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Survey: Home schooling up 29 percent

What people will do to qualify for the Apple Edu discount.... ;)

Seriously, though, this frightens me. Lots of home-schooled kids turn out fine, have interactions with other kids, etc. But what scares me is that they have one shot at getting a good teacher - their parent(s). In public or private schools, at least a few bad teachers can be counteracted by some good one.

Plus, few parents are qualified to teach all subjects.

I think a lot of parents home-school their kids for religious reasons, which also scares me. Religion is fine and wonderful, but it shouldn't get in the way of a true education, esp. one with math and science.
 
CubaTBird said:
I don't like the idea of home schooling, it just doesn't seem right to me. The child who is being home schooled doesn't get a chance to interact with other kids at a school level. Emotional problems may instill if the child is left in an isolated state.
Click to expand...

I've known a few home-schooled kids. Usually their parents put them in after-school programs or just have them go to public high school. High grades in high school allows them to get scholarship as well as interact better with people other than their parents.

Home schooled kids learn to read 2-4 years earlier, know way more in just about every subject, and often are the winners of spelling bees and things like that. I mean, even if the parents are total morons, the kids end up with a way better education. Also, why shouldn't parents be allowed to teach their kids religion? Who's to say they're wrong, eh? ;) They are also less likely to use drugs and other such naughty things.

On the other hand, I barely saw my parents at all and I turned out OK... Aside from the heavy drinking and drug use.. I want my mommy :(
 
Home schooling is just wrong.. every kid ive ever known that has ben home schooled has come out messed up in some way...
 
I have quite a few friends that have been homeschooled at least some point in their life. While I can analyze their character and attribute their 'short-comings' as a person to homeschooling, they are all still well within the bounds of 'normal'. The only thing that many of them have in common is a minor superiority complex. I won't homeschool my children (when I have some), but I won't look down on others that do.
 
Archaeopteryx said:
Home schooling is just wrong.. every kid ive ever known that has ben home schooled has come out messed up in some way...
Click to expand...

LOL.... and one could easily say most who come out of public education....
Come out uneducated...
 
jsw said:
I think a lot of parents home-school their kids for religious reasons, which also scares me. Religion is fine and wonderful, but it shouldn't get in the way of a true education, esp. one with math and science.
Click to expand...

Yeah, gotta watch out for those anti-math religious types. :rolleyes:

Multiplication tables... useful learning tool, or tool of satan?
 
i'm going to homeschool my kids for sure. they'll go to school as well, at some poit, to socialise etc. i believe it's very important for kids to experience that. what makes me wonder though, is all these kids that get driven to school that's less than a mile away. for me, walking/cycling home from school was one of the most social events of my preteen life. we used to have so much fun.

when you live in nyc, you don't see too much in the way of educated kids, and all the commercialism in schools these days too....it's a struggle to even eat halfway decent food! it's kind of disgusting that schools are in (large) part being funded by the corporations. i do not want my kid experiencing all that!

so, i think homeschooling is a good idea, but not exclusively. and not for all. a lot of parents i see shouldn't even have a pet goldfish, let alone children! :)
 
Just make sure you put your kids in a good school system. My hometown school system was terrific.
Then I moved and did high school in another town. It was pretty freaking bad. One art teacher that I had had no curriculum to speak of and all she did all period was sit at her desk and knit. Turned me off of taking anymore art courses at all.
Better stop now or I'll just keep going.
 
CubaTBird said:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/08/04/home.schooling.ap/index.html

I don't like the idea of home schooling, it just doesn't seem right to me. The child who is being home schooled doesn't get a chance to interact with other kids at a school level. Emotional problems may instill if the child is left in an isolated state.
Click to expand...

Oh PA-LEASE.
You do know there are a few home schooled mac users that attend these forums, don't you? *raises hand*

I have been home schooled my entire life. I'm now 19. What I did for interaction was to play sports, though let me tell you all that really taught me in my early years was about how to lose a friend (I wasn't going to become a jock). I had few friends through the first part of HS, spending most of my time with a few good church buddies, but my Junior year I got the guts to show up to school dances, and that changed things.
I took a year after HS to travel costa rica for 6 weeks. I did this alone. On public buses. With nothing but a back pack and $400. Best time of my life. I also knew no spanish when I went down there.

And I am not abnormal. I am incredibly shy, and on top of that I stutter Like crazy. Most of the time I am incapable of starting a conversation due to my stuttering disability.

That said, I've now been dating a wonderful girl named Lisa for 18+ months, I have numerous friends at HS and church, and now have a $14K scholarship to Whitworth College.
Never have drunken alcohol except champagne at home, never done drugs, and that is despite being a HS athlete/Mountain biker/Snowboard junky.
That's not to say I've never had to walk out of parties where someone brought out the keg :(

Sure, Home schooled kids have to work harder at a social life, but if I can do it, ANY kid can.

Many public schooled kids can't understand home schooling, it's almost impossible, because they have a different attitude. The truth is, I've taught myself from my Freshmen year on. My parents help me choose text books at times, and pay for them, but aside from that, I teach myself. It's a great thing to learn especially come college, and the REST of ones life. Self motivation towards education is something not many public school kids have, but many home schooled kids have. I believe that is why, on average, Home schooled kids do better in college.

Tyler

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."
-Albert Einstein
 
I have a 16 year old step-daughter who went through hell in public school, particularly from 6th through 8th grades. I had a pretty tough time in high school myself, but let me tell you - girls are pure evil at that age.
Anyway, when our son was born three years ago, my wife and I decided she would stay home and teach him. Honestly, I was skeptical of the idea at first. I was worried only about the loss of social interaction, never doubting my wife's ability to teach. After going to a couple of local homeschool expo's, I was impressed and reassured to find that homeschool groups organize school trips, have dances, put on plays, teach music/art, even publish yearbooks. Many of our local schools and churches offer programs for homeschoolers to get some physical acitivity. We have a local athletic club which has specific classes for homeschoolers, and there are alway rec programs for organized sports. I'm satisfied that, as long as we maintain our focus and stick to plan, Nathan will be fine.
As for academic pursuits, we realize we have a lot of learning ahead of us just to be equipped to teach the basics. Fortunately, with my wife's background in OT and child development, she is very understanding of the scope of the undertaking we have chosen to embark upon.
Are we going to make mistakes along the way? Absolutely. I think the benefits outweigh the pitfalls, though. Nathan will learn at his own pace, get undivided attention, have curriculums prepared based on the methods that are most effective for his learning skills, and have the scheduling flexibility to take a break here and there. Raining today? Just postpone the "school trip" to the Zoo until tomorrow.
As for religion, I am agnostic, while my wife has recently begun attending a local church. Neither of us was brought up in a strict religious home, and we are not doing this because of faith. Nathan will be taught some from the bible, and then make his own decision to pursue religion, or not.
Frankly, there are some things that are not taught in public schools. For example, my daughter didn't learn how to balance a checkbook, establish or maintain good credit, understand the fine print in documents, create a household budget, or appreciate the importance of saving, while attending public schools. Sure, these are things parents ought to teach their children, but many don't care or don't know how to teach it. I guess we are fortunate.
Clearly homeschooling is not for everyone, but it is a good fit for us.
To each his or her own, eh?
 
To quote the kid who teaches himself, you are in the 1% minority if anything.. At my high school and most I believe, getting a kid to even have someone teach HIM/HER can prove difficult. Im not sayin everybody is like that... Its just the way it is....
 
wha?

went through hell? so you stand up and FIX the situtaion.. its obvious those girls who made ur daughter go through hell won and u lost b/c now ur homeschooling your daughter.. listen, i see it everyday at my highschool, im going to be a senior in sep and i have see TON of ****.... for example, sometimes a girl wants to get into a click the group doesn't accept them and she doesn't know why... Or when one time this really hot girl and her hot pause of girl friends all shoved there busts in my face cuz they wanted "help on the assingment" right......... i tell ya, u just gotta stand up for yourself and do what is right.. and don't let ANYONE get to u... when that happens, you have lost and they have won.... im not sayin be a jerk and walk around like robocop, but instead be cool and laidback.. .BUT BE AWARE OF UR SURROUNDINGS..... most of the time, what people say is just a lot of excesss noise and nothing else
 
OMG

balance a check book?!?!??!?! you learn that in high school... when you take world econ in 12th grade that what you learn!! sheesh, you parents are trying to instill all the stuff you want ur kids to know at such an early age.. then u'll say, o she didn't get to learn "sociology" dude, those are electives in high school! what bad school in ur area.... i doubt it, unless u live in the ghetto, get out and move to a better school system... its ur job to provide the best for a childs education... sheesh the ignorance on these boardss :mad:
 
CubaTBird said:
went through hell? so you stand up and FIX the situtaion.. its obvious those girls who made ur daughter go through hell won and u lost b/c now ur homeschooling your daughter.. listen, i see it everyday at my highschool, im going to be a senior in sep and i have see TON of ****.... for example, sometimes a girl wants to get into a click the group doesn't accept them and she doesn't know why... Or when one time this really hot girl and her hot pause of girl friends all shoved there busts in my face cuz they wanted "help on the assingment" right......... i tell ya, u just gotta stand up for yourself and do what is right.. and don't let ANYONE get to u... when that happens, you have lost and they have won.... im not sayin be a jerk and walk around like robocop, but instead be cool and laidback.. .BUT BE AWARE OF UR SURROUNDINGS..... most of the time, what people say is just a lot of excesss noise and nothing else
Click to expand...

Actually, my daughter is still in public school, having advanced to attend the local high school with many of those same girls. She is active in extra-curricular activites, and fairly well adjusted for having learned to survive in the environment. She is aa very brave young lady, and we are very proud for her. We were careful not to appear as though we were just coming to her rescue, as that has it's own pitfalls.
Her experience certainly opened our eyes to the potential of homeschooling our son, but was not the reason we ultimately chose to do so.
 
CubaTBird said:
balance a check book?!?!??!?! you learn that in high school... when you take world econ in 12th grade that what you learn!! sheesh, you parents are trying to instill all the stuff you want ur kids to know at such an early age.. then u'll say, o she didn't get to learn "sociology" dude, those are electives in high school! what bad school in ur area.... i doubt it, unless u live in the ghetto, get out and move to a better school system... its ur job to provide the best for a childs education... sheesh the ignorance on these boardss :mad:
Click to expand...

Well, let's see. She is 16 now and entering her junior year, she just got her license, a car, and a job. We could wait until she is a senior for her school to teach her financial matters, but she probably ought to know them now, don't you think?
 
..............

my point was that sometimes parents try to rush there kids into learning a bunch of stuff when they know there kids will learn eventually.. Look this may sound sad but i don't even mind what i don't have.. im 17 and i don't have a license,car, or cell phone... I ride my bike to school and don't mind that.. I don't see what others see in "ooo ur getting a car! yippe a car! now i can drive" type of person......
 
CubaTBird said:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/08/04/home.schooling.ap/index.html

I don't like the idea of home schooling, it just doesn't seem right to me. The child who is being home schooled doesn't get a chance to interact with other kids at a school level. Emotional problems may instill if the child is left in an isolated state.
Click to expand...

Equating home schooling and isolation is a little off - just because someone is home schooled doesn't mean that they are inherently restricted from having interactions with other kids their age. Admittedly, they need to try harder to seek out that interaction, but it is still available.

My beef with home schooling is that the education of the child is directly dependent upon the capabilities of their parents, or more specifically, a single parent (one of them still has to work). There are only a few parents out there that will be qualified to teach subjects such as advanced mathematics (calculus, or, for some, geometry or algebra), chemistry, physics, as well as grammar, literature, sociology, psychology, foreign languages, etc.

Of course, the primary reason that I wouldn't choose to home school my own children is that I'm just too damn lazy...
 
CubaTBird said:
balance a check book?!?!??!?! you learn that in high school... when you take world econ in 12th grade that what you learn!! sheesh, you parents are trying to instill all the stuff you want ur kids to know at such an early age.. then u'll say, o she didn't get to learn "sociology" dude, those are electives in high school! what bad school in ur area.... i doubt it, unless u live in the ghetto, get out and move to a better school system... its ur job to provide the best for a childs education... sheesh the ignorance on these boardss :mad:
Click to expand...

I learned about fine print, check book balancing, and credit cards. it was required at my country school (99 in my graduating class). In fact i think it was a state requirement.

I used to think nothing about home schooled kids in high school, a few would come in from home schooling and interacted fine. I noticed problems with home schooled kids in college who never went to a high school, they would just be weird, anti-social. My roommate freshman year was home schooled, he was painfully shy. Even my senior year I was a TA in a class he was in and he was still acting weird, always looking down, never speaking up.

Some people down the road from my mother's moved in and are home schooling their kids. They built their house about 50 yards into the woods sourounded by a swamp, you never see them, or their kids. It's those kind of homeschoolers i look at now that scare me. Shut outs 100%. The only reason we know this is because after they moved in we'd do the usual "howdy" with an apple pie or brownies, scary bunch.

edit: spelling (can't comment on educaton if my spelling is shot) :rolleyes:
 
CubaTBird said:
balance a check book?!?!??!?! you learn that in high school... when you take world econ in 12th grade that what you learn!! sheesh, you parents are trying to instill all the stuff you want ur kids to know at such an early age.. then u'll say, o she didn't get to learn "sociology" dude, those are electives in high school! what bad school in ur area.... i doubt it, unless u live in the ghetto, get out and move to a better school system... its ur job to provide the best for a childs education... sheesh the ignorance on these boardss :mad:
Click to expand...

Is that Kettle black Mr. Pot?

They home school their children because they believe it provides the best for a child's education. I have seen home schooled kids that are train wrecks, and I’ve seen some who went on to be doctors. You get the same results from public school also.

(edited for spelling again.. sheesh maybe i should have been homeschooled ) :)
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with home schooling. Just because people who are home schooled are indeed likely to be different doesn't mean there is a problem with it. If more people would talk to all these students that they instantly label as "anti-social" they would see that a lot of them are nice people. People can be so hypocritical; and on a mac board, sheesh...
 
Phobophobia said:
I don't think there is anything wrong with home schooling. Just because people who are home schooled are indeed likely to be different doesn't mean there is a problem with it. If more people would talk to all these students that they instantly label as "anti-social" they would see that a lot of them are nice people. People can be so hypocritical; and on a mac board, sheesh...
Click to expand...

There are surely plenty of maladjusted homeschooled folks out there, just like there are in public and private schools. There is no single solution that works for each and every person. Each parent must look at the education opportunities available to their child and, hopefully, choose the best path for them.
 
There is a long history behind my school thus far but lets just say my high school career will end with me getting home schooled. I already have no friends at school so i have nothing to lose.
 
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