<p>Why were you homeschooled?</p>
<p>I am HomeschoolingMom. What daughter didn’t have time to share in her lengthy post is that her experiences are not untypical for many homeschoolers. I was working in her school when we decided to homeschool seven years ago. I do not know of anyone in our community that homeschools for only one reason (religion) but for a multitude of reasons, after considering all of the pros and cons. The term “homeschool” is no longer correct. We use many methods of learning: tutors, self-directed study, travel, internships, college classes, co-op classes and on-line classes, video programs, textbooks, and the list goes on.<br>
Here are few more experiences my D didn’t have time to share: Her first book won 5th place in an international contest, our family witnessed the Blessing of the Baby in a Buddist temple, D has worked on political campaigns, D does volunteer work on Monday evenings with disabled youth and adults, family volunteers at homeless shelters and food banks, family hosted a non-english speaking 10 year old from the Dominican Rep who was in our home for 4 months while undergoing open heart surgery, and more. Parent Facilitated Education allows for more time to experience life outside of a classroom.<br>
Yes, some children doing poorly in homeschooling, as some do poorly in school. I was one who said I would never homeschool - things change.</p>
<p>We decided to homeschool for a variety of reasons. I will share a few. D was not being challenged in school - the money was always used for Resource Room needs (struggling students). We enrolled D in art classes at the local art college on Saturdays, Spanish classes after school. Working at the school I witnessed the wasted time during the day and the waste of time from disruptive students, this meant D had to use her free time to learn the things the school could not handle. On the other hand, first grade son was struggling in school, not reading, went from loving school to hating school. The teacher said he was challenged in math - what a joke. S taught himself to tell time in K and loved doing mental math at home. The teacher had a room full of seven year old boys with lots of energy. She wanted to talk about medication (I distributed the meds) and Resouce Room. S was very social and was not mature enough to focus for full days yet.<br>
So long story still long. School was a waste of time, evenings were spent doing homework that should have been done during the day. One child needed more challenges, one needed one-on-one time with fewer distractions until he learned to focus. Both have become outstanding students, neither has ever asked to go back to school.</p>
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<p>Wait, so, people participate in drug use, get pregnant, flunk out, etc. merely because of the presence of people who make terrible life choices? I had no idea. I live with an alcoholic, so that means because my uncle has “different morals” and different life experience, I’ll become an alcoholic, too? I think this is a ridiculous statement. Being around - indeed, hanging out with - different kinds of people (for better or for worse) doesn’t affect YOUR choices in life. My values, morals, and decisions in life are strong enough (even as a homeschooler!) that I can be around or hang out with bad influences or examples and still come out on top of life. Exposure =/= mimicry.</p>
<p>^^ So how much did this all cost?</p>
<p>I understand that many people have a successful time in homeschooling, but I do not think parents’ credentials for homeschooling are properly assessed. For example, I know a student who had a difficult home life. It only took his parents a day to withdraw him from school and poof, he was gone. There was no investigation of the parents’ qualifications. There was speculation the boy suffered abuse at home, and it was not the best thing for him to spend additional time in a dangerous environment. In the interests of the children, parents should undergo an interview process and take academic tests prior to being permitted to homeschool. They need to prove that they are competant at teaching, and will provide a safe atmosphere for the child(ren) just like any registered teacher has to. If a parent does not successfully pass the interview/testing process, they should not be allowed to homeschool their children.</p>
<p>^More often than not, the parents are not the only ones teaching their children. </p>
<p>They hire tutors or the kids attend online/college classes.</p>
<p>^That’s not really the point.</p>
<p>But those kids have to live at home with their parents anyway. If it’s in the best interest of the child, why doesn’t the government sterilize all people who they think might be unfit parents? They don’t because America is a free country. </p>
<p>Anyway, homeschooled students’ standardized test averages are higher than the American public school average, this is probably because of the fact that there isn’t much incentive for brilliant people to become teachers, thus many teachers lack the real intelligence and ability it takes to be a teacher. Public school can suck, homeschooling can suck. Public school can be great, homeschooling can be great. There’s always risk.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is any merit in “interviewing” parents before homeschooling. In this area there is an srticle about once a week of misconduct of teachers, coaches, aids, school bus drivers. These episodes include sexual relationships, buying drunks, drunk driving and more. I guess the interview process did not protect those children.</p>
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<p>Yes, you are more likely to become an alchoholic than another person all else equal.</p>
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<p>A much more likely cause is that a family that homeschools their children values education. Thus the children have a built in advantage, whatever type of school they go to. There’s likely also a strong correlation between wealth and homeschooling, just as there’s a correlation between wealth and standardized test scores.</p>
<p>^^ So how much did this all cost?
Four in Christian school would cost more than $20,000 yr. Cost to homeschool plus experiences much less (priceless) The cost is in the loss of one income and time invested by parents. We have to make choices but the scholarships being awarded help to make up for the lost income.
Dual Enrollment @ university $125/credit
Trip to Costa Rica less than $400 - sleep at school under construction, meals cooked at school be volunteers.
We are HEAVY library loan systems users. Curriculum is purchased used and passed down to siblings.
Tutors meet once a week for an hour per subject, 32 weeks per year, class size 3 - 15, cost $200 per year per subject.
Is there another cost you are interested in learning?
By the way, homeschoolers in this area have Prom, Marching Band, Football, Soccer, Basketball teams, fencing, Large Drama Productions, Two Honor Societies, Graduation Ceremonies and many more oportunities.</p>
<p>I’m not denying that a lot of that could be due to wealth, I’m saying that many homeschoolers receive a superior education. Why aren’t failing schools shut down. There are a few schools in my state with <20% meeting state standards and are full of ESL, impoverished children. The state doesn’t seem overly concerned that they are getting a horrendous education.</p>
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<p>Where are you getting that from? I am personally more likely to become an alcoholic because I have an addictive personality and a family history of mental illness, but that wouldn’t change even if I had never met my uncle. I would reason that because I’ve seen the destruction of alcoholism and because I am aware of my weakness to potentially abused substances, I am less likely to become an alcoholic. What’s the reasoning behind your statement? What about pregnant teens? I used to go to a high school with many pregnant teens. How did exposure to those people make me more likely to get pregnant? And what about drug use? Drug use is extremely heavy in my community. But merely being around those people doesn’t make any reasonable person more likely to throw their life away with drugs. That doesn’t make any sense at all.</p>
<p>If you really think that you don’t tend to become like the people you associate with, I don’t really know what I can say to that.</p>
<p>“There’s likely also a strong correlation between wealth and homeschooling”</p>
<p>I have never seen data to support this. Homeschoolers almost always live on one income. We drive a van with 170,000 miles and a mouse living in it, we buy our clothes at Goodwill, no cable, one small television set (rarely watched) no xbox, no nintendo, etc. Rarely eat in restaurants, grow some of our own food (science project). We would rather go without many material things in order that we can have lifetime memories through our travels and experiences. All the homeschoolers I know are certainly not wealthy.</p>
<p>Having some sort of screening process for homeschooling parents is better than none. I know one student who is homeschooled with special needs. His parents have disabilities as well, and they are unable to give him the wide range of services that could be provided to him at school. In some areas, homeschooling may be the better option. But when the school has a variety of solid resources, taking a student out can be detrimental. Especially when the student has socializing difficulties as the one described, and his conversational skills will decline conversing only with his parents and his already established friends on his sports team. </p>
<p>Beautiful Nights–I agree completely with your philosophy. Socializing in an academic setting is much different than an EC one. EC’s draw people with similar interests together, which means it can be easier to find common ground. But in an academic setting, as in the working world, you meet a variety of people with different goals, lifestyles, and abilities. Yes, a lot of people in school are annoying. But that does not mean my encounters with them aren’t valuable.</p>
<p>That statement is pure conjecture and innately contradictory. My club swim team (7 days per week) is full of people with all different beliefs. Our only common ground is the fact that we all swim every day. If you take classes that are grouped homogenously (which I assume most are) you are surrounded by above average students, and thus by your logic, the students would all probably find common ground because all of them are above average. </p>
<p>A lot of encounters in the real world are annoying (my bosses, my coaches, my parents, my siblings, my friends, my coworkers). Just because a person doesn’t have a dictatorial figurehead roaming around in front of them doesn’t mean they won’t face conflict. </p>
<p>School does NOT equal the real world. School doesn’t mimic real life.</p>
<p>I have never been homeschooled so this is coming from a fairly unbiased source.</p>
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<p>You could say “You’re right, you don’t tend to become like the people you associate with.” If personally I did, I would either be a hardcore Catholic or an alcoholic and/or druggie. You’re a weak person if you mold to those around you.</p>