I'm a homeschooling mom AMA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I also am a bit of an outlier in some homeschooling circles because i dont think that any one parent can provide an adequate high school education (if your qualified to teach chemistry, you're probably not qualified to teach literature at that level). That's where the beauty of a strong community comes in to call upon the skills of other parents along with online classes etc.

It's funny you say this. I've considered home schooling for part of high school. I have a JD and a PhD in Chemistry, with a double major in Biology and a minor in political science as an undergrad. I could easily handle teaching advanced science classes as I've taught these subjects at a top tier university. I also am very comfortable teaching writing, as I've taught legal writing at a law school. I suspect that I could manage to teach high school history and literature without too much trouble, as it's not that removed from some of my favorite law school and undergrad classes. My husband is an engineer and could easily handle all advanced math and Physics through university levels, as he's taught university classes on these topics. He also got a perfect verbal score on the SAT and is very well read. He'd help with literature and history.

We'd want to outsource a foreign language, but this is best taught by a native speaker anyways. I was a good musician in school, getting top scores at the All State competition every year in high school, but am rusty enough that I'd hire that out as well.

Anyways, I have no idea if we'll ever try to homeschool, but there are people with broad educational backgrounds who likely could manage high school topics. Those are far easier for us than early elementary stuff.

My DH and I have nearly identical qualifications to you, and also have a child in a very competitive private HS now. In our opinion, we are not nearly as qualified to teach as his teachers. We see what he does in class and there is no way we would come close to being as good. We considered homeschooling when our kids were younger, but seeing what happens in high school, there's no way we could do it now. We could possibly teach part of one subject, but nowhere near the breadth of education he gets now.

OP seems like a very reasonable homeschool parent and I think her statement is right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think you are better than other parents who send their kids to public school? I ask because whenever I am around homeschooling parents the conversation inevitably turns into how bad regular schooling is and they don’t seem to find this offensive.

You are very insecure. If you made a choice to send your child to public school, then it is a best choice for your child. I personally would never send my kids to public school even though we live in the best ranked schools in Fairfax County. But I admire people like OP, I wish I have enough guts to do it with my kids. Meanwhile, I am slaving at corporate world and paying for private school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think you are better than other parents who send their kids to public school? I ask because whenever I am around homeschooling parents the conversation inevitably turns into how bad regular schooling is and they don’t seem to find this offensive.

You are very insecure. If you made a choice to send your child to public school, then it is a best choice for your child. I personally would never send my kids to public school even though we live in the best ranked schools in Fairfax County. But I admire people like OP, I wish I have enough guts to do it with my kids. Meanwhile, I am slaving at corporate world and paying for private school.

When I (another homeschooling Mom) am around public school families and the topic of school comes up, they are usually always complaining about their public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you think you are better than other parents who send their kids to public school? I ask because whenever I am around homeschooling parents the conversation inevitably turns into how bad regular schooling is and they don’t seem to find this offensive.

You are very insecure. If you made a choice to send your child to public school, then it is a best choice for your child. I personally would never send my kids to public school even though we live in the best ranked schools in Fairfax County. But I admire people like OP, I wish I have enough guts to do it with my kids. Meanwhile, I am slaving at corporate world and paying for private school.

No, it is not always the best choice so much as public school is often the only choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone I know was homeschooled. Looking back she says she misses out on having a greater variety of subjects to choose from and the missed opportunities
Her parents just laughed at her when she said that. She is doing ok now, but she grew up very religious, parents provided her with a super religious peer group, some of them are almost like cult followers

The problem with anecdotes like this is that they can happen in a variety of educational environments. A student in a small rural public school will not have the same opportunities as one in a DC or NYC public school. Small private schools have limitations and advantages that public schools do not.

I do not doubt that she missed out on a few things, but she probably also had some opportunities that she would not have had in a traditional school setting as well. Parents have to carefully weigh their options and make the choice with the best interest of their child in mind, which is something that parents have to do regardless of the educational options before them (public/private/charter/immersion/homeschool/etc)

It makes me feel sad that her parents would have laughed at her, though, because I think the biggest advantage of homeschooling is being able to tailor the education to the child. Being able to progress in subjects when they master something and just keep moving, plan lessons around their learning styles, and having time to incorporate interests. Even at the elementary school level, my children let me know about additional things they would like to learn-- the equivalent of 'electives' I suppose-- and we find ways to work them into their curriculum. We regularly have open discussions about the curriculum they work with and their lessons. We talk about material and lesson styles. As children, they know that they are not going to enjoy every subject and that they have to read books they might find boring or complete lessons they don't love, but I also feel confident that they know they are listened to and their opinions are respected.

As they get older, they will have increasing amounts of control over the electives they choose outside of the core subjects.

I went to a blue ribbon high school with over 2000 students and we had a set math, science, and history sequence (IE math was Algebra, Geometry/Trig, PreCalc, Calc) with some electives offered in each area (ie statistics and probability) and the courses were tracked based on ability, but there wasn't a ton of options there. My children will probably actually have more choices than I did in that regard thanks to all the online classes available.

She was homeschooled and got her GED
She is bright and could have done better
Her parents are burdened with 4 children, one special needs
I know she will never homeschool her kids, if she even has them

I think your anecdote is incorrect. Yes, she didn't have a say, her parents are not open to hearing her opinions now, not were they open to it earlier. Despite this she has built her life. I respect her more than her parents. Just think, despite all of that she has a good head on her shoulders

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine homeschooled last year. Her two kids are in 4th and 6th grade. They homeschooled kind of as an experiment that they all wanted to try. My friend was an elementary teacher for 10 years so she has teaching experience.

Overall, they had a really good experience. She found she had to work ten times harder to ensure her kids had the same social and extracurricular activities. It was a lot more work as nothing was organic and everything had to be orchestrated.

They joined a co-op but really didn't mesh with the other families. Just because other people homeschool doesn't mean you will have like minded philosophies or the kids will just get along. It took them a few tries to find other homeschoolers that they clicked with.

Both kids liked it but it was easy for the quiet, introverted one to kind of withdraw and not interact or socialize as much. My friend had to really force social and other activities as this child would have been happy to just always stay home with her - not have friends. The other kid craved the social aspect.

[Anonymous]

Is religion a large part of your teachings?
You say you teach evolution....
What about equality among homosexuals?

Also, I would likely give my child straight A+ grades if I homeschooled.

Is there any oversight into parents who do this?

Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: Do you read the Reddit homeschool survivor subreddit? If so, what do you think?

r/homeschoolsurvivor has a grand total of 24 members and zero posts. Are you trolling here for new members?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is religion a large part of your teachings?
You say you teach evolution....
What about equality among homosexuals?

Also, I would likely give my child straight A+ grades if I homeschooled.

Is there any oversight into parents who do this?

Thank you!

Np. The homeschoolers I know teach to mastery. There is no need to assign grades in the early years. You either know it or you don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP: Do you read the Reddit homeschool survivor subreddit? If so, what do you think?

r/homeschoolsurvivor has a grand total of 24 members and zero posts. Are you trolling here for new members?

I meant homeschool recovery. In any event, OP knew what I was talking about even if you couldn't figure it out. Her answer -- which was thoughtful -- was about a page ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is religion a large part of your teachings?
You say you teach evolution....
What about equality among homosexuals?

Also, I would likely give my child straight A+ grades if I homeschooled.

Is there any oversight into parents who do this?

Thank you!

For our family, religion is a part of our family life, but when it comes to teaching, I mean... religion doesn't really play a role in grammar, music, math, or science (a classical curriculum follows a 4-year cycle of biology, earth science/space, chemistry, physics-- and as I already said, we teach evolution, we also cover the big bang as the most prominent theory for the origin of the universe, etc). History I use secular sources to try and teach events from an objective standpoint. Sometimes my children and I will discuss the morality of various figures in history as it comes up... but we would be doing that also even if they were learning history in a traditional school setting. I believe all people should be treated equally.

I also know plenty of secular homeschoolers. Although there are ample religious curriculums available, as homeschooling has begun to spread (I don't have the statistics in front of me, but it has really taken off in the past few years) I have seen more and more secular options spring up.

Regarding grading, as another poster mentioned, teaching to mastery is the most common strategy in the early grades. My kids have little 'graded' assignments-- mostly spelling tests. They have occasional math tests, too, to make sure they fully understand the curriculum.

When they get older and projects become more subjective, such as writing papers, many curriculums offer grading rubrics to help guide you. My kids will receive more graded assignments as they move into middle school.

In my state, as I stated before, I have to submit 2 portfolio reviews with county representatives where I show some demonstrations of work we are doing in the various subjects.

[Anonymous]

1. What's your plan when they finish high school? If college is in the cards, how do you thikn they will adjust?

2. What's the nuttiest family you've run in to at one of the co-op events? Or just tell us some interesting stories about the other homeschoolers you meet at co-op.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. What's your plan when they finish high school? If college is in the cards, how do you thikn they will adjust?

2. What's the nuttiest family you've run in to at one of the co-op events? Or just tell us some interesting stories about the other homeschoolers you meet at co-op.

Dp who is a secular homeschooler. Look up radical unschoolers and game schoolers. Sometimes I think these people must be sitting on extreme wealth because they sure as sh!t aren't teaching their kids the 3 R's.

[Anonymous]

I do not know how common this is, but the one family I know is somewhat abusive to their kids. They beat their kids for small infractions, speak only bonce, do not really care about their needs. The parents are also not educated beyond high school.
Daughters are being raised to be housewives
Kids do a ton of chores, do not really know people their age, dress different from other young people, are not exposed to much. Parents control tv, internet, sensor teen magazines

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What are you teaching your children, and at what ages/levels, about the history of race and racism in the United States?

A lot. For one, I am not white. I am native. They know A LOT about native history in this country, particularly (of course) about the experiences of our tribe.

Then, my husband is an immigrant who grew up in desolate poverty (outhouse, no shoes, one shirt, eating rotting meat, the whole 9 yards), so they no what it means to struggle.

They also have friends from all backgrounds and races, as do my husband and me.

We also read a variety of books about characters of all races and understand on an elementary school level slavery and the racism that that resulted. We have also discussed how things have gotten better and how they have stayed the same.

They also learn a truly global history. In other words, we discuss the advancements and civilization of the Aksum Empire at the same time as the Roman/Byzantine Empire at the same time as the Mayans. Mali is then discussed alongside feudalism, the samurai, and Aztecs. Europe is not viewed through an isolated lens. In a classical curriculum, you study history in four year cycles of Ancients, Medieval, Early Modern, Modern and you look at what happens around the world during those time periods.