Why do people home school their kids? Are the public schools not good enough?

Answer 1

to some it's not.

you could say that "no child left behind" just means that the class can only go as 'fast' as the slowest student.

Public schools are, at best, - mediocre. If you want the 'best' for your kids, - then you would take a look at "doing it yourself".

Answer 2

Some people home school their children due to religious or moral beliefs. Others feel that the public school system is not up to par.
I went to public school. But my public schools were safe and the teachers were very efficient. Now that I have children of my own, I am very worried about the public school system. Luckily, we are in a good school district, so I have nothing to fear.
My worry is the whole "No student left behind" policy. It means that if one of the students in not doing so well in the class, then the class as a whole has to keep repeating the same material until there is an understanding. This keeps children from pressing forward with newer materials.
There are pros and cons to both home schooling and public schools. I have made a list of criteria that I want my children to learn, what I think an adequate class size is, and so on. Looking at test results for a district is a good way to seeing how your child might do in the school system. I think if it was not that great, then I would home school them myself.

Answer 3

Different parents have different reasons. Sometimes it's so the parents can integrate religious education into their childrens' studies, often parents don't feel the public school in their area is up to par, some parents would like their children to have time & access to classes most public schools don't offer without taking up their whole life with classes & homework, and some parents feel their kids can move along much faster in their studies on their own. (This is almost always the case because a huge amount of time is wasted in classes while other kids ask questions or need discipline, or the teacher is explaining something that other kids need but your child may already have down solid.)

The success of homeschooling really depends on the parents. I've seen homeschooled kids that have no social skills whatsoever and also kids who are behind their grade level, but I also have seen homeschool work great. There is a family from my church that homeschools and the kids are all socially well-adjusted, ahead of grade level, and are very normal happy teenagers because they do a lot of things with other homeschooled kids. This particular family homeschools for pretty much all of the reasons I listed, and specifically because it is a very musical family and they are able to be involved in private lessons and performance groups during the day without giving up their social lives. The kids' social development is just as important as academics and unfortunately not all parents realize that, but there are some great homeschool parents that do and really make an effort to get their kids involved in group activities.

So basically no, the public schools are not good enough, and we really need to work to change that because homeschooling is really only a possibility for families that can afford a stay-at-home parent. Not many families can do that these days from a financial standpoint.

Answer 4

No, the public schools are NOT good enough. We live in Michiana Shores IN and it's a lakefront community so you would THINK that the schools are good. Not so. They are notorious for violence. I have been homeschooled ever since I was 6. Now I'm 14. It's ok. There is a common misconception that homeschoolers sit in a corner of a little dark room and sit with their head in a book all day. No! Homeschooling is sitting learning for half the day, just like public school kids, but then extracurricular activities are the other half. You CAN NOT homeschool without other HS families. You need to join your local hs group and join the activites, like 4-H, Jr.Leaders, Teen Advisory Board at your library, Spelling bee's, and other things like that. Sitting in the room is only a part of the picture. Being with your friends is the other part.

Answer 5

No they are not. Part of this is because parents are both working and children are in day care 12 hours a day from the time they are 6 weeks old until they are old enough to be home alone. They are awake and with their parents for 2-3 hours a day during the week and then on the weekends. And the parents are tired, stressed out, and overwhelmed trying to get everything done. So they look to the schools to raise their children. A task the schools are in no way prepared to do. So the kids are raising each other. They are rude, violent, disrespectful, have no respect for authority, and have no comprehension of cause and effect.

Class sizes are 35 to 1 and usually include more than one child with emotional or physiological problems like add, adhd, Irlens, eye issues where they don't work together, glare issues because of poor lighting in school, dyslexia, beahvioral problems, and learning disabilities. So the teachers are fighting to keep their head above water. And the schools are overcrowded. Last year the 3rd-5th grade classes at the elementary classes in my area were so crowded and so lacking in classrooms and teachers to service the kids, that children were told they could not bring backpacks or bags of any kind to school because the desks needed to be close together and there was not room to hang bags on the back of their chair.

They rely on a POOR state test for funding so the administrators tell the teachers that if their kids don't master they are fired. So the teachers teach primarily test taking skills, not basic educational skills and the building blocks of learning, just how to pass the test. They no longer teach handwriting, or memorizing addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. They teach the "concept" They teach to the lowest common factor so kids who are quick learners are bored and told to wait. There is no art program, no recess after 2nd grade, PE 3 times a week, music 1 time a week, library 1 time per week. Anything else would take away from the valuable teaching time needed to get the kids to pass the test.

Bullying, violence, drugs, teen pregnancy, and sexual promisquity are rampant. And teachers cannot stop it. They are overwhelmed.

So we homeschool. I raise my child. I teach him math and values, and self reliance. We are fine.

Answer 6

I am homeschooled - have been since I was in kindergarden, and I love it! I still get the social side through other activities and events that sometimes my parents have to push me to do, but without getting the bad influences that can come from the public schools. My mom tutors some kids from the local public school, and even the ones that are in junior high or high school can't read very well, don't know their multiplication tables, and can't spell well at all. It's pretty sad. So it's nothing against public schools in general, it's just what my parent's chose to do to get their kids what they thought was a better education. I still have friends and I love my life! I also respect my parents alot for what they've done for me and my sisters....my mom has been homeschooling for 18 years!

Answer 7

No quite frankly they are not. My eldest child went to public school for a year. At the end of the year they handed out the report cards, my sons said he was competent in everything they had learned that year, being the proud mum that i am i bragged about this to friends and family members, encouraging him to show people what he had learned in his first year...sadly, he knew nothing, couldn't even complete his ABC. They were going to be quite happy to send him onto the next year level not knowing what he should know just because they don't like to hold back kids because it affects their "self confidence". Don't they think that going on to be the "dumb kid" in class and teased because they don't know anything would hurt their self esteem a whole lot more?....Anyway thats why i decided that i was going to home school my children. That being the decision maker there are many other pluses to it. We are a closer family because we spend more quality time together, they are not exposed to negative influences (drugs, alcohol, teen sex), and they have a great work ethic and commitment to the task at hand because they have seen their mother commit to homeschooling and see it through. I could rave on for hours but I'm sure your already bored.

Answer 8

I was in public schools from pre-k till the start of 10th grade. All i can say is it was a nightmare to say the least. The people there will do anything to get ahead socially even at the expense of other peoples feelings they stop at nothing. I felt trapt there and in class i was bored out of my mind. Having to constantly be teased and i just sat there taking it all. It left me an emotional wreck. I'm getting better now that im being homeschooled and im loving it. I'm more outgoing and enjoying things more. Plus if i get started early on my work i can be done WAY before my friends get out of high school. Its made my outlook on things a lot better too.

so no. public schools aren't good enought unless of course people enjoy that kind of stuff. plus now i can study my religion which public schools don't allow either.

Answer 9

1 of our kids had asthma, the kind you need a breathing assistance machine in the home for frequent emergencies. Certain teachers didn't think he seemed sick because most of the time he was OK if they saw him. Plus, we didn't raise him to have a "sick" personality. We got tired of dealing with them and the idiot social worker who hassled us each year for an additional statement from the doctor. As if it was suddenly going to go away one day and the doctor had plenty of time to fill out her bs paperwork.

It turned out good anyway. The rule was if the weeks' work is done by Thursday afternoon you get Friday off. (We lived in LA so the choices were go to the beach, Knotts or Disneyland.) The education was not substandard and the county tested every month to make sure. They issued an official graduation certificate at the end of the year identical to the public school's. It turned out fine.

Answer 10

I don't think it's so much that they don't think public schools aren't good enough, but it's their choice. Parents try to do what they feel is best for their children. If they feel home schooling is best, then more power to them. Parents that home school sacrifice a lot and it takes a lot of dedication and it's a big responsibility. My hats off to home-schoolers.

Oh, btw, I sent mine to public school. They turned out OK. I'm not sure I would have had the time or self-discipline to home school them.

Answer 11

You've asked a wonderful question.

My husband (a junior high teacher) and I (a former elementary teacher) were first drawn to homeschooling because of the social atmosphere at school--we did not like what we saw, what our kids would be growing up in. Public schools can do nothing about that unless they are to tell parents how to parent their children and return to the multi-level classrooms (like the one-room schoolhouse) where a more natural social organization is in place.

We also began to realize that public schools are offering a particular type of education, offered at a specific pace. Since we do not have to accept this offer, we decided to turn it down. We know, as teachers, that it makes far more sense to allow the child who is learning quickly to go on ahead (but you can't usually do that) and to give more time to the child who needs more time. Having taken courses in developmental psychology, we also know that there's nothing that says that every child is going to be ready at the same age to do the same thing. Just as there is variation in when kids learn to speak or learn to walk, there is variation as to when they are ready to learn other things. Our school system, however, is not set up to recognize either the development of the child nor what is in its best educational interests. Its purpose is to provide a set education to everybody every year, which means it has the content pre-decided, as well as the rate.

This is all fine for most people--that's why they send their kids to school. For others, they decide that they'd like something different for their kids (be it socially, academically or other) or their kids and the system are not working well together so they make the move to pull the kids out. Just as some reject their neighbourhood public schools to go with specialized programs in magnet or charter schools, or even opting for private schools, including boarding schools, others are prepared to take the challenge on themselves in what they feel is the best interest of their children.