Why do public school teachers seem to think all homeschooled kids are being deprived?...?

Question

There have been several answers from public school teachers who say the kids who have been homeschooled, then enrolled in public school are all behind in their studies. Isn't it possible that these are the kids whose parents figured out after a year or two that they couldn't do this and decided it would be better for the child if they enrolled him or her in public school? Isn't is possible (even likely) that the homeschooled kids they DON'T see are homeschooling successfully?

Answer 1

It is more than possible that the home schooled children they "do not see" are home schooling successfully. I happen to have two of them in my home! They are not only home schooling successfully, but they are also socializing with no problem! Granted, they have to be taken from place to place to enjoy all of their social activities, but we knew that when we decided to take them out of public school and teach them at home. We have to take them to cheerleading, soccer, basketball, judo...but that's okay! They've each made a ton of friends, and we take them on more than their fair share of "field trips". It's called MORE FAMILY VACATIONS. They will each finish their grade level at the end of March - two months prior to public school kids, and we only allow one month off for "summer" break. I think the three months they used to get - June, July, & most of August - was too much. They were losing all of that important information they had just learned! Plus, they take more frequent breaks than public school kids do, and their school schedule and what they learn is up to US. I work very closely with my children in all that they do. Having the 2:1 student/teacher ratio is nothing but a massive benefit.

Answer 2

Public school teachers almost never see the students that are homeschooled successfully. They usually see the ones where homeschooling failled for any number of reasons and that is what they base thier opinions on. The problem with homeschooling and the best thing about homeschooling is that it is not regulated very much. That leaves a great deal of freedom for the parents doing the homeschooling.

Answer 3

Yes there are many successful homeschoolers. Public schools are funded by attendence. If a child does not attend they do not recieve money for that child, so naturally whatever that child is doing is the wrong thing! I homeschooled my daughter - she is now 26. She had neighborhood friends, was in a homeschoolers gym class, took outside music lessons and did well in school. She never had to experience a shooting at her school, a classmate who overdosed on drugs or countless lessons on government and economics that conveyed misinformation. And one more thing, in first grade she was taught to read. There were no picture words or sight recognition, just sound it out.
She is not shy and socially backward, the is intellegent friendly and self confident.
Ask these same teachers how they feel about private schools. Ask them to give actual statistics. Ask them how many home schoolers they have actually met. And most of all consider the source.

Answer 4

My mother homeschooled me and my four brothers successfully until we graduated high school. We all went on to get college degrees. Many times children who are expelled from school have the option of either going to an expensive private school or being "homeschooled". Many times, coming from poor families, they opt to homeschool. Truthfully the education that they recieve at home is lacking to say the least. These children many times later on go back to public school once they are allowed to go back. These are the children that are influencing public school teachers opinions of homeschooling. As long as a parent is willing to work with there children there is no reason that they cannot teach them until they graduate high school. I have many homeschooled friends and I have not found one of them that did not easily excell in college. In fact after I first got to college I was amazed at how easy it was compared to the work that my mother made me do!

Answer 5

They only see the failures of the system.

If I really screwed up in my homeschooling, I would be put back in school. Thus a teacher would see me. If I were excelling in my homeschooling -like I am- I would stay out of school and a teacher wouldn't see me.

Sort of like when people say homeschoolers are socially deprived. You can't tell by looking at somebody if he's homeschooled so you only remember the kids who were screwed up. And who are you strangers to judge my social life?

Answer 6

Many teachers are loosing their students to the wave of homeschooling. They know that students are better homeschooling than publicly schooled. The number of students in school is dropping every year. Those students is where their money comes from! So, in order to persuade parents into NOT homschooling their kids, they tell them lies about how terrible it is.
I may be wrong, but that's what it looks like to me.

Homeschooled highschooler, been homescooled for 8 years.

Answer 7

It's actually true. You see, I've been home schooled my entire life. I am now in the 6th grade. My best friend's(who is not home schooled)mom said this boy in her class (my best friend's mom is a 2nd grade teacher)was behind in his classes, She said because he wasn't getting taught well. He was acting as a class clown and falling behind. But that was only because, he was bored. He already learned that stuff a long time ago. Because of that, he didn't pay attention in school or anything about school. He didn't even want to do his home work. Therefore, he fell behind in class. There's always more to the story. You just have to find out what that is.

Answer 8

Home schooled kids can often perform so much better than kids that are products of the school system. Many teachers are just jealous and power hungry. They think that only they can educate. They never stop complaining about more money for the children. The teacher's unions often control the administrative bureaucrats. The NEA is another bureaucracy with one big socialist and liberal agenda. Any of them will attack anything that threatens their power base.

Answer 9

I believe that the type of parents who are satisfied with 'bouncing' their children in and out of public school are likely to be the least competent type of teachers.

It is not surprising to me that a child who has 'bounced' like this is difficult for parents to homeschool, and is then returned to the public school system.

Example: Johnny is a problem child. He gets in trouble in school and is suspended multiple times. He is perhaps in danger of expulsion and is receiving terrible grades. He fights with other children at school constantly, and brings home a terrible attitude and various curse words and crude behavior.

His parents struggle to maintain discipline in the home and grieve over his poor academic performance. They believe (and rightly so) that his actions are a result of his public schooling. They fail to realize, however, that their lack of discipline in the home exacerbates Johnny's problems.

They pull him out of public school and try to homeschool. "Try" being the operative word. They are not committed to homeschooling, nor are they interested in it for moral reasons, they just want to see if it will 'work'.

Johnny's behavioral problems are manifested in a homeschool environment just as much as in the public school. His parents are exasperated and disappointed. They didn't know how to maintain order and discipline when he was only home part of the day, how on earth can they do it now that he is home ALL day, and that they are responsible for his education.

Johnny is just as much a pain now as he was before, and his parents cannot handle it. He is bored and misses his school friends, and he takes it out on his parents.

His parents return him to the public school system, where teachers take note that he has learned nothing during his absence and is every bit the problem child he was before.
Teachers form assumptions that homeschooling does not work, and share these ideas with those who inquire.

And that's how it goes...

Answer 10

The concept of home schooling directly threatens the entire core of a teacher's life. They went to school for years to learn HOW to teach. To think that an average person could teach their own child without specialized education threatens their reason for being. It takes a very well-grounded, unemotional person to realize that not every child does best in a school environment, and that home schoolers benefit because they can be taught in the way that fits them best. I think colleges are better judges of the quality of education that homeschoolers receive, since they see the finished product. My child might be behind in "his studies" but he's way ahead in being able to self-motivate, deal with adults, set his own goals, and learn things when he needs to.