<p>Hey I do a loose form of homeschooling, and I like fashion!</p>
<p>Sorry!! :)</p>
<p>No offense! I was merely saying that they're less peer-oriented than kids who are in formal schools. :)</p>
<p>Kelly</p>
<p>"I wouldn't necessarily say they're smarter, although I agree that you make excellent points.</p>
<p>I would say they're more...focused. The emphasis is on learning at home, rather than who's dating who and who is best friends with who or what is the latest fashion.</p>
<p>I also think that they retain learning better. In a homeschool setting, you're free to focus on a particular subject or idea until it is mastered, rather than learning something strictly for a test and then promptly forgetting it as soon as the test is completed.</p>
<p>Those are the differences that I, personally, have noticed during my 9 years of homeschooling."</p>
<p>Do they have more opportunities to go places?? (I mean like abroad or to museums, historic places, etc. to learn outside of textbooks). I think I would have enjoyed school more had I been at home. It's ridiculous that kids have to go to school all day long and then come home to mountains of work (most of which I think is meaningless busywork).</p>
<p>There are lots of different ways to homeschool. </p>
<p>Some are unschoolers, meaning they study what they want to study and when they want to study it. This gives lots of time to really get into a subject that interests them.</p>
<p>Some use unit studies where you study a different subject in depth for a number of weeks (say ... Native Americans or the weather, etc..) then switch to something else.</p>
<p>Some are more traditional, using textbooks and workbooks, just like a 'real school'.</p>
<p>I use an eclectic mix. I use textbooks for math, hands-on unit study for science, and basically "unschool" English & History (my daughter reads and writes papers on real books and periods in history, rather than using texts).</p>
<p>As far as going places, there are homeschool groups you can join in your local area that offer tons of field trips, spelling bees, music lessons, etc. And you can always visit museums and places just with the family.</p>
<p>The nice thing about homeschooling is its flexibility. I have some close friends who've been homeschooling their two children on a boat for 9 years. They've sailed around the world at least 3 times.</p>
<p>Kelly</p>
<p>I was home-schooled, totally out of necessity, for my last two years of high-school and it entirely changed my perception of education. During 11th grade, I lived with my parents in Italy, and during 12th grade in the UK. Neither of my parents felt qualified to teach, so I basically "self-studied" and my mother administered tests and exams. The motivation behind all of this was never to create some kind of special "learning experience", but simply to just get it done.</p>
<p>First of all, as others have mentioned - one of the advantages of home-schooling is the pace at which it can be accomplished. I was able to finish everything at the end of only the first year and could have then gone on to university a year early. However, I chose to continue studying for an extra year with different electives and beefed up my transcript. </p>
<p>However, in seeing the environment of mainstream education today, this is where I really see the advantage of home-schooling. After spending a few years of having a smaller circle of friends and acquaintances, when I recently started at a large American university (NYU if it makes any difference), quite frankly it has been appalling for me to see the kind of attitudes, standards, and behaviour that can be so prevalent - I think, as a result of being exposed year after year after year to the demoralising effect of being in a large, mainstream school setting. </p>
<p>That is why, when it comes time for me to have children of my own, I very much hope that they can be home-schooled.</p>
<p>Patrick, I feel similar to you about homeschooling. I was not homeschooled but I feel that the majority of my 13 years in the public school system was spent sitting doing nothing. Homeschooling would have been much more educational for me and I definitely would be at a much higher level academically right now had I homeschooled. It just takes so long for the teacher to hand out papers to twenty students. When it is time to actually go over the material, I understand the concepts immediately while the rest of the class needs explanation. It seems that I spend less than five minutes out of each school day actually learning anything.</p>
<p>I do think that school has been an overall good experience for me. I can be shy in some situations, and I can imagine how I would be if I had homeschooled. I would only put myself in social situations where I felt comfortable, and for me it takes getting out of my "comfort zone" to improve socially, I guess. I did contemplate homeschooling in eighth or ninth grade, but in the end decided to "stick it out" and I don't regret my decision.</p>
<p>Actually, I wish I would've been homeschooled, I was so smart when I was younger because I took the initiative to do things on my own. But, my I have a VERY busy mother, so I don't think she would've been able to teach me. I'm a social person to a certain extent, but I notice I do MUCH better in academics on my own. </p>
<p>What I hate about public schools is, students are taught to think like other people (for example "the smarter kids") rather than trying to think for themselves. I am guilty of practicing this "technique." I feel like I have so much knowledge, but I don't know how to use it and trust me if I were homeschooled, I would be WAYYYYYYYY smarter than what I am now because like I said previously, I work so much better on my own than in a school setting. </p>
<p>I look at most of the kids around me who have been homeschooled for the longest and I notice most of them are in the top 20 of my class. It's just an observation that I've noticed for a long time.</p>
<p>But in the end, I think homeschooling is VERY beneficial, but now I feel it's kind of too late to be homeschooled.</p>