Convince my parents of homeschooling?

Question

I have been talking to my mom for months about letting me be homeschooled because i am so upset at school and i hate the school. She is considering it, but it is so hard to get her to do it. PLEASE help me convince my mom to let me do this. This is taking a toll on my life and ruining my summer.

Answer 1

Dont listen to dansmith54321. That wasnt nice. He probably didnt experience some of the same things you have in school. For me, I didn't love school, because I am a very creative person, and public schools are like socialist institutions. I remember my guidance counselor always putting down everything I wanted to do, because in public school, the goal is to guide students into a safe, typical, in the box lifestyle. Maybe you don't have any special talents or goals, but if you do, try to show your mom how motivated you are in that area, and why a different program would better suit you. I was in your exact position in high school, and I almost home schooled, but I ended up doing a half day vocational program at a performing arts high school instead. It was so great because I became very detached from my home town school, was only there for a few hours a day, got a break in the middle to drive (or take a bus) to my other school, and have lunch, and the teachers, kids, and adminstration at my new school all shared the same type of interests, and it was such a breath of fresh air. I am not saying that you should go to vocational school, but it is an alternative if you can't convince your mom (if you are in high school). And I know that usually people associate vocational school with students who don't plan to go to college or get a real career, but that is simply not true. Yes, you can become a nurse, or beautician, and not go to college, but if you are planning to go to college, it looks impressive if you were involved in something special. My sister went to a vocational school for graphic design, and because she was so experienced, she was accepted into every graphic design school in New York she applied to, including FIT. And her grades at her normal school had been average. I went to music vocational school, and I later won a $40,000 scholarship at a music conservatory. As far as home schooling, my brother has chosen to home school and he is 15. He is extremely smart, but couldnt stay focused in public school. They waste a lot of time, and it is a lot of busy work. And my brother is like a scientific genius, so he is always preoccupied. Im not saying that he is sooo special, but certain people simply need different programs. My brother was going to fail 8th grade if he didn't attend two summer school classes, but he was already enrolled at Princeton U's summer robotics camp, and when my mother told the school that he had also gone to the local community college part time and recieved two Microsoft certifications, and an A++ certification, they were willing to see that he is not just a stupid kid wasting time, and they awarded him his middle school deploma without attending summer school. But he still chose home schooling because he found a program that better suits him. Since he has started, he has maintained all A's, and since it is an accredited online high school with other students, they even have extracurricular activities, like his video game making club, which he is the president of (looks good on transcripts!). He also participates in forensics at his former public school. You may be able to get permission to do extra curricular activities with your old school. Also, instead of taking several courses at once, he takes one or two courses at a time, and they last about 2 months each, but it varies based on how fast or slow you want to work. Anyway, a lot of colleges, especially Ivy league schools have recently been eager to accept home school students because they often are smarter (because smarter people are attracted to home schooling since they are "out of the box" thinkers), statistically they do much better on standardized tests like SAT's, and they have more academic independence because most home school programs require a little more self motivation. Do some research online, and find out about what Ivy league schools are saying about homeschooling. My friend Alycia was home schooled her entire life, and she recently got into Harvard. People are often against home schooling becuase they are afraid of what kind of life they will have, will they get into a good college, and in turn get a good job? Will they be socially adjusted? But I can tell you that if you are having social problems at school, you are more likely to do better socially in the future if you find a better social circle, like joining a club, or taking lessons of some kind with people who share your interests. It is not true that you should "face your problems" socially in school because high school and middle school aged kids are not a good representation of what people are like in the real and normal world. In high school, if you are not rich or popular, or have some special talent that makes you cool besides, you can be treated like dirt because people need a scape goat to abuse. Do not take any abuse if this is the case. Yes, you should stand up to people that are trying to hurt you, but it may do more harm than good to stay in a situation where people persist to hurt you. I stood up to a lot of people in school, and the real solution was doing something more important so I could ignore them. And do I have problems socially now? I am involved in an opera company (Metro Lyric Opera) and have had the chance to sing roles along side metropolitan opera singers, and I have a mary kay business, and have recruited 14 consultants, who I did not know prior. People with social problems can't do that. My advice to you is shop around for a good curriculum, find online schools, and home schooling supplies, order samples of books from home schooling companies, and show your mom why you think these programs would be good for you (make sure you are using accredited schools and supplies!). Your mom probably objects to the idea of home schooling because she doesnt think that home schooling is a normal way of life. But you need to bring evidence to the table. Find out if there is someone well known and respected who was home schooled, and even take a further step to find out which program he or she used. Maybe you can use that program. A great idea would be to call some Ivy league schools, and talk to an admissions counselor, tell them you are interested in their school, and that you have plans to home school (act definite about it though). See how they respond to someone who actually is planning to home school. Tell your mom how the phone calls went. And finally, maybe you should be willing to start a class this summer. If your mom sees that you are willing to do a class in the summer, she may see how much you really want to do this, and it will not interfere in the fall with your normal school work if you do the trial period now. By the way, my brother's school can be found at: www.cmacademy.org in case your'e interested. His school does not require parents to be teachers. He takes classes online with chat rooms, with other students and teachers, with streaming video so he can see the teacher, and they can see him when he does presentations, etc.

Answer 2

Okay, first of all homeschooling is not lonely if you are involved in some activities. there are many opportunities to socialize with other homeschoolers. just search around; you will find something. dont buy into the idea that there are less educational opportunities as a homeschooler.

alright, about convincing your mom. i would suggest being patient. it is a big job being a homeschool mom. tell her that there are a lot of support groups for homeschool parents out there. you just have to ask around. also, your mom doesnt have to do all the teaching if she doesnt want to. there are several curriculum that have videos. like for instance Saxon math is a great math curriculum. they have a cd that you watch on the computer. the video is basically a blue screen that looks like a black board, but you hear a teacher speaking and he writes down all the problems that he is teaching you.

i hope this helps. good luck!!

Answer 3

One of the biggest things you need to do before you consider being homeschooled, is show that you can work hard by yourself. If you can show that you can study, work and learn everything you're doing in school without a teacher, then there's not much reason for you to be in school anymore. But it still takes a lot of dedication and patience to be homeschooled. Somebody isn't going to be telling you exactly what to do all the time.

But don't let people bully you into thinking you "have" to go to school if you don't enjoy it. The most important thing is that you're in a learning environment where you can succeed and be happy. Just make sure that you're going in the right direction.

Answer 4

How about transferring to another school? Is that possible in your situation?
Being homeschooled can be lonely and you won't have all the educational opportunities you can have at school. I understand that you hate your school, but so do many, many people your age. Perhaps what you really need to do is face what is going on there and turn the situation around, instead of trying to run away from it. I think you would grow so much from that experience.

Answer 5

You need to do some research on the pros AND CONS of homeschooling. Don't just show her the good side, let her know you have thoroughly considered it by showing her BOTH sides. THen leave the decision to her.

One thing we did when we first started homeschooling was to have a trial period. We took my son out 1/2-way through 2nd grade and figured, if it didn't work out, we could re-enroll him in third grade with no harm done.

Answer 6

You have to realize that this is a big decision for your mom also. She has to take the responsibility of being your teacher. If she wants to do this she should check with K12.com their curriculum is awesome and they do all of the planning for you. Also they have charter schools in some states like Ohio and in that case it is free.

Answer 7

oh grow up and learn to deal with the petty interpersonal issues that come up in life that's part of what you learn in school.