<p>Do you regret any part of homeschooling such as not being able to join school clubs and activities, missing social connections with the kids in public or private high schools or not attending prom?</p>
<p>Schoolsurfer, hi, I'm a mom, but I'll throw in a couple of thoughts. We homeschooled our 3 kids and the youngest will be starting college this fall. Of course they did miss some of the things associated with high school, but not as much as you might think.</p>
<p>They had a prom and a graduation ceremony. They were in clubs with homeschool groups such as Toastmasters, Choir, First Robotics, and YMCA Youth and Government. One was on a year-round community swim team and another worked independently on filmmaking, so he had friends helping him with that. Our daughter traveled at least a couple of times a year to homeschool events and training courses in other parts of the state and country where she sometimes stayed several weeks. She made tons of friends doing that and they are still close 5 years later. The kids were involved in church and went to the different activities, retreats, and camps.</p>
<p>They also had the opportunity to earn a lot of dual-credit college hours at the cc (about 40 hours each) which allows flexibility in scheduling, opportunities to double major, etc. </p>
<p>Even with traditional schooling, everyone's experience is different. A kid in a rural area doesn't have the same experience as a kid in an affluent suburb. It doesn't mean it's better or worse - just different.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the community, like timely said. My kids have been homeschooled their whole lives, but they participated in high school sports and debate teams, band, brain bowl, and went to proms and other dances and events.</p>
<p>Where we live those things are all open to homeschoolers, along with the ability to take a class or a few classes at the high school without being full-time enrolled students.</p>
<p>We live in a small town, so all the kids mingle and socialize and there is, interestingly, little distinction between the homeschoolers and the traditional schoolers. There are not enough people here to have separate communities of kids.</p>
<p>Ironically, when we lived in a different state in a very large city, there was far more segregation. Partly that was because the state laws and the school district practices completely blocked homeschoolers access to anything school connected at all, and partly because there were so many homeschoolers they built networks among themselves that provided much of what schools provide such as proms, clubs, and other social activities.</p>
<p>Every so often, I do regret homeschooling. After all, I don't get to go to a prom (although one of my good friends invited me to come with a group of her school friends to homecoming :D). Also, I feel as though I didn't get the opportunity to put the same type of resume boosting extracurriculars on my college app. My group of friends is smaller, but very closely knit.</p>
<p>But then I think about everything which homeschooling has given me. I have had the opportunity to pursue interests in historical biographies; I have gotten the chance to read classic books without always having to worry about being examined on them; I have had the chance to focus on my own path of academic advancement. And, honestly, I probably wouldn't have taken advantage of many of the opportunities which school would have given me. I would still have been devoting the majority of my time to my sport. (I did NOT homeschool for my sport. I just became very focused on it as I grew up.) If I wanted to, I could go and take a couple of courses at my local high school. I'm happy where I am, though.</p>
<p>Another mom here --</p>
<p>I think it depends on where you live and what you seek out. In our small town county, we have over 700 homeschool families, so we have chorus, band, contact football, three 4-H clubs, history club, and tons more my family isn't involved in. We can't participate in any of the public school things, but we don't have to - everything you could want is available. </p>
<p>My kids would tell you that they've had a blast and feel they've had far more social opportunities than those stuck in a building for the majority of the day. Just like in public school, though, you have to get off your seat and get involved. It's easy to ignore all the opportunities if you don't join a support group.</p>
<p>I just asked my son (tenth grader this year), and he can't think of anything in particular that he regrets about homeschooling. Our plan here is that he will be a dual enrollment student at the state university for the last two years of "high school." He is active in a lot of extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Any Publicschooling regrets?
i know several students from the local h.s. who would LOVE to homeschool -
and i am not alone.
the local district will begin a distance program online.
interested students will still have to muddle through busywork but should
have time to actually study topics of interest, avoid the prom, et al
this should work well for parents lacking confidence or _________.</p>
<p>I think my parents have some public schooling regrets. I know that it wasn't the best place or path for me, and if I would've been pulled out sooner my life would be completely different. I would probably be farther ahead in school now, not behind.</p>