Have you considered the long-term impact of homeschooling your child?

Question

Homeschooling is a great way to make a child book smart. The down side is that homeschooling hinders social development. Homeschool kids tend to become brilliantly educated and social retarded. By sheltering your child, you prevent them from learning how to deal with everyday social situations. Homeschoolers are shy for the most part and lack interpersonal skills.

1. Is it worth trading a childs social life for a "better" education?
2. Are you really qualified to teach your child if you don't have a teaching degree?
3. Which would be better for the child: homeschooling or active parental involvement in public schooling?
4. How do you plan on developing your childs social skills if you are homeschooling them? Homeschool groups are like social special ed classes and don't help children develop social skills that can be applied later on in life.
5. Can you teach you kids to be religious without teaching them everything else?

Answer 1

1. Is it worth trading a childs social life for a "better" education?

Trade? What trade? They get both -- a better social life and a better education.

2. Are you really qualified to teach your child if you don't have a teaching degree?

Of course. It is by God's design.

3. Which would be better for the child: homeschooling or active parental involvement in public schooling?

Homeschooling.

4. How do you plan on developing your childs social skills if you are homeschooling them? Homeschool groups are like social special ed classes and don't help children develop social skills that can be applied later on in life.

I don't need a plan and it isn't up to me to develop my child's social skills. Your questions should not even have question-marks because they are all ignorant statements of false thinking that is not based on fact.

My children are already applying their skills because they are "later in life". One is 23 and married with 3 children, a good job and more friends than he can keep up with.
Another is 20 and in the second year of college getting great grades and associating with a large group of friends.
Another is 18 and working, studying, and keeping busy with many activities and people.
The youngest is nearly 16 and is busy with studies, friends, and many pursuits ------
NONE of my children have been hindered in their "later in life" application of social skills.

5. Can you teach you kids to be religious without teaching them everything else?
What in the world does that mean? I do not understand this question. I don't teach my children to be religious. I don't want them to be religious as far as religion goes. I do want them to have every opportunity to learn about God and Christianity as based on the Bible -- but this is with the view that bible based Christianity is not a religion.

My children learn to think for themselves by practicing it every day. They learn math skills by doing math, they learn writing by writing, they learn reading by reading --- they learn science by experiencing it, history by reading about it, economy by living in it, etc. etc. etc.

They don't need me to funnel information into their heads -- they learn to learn by learning, and they learn to study by studying and they learn to think by thinking.

Everything they do progresses naturally from one level to another -- it would be silly to imagine that things would not become more advanced each day.

The long term impact of homeschooling has proven itself over and over again by those that are finished with it. Just ask the veterinarian that graduated from home-school and went on to the university and Graduate School -- he is now 30 with a very profitable job. Ask the chemist that is a research scientist and making more money than you might ever see -- he writes articles for major medical publications and gives lectures and speeches around the country. Ask the graduates of homeschool about the long term impact of their home-education. Be sure to talk to the one's that chose to apply themselves and made it their purpose to do well in life.

Answer 2

I would just like to say that I am 13 and homeschooled. I have been homeschooled all my life, and I wouldn't trade my education that I have right now for the but load of sex, pressure and everything else that alot of the kids I know have.I am involved in sports and I am very social. My parents made sure I was getting alot of social life when I was younger, church groups, sports, homeschooling groups, sleepovers ect. I love being homeschooled and I also have alot of friends in the school. The only way I am different socialy is that I don't cuss, I am not obsessed about my hair, I don't have a boyfriend (doesn't mean I don't think boys are cute) I just don't see the point of having a boyfriend at my age. I am also ALOT nicert than most of the kids that are public schooled. I am also a christian.

Answer 3

I'm an 11th grader, and this is my second year unschooling. I quit school because of depression, anxiety, and they were moving too slowley for me. Now I have time to learn on my own, and take college classes.
1. I go to a homeschooling center 4 days a week, so I have no socialisation issues.
2. I do most of my learning by book, some from volunteers, and I teach others as well. (I run a class on banned books an censorship and a class on local authors)
3. My parents were active in my public charter school.
4. Like I said, homeschooling center. It's the coolest place on earth. www.northstarteens.org
5. I'm not being taught religion. Not all homeschoolers are homschooled because of religious reasons.

Answer 4

1. We haven't traded anything. My children are extremely social. In fact, we are leaving next week for Florida to meet a homeschool family we have been corresponding with for a long time.

2. I have a master's degree, which is more education than many/most public school teachers have. And I'll have YOU know that in many states, where there are teacher shortages, people from all walks of life can get teaching certificates, no matter what their education, based on "life skills". SO DON'T GO THERE WITH ME.

3. If the public schools in my area were worth a dam n, I would send my children AND be actively involved. However, that is NOT an option, being that the schools are just SO BAD!

4. My kids have perfectly fine social skills. They meet up with several different groups and are out in the world DAILY.

5. My kids aren't religious, because we aren't religious. I have a religious text book, so that I can teach my kids the basics of religion, it's called THE BIBLE. We read it, we talk about what we have read, but we don't go to church or any of that.

Answer 5

A homeschooled child does not HAVE to be socially "retarded". There are many things a homeschooling parent can do to avoid that. Check out this site, it has a LOT of good information on homeschooling in general (its one of the top homeschool curriculum providers, Learning By Grace). They're also having an essay contest where the top 2 essayists could each win a NINTENDO Wii !!! The essay question is: How is your family putting 'Christ' into Christmas this year? It has to be answered in 500-1000 words.
So check it out at www.learningbygrace.org

Answer 6

It is amazing that people still believe that homeschool children are not allowed to socialize! There are many opportunities for social experiences that homeschoolers take part in. My own daughters are very sociable as young adult women and get along very well. What they didn't learn in homeschool is the bad habits and manners that are very prevalent with public school kids who are not taught well at home.

I didn't trade my daughters' social life for a better education. They had both.

Parents teach children to tie their shoes, dress and feed themselves, use the toilet and many other things. As long as the parent has had a good education and can do the subjects, they can teach the child. Heavens! The teacher's manuals tell you what to do! It doesn't take a college degree. Many of our ancestors were homeschooled, very well educated, and leaders of society. And they did not have social problems either.

It's not about religion, but about academics. The reports keep coming out that show American students are far behind those of other developed countries. We ask why the proverbial "Johnny" can't read. And then people, such as yourself, condemn parents who choose to take the matter into their own hands for the sake of their children, in spite of the evidence that homeschool kids do very well in adulthood.

As for the social abilities, I have not seen one actual study that proves that homeschool kids have problems in that area. It is an unproven theory. So until you get proof, you really should not accuse parents of trading a child's social life, or social skills for that matter. All of my observations of homeschool kids is that they converse very well with others, are open and sociable, and they respect other people. I've known public school kids who do well in these areas too, but not so much in the respect area. There seems to be a lot of disrespect toward adults and authority that public school students have in general. Again, there are some great public school kids that I've known who do not follow that rule, but in general they do.

While homeschooling is not for every family, parental rights should take precedence over ignorant, unsupported suppositions. Any parent who makes the effort to educate their own child, rather than the easier path of sending them to school and having their own day free, has their child's best interests at heart.

You ask if we think about the long term? Absolutely! It's all about their future. Why else would we bother to take on such a task that requires so much devotion?

Sue

Answer 7

1. Our primary reason to homeschool was not to give our children a better education. It was to give them a better environment in which to live. We spent 4 years deciding if we were going to homeschool or not, learning everything we could about it, meeting homeschoolers, talking with homeschoolers online. As teachers, we both knew what the 'social life' of school was all about. We could also see the big picture historically and saw that a lot of social problems came about when children were forced to be in same-age groups most of the time. Children grew up just fine for thousands and thousands of years without being surrounded by 30 kids the same age every day. It was the socialization at school that concerned us more than anything. The better education is just a bonus.

And we haven't traded in their social life. In fact, instead of sitting in a desk most of the day, not being allowed to talk or work with others, our kids interact with each other and others all the time.

2. Actually, I have a teaching degree, but always laugh when people say that makes me qualified to homeschool. It doesn't. My teaching degree was about planning, evaluating and managing a classroom of kids. I've only got two kids and don't plan on having 28 more anytime soon. The teaching techniques I was taught were about being able to reach 30 different kids at the same time. The most useful thing I learned through my teaching degree that applies to homeschooling is that one prof encouraged us to use our brains more than approved resources. Our focus should be on what we want the children to learn then think of ways we can present that information to them. Most teachers just use the resources and follow the guidelines within them. Which is what many homeschoolers do, too.

Would you say that someone needs a teaching degree to help their children do their homework? That's what a homeschooling parent essentially does. They're just the ones who also decide what the homework is.

3. I prefer homeschooling for my kids. I think it's preferable for them to not be in that environment. I know some parents who should definitely keep their kids in public school, though.

4. Well, my kids have each other, which is constant social interaction. They have park days and friends who come over regularly and play dates and clubs and field trips with other families and parties and lessons... There is nothing wrong with the social skills of most of the homeschooled kids we know. Actually, the problems I have with some of them are kids who were in public school...

5. What does that mean? While we have a religion, we don't teach our children to be religious. We are not teaching them at home because of our religion.

Answer 8

Home schooled kid talking here...
#1: I didn't trade in a social life. I was involved in sports, choir, volunteer activities, church, and the rest of the home schooling community in my town. Home schoolers tend to have a good balance of friends - both home schooled and conventionally-schooled kids - and have been found to easily interact with both younger and older individuals.

#2: My parents did just fine without a teaching degree. I attended high school after being home schooled for five years, and graduated in the top 5% of my class. I was accepted to Willamette University, Oregon State University, University of Oregon, and more. No problem. On an average, home schoolers score in the 70th-80th percentile in state standardized tests, compared to a national average of 50%. The homeschooler's average SAT score is 1100, whereas the national average is 1019. Obviously, with the academic performance of home schoolers, there is no problem with the way they are learning or being taught.

#3: A lot of parents try that. Mine included. But many times they find that working with their own children and others in a home schooled community makes a bigger impact than trying to convince an unsympathetic school board every Tuesday night.

#4: See #1. I didn't have a problem. Extracurricular activities. Studies have shown that the average home schooler participates in at least FIVE extracurricular activities per week, such as sports, 4H, choir, and church. Kids don't have to go to a public school in order to learn how to interact with other individuals. Kids aren't isolated at home all the time. They interact with parents, family, teammates, and other home schooled kids. Like I said, we even get a better variety and know how to interact with a greater part of the population - young, old, and in between. And any home schooler would take offense to in essence being called retarded - being put into a special ed class. I'm constantly applying the social skills I have learned throughout being homeschooled to my everyday life in university and at work. I'm eighteen and I have friends of all ages and from all walks of life.

#5: Not all home schooling families are Christian or even remotely religious. And why would caring parents teach their children about religion and absolutely nothing else? That's not the way it works.

I think you should get out of your cocoon and meet some home schoolers. From the way you're writing, you've got me feeling sorry for you. You sound more isolated and socially unskilled than any hypothetically socially disabled homeschooler you could come up with! We're actually really nice, and i'm sure if you actually met some more homeschoolers and didn't judge them, you'd see that you know less about the subject than you think.

Answer 9

Have you considered the long term impact of homeschooling your child
http://homeschoolingfaqs.com might help

Answer 10

I agree with Terri - hahahahahaha

Both my kids were homeschooled up till college. They are now both married and have their own successful businesses. One was the youngest to ever be accepted into the sign language program in one of the most highly accredited programs in the nation. Not only do I not have a teachers certificate but I don't even have a college degree.

Answer 11

I don't know where you get your information, but most of it sounds like sweeping stereotypical generalizations to me.
Guess what? There are lots of shy, nerdy, gawky, awkward, antisocial kids roaming the halls of public and private schools around the country, but nobody blames the school for their existence. But as soon as someone says a child is homeschooled, the magnifying glasses come out and the child's every move is scrutinized for wierdness (predetermined bias) and then the whole 2 million strong homeschooled movement is struck down by the results of their personal observation of a few 'wierd' kids. Don't forget, they are only looking at the identified 'wierd' ones--as they are looking, there could have been ten 'normal' homeschool kids passing by but they never noticed.
I'd say, in general, wierdness has more to do with the family than the educational method chosen by the family. Quirky kids often spring from quirky families (and often these kids turn into computer nerd millionaires at the age of 25, so who's to say if quirky is undesirable?)
While it has been perhaps true in the past that more 'quirky' families might have chosen to step off the edge of conformity and homeschool their children, this decision is much more accepted and has hit the mainstream, meaning that now often nobody but an insider could look at your average soccer mom's kids and guess they were homeschooled or not. However, some 'quirky' kids might have tried public school first and been miserable outcasts and have thus been homeschooled as a result of their 'quirkiness'.. And usually there are a bunch of homeschool detractors waiting in the wings to point fingers at their 'quirkiness'!
Granted, homeschooled kids are often socialized 'differently' than their public or private school counterparts. They often are not so up to date on the current pop culture and often find preoccupation with name brands and cliques confusing. That might make them wierd to some, but it is refreshing to others. And guess what? Thankfully, once the turbulent teen years are over, this shallowness for the most part disappears as does this difference between the homeschooled and public schooled kids.
Good parents will do their very best to produce well socialized and well rounded kids, regardless of where they are schooled. Homeschool parents do have to make more of an effort to make sure their child is involved in extracurricular activities with a variety of kids more than a public school parent would. And public school parents have to make more of an effort to maintain family cohesiveness with their kids and fight peer dependency. Which is better? I would think this would depend on the individuals involved. An independent, strong willed, socially extroverted student might thrive better in a school environment. An introvert with a tendency to hide in crowds and fit in at any costs might blossom more in a homeschooled environment.
As far as for qualifications to teach--this one has never crossed my mind. In my opinion, homeschooling is very efficient and we have found that the problem is not trying to teach them enough, but trying to keep them from getting too far ahead. Most parents are very concerned and in tune to what their child knows or does not know, and will not hesitate to seek other resources if need be. ------