Homeschooling outcomes

[Anonymous]

are most people who homeschool former teachers or have a teaching background?

[Anonymous]

Most do not have a professional background in teaching...which tells me something. They do a great job with out the fuss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know why the academic outcomes are so good?

Because the kids learn how to "teach themselves". I don't mean that in a bad way, but they usually have more time to figure out the way in which they learn best and are able explore ideas and concepts. A homeschooling parent is not going to be a subject matter expert in every area, so the child and the parent often learn together when exploring advanced subjects. I think these kids are usually more comfortable with learning new things.

In high school a lot of info is spoon-fed or just regurgitated on tests, but college is more "self-taught" and therefore I think that's why homeschoolers perform better in college (or at least adjust better to the acadmic setting better).

I was not homeschooled, but my younger siblings were and both are very social and high achieving. I don't plan on h/s my dd, but believe it can be a positive expereince for the right family.

[Anonymous]

I have also heard that until grade three it is usually the best education for a child regardless of the parents academic achievement. One on one with nurturing parent/teacher. I would love to be able to home school, but I work very long hours.

[Anonymous]

Got to say, I find these responses strange. I home school my two kids (age 13 and 11), and one is uber social, and one likes his close knit of friends.

One is highly motivated and loves to study, the other, I have to chase around the house to get going, but because he's home schooled, I've been able to try loads of different ways of getting the same information in. If he was at school, there is no way he'd be reading they way he reads now, and doing the math that he does.

As a parent though, you have to work hard to make sure they go to enough clubs and groups to make sure they see other kids. I think that's important.

But home school doesn't create crazy kids - strange parents do! Whether they're in school, or out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, the facilities are a problem. Many homeschoolers are allowed to take specific courses at public high schools ( in some locations), and the sciences are the main choices. In the end, homeschooled kids have impressive academic outcomes, but I wonder if the entire education can be done at home.

I can't imagine that the entire education can be done at home, but then I don't think my traditionally schooled kid gets all his education at school.

I would love to figure out a way to homeschool my son for high school, but when I picture "home" schooling, I actually picture a mixture of meaningful volunteer and/or paid work (something that involves real learning, like Habitat for Humanity, or the Rescue Squad), a sport or two, probably on a team, some kind of involvement in the arts (maybe one of the "conservatories" at Imagination Stage?), and a mixture of online, community college, mom-lead, and self-directed classes.

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that many homeschooled high school students take math/science courses at community colleges.

[Anonymous]

2 thoughts -

I worked with a young guy who was homeschooled - he didn't finish college and had a very tough time fitting in at the office - socially and work wise. He wasn't good at team work and just didn't seem to get their was a whole team dynamic,etc.

From those I know who homeschool, it seems that the child has to be the type who is going to learn by themselves - workbooks, online programs, etc. These all require the individual to really learn by reading and understanding the material. What happens if the child is an auditory learner? If there is no other mechanism to get the information other than reading, will that child do as well as he could academically or will he be hindered?

By high school it appears that almost all learning falls into the "read the book, answer the questions, write an essay" type thing...

[Anonymous]

I happen to know a whole family of more than a dozen that were home schooled and several that went to Yale in mid-teens. I wonder if they are the same as the previous poster. Extremely smart kids as were their parents, however they completely lacked empathy towards anyone that was not brilliant and frankly could be real assh*les if things did not go their way.

Also my cousin's husband's family runs a restaurant in Wisconsin. They quit hiring home schooled kids because they could not deal with conflict in the workplace and basically get along. I have heard that you have to be a certain type to be that dedicated to home school and the side affect for better or worse is also a certain self-absorption.

[Anonymous]

I homeschooled for two years because my DD was having a hard time socially and the stress was causing her to fall behind. There is a great homeschool community in the area and you will not have trouble finding ways to socialize with other homeschool families. Socialization is definitely not a problem. Also, it's easy to find classes and tutors to fill in where you might be lacking as a teacher. I needed some help teaching math and science but had no trouble finding help. My DD went back to public school, became a straight A student, and flourished socially. She now goes to one of the best private schools in DC because she finds it more challenging than her former school. She loves it and wants to be with other kids but if she wanted to leave the school, I would homeschool again.

[Anonymous]

This thread was started 3 years ago!

OP, did you ever start homeschooling?

[Anonymous]

I've seen both - homeschooled kids who are really well adjusted and some that aren't. I think it depends on the reasons for homeschooling, the teaching abilities of the parents, the way they homeschool, and experiences outside of homeschooling.

I once many years ago taught swimming lessons to a group of homeschooled kids and they were collectively a very socially awkward group. They were extremely difficult to teach. I don't think they had much exposure to being outside their small group or to being directed or to not getting 1:1 attention or to people other than their parents being the adult figure.

On the other side I worked briefly with another group of homeschooled kids who were very socially competent. They moved from house to house as different parents taught different subjects, they played sports on community teams, they took lessons and overall just went to school in a different place than other kids.

I was homeschooled for a year. Hated it with a passion. I missed school and being with friends and everything that went with school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The areas if concern are in advanced Math and Science where parents and non-professional teachers have trouble keeping up with the curricula.

I would think that not only keeping up with the curricula would be an issue, but also lack of facilities. In all my secondary school science courses, for example, experiments, dissections, lab work, etc. were all a pretty core part of the course agenda and I would think that aspect difficult to replicate at home.

There are ways to handle this via classes at community colleges and local universities.

I know two families that homeschooled - one family has two daughters who did their first two years of college at a local community college (they were young; 16 and 17 so the parents wanted them at home for another couple of years, also wanted to save money). The daughters then transferred to Wellesley and Smith.

The third family has a son who is headed for Williams in the fall.

[Anonymous]

If you want a lively discussion about homeschooling, mothering.com has a whole forum on the topic.

[Anonymous]

Yup. It has been a while since I read the research, but I think that the military finds that the outcomes often aren't good. My husband's cousins went to "school of the air" which is more or less the Australian homeschooling for rural kids. Outcomes were not good. The kids (now grown) are fine now, but it took them many, many years of underachieving as adults to reach their potential.

I think it is the case that it can be done well, but it is also the case that there are few controls on how poorly it can be done.