For U Guys. . .?

Question

I was wondering what ur thoughts were about homeschooling. I have heard some people thought homeschoolers were unsocialized. what do u think?

Answer 1

Um, excuse me!!!!! I'm a senior in High school and I am homeschooled! Yeah, there's some downs to it. Like hearing ppl criticize you all the time. But I hold a public job (30 hrs a week), and I'm a supervisor there that knows just as much if not more than most of my coworkers. My older siblings were homeschooled, went to college, and succeeded beautifully! My sister was the valedictorian of her graduating class and my brother had a 4.2 GPA. And we adjusted just FINE to "public exposure". Not like we didn't have any growing up but anyhow... And we are NOT unsocialized! I was on a homeschool basketball team that kicked butt and placed 2nd in state one year and 3rd in state the next. I was in two big homeschool groups that gives you just as much social activity as public schools do, and I have tons of friends including public schoolers and homeschoolers! I'm not against public education. I'm not against homeschooling. I don't believe either is for everyone. My mom is extremely smart so she works just fine as a teacher of many different classes. And if you think one person can't teach all they need to, you've not met my mom! And call her biased if you want, but homeschool kids have just as much of a mind of their own as anyone else, so if they find reason to form a different opinion in their head of some issue, it's not impossible. *sigh* Now, tell me I can't do something any public schooler can...

Answer 2

I'm tired of this argument. Homeschooling is good if you tailor the curriculum to the needs of the child, which is something that public schools do not do (in fact they insist the oposite is best, pushing all people to be the same and perform at the same standards regardless of whether this is even possible for each unique child). This will practically guarantee that your child will flourish, academically.
Socially, I am sick of the claim that homeshcoolers are not socialized. What exactly do they mean, when they say that? Why arent people more specific? Does it mean that they dont follow the crowds like everyone else, and thus appear to be 'disconnected'? Being individual and self-centered is a good thing. Whether you gain it early in your school experience at home or you eventually come to that at your retirement at age 70 does not change the value of having a firm self-awareness and action upon that.
Perhaps, they have excellent social skills above and beyond the typical public schooled child, but the difference in academic potential and attitudes makes it quite difficult if not unpleasant for homeschool children to socialize with children so antagonistic to them, both deliberately and in habit (ie, public school children are by far less interested in academics than homeschoolers and thus their is a clash of interest)
....But this is such an old argument. Its like the chicken or the egg, when it comes to homeschooling.....
There's no real resolve to it, because it is full of faulty logic and unproven premises: you can't argue successfully on faulty logic and untruths. So I'll just say that in short, homeschoolers are both academically sound and often superior in performance, while being socially capable and more self-aware: all of which in my eyes, are great things and do not cast a shadow on homeshcoolers.

Answer 3

This all depends on the quality of the educator. What the student does miss out on is the dynamic social interactions that take place in that specific school setting. While each situation is unique, most do get a better education in terms of direct knowledge, but it is solely reliant on that one or two people that guide their experience. While I am more for public education, if parents/guardians are actively involved in their child's life, there is no reason a public school education can't be just as successful in the cognitive realm.

Answer 4

Public school is where students learn many social skills, like:
making out in a hallway
avoiding bullies
bullying
gossip
name-calling
clique-ishness
athletics worship
unquestioning acceptance of authority
materialism
etc.

I'm sure there never ever was a single social dork who was government-educated. Sheesh!

The whole socialization thing is a red herring started by the NEA. In the aggregate, HS kids are just as likely to be sophisticated or dorks as anyone else.

Answer 5

This answer is long, but please, bear with me.

Homeschool is as good or as bad as the parents make it - period. If the parent doesn't engage the child in activities outside of school and isn't interested in learning things they don't already know, then the child's education will suffer, just like public school students who don't take advantage of the academic and extra-curricular opportunities they have available.

My own kids have been involved in music lessons, tennis, swimming, fencing, Latin class, science fair, ... all outside the home with other children (both public/private schooled and homeschooled). We also attend weekly park days (for my 1st grader, primarily), gaming days (for the 6th grader), chess club, ... Obviously, my kids are both very socially active. They are also doing well academically.

Although I only have a BA in Psychology (I'm not a teacher), my older son has scored at the 90th %-ile or higher in math for the last three years (since we started homeschooling him). He also scored in the 90th %-ile in reading (reading comprehension and vocabulary), language (spelling, punctuation, and usage and expression), science (99th %-ile last year with a grade equivalent of 13 - or college level), and sources of info (dictionaries, libraries, encyclopedias, etc.) His composite score last year was at the 97th %-ile.

No, I am not a teacher, but I do seek out opportunities for them to learn (co-op or other group lessons) OR I learn things myself before trying to teach them, OR learn along WITH my kids, OR (even worse) allow them to learn something and then teach me (can you learn from your children?)

Are we the exception? Not when I look at the hundred or so other homeschooling families I know or the RESEARCH that has been done.

Are there homeschooling families that have bad outcomes? Of course - those are the ones you hear about and read about because that's all the news media makes available. Why would they report on a normal kid? Who wants to read about that? The vast majority of homeschooled kids are just like every other kid, they just happen to go to school at home.

The main difference between homeschool kids and public/private school kids is that homeschooled kids (on average) score higher on standardized tests, because they get individual attention, don't have to wait for the other students in the class to catch up, and can advance at their own pace.

Is homeschooling for everyone? NO! Not everyone has the patience or commitment to teach their children at home. But for those that do, the rewards are definitely worth the investment. And the proof is in the research results.

Perhaps the reason people think homeschooled kids have problems socializing is NOT that there is something wrong with the socialization the HOMESCHOOL child received, but with the socialization they themselves received (or the socialization they see in publicly schooled kids). Maybe they assume all 11 year olds should behave the way publically-schooled 11 year olds do. My older son (and the older homeschooled kids I know) are very mature, socially, and able to discuss many issues logically with people much older than they are. They are respectful, obedient (generally), gracious, and helpful - not the things you typically expect in a pre-teen or teenager. Maybe THAT is what makes them seem odd?

RESEARCH has shown that most homeschool kids have an EASIER transition to college and the real world because they have been exposed to many situations that publically-schooled students have not (independent research, discussing controversial topics, interacting with non-peer adults). I know several homeschooled (now) adults who have opted out of college because they have successfully started their own businesses while homeschooling. I would think social skills would play a large role in their success in this area.

Please forgive my rant. I get tired of hearing/reading the same old closed-minded assumptions about homeschoolers. These have NOT been found true in my homeschooling experience. However, I don't personally know every homeschooler on the planet, so your experiences may be different.

Answer 6

Homeschooling is a bad idea. Unless the parent/guardian is a teacher the child will probably learn and take in as much a school educated kid. Even if the parent/guardian is a teacher the child will not learn social skill wont participate in activates and will have less of a chance of gaining friends

Answer 7

I have to disagree with most of the answers. I home school my children, ages 10 and 15. They have loads of friends, are very social, have many outside activities that they participate in, They can hold a conversation with the young and old. They are very smart, and they act NOTHING like the kids you see in the public schools today!

Answer 8

Home schooling is a great idea if you want your child to be anti-social, and believe that they are better than everyone else.
This is not the majority but of the ones I have met it seems to be a reality. Another thing I don't understand about people that home school their kids, is what gives them the idea that they are better qualified to teach a child then the school system, or even private schools?
Not a good idea in my book

Answer 9

homeschooling ifs fine I know one family that home school and the child went to a Ivy league school on scholarship

Answer 10

Homeschooling is a horrilbe idea. Not only do children need socializing with others their own age, they need to understand that other adults are also their boss. They need to learn how society works outside of your home.

They also need all the enrichment they cannot get at home, like art, music, phys ed, athletics.

The majority of people are not educated in all the areas that need to be taught. Can one adult really teach all of the classes a student needs. I can teach computers, math and business to my kids, but that is about it. Your kids need people who have been educated as a teacher to teach them, not a parent who will offer a biased view.