NY Times-- Students Say High Schools Let Them Down

Parents Forum
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I've always wondered--what are the reasons for homeschooling? I'm sure they vary from person to person, but is one of the reasons honestly because the public schools in the child's area suck?

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<p>Well, I wouldn't put it in quite those terms, but tomorrow night I go to the monthly meeting of a group of parents who homeschool gifted children, and they are mostly homeschooling because having their children in school slowed down and stymied the things their kids were doing to pursue learning interests and keep themselves challenged. My children have never been full-time in regular public school (my oldest son takes a single subject specialized accelerated program, offered by our state university), and that seems to have provided them more opportunities to learn challenging material at an earlier age and still have time for balance in their life (e.g., community sports programs). </p>

<p>One of my favorite online sites about why people turn to homeschooling is the Learn in Freedom site, </p>

<p><a href="http://learninfreedom.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://learninfreedom.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Well, when I read the article. I disagree about my school. I don't feel that my HS let me down at all. I actually found my first semester in college a little too easy. So my HS did a great job of prepping me for the demands of the college.</p>

<p>However, I do agree overall as I've spoken with other people in college telling me what kind of opportunities (or the lack thereof) they had in their HS. I was very surprised how lucky I've been with my HS- tons of AP courses (18?) and dual-enrollment with the local CC and honors classes in foreign languages, English, and math departments. I just spoke with a friend down in FL- she's ready to leave her HS curriculum because she exhausted all of their resources so she's taking some CC classes to supplement her regular senior year classes. I feel bad because she's so smart but her HS just couldn't give her everything. But I know she'll do great because she's taking responsiblity for her education.</p>

<p>Now for my gifted 10 year old cousin- not quite too sure what the 'rents are going to do when he finishes his current school for the gifted in 9th grade- he will have already completed all of NYS regents exams and taken two foreign language classes... But I do know that their local HS is one of the tops in the country so he might not feel disappointed with their AP courses... could go either way here.</p>

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<p>Oh Bandit TX, that is so-o-o-o Texas!</p>

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<p>Not everywhere in Texas. We have several high schools in the top 50 nation wide. Unfortunately, in the smaller districts where money is tighter it is all to common.</p>