Anonymous wrote:My issue with home schooling is not that it exists but there is a whole cadre of parents that make it a way of withdrawing from communities as if the rest of us have unwholesomeness syndrome. We had some family friends that basically implied that about everyone and their kids are just nightmares of judgment on everyone and everything. This impression was seconded by a cousin who ran a ice cream shop in the Midwest and said that they quit hiring kids that were home schooled because the kids had a hard time working as a team. There are obviously really good reasons to home school my mom did if or one year with a sister that was very sick, but put her back once that passed, but I have to wonder what commitment many people have to communities that withdraw from the education system. I should add I feel a bit the same way about private schools.

Frankly, so what if there is a small segment of society that wants to withdraw from society or who are judgmental. As long as they are obeying laws of our country I do not care. There are also plenty of judgmental folks in public schools and the public realm like Tea Party nuts who portray liberals as enemies or Fundies. That is just the way it is in our country with all different folks. The same can be said for homeschooling where you will find everyone from fundies to atheists and everything in between.

Anonymous wrote:My issue with home schooling is not that it exists but there is a whole cadre of parents that make it a way of withdrawing from communities as if the rest of us have unwholesomeness syndrome. We had some family friends that basically implied that about everyone and their kids are just nightmares of judgment on everyone and everything. This impression was seconded by a cousin who ran a ice cream shop in the Midwest and said that they quit hiring kids that were home schooled because the kids had a hard time working as a team. There are obviously really good reasons to home school my mom did if or one year with a sister that was very sick, but put her back once that passed, but I have to wonder what commitment many people have to communities that withdraw from the education system. I should add I feel a bit the same way about private schools.

Do you feel the same way about someone who moves out of a community with bad schools to go to a school that might be better, but perhaps less diverse? They're withdrawing from their community, albeit to join a better, more expensive one.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only experience I've had with someone who was home schooled (at least was open about it) was home schooled by the stereotypical fundamentalist type of parents that give home schooling a bad image. He was on my sports team and once spent an hour (we were stuck in a car) lecturing us on commercialism, marketing, how evil corporations were, how we were simple idiots because most of owned North Face or Patagonia jackets, etc. When we would have team dinners, it was much of the same ideas, but about food.

That really soured my view on home schooled kids and I am trying to get over that sourness as I expect as my child gets older, I will meet people who home school. I'll admit it is difficult though when the only person you've met from a particular group confirms all the negative stereotypes about that group.

+1. The only experience I've had with homeschooled kids is similar, and equally horrible. Among other things, they are now functionally illiterate. It is a terrible tragedy all the way around, including OP's point that it allowed these particular children to simply spend too much time with their (nutty) parents.

There are unfortunately many kids who "graduate" or drop out from public schools being functionally illiterate both in reading and math Public schooling does not guarantee success as well. There are many homeschooling success stories as well.

I am a liberal Democrat and I believe in choices whether that be public school, charter school, private school, or homeschooling. I really do not think we want to take away the freedom of choice when it comes to education since every child is unique.

My issue with home schooling is not that it exists but there is a whole cadre of parents that make it a way of withdrawing from communities as if the rest of us have unwholesomeness syndrome. We had some family friends that basically implied that about everyone and their kids are just nightmares of judgment on everyone and everything. This impression was seconded by a cousin who ran a ice cream shop in the Midwest and said that they quit hiring kids that were home schooled because the kids had a hard time working as a team. There are obviously really good reasons to home school my mom did if or one year with a sister that was very sick, but put her back once that passed, but I have to wonder what commitment many people have to communities that withdraw from the education system. I should add I feel a bit the same way about private schools.

Anonymous wrote:The only experience I've had with someone who was home schooled (at least was open about it) was home schooled by the stereotypical fundamentalist type of parents that give home schooling a bad image. He was on my sports team and once spent an hour (we were stuck in a car) lecturing us on commercialism, marketing, how evil corporations were, how we were simple idiots because most of owned North Face or Patagonia jackets, etc. When we would have team dinners, it was much of the same ideas, but about food.

That really soured my view on home schooled kids and I am trying to get over that sourness as I expect as my child gets older, I will meet people who home school. I'll admit it is difficult though when the only person you've met from a particular group confirms all the negative stereotypes about that group.

+1. The only experience I've had with homeschooled kids is similar, and equally horrible. Among other things, they are now functionally illiterate. It is a terrible tragedy all the way around, including OP's point that it allowed these particular children to simply spend too much time with their (nutty) parents.

Anonymous wrote:My biggest problem with homeschooling is that parents are not trained educators. If we are going to require compulsory schooling for children (and I think universal schooling is just about the best idea that came out of the last century), then we should require that the people who educate children have the skills and training to do it.

That rules out most of the private schools in the area too.

Teaching 25 children at once, in an efficient manner that allows every kid to get the attention they need and differentiated instruction, is, in my opinion, a task that requires a fair amount of training. Teaching 1 or 2 kids, when you have curricula available, is very manageable for someone with a college education, at least through 8th grade. Since most homeschoolers I know use many outside resources in high school, whether it's online courses, or community college courses, or internships, I think they're fine too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My biggest problem with homeschooling is that parents are not trained educators. If we are going to require compulsory schooling for children (and I think universal schooling is just about the best idea that came out of the last century), then we should require that the people who educate children have the skills and training to do it.

Many are actually.

I'm one of them. My profession is teaching but I have an undergraduate degree in Chemistry and my husband has a PhD in physics. I never would have thought I'd be doing this when we first started but the alternative was to buy another house we couldn't afford (we're underwater) or pay twice our mortgage payment for private school. Obviously I should have taken more economics courses in college. My daughter also needs speech therapy so there were other issues involved. She's in first.

University education courses don't prepare you well for teaching only experience and a mentor relationship will get you ready. And by ready I mean how to organize and teach 25 kids and how to have eyes in the back of your head. I'm constantly comparing where we are to the local schools- we're on track for reading and math (and we don't have to suffer through the horrible organization of most math curriculums. She gets more science instruction (meaning hands on experimentation and science journaling), way more history, more field trips, and more free play outdoors with other kids. When I as teaching (I was in an underperforming school in a testing grade) I was told not to teach science, social studies, or art from Dec. until the test window. The music teacher used to have the kids color whole notes for music, repeatedly. Who wants that for their child?

Where I fall short though is not the teaching part, but my ability to have a clean and organized house. The parenting and teaching run together and most homeschoolers will tell you that's the hardest part when your kid is young. She also most likely will not have a traditional PE class where kids pick sides and learn different sports on a rotating basis. We could take a class for this though if we wanted to. As for socializing, we get a lot of it but in mixed age groups. It's only ever in a traditional school environment where socialization is defined as 25 kids of the same age.

I'm the OP. I don't think all homeschoolers are weirdos... Instead I think homeschoolers think everyone else is weird and that our faults are contagious.

I agree with you. My kids are in public school here (magnets). My experience supports your notion. I have met the weidos and have struggled to protect the kids from this and their perverse habits.

Anonymous wrote:My biggest problem with homeschooling is that parents are not trained educators. If we are going to require compulsory schooling for children (and I think universal schooling is just about the best idea that came out of the last century), then we should require that the people who educate children have the skills and training to do it.

While I see where you are going with this, remember that teachers have to take a general education series of classes, and then the remainder of their classes teach them how to teach different kids of different backgrounds/socioeconomic status/language differences/ etc., as well as how to manage a classroom, teaching "theory", etc. Just think about all the 2nd career teachers there (CEO in another life, now a teacher) out there who launch right into a classroom and haven't had a specific teaching background (and while they are teaching, take some teaching classes to get a state certification. All these classes are teaching are things related to teaching a wide variety of students and classroom management/theory kinds of things).

In the case of homeschooling you are teaching your OWN child, and not any others, and assumedly you already know how your kid learns and you don't have to do any adapting...and you don't have a classroom to manage, and you aren't using any particular teaching theory to manage your one child...who knows how your kid learns better than you? (think about it--right now, if your kid had to memorize definitions for 20 vocabulary words, don't you already know whether he would learn them better by writing them 20 times each, using flashcards, or making up a song?)

many (if not most) of the homeschool parents I have talked to recently actually DONT actually teach their kids. They may supplement what the kids are learning online using a curriculum that is taught by a "real" teacher, but they themselves are not teaching. (This I know is not the case for all homeschool parents, just saying most I know).

For example, my homeschooled daughter is taking her classes from professors at the University of Indiana. But, I supplement what she is learning for example by helping her secure an internship outside of school which meshes well with one of her classes.

There are a lot of homeschool parents who feel comfortable teaching some subjects and not others. For example, I know an anthesiologist who homeschools-and she teaches her kids all of the science classes, but laughs when it comes to English kinds of classes and she uses online programs for those subjects.

One thing that HAS surprised me is that (at least in my discussions with homeschool families) the families are generally HIGHLY educated (many have masters degrees, doctorates etc).

Universal schooling IS one of the best ideas that has come out of the last century. I agree with you. However, the problem is that "universal" is not "universal". It may work for your kid but it does not work for mine. Put your kid in a situation where he develops cancer, throw him in a hospital room every few weeks and having to see 9 different specialists when he isn't in the hospital, (none of which happen to make appointments at night and on weekends to make it convenient to work around a school schedule) and miss at least 30% of his school days. And then see whether you think public school is "universal". Not even close....not for every kid.

Anonymous wrote:My biggest problem with homeschooling is that parents are not trained educators. If we are going to require compulsory schooling for children (and I think universal schooling is just about the best idea that came out of the last century), then we should require that the people who educate children have the skills and training to do it.

Many are actually.

My biggest problem with homeschooling is that parents are not trained educators. If we are going to require compulsory schooling for children (and I think universal schooling is just about the best idea that came out of the last century), then we should require that the people who educate children have the skills and training to do it.

Anonymous wrote:I dunno, OP. I wouldn't try too hard to be understanding. The 3 adults I've met who were homeschooled were very strange and obviously couldn't fit into normal society. I have a young nephew who is being homeschooled too, but that's because he has behavioral issues. Instead of my SIL doing it to help him, she's doing it because she's embarrassed of his behavior. He is only getting worse.

Good lord.

Thank god there is someone out there who is arranging our society into "normal" and "strange". What would we do without you.

Anonymous wrote:I dunno, OP. I wouldn't try too hard to be understanding. The 3 adults I've met who were homeschooled were very strange and obviously couldn't fit into normal society. I have a young nephew who is being homeschooled too, but that's because he has behavioral issues. Instead of my SIL doing it to help him, she's doing it because she's embarrassed of his behavior. He is only getting worse.

Shorter PP: I've met some weird people who were homeschooled, so homeschooling is weird.

I dunno, OP. I wouldn't try too hard to be understanding. The 3 adults I've met who were homeschooled were very strange and obviously couldn't fit into normal society. I have a young nephew who is being homeschooled too, but that's because he has behavioral issues. Instead of my SIL doing it to help him, she's doing it because she's embarrassed of his behavior. He is only getting worse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless a child has special needs what I don't get is homeschooling for high school.

Actually why not especially today when there are tons of resources like Coursera, John Hopkins Gifted and Talented, PA Homeschoolers College Board approved AP courses, Art of Problem Solving courses, and numerous other online courses. Then there are the numerous in person course options such homeschool co-ops and colleges and universities. Homeschooling allows one to tailor an education to meet a kid's needs as well as provide more time to pursue other educational endeavors such as computer programming, novel writing, etc. The possibilities are endless!

Our high school is through a private high school online program that was created by University of Indiana. (she has to take all of her exams with a proctor we have to hire independently). It is FABULOUS. She has learned so much in her classes already. The University actually created this program as a "feeder" into its college system (you aren't guaranteed acceptance but it gives them a pool of kids to take a look at.) The professors who teach the classes have been GREAT.

I also think for kids who have ADD/ADHD, these online curriculums are a great option. For kids who are inattentive, the ability to re-play the lectures, rewind, replay again...and also to listen to what would be a 90 minute lecture in 3 30-minute sessions works really well.

I just love many aspects of the online courses, I think the program we chose has been wonderful. I know there are many state universities who have also developed similar high school programs-I think Michigan has one for example.