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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No. I am a professor, and my colleagues and I do notice a social difference between the homeschooled children and the rest. It's as if they haven't developed the proper social "filters," for lack of a better word. They are generally bright, articulate students--good students--, but seem unaware of their own social awkwardness. They have no idea how to put other people at ease, and seem rather intense.

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I have noticed this also.  I used to teach at the high school level and students that were home schooled up until high school had a very hard time adjusting.  They were very nice, bright, hardworking students, but socially awkward and other students found them strange.  They definitely fell into the "weird outcast" group.  Of course, I taught at an urban, inner city public high school so they might not have had as many problems at a smaller suburban or small town HS.[/quote]

I was homeschooled, along with my brother and sister, and I agree with those quoted above.  I'll also add that I have no intention of ever homeschooling my own child.  For myself and most of the other homeschoolers I've known, the transition to college/adult life can be very difficult.  Even if the parents work to incorporate outside social activities, for most homeschoolers this really only amounts to getting out 3-4 times a week at most.  It's not really enough for the child to feel comfortable interacting with peers.  The poster who talked about all of things she imangined doing with her children if she homeschooled has a unrealistically rosy view, in my opinion.

For the posters who talk about all of the time wasted in school and how actual academic work can be completed in a few hours, you are spot on.  Now imagine that you finish all of your schoolwork by 11am and you have the rest of the day to fill.  Hours and hours of boredom spent at home with no one to interact with but your mom and siblings.  That's the best description I can come up actually - homeschooling is really boring most of the time.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the toll that this lifestyle takes on the parents, mostly the mom, since that's who usually stays home and does the teaching.  Your entire life will revolve around teaching your children, making lesson plans, trying to come up with activities to deal with their boredom, etc.  My mom has done a pretty good job of finding new hobbies, but for a while after my youngest sibling left, she had no reason to get out of bed in the morning (her words, not mine).  This is actually what bothers me about homeschooling more than anything else.

Of course there are good things about homeschooling, and there are people who do it successfully.  But I'm tired of seeing so many parents jump into homeschooling without seriously considering some of these issues.  When your child shows up to (small, private, Christian) college and is so overwhelmed that she can't bring herself to step foot in the cafeteria, that's a problem.   [/quote]

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