What do you think of homeschooling?

Answer 1

Home-schooling is amazing! I've been home-schooled my whole life and I don't miss out on any social activity. People who think that people who home-school live in isolated places and don't have any friends are just too ignorant to check out the facts of home-schooling. It's a great opportunity, and you can rest assured that your children will get social activity, effective education without distractions, and they can be in their home environment; without all of the chaos and unnecessary drama, as well as not being involved with drugs, alcohol, and judgmental clicks and bullies.

Now, does that sound bad to you?

It's been great for me. :)

Answer 2

As someone who experienced 11 years of high school and 1 (I had two years left, but finished in 1) year of homeschooling, I loved the homeschooling. People automatically assume that homeschoolers miss out on opportunities in life, but homeschoolers do sports, cheerleading, and other activities. Readers Digest published an article in its Sept. 2006 issue that gave an awesome example of homeschooling. It also cited a Columbia U. study that showed that homeschoolers score higher than p.s. students on college entrance exams.
People also assume that homeschoolers are taught by their parents and that their parents grade their work. This is not necessarily true. Yes, there are some examples of this, but many homeschoolers go through distance education classes. They have a teacher at a school that grades their schoolwork and sends it back to them. Also, when you get curriculum from your local high school, you send the schoolwork into the school for grading.

Answer 3

I think homeschooling is great if parents are committed to making it great! But your question is so open-ended, I thought I'd tackle some of the comments already provided:

Homeschooled kids do not need to miss out on the real world. In fact, many homeschooled kids get more time in the real world compared to kids in school who are in desks most of the day. That's the real world? I don't think so. My kids get together with others at least once a week, we go out to the library every week, we go on field trips, we even just go to the store during the day and they make their own purchases, talk to the cashiers, etc. THAT's the real world.

The homeschooling parents I know well enough to know what they do or don't teach their kids are very open about drugs and things like that. They're not hiding their kids from the world any more than somebody is if they don't let their children watch a lot of tv and commercials.

Kids do NOT need daily social interaction with their peers. How the heck did the human race survive for all those years??????????? This idea of being with same-age peers all the time has only been around roughly 100 years. And look at the social changes among kids and teens in the past 100 years. Coincidence? We are used to having children grouped that way so we think it's normal, even desirable, but there is no psychological nor social reason for it. It's all about logistics: when school became mandatory and there was a big push (and often requirement) to actually go to school, they had to figure out what to do with the masses of children. Educationally and socially speaking, same-age groupings are worse for kids than the multi-age groupings.

I have never heard of a homeschooling parent simply leaving the social interactions up to their child. After all, until the kid can drive, it's the parent taking the kids everywhere. Besides, most homeschooling parents have a desire to be with other adults on a regular basis, too, which is what homeschool activities provide: the parents do their thing and the kids do theirs. I've NEVER heard of a homeschooling parent not doing anything simply because their child was shy. I have met homeschooling parents who have purposefully got out to a regular group to help their child become comfortable with that group and make friends.

Regular schooling did not force me to socialize and become well-adjusted. In fact, I blame school for some of my issues. I became more sociable after I was out of the whole school scene and surrounded by people all the time, people who could be cruel and heartless.

I think it's a shame that people have such poor experiences with their parents and assume that means that other parents are the same and shouldn't be raising their kids. What, a class full of 30-same age peers and a strange adult are going to do a better job?

I also think it's a shame that people have this conception of homeschooled kids being in a box until their 18th birthday. The older they get, the more they do other things outside the home. That is what I've seen consistently over the years. Some go on to high school at a public school. Others decide to stay at home so that they have time to work and participate in sports (they have time because doing their school work at home takes less time than if they had to go to school). They gradually increase their time out in the world.

I also know of no family that doesn't get chaotic from time to time. :)

Answer 4

I think homeschooling is great. I've been homeschooled my entire life, but last year I decided to go to middle school. Everybody thought I would be the "dumb kid" because I had been homeschooled, but I definitely wasn't. I had two advanced classes, straight As, gold honor roll. And even though I'm fairly smart, I don't look like a huge nerd or anything.

For the people who are answering saying that homeschoolers don't get enough socializing or they're stupid, you couldn't be more wrong. I have met so many public school students that are so dumb. It's because they're sitting in school all day (where they don't want to be) and so they don't pay attention, and do the very minimum of what they have to do to pass. And they don't get nearly as much socialization as we do. You probably think we're religious people who hide in our houses praying all day. WRONG. Many homeschoolers belong to homeschool groups, who meet up very often, have fun activities to do for all ages, and so much more.
Also, you say we miss out on "real life". Wrong again!
We have so much more time for real life, trust me, I've experienced both sides here. At public school it's wake up, go to school, do homework, go to bed. Repeat. Weekends make dumb decisions because you haven't had any fun all week, so do whatever you can to acheive that.
Homeschooling it's
wake up, do school, no homework, have a whole day to do whatever you want. Go out with your family to the zoo or something fun and educational.

Kid's in public school don't care to learn because they're forced to all day, so why when they're not at school would they want to learn? They feel like learning is something boring and forced upon them. It should be a fun experience, and you should want to do it.

Answer 5

I think homeschooling has its merits, especially from an academic standpoint, so long the teacher (whether a parent or a hired tutor) ensures that the student works consistantly instead of taking every day as a holiday. Students who might have difficulties in a traditional classroom benefit from one-on-one instruction, while gifted students are not held back by the pace of a classroom of average students. Many colleges and universities, understandably, will not accept homeschooled students unless they have passed standardized exams, which many homeschoolers have complained about (which is silly, because without this method of judging a student's academic performance, it's rather like saying "My mommy thinks I'm smart"). So from an academic standpoint, overall, homeschooling is good. But school is not just about academics. The school years are important for social development as well, and while homeschooling might be fine for an extroverted child in a neighbourhood full of other children, shy or introverted children may not feel driven to take the initiative in developing their social skills. I know that if I had been homeschooled, I could probably have passed high school several years early but I would likely have had absolutely no friends at all. Regular schooling forced me to socialize and become a more well-rounded and well-adjusted individual.

Answer 6

I think it's a wonderful option! We go through a program through our county dept of education and the teachers are amazing and supportive of homeschooling parents and their children/students. There are also classes there (computers, art, music) where kids CAN socialize with one another and also focus on their areas of talents. Homeschooling is really a great alternative and before one judges, they should actually see what goes on with homeschooling before they make up an opinion.

Answer 7

home school is great, and this is coming from one. All these adults can guess what it is like to be home schooled but how can they really know? I have been home schooled for 5 years and i don't miss a day back at public school. Tips if decide to do homeschooling
-1. most school are(if you are a good preswader) will alow a child to take one class in the school and the rest at home, if you fell you can't get all those chemicals into your kitchen then take science.
-2. if you can't spend all day with you child there are MANY online schools that have structure, lessons, and teachers. You can look into names like, Christa Mculiffe, Oak meadow, Clanlora.
-3 to make sure your kid has friends and can be "social" put him or her in accademics, do thing to keep them bussy so there not sitting home all day wishing they were somewere else.

Answer 8

Depends on the parent, their education and the program.

In general homeschool allows you to take in things at your own speed, instead of the speed of a public school year.

If it takes 30 weeks to do a 20 week course who cares, especially if you LEARN something!

Answer 9

Homeschooling is awesome. My kids are involved in real life every day, instead of being locked in a brick-n-morter building for seven hours a day. Learning happens all the time, from real life, without differentiating between learning and living. They have friends from all age groups, all ethnicities, and they know them authentically, not in an artificial society created by a teacher who doesn't have the time to get to know the kids.

We were in schools for five years, quite extensively too, as a parent volunteer. Anyone who says they are awesome has been out for too long, or doesn't know how it really works. Anyone who says that they are okay, but kids need to learn to deal with mediocrity as a matter of society, needs to wake up.

As for getting into college, every accredited university requires standardized testing, it's call the ACT/SAT. That's the key to college admission.

Answer 10

I was public schooled from kindergarten until my freshman year of high school, then my final 3 years I home schooled. I have to personally say that I learned so much more those last 3 years because I had personal attention, and I was not being forced to learn with the curve, if you are average, below average or above average no one knows or really cares in the public school arena. I applaud home schooling

Answer 11

I believe that it is a great situation for kids if the parents are willing to put the time and effort into it.

It is better academically and socially.

Academically, Kids can work at their own pace and master one task before moving onto the next.

Socially, parents are available to help their child resolve social problems as they arise rather than waiting until situations get out of control.