Home schooling vs. public schooling?

Question

i have some friendss who want to home school their kids....i think it is a bad idea.....i have known several people who were home schooled most of therr lives and went to college and ended up failing because they have no social skills and no coping skills.....being in the real world is too hard for them....they have no common sense and cant hack it in the real world....i would never in a million years home school my kids....that is the stupidest thing ever....but i was just wondering what other peoples options are and how they feel about home vs public

Answer 1

i totally understand where you are coming from....when i went to college....i knew a girl who lived upstairs from me in my apt. building and she had been home schooled her entire life.....and she was the weirdest, most socially inept person i know.....she didn't believe in showering and had no idea what it meant to have social skills.....she couldn't listen to anyone without judging them because she was always right........she couldn't hold a conversation because she didn't know what it meant to give and take and how to not interrupt people......she lasted one semester before she failed out because she couldn't sit in a 2 hour class without taking a break every 10 minutes because 2 hours was no much for her brain to handle at a time......everyday activities stressed her out because she couldn't deal with people.....she wouldn't talk on the phone because people she didn't know scared her....and trust me there were a lot more issues with her....this is all because she never socialized with anyone outside or her family and dint know how to deal with everyday situations....i am totally against home schooling and would never do that to my kids......i am a highly educated person and have worked in many public schools and they are not always the best place but they offer the best education that they can and a ton more than you cant get if you stay home for your whole life......if you want to home school you kids....great but expect them to fail in the real world

Answer 2

The ignorance of homeschooling on here continues to amaze me. I went to public school but I homeschool my kids. We enjoy the freedom it provides. My kids don't have to be stuck in a 4-walled classroom 5 days a week. We are out and about in the REAL world. My kids are now 15, 12 and 10. They have more friends then I can count and "social skills" are not something I'm worried about at all. However, not everyone can homeschool. It's a personal and family choice. I agree with the others - do what is right for you and don't worry about everyone else.

Answer 3

First, I MUST say that by home schooling - no guns at random to kill anybody is a better chance of not happening by home schooling!!!! Christians believe in it DEEPLY! Public Schools are working HARD at being 'fair' about 'religion' and are putting it WAY out of proportion therefore causing parents to WANT to home school!! However, I do agree with the socializing part. TOUGH!! It's a hard call!! I personally just can't afford to be home otherwise I would and figure out a way to get 'socialization' in there as well. I'm a 'people person' and would not find that a hard thing to do!

Answer 4

I live the first answer it truly explains home schooling.
home schooling is a wonderful opportunity for both the parents and the child. I was home schooled all my life up to now (dual enrollment 11Th grade/college). home schooled kids have a lot fewer problems than most public schooled kids. we make Friends very easily, we get along with most people because we are not raised in "cliques" like most kids. in MOST cases we have BETTER social skills than public schooled kids because we get to be around a lot more types of people. my parents made sure that we got out in the community, went on field trips (home school groups, 4-H, and many other community clubs), spent time in museums, got to talk/know the directors of at least 3 museums (2 of which I still have contact with, great home work helpers), and we were exposed to "real life" every day. while public schooled kids were reading about sea turtles we were touching them and talking to a Marine biologist. while public school kids were studying the civil war we were reenacting it, you get the idea... my dad is a college math teacher too, so from the academic side we are well educated. One thing I find very funny is that I started college 2 years early and I am in more advanced classes than 95% of the high school grads from 2006. I also have 5 friends from my home school group that started 2 years early with me. in home schooling I was not exposed to drugs, alcohol, school shootings, racism, and a world of other problems that public schooled kids have. I did get real life experience, a great education, am not in any way racist, don't do drugs, drink, or go shooting people I don't like.

oh, and do not listen to any one who says that home schooling is bad for kids. it is not. I am living proof. I have great social skills, and lots of friends.

just an extra note: I went skiing with 30 other youth this past weekend. and I know all of them as friends. I was very social. (not only did I do the group games but I helped explain them too.) we had a great time together.

Answer 5

I plan on homeschooling my kids. I hear the socialization argument the most--which is really the WORST argument against homeschooling . . .
Did you know a recent study shows that the AVERAGE homeschooled kids were better socialized than kids who attended public or private school?

Kids who attend public/privite school are only around kids their own age. Home schooled kids attend activites through their local public school (yes, homeschooled children can play football, be cheerleaders, attend school dances and other school sponsered functions int heir district) and also spend time IN THE REAL WORLD with mom and dad.

They put a test group of homeschooled children and public school chilren in a room with lots of people of all different ages and guess what--the homeschooled kids who had been exposed to people of all ages mingled better witht he crowd than the public school kids.

Now . . . lets talk about the real world--is everyone you work with your age or at least with in a year of you?? No?? Then how real world is public school??

DONE RIGHT homeschooling is a wonderful thing. I'm sorry for your friends that their parents didn't do it right--but I think calling home schooling the stupidest thing ever is a very uninformed, uneducated comment. You should try researching homeschooling find out what it is really about (and it's not about yanking your kids out of public school because the teacher pi$$ed you off!)

Most homeschooling familes I know have the opposite problem from no socialization--they have too much socialization!! Bewteen church, sports, music lessons, feild trips and other actiivites.

And the great thing about homeschooling is you CAN prepare your kids for the real world. To teach math you can have your child balance your checkbook, help you cook dinner (measurements and fractions) Home ecc at my public school consisted of cross-stiching this little square and making a pillow out of it then cooking 2 things! What is that?!?! Home ecc for my frineds daughter included cooking family recipes for breaskfast lunch and dinner as well as desserts, washing and drying clothes, ironing, stain removal.

My husband has bought an old car he plans to use to teach the boys auto with when they are older.

My son is only 3 and we are already homeschooling (although not formally yet) It's a lifestyle--you see ways to teach your children in everyday situations. Like when my son helps me make lunch-we count the pieces of bread for sandwhiches. He helps me cook dinner almost every night--we talk about colors and shapes and textures and temprature and numbers and counting and where things come from, opposites, same--homeschooling can be wonderful if both parent and child are cut out for it.

AND--did you ever stop to think that somechildren have socialization problems even if they attend public school? I've known people that were anti social in public school. I've known people who couldn't cope with real life who attended public school. Why if a homeschooler is antisocial and can't cope or fails at something it is automaticlly blamed on the fact that he/she was home schooled??? Can't it just be their personality? Seems like a rather ignorant assumption to blame all their failures and personality quirks on homeschooling, don't you think??

Answer 6

My friend is just starting to home school her wild 11 year old son and her 4 year old daughter...

I disagree with it!!

1st off I don't think if you haven't been college educated and have teaching skills you should be allowed to home school...

2ND- they lack social skills if they aren't exposed to other kids.
I know not all home schooled kids are recluses but my friends children aren't involved with kids EVER. The 4 yr old has never been around other children and the oldest one is freaky shy- I mean freak like!!! He gets embarrassed if you speak to him and he won't answer you if you ask him a question. How weird is that? He's definitely not a good candidate for home schooling!

Answer 7

Well I really do not understand why parents do this.. why they think that they can teach them more than a school with all the things going on in classes and the new and exciting projects kids see and learn everyday. I am very happy that my child is in school making friends and meeting people. I have seen many kids who were home schooled thru grade school and fail junior high and high school, because they did not meet minimum standards in basic educational skills and their social skills were low. I totally do not agree with home schooling, but more power to those you can do it.

Answer 8

It's clear you've never met a lot of successful homeschooling families, if any. Many of the world's greatest thinkers throughout history did not have the "benefit" of standardized education. They learned at home and w/ mentors.

I read an article some time ago showing that the percent of homeschooled applicants accepted at MIT was much, much higher than the percentage of public schooled applicants.

Perhaps it would be prudent for you to do some research and check out the many homeschooling sites available on the internet before you pass judgement based on anecdotal evidence.

As for social skills...why do so many assume that mainstream schooling is somehow "necessary" for proper socialization and yet worry about peer pressure, violence, drugs, sex, etc. One wonders. I have read that children in large peer groups (just the kind of setting that is normal in a public school) show WORSE behaviour than smaller mixed age groups. The mixed age groups actually show improved learning and cooperation.

Real world. Hmmm. How exactly is the mainstream school system like the real world? Many homeschooled children are directly involved in the day-to-day activities of adults. They learn first hand how to balance household budgets (math), interact w/ ppl of all ages (social skills), build things (math, geometry), organize, bake and cook (fractions, chemistry, etc), etc etc. Chilrend in mainstrea education tend to learn the "basic" subjects divorced from their everyday use...how many kids have complained about math saying, "Why should I learn this when has nothing to do w/ my life?" Often the same thing is said about science and history. There's no CONTEXT for what they are learning. How much more sense does it make to learn about fractions when baking a cake and doubling or halving the recipe? Or chemistry by the interaction of ingredients? Or geometry by constructing a raised bed garden and filling it w/ just enough soil? Or budgeting and shopping? Balancing a checkbook? On and on.

I have a 4.5 year old and a 17 month old. I have watched in pure amazement as they discover their world. Children truly are natural scientists. Long before standardized education "introduces" them to the concept of the scientific method, they are hypothesizing, testing their ideas, forming theories of their world, etc. No one seriously believes children have to be TAUGHT to walk and talk, but ppl have believed that children cannot learn to read, do math, etc w/o explicit teaching by a "professional" teacher. I do not believe that.

My 4.5 year old daughter discovered the joy of letters and numbers quite some time ago. She can do some basic arithmatic, write her name, and recognize many of the words she has seen on a regular basis. Her vocabulary is truly astounding and she progresses at a lightening rate though we do not sit down and show her flash cards, etc. We follow her interest, talk to her like an adult for the most part, and read to her all the time. Her natural curiousity her to learn. I think EVERY child has this inborn, though mainstream schooling can often squelch that.

My homeschooling leanings are more towards "unschooling," but other, more structured types of homeschooling have been very successful too. Perhaps it's a matter of having a loving, dedicated person to teach the child w/o the interference of administrators and beaurocracy...not to mention overcrowded classrooms.

Answer 9

for the most part i agree with you. there is one instance when i would home school my child and that is if the school district sucked. we are a military family, and sometimes the schools for military kids arent so great and are way behind other schools. in that case i would home school my child. but i strongly believe in the social interaction that children get out of going to a public school.

Answer 10

How ignorant.

I was homeschooled for 5 yrs. Let me tell you some facts about homeschooling..

-Homeschoolers tend to be MORE socialized than children who are in regular school

-Homeschoolers tend to be LEADERS in their social groups

-Homeschoolers tend to be SMARTER than children who attend regular school

-More homeschoolers GRADUATE college than children who attend regular school

-Colleges actually WANT homeschoolers and offer them scholarships as they are more likely to excel and graduate than children who attend regular school

Obviously you've never researched homeschooling? Until you do, I suggest you keep your comments to yourself. You're a great example of how bad public schools really are.