why do ppl in america homeschool there children???

Question

well i always wondered why??so can anyone tell me whats the point or whats wrong with regular schools???

Answer 1

People in America homeschool THEIR children because our public school system sucks and I know that I can create a far more intelligent, creative and free-thinking child by schooling her at home. Not to mention one who is less likely to shy away from social situations she is unfamiliar with. My children can be social and comfortable in any situation with any type of people including those of other races, religions and sexual orientation and not just comfortable in a small group of kids her age....Not to mention both my children know the difference between there and their. It's not just a safety bad influence issue it is about raising better, intelligent children.


Famous people who were homeschooled
__________________________________
Presidents

George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
John Quincy Adams
Abraham Lincoln
William Henry Harrison
Theodore F. Roosevelt


Governors

Patrick Henry [VA]
Charles Pickney III [SC]
Richard D. Spaight [NC]
William Livingston [NJ]
Richard Bassett [DE]

U.S. Senators and Congressmen

William S. Johnson [CT]
George Clymer [PA]
John Francis Mercer [MD]
William Blout [TN]
William Few [GA]

Scientists/Businessmen

Blaise Pascal
Booker T. Washington
Thomas Edison
Benjamin Franklin
Andrew Carnegie
John Stuart Mill
Chief Justices of U.S. Supreme Court
John Rutledge
John Jay
John Marshall

College Presidents

John Witherspoon -- Yale
Timothy Dwight -- Princeton
William S. Johnson -- Columbia

Preachers / Missionaries

John & Charles Wesley
John Owen
Johnathon Edwards
William Carey
Dwight D. Moody
John Newton
Hudson Taylor

Authors

Mark Twain
George Bernard Shaw
Irving Berlin
Charles Dickens
C.S. Lewis

Philosopher

Charles Montesquieu


Famous Women

Abigail Adams
Mercy Warren
Martha Washington
Florence Nightingale
Phyllis Wheatley
Agatha Christie
Pearl S. Buck

Generals

"Stonewall" Jackson
Robert E. Lee
Douglas MacArthur
George Patton

Artists

John Singleton Copley
Andrew Wyeth
Rembrandt Peale
Claude Money
Ansel Adams

Composers

Anton Bruckner
Felix Mendelssohn
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Francis Poulenc

Writers
Chris Paolini, wrote a fantasy novel at 15, "Eragon,"

Hmmmmm no serial killers there

Answer 2

I am a homeschooling parent, and I do not have a disdain for teachers in general. Most of them do their best given the situation they are in, and have little room to make it better themselves. There are those that are in the wrong field, and I do have a disdain for them but that is because they have proven themselves unworthy of being entrusted with someone else's children. I do not have a disdain for public education, either. I do have a problem with the fact that it is having poor results and our government thinks that the answer is to throw more money at it. My children are receiving an education superior to that which they would receive in the public schools, and at a fraction of a cost. Why can I do better with them without all of that money? I do think that more people should homeschool, but it has nothing to do with the teachers and the schools. It has to do with the fact that homeschooling provides a customized education where students are more likely to success compared to the cookie cutter mold they have to fit in at a public school. Is that disdain? No. But no teacher can honestly tell you that they can meet the individual needs of EACH AND EVERY student. That is why I homeschool my children.

Answer 3

Just because someone homeschools doesn't necessarily mean they think there is something wrong with public schools.

When we started homeschooling it was supposed to be a temporary thing for a few months with our oldest child. We just liked it so much, and it was working so well, we decided to make it permanent. We continue to homeschool our oldest, who is going on 17, as well as our two younger children.

We love the freedom of our schedule without public schools involved-- there is much less stress and rushing involved than when our daughter went to school. We love that our kids are in so many varied educational and social activities-- much more varied than public schools ever offered or gave us time for. We love that they are learning according to their own needs, paces, interests, and learning styles. We love that education has become a part of life that our children can appreciate, that we don't have to force them to learn things or demand that they do things, no arguing about doing homework or groundings until test grades come up.

Homeschooling has simply been a very enjoyable adventure for us all, and has produced great results and happy, bright children. It's not a rebellion, just a preferance. It doesn't need a point.

Answer 4

First of all, it's not just people in America.
Now, they homeschool their children for many different reasons. Sometimes it's religious. Other times, it's because the child has health problems that make it easier to homeschool the child than to ship them off to public school. And sometimes, it is because our public school system is horrible. It is not like many countries. We have had so many school shootings in the past few years, it is scary. Studies have also shown that homeschooled children, on average, are smarter and score higher on college entrance examinations. Most of the time, it is not just a single reason. Many factors are involved. I was homeschooled for the last two years of high school after we moved. We moved to an area with a huge high school (I was used to small). It was a very poor quality of an education. I was homeschooled, and I finished high school in nine months.
My guess is, you are not from the U.S. Come and see our schools, and you will understand. The standards are much lower than in other places, and many are dangerous.

Answer 5

Well, what's the point of sending people to school? Or rather, what was the original point of sending people to school? Traditionally, children all over the world were educated at home. Schools came into being to provide education to children whose parents couldn't or wouldn't do it themselves, for whatever reason.

I think this is still the reason for schools: schools are for those who can't or won't educate their children themselves. If parents feel their children will receive a better education at schools, then that's their choice. What happened is for a while, it wasn't really a choice, so everybody just sent their kids to school because you had to. Now it's most people send their kids to school because that's what they've always known.

As for the schools themselves, it depends a lot on where you live or the schools themselves. Sometimes the education itself is poor; sometimes the social climate is poor. In some places it's just plain dangerous to go. Where I live, starting at the jr. high level (roughly age 12), there are problems with drugs, alcohol, gangs, not to mention more mild things like the clothes they wear, skipping school and spraying things on their arms to put on fire. (Yes, I'm serious.) There are also problems like bomb threats and the schools here have almost no security standards and there have been issues with people sneaking into bathrooms and molesting children, another case of a teenager who went into one school, got handed a knife by a student at the school and had gone to attack this other kid--over an iPod.

Now, this is just where I live. A lot of places aren't this bad, but it still doesn't change that a lot of the time, the decision to homeschool is not so much based on the problems with the schools but just on being willing and able to do the job, raise their children, themselves.

Answer 6

Why do people Homeschool in America??? Simply because we can and not have to fear Goverment retaliation (like in Germany).
There are many different reasons for homeschooling...every family does it for reasons that are their own. The reason does not always include Religion.
Some reasons for homeschooling are : distance-living too far from the school and taking a bus everyday creates a longer day that is not conducive to learning;Health-sometimes a child for health or medical reasons is better off at home (this is our reason)-many times even the most minor health issue is made 10x's worse because of the School System 'zero tolerance' policy which makes it illeagal to carry even an inhaler or epipen.
Belief--whether this be religious or community based or heritage based (many times it is because something has worked so well for them for yeah so many years, so why should they change?).

When you look at the School System today and sit and weigh all the facts, it can be a very scary thing. When we attended school as children, there was none of this FORCED Sex Ed and even if you attended it (by parental permission only) it was age/grade appropriate( now we have Teachers showing Brokeback Mnt in Health class to 5th graders); the only times you heard about gangs were if you lived in a BIG city or town(New York,LA), now even the smallest of towns have a gang problem;once upon a time discipline actually existed in the school system and you knew that if you got sent to the Office for something bad then either your folks were gonna show up and beat the tar outta you or you'd get it when you got home, now the kids look at you and go 'so whatcha gonna do about it?'(sheesh what happen to decency???).

When the world returns to normal and the School System gets their head out of their you-know-whats and come back to reality ( instead of haveing Kindergardeners arrested for haveing a temper tantrum), I'll THINK about sending my kid back to a Goverment run Institution. In the meantime I'll exercise my right to raise my child the way I see fit and the way our Founding Fathers and Mothers were raised (at home).

****FYI**** my kids get plenty of socialization away from Mommy and Daddy. They are involved in Girl/Boy Scouts,Ice Skating,Horseback Riding,Gymnastics,Soccer,Football,Ballet, Historical Reenactment,Living History, Volunteer work, know how to fend for themselves and protect themselves, help dad fix the car, do chores around the house, say Please/Thank you/Yes Ma'm/No Ma'm/Hold doors for their Elders/actually dress so you can tell they are a boy and girl, My daughter (who is 9 yrs) wants to be a Palentologist and my son (14 yrs) wants to be an Army Ranger.

Answer 7

Well actually it was my choice! First our school system SUCKS our schools was robbed of thousands of dollars and after that EVERYTHING just went down! They fierd atleast 200 teachers/staff. And there is less sercurity(and yes we need it). Some of the teachers do not even care about us they actually told us "We dont care we already graduated highschool and colledge" My school just had this kid that had a list who he wanted to kill! And in the 3rd grade we had a bomb threat*The schools are very dirty,that is another reason i am homeschooled. Some of my friends wish they were being homeschool right now.

And the personal reasons are because, i can go at my own pace,i dont have to sit in a room for 2 hours and learn nothing(oh did i tell you that they cutt down the classes and made the most important classes 2hrs in my school).I will not have sick days(i had 20 last yr).I can go to the bathroom when i want to(we only could go before lunch).I might can even graduate early!

Answer 8

According to a 1999 study, US parents homeschool mainly (48.9%) because they feel they can give their child(ren) a better education at home. The second most common response (38.4%) was religious reasons. Third (at 25.6%) was due to a poor learning environment at school. The answers are more than 100% because parents could choose more than one answer. There were about 15 reasons given.

The full study can be accessed at the link below. Granted, this study is 8 years old, but I'm sure the numbers are pretty similar even today.

EDIT: I just rediscovered a more recent article (2003). The numbers are somewhat different, but the order is still the same. Read it for yourself at the second link.

EDIT: (to Chatty82) If 90 minutes per week of Sunday school is enough to raise kids to be Christ-like, I guess they only need 90 minutes of school per week to learn the basics of reading, writing and math. BTW - Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states here in the US. Next time, check your facts first.

Answer 9

We began homeschooling because our younger daughter became ill and had to do chemotherapy and was not able to be around other kids. We continued to homeschool because we like the freedom it provides. It allows us to follow our own schedule and gives my children opportunities they would have never had if they were in school. My 10 yo daughter assists in surgery at a local vet hospital one day a week, owns her own pet sitting/dog walking business and has created her own foundation to save feral cats. My 14 yo daughter also has found opportunities that would have otherwise been closed for her. She designed the website for our public library, started her own business on ebay, takes college courses, and will graduate highschool next year. All these opportunities were made possible because we homeschool. If they went to public school they would have never had the time with all the other after school activities they have going on. I see nothing wrong with public schools, homeschooling just works better for our family.

Answer 10

I homeschool, and I believe I homeschool for many of the same reasons that other people homsechool. I'll share with you why I homeschool, perhaps that will help.

1. I wish to raise my children with Christ-like character. This is actually being discouraged in public schools, not only by the curriculum, but by the other children.
2. God has been completely removed from the school. In my opinion, this is what has caused the public school's demise. Statistics support that, although I doubt the general public would. ;)
3. Because many parents are no longer involved in what their children are doing, especially in the schools, children are extremely disruptive in schools these days. A teacher spends most of his/her time disciplining, instead of teaching.
4. Many school districts have poor standards of education, like ours.
5. No discipline in the schools

Answer 11

What you call "regular schools" (I'm assuming you mean public) are a new thing. When they were formed the original purpose of "regular schools" was indoctrination (Just read the writings of Horace Mann) and a lowering of the education level of the average people. Prior to public schools, Americans were by far the best educated population in the world and most of them were homeschooled.

In the US, most people were classically educated with The Trivium which consisted of three stages grammar, logic/dialectic, and Rhetoric. When public schools were formed they were designed to teach only the grammar stage.

As cumpolsory attendence laws were put into place many parents (and school officials) felt that such laws essentially banned homeschooling and compelled parents to send their children to schools.

For parents who had no money for or would have had to struggle to pay for tuition, the idea of "free" schooling must have been very appealing. Thus those who were poor and many in the middle class began to recieve an inferior education while those with more money continued to get a complete education at private schools.

As far as indoctrination goes, just look at how far we have come in the last 150 years. When public schools started, they had to have the appearance of being like the private schools. Thus the Bible was still taught in most schools and prayer was still allowed.

Over a course of more than 100 years that teaching was forcibly removed from the classroom and has been replaced with the humanist teachings which is what, the Father of American public Education Horace Mann and his cohorts, originally intended.

Look at where it has brought us. Just a week or so in boulder Colorado a high school had a speaker who told students to engage in sexual behaviors and experiment with drugs. The scary part is that the students, school faculty, and many of the parents saw nothing wrong with what the speaker had to say.

10 Reasons to Homeschool



1. To ensure that the child(ren) involved are exposed to the right values.

2. Homeschoolers generally receive a better academic education

3. Parents can control what their kids are exposed to and when.

4. Homeschoolers generally have better social skills than heir traditionally schooled peers (mostly because parents are there to help with social problems as they arise)

5. Homeschoolers are less likely to be sensitive to each others differences; creating a more productive environment for a socially awkward child to build social skills.

6. Homeschoolers have closer relationships with their parents

7. Homeschoolers are less likely to have behavioral problems

8. The symptoms of many learning and developmental disabilities (such as Asperger's Syndrome and ADHD) become significantly more mild and in some cases disappear altogether when the kids are switched from a classroom setting to homeschool.

9. Home schooling works around your family's schedule rather than the family having to work their lives around a schools schedule.

10. Many Universities (including most of the ivy leagues) actively seek out home school graduates and some have offices for which the sole purpose is to meet the needs of home school graduates.