If you are "against" homeschooling for any reason will you tell us how many homeschoolers that you know?

Question

1. How much research have you personally done about homeschooling?

2. What are your sources?

It will be good to hear from someone that honestly knows at least 100 actual homeschoolers.

3. Have you attended an homeschool conference?

4. Have you visited a local meeting for homeschool families?

I've seen more children come out of public schools with social hang-ups than all of my homeschool friends put together. (We know 100's -- and we are in a small community.)

Many students come out of public schools with a great education and good social behavior. But there are still many that don't.

Any form of education is dependent on whether or not it is done "right".

I'm sitting here at this moment listening to the Governor of Oregon in a televised debate. He is lamenting the overwhelming ills of the public school system. Hmmmmm???? What's up with that?????

Answer 1

What people are saying about homeschooled kids being screwed up, is completely wrong. I was homeschooled from 2nd-12th grade. I started college when I was 17, about 6 months before I graduated HS. Now I'm 20 and a junior double majoring in Psychology and Justice Administration, and double minoring in Forensic Anthropology and Latin.
I don't have any social problems whatsoever. I don't get scared when people talk to me, or when I'm in a lecture hall with 400 other people. In fact, I know about 30 homeschool families, and none of their children have problems. I know more kids from public and private school who have problems, than those who are homeschooled do.
When I was in the 4th grade, I was reading at a 10th grade level. When I took the ACT, I scored in the 99th percentile on the verbal and word comprehension sections. I graduated HS with a GPA of 3.8, and have maintained a 3.7 in college. I'm well on my way to going to graduate school at one of the top universities in the nation.

Contrary to popular belief, when you're homeschooled, you don't spend ALL your time at home. I spent about 4 hours each day on my schoolwork, which left about another 10 to do whatever else I wanted. Mostly going out and having fun with my friends, shopping, going on trips, etc.

Answer 2

I was against homeschooling initially. I did not go to school from grades 2 to 5. I felt extremely negative about it. My siblings did not learn, we had no socializing and did not ever fit back in to society. We were also isolated and brought up 'weird.' It was a huge decision to homeschool my last 2 kids. My first children had an abysmal education from the traditional school and the only homeschoolers I had seen were "odd". Fortunately, there was a great homeschooling community available (just an hour north of you, Glurpy) so I had some wonderful role models. But, yeah, I did feel like a nut for the first couple of years. It's been 7 years now, most of the homeschoolers we have met, if not all have been concerned parents who wanted the best for their children. They used different approaches and materials; but that only demonstrates the individuality of each family. We've left that comforting environment now and are wandering alone in the western wilderness. But to answer your question. Yes I still would homeschool. Not because of what I perceived of home education, but what I KNOW of public education. The general populace is just not sufficiently aware of all the options for education, and unfortunately, they only see the stereotypes and not the reality of home educating. Unfortunately, due to family and financial stress I have succumbed and sent one child to a small private school and would send the other if she wasn't so resistant to the idea. Why? Because we are turning into all that is negative about homeschoolers and I don't want to go that route. I believe in homeschooling 100% but the reality was only about 20%.

Answer 3

I'd like to know the definition for the word "weird" that seems to pop up when folksdescribe home school kids. My 12 yr. old would be described as weird...she speaks like a well educated adult, has a passion for Poe and wears a lot of black and plaid. Her musical tastes go from the top 40 stuff on VH1 to 80's to classic metal to Bollywood soundtracks. Her fav DVD this week is "9 to 5" or "Syriana". Yet, this is the same kid who spent the last few days feeling sore and sad becuase she just got her braces on. We are, admittedly, a bit of a werid family, so what is off to one person is perfectly normal in our house! Yet I have seen the exact same things when my 18 yr. old brought home friends from the public schools! So homeschooling has nothing to do with "weirdness". But I do tend to think a lot of the kids people see as "weird" end up homeschooled because their parents often see tradtional education as very limiting and limited.

Answer 4

Wonderful question. Not at all surprising that those who are against it don't know any homeschoolers or only a few.

I've met or been around at least 150 homeschooled kids. I've been to a homeschooling conference. I read every book I could get my hands on at the library. I joined local support groups and went to meetings and talked with other parents.

Homeschooled kids, on the whole, are different. And I think that's a good thing. This one teen homeschooled girl who babysits for us regularly can not believe the nonsense that goes on in junior high and high school among the kids. She is exposed to it and has had to deal with it due to her extra-curricular activities. It encourages her to keep going and finish her high school diploma at home.

Answer 5

Unless you are a professional, you probably wouldn't know 100 people that are home schooled. I know a few that have been and there are plus and minus points. If done right, the level of education can be higher and if the child is quick they don't have to wait for the rest to catch up before they go on. If done wrong the child ends up behind and can lack friends and social interaction on top of that. Even the one that does well academically can suffer if social life is lacking.

Answer 6

It depends on the way the homeschooler was raised. I was homeschooled through high school, though, it's an accredited private school, I just had to do all of my work over the internet, on the computer.

Personally, even not attending the high school, I became familiar with the social interactions of it, since I went to extra cirricular activities there and as well frequented a number of places in which people attended, and it's not my belief that the social skills one picks up in high school are a good model for how one should treat and interact with people. All of the people I knew were often involved in some sort of non-sensical drama, which, when they asked me for advice, and I broke it down for them, they couldn't help but not see any sense to the drama they were in. People bicker in inappropriate and uncivil ways, and when people in high school have problems with each other, they don't take it to the person they have a problem with, they just bicker amongst themselves behind the person's back without presenting them with any sort of opportunity for the person to speak for themselves before an arbitrary friend of the person with the problem, and when they do take a problem up with a person, not only is it usually after having spoken with another person, it's often violent instead of a tactful, logical and civil approach to the problem, and that's not how I'd like my children to learn how to interact with people.

Answer 7

I'm a homeschooling mom. The responses that you are getting from those against homeschooling are just proving their ignorance. The answers to your questions from them would be that they don't know homeschoolers and haven't done any research. Their idea of socialization is totally different from ours. When kids get out of highschool they have to learn to deal with people of differing ages. For 13 years (k-12th grade), most kids are grouped with only kids their own age. They can't communicate with adult or little kids because they haven't learned how to.Our homeschooled kids are liked by adults and younger kids because they have been exposed to them from the start. Don't get discouraged by other's ignorance!

Answer 8

me and my 7 siblings we start at 8 am and end at noon around 12 all of my friends are homeschooled

Answer 9

well, we just got back from a homeschool group meeting/teaching co op with 120 fmilies,.and over 300 students.
Yeah, we don't get out much and we don't know anybody...........

Answer 10

Good question Barb....I'm sure you are not surprised by the answers though. ;-) I guess these people do not know *any* people in the public/private school system who act so strangely and who are messed up. (eyeroll)