“Homeschoolers are weird”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ll tell you who’s weird: parents who homeschool. Not their kids. The kids are just victims.

☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

Check out Bloom's two sigma problem. Not sure why anyone with the proclivity to homeschool would pay five figures per year for worse academics outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

Because anyone with a college degree in anything at all can teach 1-2 bright children so much more than any public or private elementary teacher teaching a classroom full of kids, who mostly will skew average or below average, with at least a handful with behavioral issues. It does take a lot of time and effort to plan and you have to be disciplined. A dedicated parent with kids that want to learn, can accomplish a lot at home. We homeschooled our 3rd and 4th grader a year and a half full time through Covid. They are smart kids, but we had no idea how much they were capable of and how little they actually did at school all day. We continued to supplement when they went to back school. They had completed math through high school geometry by the time they were done with 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

During COVID, many families discovered their children could learn more at home with 1:1 or 1:2 instruction. Many of those families realized they could buy high-quality academic curricula from homeschool supply places. In many cases, they were exact same curricula used by various public schools around the country. In some cases, the families obtained curricula that had more and better content than what FCPS uses.

The tricky parts (not impossible, but often tricky) are laboratory sciences in grades 9-12, getting access to AP test sites or to A-level exam sites, socialization, and group athletics.

Every homeschool family I know does homeschool for academic reasons. Their kids mostly went on to top colleges, such as Cambridge (UK).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

Check out Bloom's two sigma problem. Not sure why anyone with the proclivity to homeschool would pay five figures per year for worse academics outcomes.

Because most people with a “proclivity to homeschool” meaning they are the ones teaching, aren’t wealthy and aren’t qualified.

If you are so qualified then why send them to college? Homeschool through college as well.

Granted, plenty of ultra wealthy that think nothing of hiring tutors to bring on their world travels that don’t want to be tied down to a formal school schedule, though equally likely to send their kids to boarding schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

Because anyone with a college degree in anything at all can teach 1-2 bright children so much more than any public or private elementary teacher teaching a classroom full of kids, who mostly will skew average or below average, with at least a handful with behavioral issues. It does take a lot of time and effort to plan and you have to be disciplined. A dedicated parent with kids that want to learn, can accomplish a lot at home. We homeschooled our 3rd and 4th grader a year and a half full time through Covid. They are smart kids, but we had no idea how much they were capable of and how little they actually did at school all day. We continued to supplement when they went to back school. They had completed math through high school geometry by the time they were done with 6th grade.

Top private schools don’t have any discipline problems nor behavioral issues…literally kids are counseled out for this.

I see little to no value to a kid completing geometry by 6th grade unless they are testing at Einstein levels…meaning they are 1 in a million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

Check out Bloom's two sigma problem. Not sure why anyone with the proclivity to homeschool would pay five figures per year for worse academics outcomes.

Because most people with a “proclivity to homeschool” meaning they are the ones teaching, aren’t wealthy and aren’t qualified.

If you are so qualified then why send them to college? Homeschool through college as well.

Granted, plenty of ultra wealthy that think nothing of hiring tutors to bring on their world travels that don’t want to be tied down to a formal school schedule, though equally likely to send their kids to boarding schools.

Anyone with a college degree is qualified to homeschool a normal elementary child. The question is whether they can or want to put in the work to do it. Middle school (if working at a high school level), and high school are harder to homeschool for reasons mentioned above. Homeschool is a year by year choice, weighing in what other academic options are available and what you can provide. We homeschool through elementary then send to public once the accelerated programs and access dual enrollment and AP classes become available.

[Anonymous]

This thread reminds me of people who go out and spend all kinds of money for fancy designer dogs when there are plenty of loving dogs in the shelter. I never blame the fancy dogs for their existence, I blame the people who buy them. I say the same thing about homeschooled kids. It’s not the kids’ fault that their parents are weird. I don’t hold it against the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

Check out Bloom's two sigma problem. Not sure why anyone with the proclivity to homeschool would pay five figures per year for worse academics outcomes.

Because most people with a “proclivity to homeschool” meaning they are the ones teaching, aren’t wealthy and aren’t qualified.

If you are so qualified then why send them to college? Homeschool through college as well.

Granted, plenty of ultra wealthy that think nothing of hiring tutors to bring on their world travels that don’t want to be tied down to a formal school schedule, though equally likely to send their kids to boarding schools.

What’s your point? Do you think your kid’s public school 3rd grade teacher would be equally qualified to teach multivariable calculus?

[Anonymous]

Why pop into the homeschooling forum and make fun of homeschoolers? Shouldn't you be getting ready for your Friday night lights Olney mcps experience? Or preparing your children for lockdowns and active shooter drills? Or counseling your kids to not take pills from their friends because they could contain lethal amounts of fentanyl? Or reminding your kids not to send nudes on their phones? Or teaching them how to drink responsibly? Please allow for the possibility that people who facilitate their children's education at home do so for reasons you could never grasp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

Check out Bloom's two sigma problem. Not sure why anyone with the proclivity to homeschool would pay five figures per year for worse academics outcomes.

Because most people with a “proclivity to homeschool” meaning they are the ones teaching, aren’t wealthy and aren’t qualified.

If you are so qualified then why send them to college? Homeschool through college as well.

Granted, plenty of ultra wealthy that think nothing of hiring tutors to bring on their world travels that don’t want to be tied down to a formal school schedule, though equally likely to send their kids to boarding schools.

What’s your point? Do you think your kid’s public school 3rd grade teacher would be equally qualified to teach multivariable calculus?

No, but I trust my kid's HS teacher with a Math PhD is qualified to teach multivariable calculus...far more than basically 99% of all adults. That's why my kid's 3rd grade teacher doesn't stay with the class each year through age 18.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why pop into the homeschooling forum and make fun of homeschoolers? Shouldn't you be getting ready for your Friday night lights Olney mcps experience? Or preparing your children for lockdowns and active shooter drills? Or counseling your kids to not take pills from their friends because they could contain lethal amounts of fentanyl? Or reminding your kids not to send nudes on their phones? Or teaching them how to drink responsibly? Please allow for the possibility that people who facilitate their children's education at home do so for reasons you could never grasp.

So...you admit you don't know what you are doing, but you have decided you are afraid for your kid to live in the real world and therefore that's why you homeschool? Just trying to understand your point, because none of the above has anything to do with a superior educational experience and of course completely ignores private schools (which come in every flavor) where most of those activities don't happen.

Furthermore, sounds like you also don't let your high school kid even socialize. Is your kid allowed to hang out with other high school-aged kids without an adult present or participate in competitive sports which may include an overnight that doesn't include you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Evangelical families make up the homeschoolers in our area.

Might be true someplace.

All the homeschool families we know in Fairfax County are non-religious and started homeschooling after seeing what a mess FCPS is. They use mainstream materials, teach evolution and science, and their kids are having no problems with obtaining good college admissions. So far, one has a BSN from UVa with an RN. Another is studying engineering.

The common theme...they are all poor.

Nobody with $.02 homeschools unless they have an elite athlete/musician/actor or like some billionaire I know wanted to sail the world on his 200 foot yacht for a year and hired two teachers to tag along to teach his kids (and then promptly re-enrolled them in a private school when back on dry land).

I started homeschooling because our school options were not great. I could pick from either terrible public school (as in under 75% of the kids are not at grade level, and 80% low income) or mediocre privates. I looked at all of the private options, including catholic and they were unimpressive and used a ton of Ed tech. I would still end up having to spend the afternoons supplementing material to provide what I feel is necessary for a well-rounded education and challenge. I got tired of doing this. Now my child is getting an excellent education AND we have the afternoons to spend cooking, doing sports, music, and freely playing.

Which begs the question...why do you live in such a shitty area? It's not because you are rich and just decided to "slum it", right?

Where I live, the public schools aren't great but aren't terrible either, but you have the choice of like 6 private schools within 3 miles, a number of which rank in the top 100 in the country.

What makes you think your child is getting an excellent education...because you teach it?

Check out Bloom's two sigma problem. Not sure why anyone with the proclivity to homeschool would pay five figures per year for worse academics outcomes.

Because most people with a “proclivity to homeschool” meaning they are the ones teaching, aren’t wealthy and aren’t qualified.

If you are so qualified then why send them to college? Homeschool through college as well.

Granted, plenty of ultra wealthy that think nothing of hiring tutors to bring on their world travels that don’t want to be tied down to a formal school schedule, though equally likely to send their kids to boarding schools.

What’s your point? Do you think your kid’s public school 3rd grade teacher would be equally qualified to teach multivariable calculus?

No, but I trust my kid's HS teacher with a Math PhD is qualified to teach multivariable calculus...far more than basically 99% of all adults. That's why my kid's 3rd grade teacher doesn't stay with the class each year through age 18.

I don’t think anyone here is advocating for homeschooling past one’s ability to teach the material or provide access to appropriate level material. Have you read any of this thread?