Why do you homeschool?

Pre-College Issues Home Schooling and College
121

<p>well t i am a high school senior and have homeschooled most of my life (except for 4-5 grade) </p>

<p>let me start off with saying that i believe that EVERY homeschool experience is different!! mainly b/c it depends on the parents and child and the decisions they make.</p>

<p>deciding to homeschool is not an easy/light decision b/c if you think about it one's parents is putting their childrens EDUCATION in their own hand! and honestly i couldn't thank my parents enough for deciding to homeschool me!!!</p>

<p>ACADEMICALLY---
i have only been challenged. since 9th grade i have had only teachers who have taught me(not b/c my parents couldn't my mom is a teacher by trade) but b/c they wanted teachers who specialize in that subject that can make that subject interesting and challenging to me! not to brag but academics has always come easy to me but i only found some subjects interesting yet graduating this year i can say that i actually truly LOVE every subject that i have taken! i have taken college classes at a state college since 10th grade.
i had no problem applying to colleges and next year i will be at an Ivy League university! and i could honestly say that i dont think i would be going to the college i am if i wasn't homeschooled b/c for one reason i would be interested in academics as strongly as i am and i wouldnt have the same personal drive as i do! </p>

<p>now on the flips side i would be lying if i said other homeschoolers get as challenged academically as i was! one would just have to look at the media today to see what a bad rap home schooling gets(ie wife swap and trading sposes) but once again each experience is different and for someone to think that every homeshcool experience is like that is just a naive notion. come on should i really think that every person portrayed on those shows is the norm!?!?! if so then America has come to a sad place. lol. and most homeschoolers i know are above above average as far as academics go!</p>

<p>SOCIALLY------</p>

<p>now personally i am FAR from what ppl would consider social inept!! my experience in homeschooling has only given me opportunity's to meet even more ppl! i have lots of friends who attend public and private schools as well as home school. and even among those friends i have a wide variety of friends for instance instead of being boxed in to a group of friends (which my or may not have happened if i attended public school) seriously this year alone i have been invited to too many proms to count(i was even invited by several ppl to attend the local public school prom) from public, private and even homeschool prom! i have lots of friends who are cheerleaders, jock, rockers, "so called geeks", and many others who are stereotyped into a certain group in highschool yet i dont stereotype them at all they are just my friends. i have had opportunity's to do any kind of sports i would want and have benefited from those opportunity's. i actually had a funny incident lately where i met the admittance counselor of the ivy league university i am attending in which i was with a group of 5-6 other admitted students and after talking with her she was like "wow you are bubbly" which is true b/c standing there with the other admitted students i was the one who was the most social not these so called fellow highschoolers who have been socialized in public/private school!!</p>

<p>yet i would be remiss if i didnt mention that as a homeschooler i have met other homeschools who are somewhat socially inept yet they arent the norm! seriously i have met more students who attend public/private school who are just as socially inept if not more so! therefore should i consider all public highschool students socially inept? NO, b/c by doing so i would be wrong to categorize them like that! when i was younger i would consider it an injustice that if i told someone i was homeschooled they would consider me socially inept!! yet honestly i am very confident in my own social skills that i know that once someone meets me they know that isn't the case(and i would be lying if i said i dont love proving them wrong!lol)
TO CONCLUDE--- i believe that unlike someone who posted earlier i will have no problem in college in fact i believe that i will be even better off then fellow entering students b/c i have self motivation, have pretty much been in a college environment since 10th grade(ie no about syllabus's, finals week, office hours, and have absolutely no problem with talking in class!) have had college students for friends since then as well, and have a more wide belief as to the real world not just the "highschool world" as far as college is concerned i am even thinking of joining the cheer leading and dance team as well as the math club...so talk about socialized and educated!lol) i also believe that homeschooling has given me respect for others and there ideas. fostered maturity, independence, and drive. </p>

<p>at the same time i know of other homeschoolers that have done well yet didnt fully take advantage of there situation(academically or socially) therefore i ask naysayers to be a little more open regarding homeschooling and homeschoolers in general. b/c who knows one day you might meet me or someone who had the same/similar homeschool experience as i did an they will change your whole conception of it! yes i understand that you will also meet or know of other homeschoolers who lets say arent as socially inept or academically advanced but am i to believe that every public school stoner i meet is the norm for public schools(which i know is not the case b/c i know ppl who attend public/private school who don't do drugs!) or that every stupid ignorant person i meet who attends public/private school is the norm (which i also know isnt the case!) </p>

<p>homeschooling doesn't work for everybody but neither does public or private school so who are we to choose which is right for anybody else but ourselves!!! therefore i hope after reading what i wrote above your mind is open regarding homeschooling even if you decide its not for you! and if you have any questions you would like to ask me regarding anything i mentioned above feel free to pm me!</p>

122

<p>BB, with all due respect, I sure hope you work on your writing skills a bit before you enter the Ivy League university. I am afraid your professors will skewer your grammar and sentence structure.</p>

123

<p>Allmusic-- oh i bet if i turned in what i posted above profs will skewer me but since i am not turning it into them or my teachers i am not going to worry and neither should you!!!! (thanks for your concern though)</p>

<p>and if that was sarcasm about me going to an Ivy League school then your wrong(in fact i got accepted into several) i am a private person so i dont want to post where i am going. the only reason why i got an account on this website is so that i could post on the forum about Harvard ssp(since my friend wanted me to post info there..but i saw the forum regarding homeschooling) as you can see by my previous posts i attended Harvard ssp last year but i dont see a need to post on the forum where i got accepted to when i have facebook for that!:)
btw i give you free reign to criticize my sentence structure b/c once again i post online for fun not for a grade therefore i would be the first to admit my grammar isnt the best when i post online
another thing i can thank homeschooling for!!! My Grammar teacher was awesome! (and no she wasn't my mom:)) seriously she had her own curriculum and everything!</p>

124

<p>Wow, this thread is too long</p>

125

<p>beachbunny, to be honest, I agree with -Allmusic-. </p>

<p>The only thing we have to judge you by is your diction, grammar, and style. You could make your points more forcefully if you used proper punctuation, grammar etc.
To be honest, when you submit posts like that, you make yourself seem immature.
I totally agree with what you are trying to say about home-schooling, however.</p>

126

<p>I was about to make the same comment on writing style that Lalanickols just did...</p>

<p>But homeschooling seems like a great experience. I've always had an urge to try it, but I've never been able to.</p>

127

<p>about 18 kids at my church are homeschooled and they are the weirdest kids i have ever met.....not saying alll are like this but frm my experience they have no life...</p>

128

<p>I'm homeschooled, and so far I think it's great, I'm able to move at my own pace however fast/slow that may be.
And CantTuchThis— as a homeschooler, I'm actually able to have more of a life... I'm not held in by as many time constraints, I don't have to worry about getting homework done or making sure I look perfect to go to school. All the time I do spend on school, I can spend on academics instead of...other things....</p>

129

<p>CantTouchThis:</p>

<p>With all due respect, we think that PS kids are some of the weirdest kids we've ever met.</p>

<p>And actually, I think that being with hundreds of other people your age all day is the quintessential example of "no life".</p>

130

<p>You hit the nail on the proverbial head trvsdrlng. Being with people your age all day long is not even remotely close to real life.
I'm always hearing some uninformed individual talk about the lack of oportunity homeschoolers have to interact with different people compared to "normal kids", and I think: "Different people?? Since when is being in a building full of people your age, who are all being shaped with the same cookie-cutter, considered a plunge into diversity?"</p>

<p>It really peeves me to hear some ignorant person comment about a homeschooler's need to be with other children and "socialize."
I think my social skills are FAR superior to most traditionally educated students. I've seen kids stare at the floor and mumble when they talk to adults - probably because the only people they can interact with comfortably are their peers.</p>

<p>(I am 17, and only a small percentage of my friends are actually my age. I don't believe that being with people your own age is a bad thing, but I do think it's pointless to do it all day everyday.)</p>

131

<p>I did not home school my kids; I couldn't: I was working educating other people's kids at the college level. However, I don't understand the animosity toward home schooling expressed here or the attacks on posters (see above). If people feel positive about their experiencevand the results bear this out why would anyone want to question this? I have respect for many of the teachers my kids had, but some of them were arbitrary and unfair. I also agree with posters who point out that a lot of time is wasted in school. Still,neither of my children would have been happy to stay home with me, especially during high school. Butmthat's just my family.</p>

<p>One interesting thing: on senior award night the kids who won science awards had parents in the field, just as the kid who won the English award (my son) did. I have to conclude that these kids were getting "home schooled" as well in addition to attending school.</p>

132

<p>mythmom---- I must say after reading your post i am very (for lack of better words)appreciative of your opinion. you stated your belief (in my opinion) without criticizing another persons belief and you were able to effectively prove your point! by the way(btw) i found your interesting thing to be rather interesting:)</p>

133

<p>"I think my social skills are FAR superior to most traditionally educated students. I've seen kids stare at the floor and mumble when they talk to adults - probably because the only people they can interact with comfortably are their peers."
-good luck in college...maybe u can become good freinds with your profesors</p>

134

<p>I'm not homeschooled, and I'm not saying this is my opinion, but it is an opinion. Please remember not to argue with me since this is not mine; I'm just saying it is A way of viewing things.
<a href="http://childadvocate.org/1e.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://childadvocate.org/1e.htm&lt;/a>
As for something that I actually do believe in, check out The Well-Trained Mind. One of the best books ever written, in my opinion. Along with laying out an excellent guide to educating a child, it gives plenty of reasons for homeschooling.</p>

135

<p>My son, who is extremely bright and dyslexic, found our very good high school intellectually unchallenging even in the honors and AP classes and the assignments too full of busywork that taxed his stamina because of dyslexia. He felt the school was sapping his energy and wasting his time. Partway through freshman year, he asked us to homeschool him, which we did not do, but began a program of partial homeschooling. He has taken lab science, art, and social studies in the school (the school has fabulous social studies teachers). Lab science and art are harder to do independently. Art could be studied at a local museum school, though transportation would become an issue.</p>

<p>So that he could get more challenge in math, I hired a Harvard grad student to work with him a couple of times a week. He's writing a novel and read lots of books in the same genre to study how different authors handled plot and character. A writing teacher is working with him on constructing good research papers and longer essays -- a skill he'll need to improve upon. He's taking an expository writing course at Harvard Summer School. He took a course in European board games at a homeschool coop, designed his own very elaborate board game, started a club at the high school on games of strategy, and worked with his math tutor on game theory. I think it would be hard to work at the level at which he is working within most schools. And, it is hard to do the extra work to build reading fluency and writing skills he needs to build as a result of being dyslexic.</p>

<p>He has friends from the high school (and elsewhere) and in some ways gets the best of both possible worlds. But, it is fair to say that a number of his teachers in high school and middle school were not that stimulating. He has only been intellectually challenged by two teachers in high school and two in middle school. One challenged him by giving him alternate assignments. Even those that were challenging had to teach to the median of the class. Even in the honors and AP classes, he would say to me, "I got the idea on Monday. We're still working on it on Thursday and Friday." With homeschooling, he can move at his own pace. </p>

<p>Based upon our experience, I can see very good reasons to homeschool and had we known what we know now, we might have gone to it earlier. My son is learning more, has more energy, more time for extracurricular activities, and is happier. </p>

<p>My wife is very social and was/is afraid to take him fully out of a traditional environment. But, homeschool parents tell me that there is ample time for social activity, such as at the homeschool coop. A girl who was in my son's class as a freshman was a dancer who found the courseload too heavy to dance at the level she wanted to. So, she homeschools by taking classes at Harvard Extension School (and perhaps elsewhere). She's bright, perky, and charming -- she certainly does not suffer from poor social skills (though one can argue, correctly, that she acquired her social skills in the first 9 years of school). So, I can't comment on the socialization of kids who were only homeschooled.</p>

136

<p>phand8: No, in college, the person you quoted can become friends with both the brightest students around him/her AND the professors. Besides, their peers aren't the ones that will be writing their recommendations.</p>

137

<p>the only home schooled person i know at college is a genius</p>

138

<p>most of my teachers are rotten, and downright boring. they want to hijack your belief systems and turn you into one of them. </p>

<p>and besides, you get to wake up when you want to.</p>

139

<p>Homeschooling is a great way to be able to learn at your own tempo. In my case, I have a private tutor who works one-on-one with me on each subject. I really tend to understand much more and am able to easily ask questions without being shy/embarassed.</p>

140

<p>You know sports, clubs or a bunch of other things you can make friends on. People don't think they can make friends outside of school.</p>