Prove to me that homeschooling is legitimate?

Question

As a public school teacher, I find homeschooling to be ridiculous and have a largely negative impact on a child's life. I want some pro-homeschoolers to show me how you, many of which have no degree, are suited to teach children and bring them up to be successful. Show me how you can create real social experiences (which are vital) in a homeschool setting. Show me how homeschooling prepares you for the real world. Show me how the absence of things such as a science laboratory can not affect the way that your child learns. If you can truthfully show me that homeschooling is legit, there's a good chance that I will change my mind. I've known many families who have homeschooled and they all have very socially awkward kids who may have 'graduated' at 16, but would have failed out of a classroom setting. Their kids go to school in their pajamas and have month-long breaks whenever they want to. It truly seems silly and inconsistent, among many other things. I'm just running out of characters

Answer 1

I don't think it's possible to show you that it's legitimate. Why not? Because I believe you have your mind made up. The only way I could possibly truly show you is to have you come hang out with us for a few weeks, have you attend the activities we attend, have you talk to some of the parents and homeschooling kids we know. No words are going to convince you.

Could you prove to me that public school is better for my kids? Never. I've done so much research, thought so much about it and live homeschooling every day. I'm not going to be able to prove to you that homeschooling is "legitimate" any more than you could prove to me that my kids would be better off in school.

For the benefit of those reading who are sitting on the fence, I will say a bit more. I'm a former public school teacher; my husband is a public school teacher. We have lived the public schools here and do not feel they are the best things for our kids. Homeschooling came out of a desire to NOT have that negative impact on our kids.

Having no degree has no bearing on how successfully someone can homeschool their children. More than one study has been done showing that. One of the studies actually showed a slight advantage to those whose parents didn't even have a high school diploma--the reason suggested for that is that the parents were determined to make sure their children did better than they did. Wouldn't you agree that a teaching degree doesn't guarantee a good teacher? I've seen plenty of bad teachers with teaching degrees. It's those who are passionate and determined and who care who do best. Many homeschooling parents are more passionate, determined and nobody could care more for their kids than they do. It's drive and purpose that ensure success, not a degree.

My teaching degree did not include any courses on how to help kids grow up to be successful. Success doesn't come from academic achievement--many people who achieve academically struggle with later success, and many people who struggled in school enjoy great success. It's more about character than academics.

We don't have to create "real social experiences". Just living and interacting with each other is far more normal for a child than sitting in a desk most of the day, surrounded by same-age peers, listening to an adult. We also have parties, go to parties, have play dates, go to play dates, go to park days (where the kids play freely for sometimes 3-5 hours), go on field trips with other families, have the kids in various community lessons (swimming, skating, soccer, gymnastics and more) and other homeschooling activities. They have a distinct advantage over public schooled kids because they are with a different social group all the time, meeting new people all the time, talking to various ages all the time. This is how the "real" world will be after they are out of school. I would qualify it then as a more real social experience than school.

In your training, did you not learn how society used to be? Have you read nothing about what life used to be like? Do you believe that people lacked "real social experiences" before mass schooling came into being? Prove to me how the people of the past lacked real social experiences. You believe Thomas Edison (who only attended school for a couple of months), various presidents (including the Roosevelts), various scientists and authors and generals and more were lacking in social experiences? If so, then you are far too jaded to really listen, so what is the point in asking your question?

I have yet to see an elementary school that has a science laboratory. Some of the jr. highs have them, but many don't use them. Why not? Because there are 30-35 students now and the labs were designed for smaller classes (the schools were built some 20+ years ago) and it's not safe for them to use it, not to mention that the kids just don't stay focused enough. The high school labs are not used much. A few times per course, if you're lucky, and that's it. My own brother-in-law is a high school biology teacher and he is lucky if he can have the students do one lab a year. Anything else has to be a demonstration.

I'm not sure why you feel this is so huge to a student's success. Labs are helpful to learning, yes. But not doing them doesn't mean the student is not going to learn about chem, bio or physics. There are demo videos and well explained texts out there. Is it as good? Maybe not. But it's minor. I don't need a lab to learn about the periodic table and how things bond. I can read the results of an experiment and imagine what happened. Well, I don't need to really continue. Thousands of students in my city don't get regular labs, and some don't get any labs, and they still learn and are successful in college-level science. Heck, I know some private schools here that don't even have labs, yet the students can still go on to post-secondary science.

I met a boy this summer--he was 13, I think--at a homeschool conference Q&A session and when a parent thinking of homeschooling asked what disadvantages the kids (there were 6 of them) saw to homeschooling, he was the only one who brought up something. He said that the lack of a science lab was a bit of a drawback, but that it wasn't worth attending school full time to have--too many other benefits to homeschooling far outweighed it. (Let me say that this is a child who is doing the same work as his older sister and always has the choice of attending school if he wants.)

Your examples are limited, and unless you follow those students' lives for the next 10 years to see where they end up, you have no basis for judging if their homeschooling was a failure or not. You have probably met former homeschoolers who were completely fine and well educated and successful and you never knew it. What does going to school in pyjamas have to do with anything? What do month-long breaks whenever they want have to do with anything? What do a few families whose kids wouldn't be successful in a classroom setting prove? Does a kid failing in public schools prove that public schools "aren't legitimate"? Besides, you are talking about individual families and not homeschooling itself.

Let's change the question a bit: prove to me that parents raising their kids is legitimate! I find parenting ridiciulous and that it has largely a negative effect on a child's life. Look how many kids get into drugs, crime, pregnant, STD's, sleep around, care more about their friends than school or their family!

There have been various studies done on homeschooling. Some by homeschooling organizations; naturally, those could be seen as somewhat biased. One comes to mind where someone at a university set out to prove how homeschooling was detrimental, yet he couldn't prove it and it changed his mind about homeschooling. I wish I could find the specific link. But I can provide this link http://www.fraserinstitute.org/COMMERCE.WEB/product_files/Homeschooling2.pdf . The Fraser Institute has traditionally graded schools and celebrated great schools. It still continues to do that and has even set up a program to help low-income families get their kids into private schools. So, they have no vested interest in homeschooling. But their publication is very positive based on the data they collected. If unbiased data from people who have never homeschooled can't convince you, then nothing ever will.

Answer 2

Not that I am aware of and I doubt you ever will. If such a study existed the rabid anti-homeschoolers who frequent this Q&A would have ferreted it out and sited it by now. (They've certainly been asked to time and again.)The truth is, there is no profit in such a study. You cannot sell people useless products or charge them for services they don't need. Meanwhile, if a homeschool family were shown cons, they'd just develop a way to correct them. That is the beauty of the freedom of homeschool. What does not work, gets modified or eliminated quickly by the observant and creative. Charlene: She said she got the info from her local paper. How did you miss that? Wow, MORE than half of the students at your school actually graduate. So almost half of the kids fail and do not recieve a diploma? How near half? Do you find that an acceptable number? Is that suppose to impress someone? All you need is a D average to graduate. All the professional educaters and fantastic socialization can't manage 100% of the kids AT LEAST graduate?

Answer 3

Prove to me that public school is not a dismal failure for many children...

As a former private and public and now homeschool teacher, I find public school to be ridiculous for many children and often has a largely negative impact on a child's life. But don't take my word for it: Do an Internet search on terms such as "public school [keyword]" where keyword = remediation, drop out rates, violence, pregnancy, bullying, literacy / illiteracy, std, test scores, science, math.

The question was asked a few weeks ago for anti-homeschoolers to backup their assertions using data and research. Not a single person could because there is NO serious research that even suggests that homeschooling is "bad" as described.

All the data and serious research does show that homeschooling works both academically and socially.

You show me how the public school environment in any way reflects the social environment of the real world and prepares a child for the same.

Why do you assume that homeschool children do not have access to things such as science laboratories - in our case at least, we have access to science labs through universities, industry and hands-on museums that are world class.

I've known many public school "graduates" who are totally bewildered to discover that what made them popular in school (socially acceptable) is of little or no value in the real world. Plus many who can neither read nor write above a 3rd grade level and cannot do basic math (e.g cannot make change as a clerk at the grocery store) and they do fail in the real world. 30% - 40% never graduate.

Public school kids have an arbitrary amount of time to master or fail a subject, are commonly not allowed to go to the bathroom when they need, are taught in elementary school by a generalist not a specialist in any subject, are among at least a hundred students taught in middle and high school by so called "specialists," are forced to progress at a pace that is in part mandated by the beauracracy and in part by the fastest or slowest in the classroom, must adhere to an inflexible schedule that in no way reflects individual academic needs or abilities and sometimes forces a choice between necessary medical treatment and being held back regardless of academic ability and progress, are commonly subject to bullying, negative peer pressure, etc.

Talk about silly and inconsistent.

Do you have children? Perhaps when you do and they are of school age you might change your mind. Curiously, many of the homeschool parents that I know are current or former public school teachers.

Answer 4

I am homeschooled have lots of friends, enjoy school, and learn a lot because I am 1. Not in a class room with my friends ( I think that helps me to concentrate), 2. Can use instead of text books, books written by authors interested in the subject. 3. I think it is easier for me to interact with kids younger then me, because I am not always with only kids my age.
I believe there are stats that show that homeschooling is successful.
I would not want to go to public school because I do not
think I would be able to have so much fun while learning.

I have found that my public school friends get more holidays then me! I do not get teachers days off, I am having a week and two days winter break, and I have a summer break. But other then winter break I have only had one day of this school year. While my public school friends have had more then that.
I think it is up to the parent if there child is getting too many breaks or not. But none of my homeschooling friends get days off like that.
Also I think that children homeschooled by parents who have not finished collage can learn more then even there parents know by reading!
And I am also not allowed to go to school in my Pajamas, I have to wear socks and appropriate clothes to school every day.

Answer 5

Well public school isn't much better! I mean I knew people who couldn't spell women but still some how got their high school diploma! One guy I knew went to fill out an application and thought when it asked if he had a nick name that Elmo would be ok to put! I think if the parents really make the kids do the work and don't let them slack off then home schooling is a bit better then sitting in a crowded class and hardly learning anything. As for the social thing, they make groups for kids being home schooled that meet up two or three times a week and work together or just hang out. I think you are being very close minded.

Answer 6

Prove to ME that we should have to send our kids to the miserable and frightening failure that IS PUBLIC SCHOOL.

PROVE to me by ANY VALID STAT. that homeschool is bad. Do it. I know you can't. I've asked here before for anti-homeschool people to PROVE it is bad and got NOT ONE ANSWER. ZILCH.

Real social experiences? Are you calling SCHOOL a REAL SOCIAL EXPERIENCE????? When in you life are you EVER AGAIN crammed in a room with 30 other kids EXACLTY the same age as you? THAT is false.

You are SO clouded with stereotypes. My homeschooled kids DO have a science lab, not that I would call that the end all, be all of education. But they also have a college professor who teaches their science class........a lot better than the bloody P.E. COACH I HAD FOR A SCIENCE TEACHER IN PUBLIC SCHOOL!!!!!!!!

I have NO degree.....guess what? My 17 year old son just scored a 31 (out of 36) on the ACT and is going to college next year. He is studying to be a psychologist. Miserable failure there, right? Give me a break! Are you even aware of the DROPOUT rate pf Public school? So far MY homeschool has a dropout rate of ZERO! Good enough for me.

My stepson was in Public school for a while. When we got custody we took him OUT, because we got a paper he'd written where he spelled the word "sudden" S-U-N-D-I-N-G. In 8th grade! After ONE year of homeschool we had him tested and he was reading (finally) at his appropriate grade level.
Public school is a JOKE

Answer 7

I just started homeschooling my daughter last year. I pulled her out half way through her forth grade year. She way behind where she should have been in reading, spelling, and maturity. When I pulled her out I had been doing up to 5 hrs of homework with her in the evening for a few years. She had no social life she didn't go out and play she had no time for that. She just wouldn't do her work at school. I pulled her out and started schooling her at home and she was able to finish her work in about 5 to 7 hrs everyday and know she goes out daily and plays with her friends.
I had a few other problems with the public school and the principle but I am not here to bash public schools. Home school has worked for my little girl she is happier and has more friends.

Answer 8

1) Drop the, "as a public school teacher," thing.

I'm a homeschooling mom and I've found that the group of people who've been the most curious and supportive about my family's hoeschooling has been public school teachers. Being a public school teacher does not mean you have to dump your critical thinking skills and adopt positions without real thought.

2) Do your own research. Your question shows an embarrassing lack of intellectual curiousity and research skills. Google studies, read blogs and message boards, check out your local libraries and do the basics that critical thought demands like dumping preconceived ideas and recognizing your own selection bias.

Answer 9

I have seen it successfully done.....now they have special groups that get together to co-homeschool or for outings in socialization. They usually attend some HS classes or specialized classes when materials are not available at home. I think it can work, but a parent must be super motivated and interested in actually having their child succeed. It largely depends on the parents as to how the program will work.

Answer 10

I don't suppose we could prove to you that homeschooling is effective anymore than you can prove to us that public school is effective.
You would need to come and visit us. Since that is not practical, maybe you can make friends with some home schooled students in your area. Please go in with an open mind and let the families know that you are interested in the concept of homeschooling. We, homeschooled families, are happy to help people who are honestly interested in the more natural way for children to learn.

Answer 11

I am not homeschooled, was never homeschooled, and don't intend to homeschool my son, but I have to say--- you very clearly already have your mind made up.

Demanding that someone "prove" you wrong, and then going on to say that you think it's ridiculous doesn't bode well.

I have several friends who were homeschooled. Two are close friends. One I grew up with. One is now in medical school at the University of Minnesota. She got her master's degree two years ago and graduated summa c um laude. She really is exceptionally bright and did astoundingly well on all her standardized tests.

The other close friend who was homeschooled is pursuing a business degree. In her case, I had the opportunity to observe how her mother conducted the homeschooling-- and that's where I have to take exception to your characterization of homeschool settings as lax, informal, and pajama-clad. Her mother had the kids up at 7. They took short, structured breaks, and finished their studies around 3 or 4 (a source of constant annoyance for my then-teenage friend, who wanted to finish school when her friends did, at 2:50). She went on to go to business school. She's a senior this year.

Neither of the women are socially awkward. Both did very well in formal classroom settings in college. I don't plan to homeschool because I'm not cut out for it, but very clearly, homeschooling worked for these two young women.