Public school versus homeschooling

[Anonymous]

My kids are really bright and can learn on their own. They find school boring and hate the mounting amount of homework, and ask if I can homeschool them. I understand the social aspect of going to school but I do kinda agree with them with the crazy amount of busy homework. Am I crazy to think that maybe home schooling isn't bad so we don't have to deal with homework?

[Anonymous]

Homeschooling is a lifestyle. Homework is an hour. I can see lots of good reasons to homeschool and I know lots of people who do. It's a huge undertaking.

[Anonymous]

More power to you if you can give them a good education and be happy doing it.

[Anonymous]

What grades? Most teachers I know (including myself and my DW) very little homework in the elementary grades. My middle school aged child also gets very little.

[Anonymous]

If they are very bright and can learn on their own, a little homework should be a breeze. Another poster had it right, homeschooling is a lifestyle. If it works for your family go for it. But if it's about avoiding homework then your kids may not be motivated learning at home as opposed to a typical school setting.

You need to figure out why they don't want to be around their peers. No matter how smart they are that is relatively uncommon and IMO cause for concern.

[Anonymous]

Homework in high school can amount to 5-6 hours/night. Busy work, not real quality work. Insanity reigns!

Homeschool or private school - the public schools are going downhill.

I don't think OP said anything about her kids not wanting to be around their peers.

[Anonymous]

If you can make it work for you and your family them homeschooling is an excellent option. Your kids can get an even better education, depending on what you expect out of them and your and your child's goals.. You can work at your child's pace and provide the appropriate amount of challenging work for your child. It doesn't take as long as an entire day of regular school b/c it's basically one on one tutoring and the kid usually grasps things a little quicker and not waiting around for papers being passed out, standing in line to go to lunch, etc.

I didn't catch the ages of your kids but homeschooling high school will take a significantly longer time than homeschooling younger grades (for obvious reasons) but the time would still take less than an entire day of school plus the hours of homework afterschool.

Now while your child will have a lot less busy work and more time to pursue other activities, you on the other hand will have a lot less time for yourself. There is generally a lot of prep work done by the homeschooling mom or dad. There is a lot of organizing that needs to be done, lesson plans, keeping track of records, reading and learning the materials before presenting them to your children and so on. These things add on to all the other things that need to be done in a day and it pretty much becomes a full time job.

That said, it's a wonderful option and if you can make it work I say go for it.

[Anonymous]

If you homeschool your kids, you keep them from learning essential social skills, life lessons and the chance to learn from a variety of teachers. Some may not be that great, but some are truly wonderful. Anyone who thinks of homeschooling should first decide what teaching skills they have, even if the kids do a fair amount of self learning. Is there not a reason people get degrees in education?

[Anonymous]

It's hard to imagine a kid who ASKS to be homeschooled after being in school for a few years. They should have many friends and enjoy the social part of school far more than the negatives (homework levels).

[Anonymous]

My child is in public school now, but we homeschooled for 5 years. The only reason I chose to go the public school route is because it was hard for *me* to continue homeschooling. I was tired and while my kids were thriving, I really needed to stop for my own sake.

I think most people envision homeschooling to be an isolated day with mom and child just sitting over books and being home all day with no life and no friends.

While it is called homeschooling, most home schoolers do not spend their entire day just being home with the fam. There are many, many wonderful co-ops available. The child can take classes from a VARIETY of teachers. One of my kids started co-ops when he was 6. He was there for 5 hours once a week and rotated through 5 different classrooms with 5 different teachers taking 5 different subjects. On a different day he took 2 co-op classes that lasted 3 hours. These were in buildings with kids taking classes from K through 12. The subjects were varied- Science, History, Art, Drama, P.E, on Tuesday. Themes from Shakespeare (a very low key kid version that was super cool) and Woodworking on Thurs.

In between, we had swimming and gymnastics. He was also very good friends with the kids in our neighborhood and spent plenty of time just playing and riding bikes. There are plenty of kids and socializing going on. There are also many businesses that cater classes to home schoolers during the day. Gymnastics, swim teams, football, soccer, etc. There are art classes, lego leagues, drama and dance classes specifically during the day geared toward home schoolers. Again the child is SOCIALIZING with plenty of kids. There are also homeschooler meet up park days just to run around and have fun.

My kids are very comfortable around kids of all ages and adults. Since they didn't start out with their only peer group being a bunch of kids in a classroom that are the same age they don't think twice about having a conversation with a teenager, an adult or even to just play with a toddler.

Your kids can have ample time socializing and learning from various teachers, the thing is you have to make sure this happens. You have to be the one to seek out these opportunities, sign them up and drive them around. Work your school schedule so that you can accomplish your goals and still have time for these outings. It's not all built into the day like at a regular school.

The most important thing is to make sure home schooling works for your entire family. If it works for you, your spouse and your kids then don't worry the misconceived perception of home schoolers. But if its not working for any part of your fam then it would most likely be a strain and while I think home schooling is a fabulous option and we had a very good experience with it, I don't see anything wrong with going the public or private school route either. Like I said, I was just tired, I've been dealing with health issues and it was becoming too much. You just got to do what's right for your family.

[Anonymous]

I am not going to comment on the home school versus private versus public because I really think the best fit depends on the kids AND the parents. My initial impression of your email is that your kids are just frustrated with the amount of homework and find some of it boring and tedious. They sound like every other kid in the world.

I actually think that homework--even tedious homework-- is important and something they need to be forced to deal with. I say this because life--work, bills, cleaning your house--is completely filled with tons of tedious and sometimes boring things that have to be done. Life is not one fun-filled exciting adventure followed by another. I think teaching children the importance of doing what is asked of them and getting it done even if it isn't fun is a life lesson. Just like when your boss assigns a very boring project. Plus, think about some of the homework you did in life. Math can be super tedious and repetitive but practice is important. Some would say the same thing about with reading 30 pages of history text--you need to know it to pass the text. If you want your kids to get a college degree, both of these are in their future.

So if you want to homeschool for other reasons and you are a good candidate to teach you kids, then go for it. But then you should also be assigning "homework" in the form of practice drills and reading. What will you do then?

[Anonymous]

If you're considering homeschooling just to allow your children to avoid homework, just think, when you homeschool, there is nothing but "home work" all day. (Ya know 'cause your at home and doing schoolwork, get it.)


I think any option is great that is the right option for the child. If you homeschool, do it for the right reasons. And do some research ahead of time so that your children reap the benefits without many of the negatives.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone homeschooled a few years then sent their child to pubic school on this thread or board?

[Anonymous]

Pubic schools? Sounds interesting! :0)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homework in high school can amount to 5-6 hours/night. Busy work, not real quality work. Insanity reigns!

Homeschool or private school - the public schools are going downhill.

I don't think OP said anything about her kids not wanting to be around their peers.

So true. My eyes were open to how the public school system is declining this year when my older daughter entered first grade. We did K in private so this was our first taste of the public school system.. I never thought I would be the homeschooling type but now I am. One thing about homeschooling is that you should hv a passion for learning. Teaching is not for everyone and thinking up lesson plans each week. With that being said, who knows your little one better than you.
Most parents are just content to outsource and send their kids to public no matter what. It is a choice. When the kids are littler you are pretty much their agent. If you feel like they r not thriving or getting much out of the 7hrs they r at school mon to fri, then go with your gut. All parents should volunteer at the school at least once to get up cloae and personal. In K and first grade the main focus is keeping your hands to yourself, raising your hand, and eating fast. If your little one is well behaved and academically strong then he or she just will hv to sit patiently and wait for the other kids to catch up. It is not ideal but some parents do not or cannot do anything about it. Other options are homeschool or private.