Is homeschooling a simple matter of academics?

Answer 1

It's a lifestyle ;D

Answer 2

No it was not, home schooling is all about family, and being able to raise your children as well as direct their upbringing.
Academics are only one component of this.
Home schooling is so much more, we can be here for a while if I'd explain what it is to us, but in one word it's a life style.
Home schooling is a natural extension of basic parenting, you just add the academics as they are ready, and proceed from there.
Daily living, and all the things that are part of daily life are a great part of their education; they get to live it daily without the constraints of an artificial environment that only tries to recreate it, and fails to do so, because learning was never meant to be that way.

Children learn much more, and mature in a much more positive way when they interact with people of all ages and backgrounds each, and every day, and work along side the adults that they need to learn from.

For young people to grow up to become the capable adults they need to be, they need to learn by doing not by merely reading about it in a book, and having to wait until they are considered old enough to be part of the adult world.

Answer 3

No.

Academics wasn't even something we thought of when we first decided to homeschool--the social atmosphere of school (we are both teachers) really didn't sit well with us. Our daughter was still a baby and it wasn't until she was 3 that academics came as an additional reason.

Homeschooling itself now is a matter of raising children in all domains: academic, mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, social, etc. There are parents who think it's just about the academics and neglect parts. The bulk of the parents I know do consider the whole child.

ADDED: Oh good grief to the person who responded "no way,zero exposture,public movement of the child,understanding the external world will be lowwwww,kindly dont encorage that". We just spent the entire day yesterday with a group of homeschoolers. We have Christmas parties and field trips with others and playdates and skiing lessons coming up. Oh, and their swimming lessons. They have Christmas shopping to do. They have a large family to be spending time with. WE DON'T LOCK OUR CHILDREN UP INSIDE THE HOUSE!!

Answer 4

At first we started homeschooling for academics and physical health. (My daughter was being put on ever increasing doses of drugs at the insistence of her teachers and principals.)
Now I realize that she is being raised free of the damaging effects of peer pressure that her public school friends are enduring. We'll never send her back to a brick school. Her best friend (age 11) is already desperate to have a boyfriend, not because she wants one, but because girls who are popular MUST have a boyfriend. And girls who aren't popular, get teased and bullied. She won't eat. She's sure she's fat. (She's pale and pencil thin.) She talks about her body in terms of individual parts and what is wrong with them. She does not like herself anymore. I'm afraid she's on her way toward an eating disorder. A year ago this girl was a straight A student and one of the best basketball players in her school. What is going to become of this child next year when she gets to middle school and the pressure is worse?
I shudder to think.

Answer 5

Absolutely not.
It is a PART of why we decided to homeschool, but is one of MANY reasons-my children were being fed political opinion as fact, my children were being exposed to things that NO child should ever be exposed to. I am not talking about the simple "just say no" to drugs. No, my childrens LIVES were in danger each day, as other students were continually bringing weapons and the random violence was going through the roof-no child should feel in danger of their lives to LEARN. I don't care what anyone says, you PROTECT your kids lives. That is your job-if someone were about to punch your kid, you would not only step in, but if it happened repeatedly you would be certain your kid was no longer around that person, right? So we gave them an environment where they learn more safely and with less risk than they public school system could provide-not all systems are that bad, but where we were living was.
It was also a matter of getting my children into the real world-the longer they were in public school the more I realized that they were being SHELTERED-they had these ideas that everything should be fair ALL the time. They just were not seeing how the real world works at all. So in order to prepare them to be adults we decided to take them out of school which was fostering these innacurate perceptions of the world and put them into volunteer positions and other scenarios where they could see and be a part of "real life in action".
There was the question of a SECOND grader in my sons class whose parents were obviously ignorant and let their child listen to lyrics to songs that went something like "Yeah my N*ggas". I don't care how well I teach my kids, I don't want they exposed (at that age) to other kids whose moral upbringing is so questionable-I decided I wanted our family to be their moral grounding (in addition to the groups they were in that had HIGH moral standards), and not the public school and their "anything goes" policy. Oh well. I wouldn't let them watch a rated "R" movie either, so sue me
There are a few other reasons, and I am sure parents will add their own

Answer 6

For us it was a matter of health, our daughter has a disorder that attacks her immune system. In the beginning we thought she would do chemo, get better and go back to school. In the end, we never sent her back and chances are we wont. Homeschooling provides her with opportunities and experiences that she could never receive in public school. More importantly, my children think for themselves, they dont need an external source to spoon feed them information. They are motivated and successful. Truthfully, I know my children have the skills to succeed, they not only have the knowledge but the tools and motivation to continue learning for the rest of their lives.

Answer 7

I actually have a seventh grade daughter and a 5th grade son. Neither of them have EVER attended a familiar college, yet have numerous acquaintances and colleagues. college isn't the only, and is on no account the final, place to socialise. we are in a homeschool team that gets jointly for educational and social activities. they often take area in classes by using our church and in some situations take area in classes by using 2 different church homes in our community. they are/have been in contact in 4-H, Scouts, Drama, Piano training, summer Camp, baseball, basketball, and so on. a number of their acquaintances are homeschooled. some attend inner maximum college. some attend public college. They get alongside with them without regard for the place they attend college. no longer credited for a good number of something- i'm not sure what that's meant to recommend. i can assist you already know that homeschoolers graduate, have been valuable interior the artwork field and in college. they are provided scholarships. some colleges actively recruit homeschoolers because of the fact they so somewhat matriculate because of the fact the homeschool getting to know ecosystem resembles college greater advantageous than a public college getting to know ecosystem. i would not take numerous suggestion on the project because of the fact people who're no longer experienced with homeschool in many circumstances don't comprehend what it easily is, and particularly of information their evaluations are based on the stereotypes and myths which stay perpetuated. particularly, seek for out a community homeschool team and ask for their suggestion/evaluations. they'd instruction manual you thru your state's regulations, what community supplies are accessible, assist you preview their supplies till now you waste time/money on something, and you gets a sense for what homeschooling is somewhat like.

Answer 8

Heavens no. We actually did it so our kids would have better social skills and for the lifestyle. Yesterday we spent the day at an Aerospace Musuem getting a tour from a WWII Fighter Pilot. My son had a 1hour discussion with him about flying fighter jets.

My kids can travel with their dad and spend a lot of great time with their friends, something they can't do with their ps friends because their ps friends have WAY too much homework to spend much time with friends.

Academics is a great side benefit though. My kids are doing very well and we are able to teach them in the way they learn best which means they actually retain whay they learn, rather then forget it as soon as the test is over which is what I used to do at at school.

Answer 9

It is my main reason for homeschooling but there are many other advantages that go along with academics.
My son is a slow learner in most subjects.
It has helped us to be able to take our time to make sure one concept is learned before going to something else.
We have grown closer as a family. We are flexible with our schedules so we take advantage of extra time some days to make up for unexpected events on other days.
We work on snow days. (smile)

Answer 10

No. Although I have to admit I would be bored to tears in school! I once spent 5 weeks at school in Primary 3 and about all I got from the experience was a deep sense of disappointment in (and betrayal by) the whole school experience; I couldn't believe that the teacher wasn't interested in teaching the likes of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner or Ulysses or Beowulf or anything by Shakespeare, Dickens, Chaucer or the Brontes to us 7 and 8 yr olds, choosing to believe instead that anything more rigorous than 'playing' was beyond kids of our age!!!!

(My 6 yr old brother can easily read and comment on the kids versions of many literature classics; even my 4yr old sister can handle such books if she's got someone to sit with her and guide her.)

I'm the kid who, at 7 yrs old, told the school principal that I came to school to learn, not to play...and, if I wanted to play, I would have stayed at home, LOL!

For my family, the decision to home educate is also heavily influenced by lifestyle; geographical location; parental opinion, politics and beliefs (as well as their own experiences of school); health concerns; the right of us kids to grow up within our own culture and community; and the finances needed to send 9 kids to boarding school at $25,000 per kid, per year.

Answer 11

No, academics are easy to get. Learning is limited by intelligence, motivation, and any special ability, given the materials (which can be just a book).

Homeschooling is about who you grow up to be, not just what you know.

Or should be.