What are your thoughts on homeschooling?

Question

my brother says he was born in the wrong century, he lives in a ranch, with no running water, no electricity (has a well and uses solar panels) and tames horses. His wife cans and bakes and quilts. They have 4 children, ages ranging from 8 weeks to 13 years. Now they decided they need to home-school teir kids! what are the pros and cons of this? Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Even 100 years ago, children went to school.

School isn't just about learning to read and cipher, it's about socialization.
Children who are home schooled grow up without becoming adapted to life outside the home. They never learn how to cope with the foibles of other children and adults, and they often become socially backward.

Academically, most parents will never be able to afford sufficient equipment to allow their children to do science experiments at home, or even use high-quality microscopes. A lack of scientific knowledge is just ONE thing that will put them at a severe disadvantage for the future.
They will also have little opportunity to participate in team sports, music programs, or art programs.

Your brother can do his Little House on the Prairie thing for himself, but he shouldn't disadvantage his children.

Answer 2

I (Personally) hate it.... I think homeschooling is horrible.... You have no friends, no social life, no life in general! People will tell you that "It's so great, and wonderful!"....That homeschool kids can do everything, if not more than public school kids! However I beg to differ, I've studied many homeschooling kids, I started when I started realizing why my life was so misreable....And I saw that the reason why alot of homeschoolers (I'm not saying all, but the ones I studied) didn't really know any other way! I'm sorry, I truly am to other homeschoolers, and I wouldn't want to change their outlook on homeschooling, and if they love it! Great! But I'm not naive, I thought I had a normal teenage life, I was so happy! I thought I had friends, and a great social life.... But I woke up one day! And realized! I was living in a lie! I was trying so hard to convince myself that I was living a great life, and that there was hope.... I'm sorry, but I was tired of at looking at the hope, knowing I wasn't going to reach it.... And again, I'm sorry, but I really refuse to think of someone I see a couple times a week for a few hours a friend, when they have a whole other life, and I'm just a little speck to them.... I think homeschooling has so many great things.... Unfortunately, I know the downsides.... I really hope when I go back to school next year, I can deal with the outlook of life I've had from homeschooling.... =)

Answer 3

If it works for them, what is the problem?
Many people raise the question of socialization and in your brother's case that may be an issue. Do they have other kids close by?
I'm looking into homeschooling my son as one possibility (he's only 2.5 so I have some time to decide) and it isn't just mom and child at home at the kitchen table as many think. I'm looking into co-ops where each member of the group of moms choose a strength and teach the kids. So, mom isn't teaching all day and the children are fully connected with other children.

Answer 4

I think homeschooling is great it works for a lot of people and gets kids ahead of other children their age but i would put my kid in a public school i would just feel really guilty for robbing them of the social experience. Especially since i was an only child and i know what its like to be put at some what of a disadvantage in the social skills department. But if they feel that its right for their kids then they should go for it as long as they get the kids socially invovled with other kids their age then whats the problem?

Answer 5

I think it depends on many different things. It sounds like the children are being cut off from society and that's not good, they will not be prepared when they are grown. I am planning to home school my son starting next year. But that's because our school rates a two out of ten on educational readiness. That's unacceptable. I think when you home school children you really should have other avenues open to them. Such as a church group or a sports team to be on. Children need to be around other children out side of the family. Home schooling is a lot of work and takes everything you give. I don't think they should be home schooled if they are not getting their social needs met any other way.

Answer 6

I would say that is fine. There are some great home schooling networks tthat they could join if they are worried about the kids socializing. These networks will often have weeklong campouts for the whole family and meet every now in them so the whole family can mingle and see people. It gives the kids a chance to meet others there age, and there are usually activities(sports,arts,music, and crafts) planned for the children to particapate in. You could probably find some if you did a search on homeschooling.

Answer 7

I have been through it all,
Public school grades k-2
private school grades 3-4
home school grades 5-9
porochial school grades 9-12

I enjoyed the home schooling I learned at my own pace and retained it more, but you have to have a system. I didn't miss out on the kids interacting much, there was another family close by that was home schooled, and they would take field trips with us all the time. Since we were not a full size class we were able to go to more places, and still get a student discount.

Hope they have good luck with this!

Answer 8

I'm considering homeschooling, I don't have much faith in todays school system. I believe that the children will obviously get more one on one time with learning, they will learn differently-not everyone does well with just books and such, plus you can take your children out of the classroom more-like if you are studying farming-you're more likely to take them out and learn what it's like instead of popping in a video or looking at a book like they do in public school. I grew up near homeschooled children, they are allowed to go to after school activities with public schooled children-so there's your socialization that everyone worries about!

Answer 9

I really think it all depends on the people. I am not the type of person to want to home school any one. Mainly because technology changes so much I would be afraid my children wouldn't learn as much as they should. Sure you have books but you always learn something at school that isn't in the books. The more you learn the better off you are. I would also want my children growing up interacting with other people . There is alot of wisdom in that alone that a book can't teach you. It helps us learn at an early age how to deal with all the different types of people.

Answer 10

Homeschooling is closely related to how humans have lived and evolved throughout the vast majority of our existance. It's the way we evolved to learn best.

Significant figures in American history, of course, were homeschooled, like Thomas Edison and Thomas Jefferson (tutors and self-taught.) The people of the greatest accomplishment in history have typically not set foot in an instutional style school.

Great minds and great spirits and great citizens do not come from factory style education. School is all about teaching kids their place, forcing them to conform, playing to the middle, shutting down their curiosity (you can see this clearly when even little kids reject doing something that involves 'learning' because it's not school hours.)

Our kids have to take a standardized test once a year as part of our homeschooling and our 14 year old was flabbergasted and insulted at the shallowness of easiness of the test. He wondered what on earth the purpose of public education is if the CAT can measure what it is public education is doing.

Kids learn best in freedom, the freedom to pursue their own passions and with people who understand best how they learn. Our kids have never had a curriculum, but even our 9 year old is now showing signs of knowing more about the world than most adults. And our teen - he just blows everyone away.

Here's a link to a video he created, to give you an idea of what a child can be motivated completely on their own to learn about and to do. http://youtube.com/watch?v=3vPMHJsgSTI

His Christmas request list this year had 15 books on it, all written for adults and all non-fiction except for some Mexican literature he's discovered. You rarely get results like this from institutionalized schooling, because they don't want results like this.

Answer 11

Coming from personal experience, I think homeschooling is okay.
I did miss out on the social aspect of life, and when I went to college the world kinda hit me in the face, because I didn't know anything about life at all!

I think homeschooling is okay if you can get one on one time with each kid and let them have friends that aren't other homeschoolers or church friends.....

Sheltering your kids isn't going to help them when they get thrown into the real world someday.....