Better question: Why do many EDUCATED people choose to homeschool?

[Anonymous]

I've considered it, but have stuck with supplementing because I think my kids get a lot socially from public school.

[Anonymous]

Oftentimes with parents like this, it's to accommodate a unique extracurricular at a high level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More and more people are choosing to homeschool their children, many of whom have advanced degrees. Why?

BS

How many parents can teach AP Chem?

Troll somewhere else.

Most homeschools are rw religious nutbags.

My SIL homeschooled all six of her kids and they took advanced classes like that at a community college.

[Anonymous]

It’s obvious to me why so many want to or do homeschool kids who would otherwise be in public school. The question in the dmv is: if you can afford private and there are so many schools to choose from, why would you homeschool if not to accommodate a high level sport or parental travel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s obvious to me why so many want to or do homeschool kids who would otherwise be in public school. The question in the dmv is: if you can afford private and there are so many schools to choose from, why would you homeschool if not to accommodate a high level sport or parental travel?

I don't think there are actually that many options. There are super expensive, super exclusive private schools. Some religious schools. And then some mediocre secular private schools. I'm not aware of any high quality, affordable, secular options.

[Anonymous]

Because public school education now is basically trash?

[Anonymous]

Because we don’t want our kids dragged down to the educational middle because of some political whim in education.

Also, see any data on male educational attainment in the US over the past 20 years.

And the school shutdowns in 20-21, etc. the rise of paraeducators and online classes instead of AP classes taught by certified teachers.

[Anonymous]

Mental health of ND child. ES classes of 29 kids in public was overwhelming. Private School couldn’t accommodate based on ND needs. Hence, reluctant homeschooling as a parent with advanced degree.

[Anonymous]

I have two advanced college degree and am sort of homeschooling one of my kids with SN because public didn’t serve his needs. He’s old enough to be fairly independent in using an online curriculum. Yes, I can help with the advanced science and math courses. I can’t help as much with English, foreign language or history and we have had tutors at times when more help is needed. I also work full time and am only helping in the evenings. We couldn’t do this if he was in elementary school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s obvious to me why so many want to or do homeschool kids who would otherwise be in public school. The question in the dmv is: if you can afford private and there are so many schools to choose from, why would you homeschool if not to accommodate a high level sport or parental travel?

It’s not that easy to find a good private school that’s a decent fit for your kid, a reasonable commute and what you can afford. If you are lucky and find one, your kid needs to be accepted. We couldn’t find any close enough to us that would be worth the tuition. This is why an accredited online program for some courses and us homeschooling other courses was better.

[Anonymous]

And sorry for the multiple posts but to answer the other question about advanced classes, next year as a junior my kid will take some classes at Nova CC and we will homeschool the rest.

[Anonymous]

Former ES/MS teacher here as well.

Reasons why we started
- was well aware of the awful reading and writing curriculums taught in most ES. Both of mine went through sequential explicitly taught phonics from early age. Child that was diagnosed with dyslexia has solid, above grade level reading, above grade level writing, and on grade level spelling

- was also aware of how poor many ES teachers math skills are. Mine are strong and spouse has advanced degrees in mathematics

- lack of exposure to science, social studies, art, and music. Research shows that kids need exposure to these things in order to comprehend.

- lack of outside time/physical activity/field trips

Reasons we continued-
- kids were happy and doing well* including neurodiverse kid that would have been lost in a large class

*both kids were given annual MAP tests to evaluate progress

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s obvious to me why so many want to or do homeschool kids who would otherwise be in public school. The question in the dmv is: if you can afford private and there are so many schools to choose from, why would you homeschool if not to accommodate a high level sport or parental travel?

It’s not that easy to find a good private school that’s a decent fit for your kid, a reasonable commute and what you can afford. If you are lucky and find one, your kid needs to be accepted. We couldn’t find any close enough to us that would be worth the tuition. This is why an accredited online program for some courses and us homeschooling other courses was better.

Regarding $$, it was less expensive to homeschool and have a part time job than two find and pay for two private school tuitions.

[Anonymous]

I homeschooled in the lower ekementary years because I believe in the value of play based, outdoor education in the younger years. Well really throughout one's lifetime but that's another conversation.

I have a JD from a top 14 school and an MFA in writing.

[Anonymous]

No homeschooling family is the same. I see a lot of generalizations here. And no, not everyone can afford tutors and is traveling the world. While it happens, it is rare that a family homeschools simply because they desire to do it. But most fall in to it because of circumstances beyond their control. That doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy it (some do, some don’t); everyone has a unique story. And while some are wealthy, for others, homeschooling can be a financial hardship. I’m a former teacher with advanced degrees who homeschools my kids. For us, homeschooling is a financial hardship from years of lost income. I am grateful we have been able to stay above water. I never thought I would be a homeschooler, but here we are. I’d rather not share our personal details, but it wasn’t our first choice AND it was really the only thing we could do. Also, while the homeschooling world is far from perfect, I have never seen the level of dysfunction as I see in schools. Of course, in this area, homeschooling probably looks a lot different than in some other parts of the country.