds of homeschooled kids I have met are all regular people themselves and get along with regular people just fine. In fact most are more confident and more socially adept than are a lot of the kids going to public schools.

Most, a lot, these are code words for unscientific BS...

 

[Foxfyre]

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.

Yes, but sometimes it just doesn't seem practical to spend all that time countering indoctrination in your kid, in trying to figure out what he has or has not learned, trying to determine where any deficiencies are. And the best parent cannot restore wasted time or undo the negatives that their child might encounter. The parent who homeschools is on top of all of that and can use time much more effectively and efficiently with good results. And they don't have to worry about their kid having to put up with a lot of crap that no human should have to put up with.

Wait, wait.. The indoctrination is what I believe the homeschooling is all about. You have entire militias in Michigan homeschooling their kids just so they don't learn anything but their own political and religious beliefs. Please...

So you trust a government and people who are biased or prejudiced in other ways to take the kids and indoctrinate them as they wish? You trust that more than parents, whoever the parents are? You think the state should have more say and control over the kids and what the kids are taught and exposed to than parents should have? How do you justify that? And doesn't it chill your bones just a bit to think about it given a very long history of what has happened in nations who adopted just such policies?

 

[Sarah G]

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.

Yes, but sometimes it just doesn't seem practical to spend all that time countering indoctrination in your kid, in trying to figure out what he has or has not learned, trying to determine where any deficiencies are. And the best parent cannot restore wasted time or undo the negatives that their child might encounter. The parent who homeschools is on top of all of that and can use time much more effectively and efficiently with good results. And they don't have to worry about their kid having to put up with a lot of crap that no human should have to put up with.

Wait, wait.. The indoctrination is what I believe the homeschooling is all about. You have entire militias in Michigan homeschooling their kids just so they don't learn anything but their own political and religious beliefs. Please...

So you trust a government and people who are biased or prejudiced in other ways to take the kids and indoctrinate them as they wish? You trust that more than parents, whoever the parents are? You think the state should have more say and control over the kids and what the kids are taught and exposed to than parents should have? How do you justify that? And doesn't it chill your bones just a bit to think about it given a very long history of what has happened in nations who adopted just such policies?

Well, the public school system is here to stay and thank god there aren't more people who think like some of you. Just for example, I know I wouldn't have the patience to homeschool but like I said, I was an involved parent. I went to the school meetings, met with other parents and talked to the kids. Our local schools are amazing so I didn't worry like you seem to be.

I worry more about some of these parents.

 

[Jarhead]

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.

Yes, but sometimes it just doesn't seem practical to spend all that time countering indoctrination in your kid, in trying to figure out what he has or has not learned, trying to determine where any deficiencies are. And the best parent cannot restore wasted time or undo the negatives that their child might encounter. The parent who homeschools is on top of all of that and can use time much more effectively and efficiently with good results. And they don't have to worry about their kid having to put up with a lot of crap that no human should have to put up with.

Wait, wait.. The indoctrination is what I believe the homeschooling is all about. You have entire militias in Michigan homeschooling their kids just so they don't learn anything but their own political and religious beliefs. Please...

So you trust a government and people who are biased or prejudiced in other ways to take the kids and indoctrinate them as they wish? You trust that more than parents, whoever the parents are? You think the state should have more say and control over the kids and what the kids are taught and exposed to than parents should have? How do you justify that? And doesn't it chill your bones just a bit to think about it given a very long history of what has happened in nations who adopted just such policies?

Well, the public school system is here to stay and thank god there aren't more people who think like some of you. Just for example, I know I wouldn't have the patience to homeschool but like I said, I was an involved parent. I went to the school meetings, met with other parents and talked to the kids. Our local schools are amazing so I didn't worry like you seem to be.

I worry more about some of these parents.

Nothing wrong with home schooling if you have the time and the patience. However, I must believe home schooling does little to enhance a childs social skills.
I am quite happy with the public school system in my community. Great educators, outstanding administrative staff, all inclusive after school programs. Excellent sports programs. My taxes are well spent as it pertains to our public schools.

 

[RKMBrown]

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.

Why go to college and not homeschool for that too?

College is a little different environment. The students are expected to be adults, for one thing. Second, someone is paying a hefty price tag for the student to attend, so there's more of an incentive to actually learn something. Granted, there are students who shouldn't be there. Third, people are already doing that. Ever hear of online universities? You can get a degree today from home.

We are paying TONS of money for kids to go to school. It's not cheap at all. As a matter of fact some community colleges are cheaper than some public high schools. Whether or not you send your kid to public schools you still get taxed for them and the cost is MASSIVE.

 

[RKMBrown]

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!

For that matter... you can never leave your home... just get a job working from home.

 

[Foxfyre]

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

Yes, but sometimes it just doesn't seem practical to spend all that time countering indoctrination in your kid, in trying to figure out what he has or has not learned, trying to determine where any deficiencies are. And the best parent cannot restore wasted time or undo the negatives that their child might encounter. The parent who homeschools is on top of all of that and can use time much more effectively and efficiently with good results. And they don't have to worry about their kid having to put up with a lot of crap that no human should have to put up with.

Wait, wait.. The indoctrination is what I believe the homeschooling is all about. You have entire militias in Michigan homeschooling their kids just so they don't learn anything but their own political and religious beliefs. Please...

So you trust a government and people who are biased or prejudiced in other ways to take the kids and indoctrinate them as they wish? You trust that more than parents, whoever the parents are? You think the state should have more say and control over the kids and what the kids are taught and exposed to than parents should have? How do you justify that? And doesn't it chill your bones just a bit to think about it given a very long history of what has happened in nations who adopted just such policies?

Well, the public school system is here to stay and thank god there aren't more people who think like some of you. Just for example, I know I wouldn't have the patience to homeschool but like I said, I was an involved parent. I went to the school meetings, met with other parents and talked to the kids. Our local schools are amazing so I didn't worry like you seem to be.

I worry more about some of these parents.

Nothing wrong with home schooling if you have the time and the patience. However, I must believe home schooling does little to enhance a childs social skills.
I am quite happy with the public school system in my community. Great educators, outstanding administrative staff, all inclusive after school programs. Excellent sports programs. My taxes are well spent as it pertains to our public schools.

I'm happy that you're happy with the public schools in your community. I have seen up close and personal the social skills of the kids in our public school system and also the social skills of an even larger number of homeschooled kids. And based on that, and other experience I've had with kids who are homeschooled, I am 100% positive that homeschooling does a far better job enhancing a child's social skills than does most public schools. Homeschooling certainly has not diminished or hindered development of social skills in any way.

Some of you seem to think the homeschooled child stays home alone without any social contacts. It isn't that way. The homeschooled child generally has a condensed school day because with one on one contact, he gets the material and masters it at a quicker pace than would otherwise be likely. That leaves him a lot of free time to socialize, attend recreational or other types of classes, and participate in various youth groups whether church groups, Scouting, music programs, sports, hold a job or whatever.

 

[RKMBrown]

Yes, but sometimes it just doesn't seem practical to spend all that time countering indoctrination in your kid, in trying to figure out what he has or has not learned, trying to determine where any deficiencies are. And the best parent cannot restore wasted time or undo the negatives that their child might encounter. The parent who homeschools is on top of all of that and can use time much more effectively and efficiently with good results. And they don't have to worry about their kid having to put up with a lot of crap that no human should have to put up with.

Wait, wait.. The indoctrination is what I believe the homeschooling is all about. You have entire militias in Michigan homeschooling their kids just so they don't learn anything but their own political and religious beliefs. Please...

So you trust a government and people who are biased or prejudiced in other ways to take the kids and indoctrinate them as they wish? You trust that more than parents, whoever the parents are? You think the state should have more say and control over the kids and what the kids are taught and exposed to than parents should have? How do you justify that? And doesn't it chill your bones just a bit to think about it given a very long history of what has happened in nations who adopted just such policies?

Well, the public school system is here to stay and thank god there aren't more people who think like some of you. Just for example, I know I wouldn't have the patience to homeschool but like I said, I was an involved parent. I went to the school meetings, met with other parents and talked to the kids. Our local schools are amazing so I didn't worry like you seem to be.

I worry more about some of these parents.

Nothing wrong with home schooling if you have the time and the patience. However, I must believe home schooling does little to enhance a childs social skills.
I am quite happy with the public school system in my community. Great educators, outstanding administrative staff, all inclusive after school programs. Excellent sports programs. My taxes are well spent as it pertains to our public schools.

I'm happy that you're happy with the public schools in your community. I have seen up close and personal the social skills of the kids in our public school system and also the social skills of an even larger number of homeschooled kids. And based on that, and other experience I've had with kids who are homeschooled, I am 100% positive that homeschooling does a far better job enhancing a child's social skills than does most public schools.

My kids were public schooled. All three were at the very top of their class, all three had top SAT scores. All had college scholarships. One was the president of their class and valedictorian and is on a full ride scholarship, another was a leader on the field and team captain, another was leader of many school groups and activities. Not sure what equivalent activities I would have been able to come up with for them through home schooling.

 

[Foxfyre]

Wait, wait.. The indoctrination is what I believe the homeschooling is all about. You have entire militias in Michigan homeschooling their kids just so they don't learn anything but their own political and religious beliefs. Please...

So you trust a government and people who are biased or prejudiced in other ways to take the kids and indoctrinate them as they wish? You trust that more than parents, whoever the parents are? You think the state should have more say and control over the kids and what the kids are taught and exposed to than parents should have? How do you justify that? And doesn't it chill your bones just a bit to think about it given a very long history of what has happened in nations who adopted just such policies?

Well, the public school system is here to stay and thank god there aren't more people who think like some of you. Just for example, I know I wouldn't have the patience to homeschool but like I said, I was an involved parent. I went to the school meetings, met with other parents and talked to the kids. Our local schools are amazing so I didn't worry like you seem to be.

I worry more about some of these parents.

Nothing wrong with home schooling if you have the time and the patience. However, I must believe home schooling does little to enhance a childs social skills.
I am quite happy with the public school system in my community. Great educators, outstanding administrative staff, all inclusive after school programs. Excellent sports programs. My taxes are well spent as it pertains to our public schools.

I'm happy that you're happy with the public schools in your community. I have seen up close and personal the social skills of the kids in our public school system and also the social skills of an even larger number of homeschooled kids. And based on that, and other experience I've had with kids who are homeschooled, I am 100% positive that homeschooling does a far better job enhancing a child's social skills than does most public schools.

My kids were public schooled. All three were at the very top of their class, all three had top SAT scores. All had college scholarships. One was the president of their class and valedictorian and is on a full ride scholarship, another was a leader on the field and team captain, another was leader of many school groups and activities. Not sure what equivalent activities I would have been able to come up with for them through home schooling.

My kids were public schooled too as I also was. But we all attended quite excellent schools and got above-average educations--I did go on to college but I would put my highschool diploma up against the education most 4-year colleges now provide. Both kids went on to complete college---one has a PhD--and both have excelled professionally far more than their father and I did and we did okay.

I have not and will not say there are no good public schools out there. There are. But if you have to choose between a less-than-excellent public education and home schooling, and choose to homeschool, there is a vast choice of extra curricular opportunities for the kids out there. They need be disadvantaged in no way..

 

[Contumacious]

I was homeschooled as a child.

There are arguments made for and against it.

Would you please share your views on it here?

"Every politically controlled educational system will inculcate the doctrine of state supremacy sooner or later. . . . Once that doctrine has been accepted, it becomes an almost superhuman task to break the stranglehold of the political power over the life of the citizen. It has had his body, property and mind in its clutches from infancy. An octopus would sooner release its prey. A tax-supported, compulsory educational system is the complete model of the totalitarian state.

– Isabel Paterson, The God of the Machine (1943)

 

[initforme]

It all comes down to parenting. Education in ANY setting works for kids who have supportive parents and it cannot work for those without. Case closed.

 

[elektra]

Getting back to the topic, I just don't think everyone is qualified to teach their kids for 8 years let alone 12. It's a tough job, lots of people have said teachers are never paid enough.

I have one niece who home schooled her kids but she has several degrees from the University of Toledo here. My other niece was all over Facebook trying to get a job in the porn industry, she is also homeschooling. Thus my opinion on the matter.

Home schooling is not, "parents teaching". My home school books are actually written by people who have University degrees, you could of known that if you had an education.

 

[Foxfyre]

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.

Re the bolded sentence, how so, when we are seeing it up close and personal with hundreds of kids? I'm sure there are exceptions, but I can honestly say I haven't met one yet.

 

[bodecea]

What people forget is that public education is the back up for people who cannot or will not educate their own children or pay a tutor or private school to do it for them. MOST Americans opt for the back up plan for various reasons like "it's too hard."

Go for the homeschooling if you want to. Bravo for you stepping up like that.

 

[Foxfyre]

What people forget is that public education is the back up for people who cannot or will not educate their own children or pay a tutor or private school to do it for them. MOST Americans opt for the back up plan for various reasons like "it's too hard."

Go for the homeschooling if you want to. Bravo for you stepping up like that.

Public schooling has a long tradition in this country. Even back in the original colonies and well into the frontier days, the people first organized themselves into communities and then collectively built a school house and hired a school marm to educate the kids. And many who lived in remote areas without access to a public school homeschooled then just as they do now for different reasons. But the local school board, teachers, parents, and townspeople all worked together as a team then too, and the kids were not separated from the value system and beliefs of their parents.

It was said that homeschooled kids are indoctrinated with the parents' point of view as if that was a bad thing. I shudder when I think that some would trust faceless people in government to 'indoctrinate' their kids instead of teaching values and principles to live by yourself.

I strongly support separating all of the nation's education system from the federal government and returning all control of the schools to the states or even better to the local community and allow local school boards, parents, teachers, and other interested local people to decide what is best for their kids. If we would do that, we would again rank among the best education systems in the world instead of way down on the list where we are now.

 

[Sarah G]

What people forget is that public education is the back up for people who cannot or will not educate their own children or pay a tutor or private school to do it for them. MOST Americans opt for the back up plan for various reasons like "it's too hard."

Go for the homeschooling if you want to. Bravo for you stepping up like that.

Not just if you want to, if you're qualified and responsible, go for it.