Second guessing my decision to homeschool?

Question

Details are here in this other question I asked. Thanks for any advice, pro or con.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtioYuAlhvMp8LBfm26DVTTsy6IX?qid=20070813070217AA4Yhii

pugs, I appreciate the plug for the online school, unfortunately, they don't have it in Kentucky. Kentucky is one of ten states that do not have charter school laws. Kentucky doesn't allow it, sorry.

yes my son begged me to homeschool him, so he is all for it.

Answer 1

I am a homeschooler. My teenage children are more socially "fit" than many of their peers, and they belong to extracurricular clubs, organizations, teams, etc... Either of them will gladly get up and debate any topic with anyone & they have many many friends. Don't be fooled by the negative publicity. It's just stereotyping. A very high percentage of homeschoolers are not only "accepted" into colleges, but are SOUGHT after. Anyway, the laws vary from state to state, so it's hard to say whether the school will accept his work. But MOST schools will accept him, but they may require a placement test. If you want to find out approximately how he will do in advance, you can order a California Achievement Test, admininster it to him & return it for scoring.

And just FYI, a "real" high school diploma is no better than a GED anymore. And also, If your state allows you to homeschool as a private school, you can give him a diploma yourself and it WILL be accepted as valid if you are a state-registered private school.

But a piece of advice: Don't cheat your child. If you are not going to follow through with the work, don't disable him.

ANYONE with a little common sense and a willingness to WORK at homeschooling can be successful. But don't be one of those dorks that just "pretends". They give the rest of us a BAD name, as you can well see.

On the other hand, if we judged public & private schools by the same scale, I'm sure you would see there are varying opinions there, too. No system is perfect when the people involved vary so much.

I have taught my kids ALL their lives and do NOT regret it. Not only do they have the educational skills they need, they also have homelife skills, social skills to deal with ADULTS, and we have a GOOD family life. Our realtionships are very strong, and they are POPULAR with their peers!!

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 2

I searched around on the web to check out college admissions policies, I have yet to find one that will not take a homeschool student with a parent designed transcript. I didn't just check out small private schools either, I checked out major Universities. Now some people might read over their admissions policies and think at first that they won't take homeschoolers because if you just look at Freshman admissions it will usually say something about a diploma. However, if you use the little search window that most college websites have, and you type in "homeschool", you will find that they have specific policies for homeschoolers, foreign students, and other non-traditionally educated students.

Colleges don't generally ask for the diploma, they want the transcript.

Answer 3

As someone who brought my kids home from public school, I can tell you they are much better off.

Many people who are against homeschool a) don't really know many, if any homeschoolers; and/or b) have an agenda.

My kids do not miss out on ANYTHING, in fact they have a very rich and varied life experience. My son is now a senior in high school and will be taking classes for college credit this year. He plays varsity sports, is a youth leader in our church, sings in a band, works part-time in a computer related job that pays very well, has been out of the country twice, has gone down to help with Hurricane Katrina relief twice, played and participated in the Mid-South Shakespeare Festival, and I could go on and on. Does this sound like missing out?

He just took his college entrance exams and scored WELL above national average, and is waiting to find out if he made National Merit. He will be able to participate in a graduation ceremony at our nearest large city (30 min drive), most groups in large towns offer graduation ceremonies that you can participate in. They often also have yearbooks. As for the diploma, you can issue it as a homeschool. I have never had anyone ask if my diploma came from an "accredited" high school - LOL

I encourage you to research the facts and make your decision based on those facts alone - not what misinformed people may tell you. Heck, don't even take MY word for it!!! Check for yourself.

There are some sites that REALLY helped me as I agonized over whether to take my kids out of school, maybe you will find some help here:

http://www.geocities.com/the_green_willow/considering.html

Good luck and God bless! :)

Answer 4

How are you going about doing the homeschooling? Are you going through a program or are you just doing everything on your own. There are many homeschool programs out there that have just the things you are looking for. There are also many charter schools out there as an alternative to public school. Just check them out beforehand to make sure they are accredited. You can also check to see if your high school offers independent study or homeschooling options. A lot of them do now. If you go through that your child is still eligible for clubs, sports, etc and will walk with his graduating class. But please don't think that homeschooling means a GED. I homeschooled my daughter from 6th grade on and it was a much better choice than the local high school. She didn't walk with her graduating class at the high school but she did have a graduation ceremony with cap, gown, diploma, etc. Getting into college was no problem either.

Answer 5

During the time that you HS your child, since you are going to be placing him back into the public school system, follow the syllabus that the board of education uses in your state. You should be able to find this on the BOE website or by contacting someone in that office. It will outline what each grade will learn through the year. Following this will ensure that your son stays on track with the other students in the public school in your area.

Also there are quite a few homeschool curricumums that you can use that will provide a REAL diploma and provide transcripts to other schools if needed.

Find a local homeschool group to talk with. I am sure they will be able to help answer many of your questions.

Good luck

Answer 6

I was home schooled k-12, and graduated with an academic diploma and went even went on to college. Home schooling is not inferior in any way to the public school system. There are many diploma programs that work with the state through which your child may earn a diploma. You may want to look for a local homeschooling group where you live; they can direct you such a program in your state.

Answer 7

Look you should of been giving this a try this Summer to see how it would work out. Homeschooling is something you don't take lightly. You really have to be sure and excited to do it. You don't need a Teaching certificate. Those that think that do don't have much confidence in themselves as parents. I think you should hold off if you are really that concerned and not ready. 2 years and then to only put him back into Highschool. You might as well just put him in now for that extra two years. If you homeschool it needs to be for all the right reasons and do it for the long haul. Not just willy nilly here and there.

I am homeschooling my daughter, but I plan on homeschooling her until college. I used to work in the Public and Private schools and feel as her Mother I can do a much better job teaching her. Besides who knows my daughter better than myself. I am qualified not because I taught school myself, but because I am her Mother who has been left charge over her.

If you do put him in and he has too many problems just pull him and try homeschooling then. Make sure you keep good records. Oh by the way you don't have to get a GED when you homeschool. You can do your own transcripts and do your own diploma. There are tons of colleges that accept homeschoolers and many welcome them more than students that have gone to public and private schools.

You can also do your own ceremony and have friends and family for a party. All this hoopla on proms, extra activities, ceremony, and blah blah blah is a bunch of bunk. In the whole scheme of things it doesn't matter one bit. Most people realize this once they grow up and realize what are the important things in life.

You can get everything you need for your child on your own. He will get better socialization because he won't be stuck in a classroom all day with a bunch of kids his own age. He will be out in the "Real World" socializing with people of all ages. This is what you get when you go to college and get out in the working world. You don't work and go to college with kids all the same age do you? This whole socialization thing is what people use when they have no clue as to what they are talking about. They don't know what else to say when they don't know anything about homeschooling firsthand.

People are brainwashed by the government in thinking that homeschooling=bad and public schools=good. This is awful that people would actually fall for this crap and on top of it send their own flesh and blood to the wolves to be taught an inferior education- these are the educated people I am talking about not the parents that have no confidence of raising their own children. The ones that leave it up to the village and society to teach and raise their own children.

Ok I am off my soapbox now.

Answer 8

I am COMPLETELY for homeschooling. What some of these people who don't know what they're talking about are saying isn't true, kids do wonderful being homeschooled, and actually are BETTER at communicating with others, etc. However, I can see it being detrimental to homeschool him only for one year, and then put him back in school, unless you go strictly by what his school would be teaching him. Exactly what his school would be teaching him. My sister homeschooled her son from 1-9 grade, and the last year she homeschooled him she went through her church's private school and it screwed him up with credits, so that when he went to high school the next year he wasn't in the grade he was supposed to be in. Homeschooling for one year really isn't going to help him. It would be better to decide to teach him until he graduates, make him a diploma (someone said you can and if you're registered through your state it is legitimate.... that's very true.) and have him take the state exit exam, I can't remember what that's called, I think it's the ACT test. Or, don't pull him out to homeschool him. I think you would be causing more problems for yourself. It's not that the school wouldn't accept that he was homeschooled, they have to if you're doing it legally. But anytime you switch from one school to another, credits can be screwed up. This happened to me in high school, when in two years I went through three different schools, one of which had study hall. Just missing that one class made the next school say I didn't have enough credits, and would have to make it up if I was going to graduate from there. So, all this to say, you would have to get a copy of exactly what he would be learning from THAT school, not online, and teach that. And, I have to say, that would be doing school at home, and again, not much point in doing that only for one year. If he has friends in school still, they can usually get guest passes and bring him to the social activities so he wouldn't be missing out, but still have the benefit of you teaching him all the way through high school.

Answer 9

you should homeschool, if even for a year it will change his live in a great way, even if he doesnt apriciate it. Does he want to? if he doesnt want to then just dont, because if he doesnt like it, he wont do the work ,hence he fails. but if he agrees it is best for him then by all means do it! and if it doesnt work send him back. Also, you should get him into after school programs, chorus / band, homeschool groups, study groups, penpal programs, as many as you can so he does get social interaction and isnt the kind of kid that many "anti-homeschoolers" describe. Its a woderfull thing but dont mess it up.

Answer 10

I was homeschooled during high school. I hated it at first, but turned out it was way better than the crappy public school I had been going to. My parents ordered all my books through an educational store (can't remember the name) but I turned out ok... I am, after all, a COO of a company!