Home schooling:pros and cons

[phantom]

"I'm big on professionals doing any job. Not sure someone who is not a qualified teacher can pull it off. I coach soccer which is exponentially simpler than being a school teacher. I've win vested considerable amount of time and money to get good--I've yet to see committed volunteers or even pros who just "get by"."

With regards to this. If the parent, generally the mother, is serious about homeschooling she will learn how to teach. I have numerous friends who are professional teachers, and the number of classes they take that actually teach them how to teach are very, very, few. They take a lot of classes on the "system" of the day, and meeting all the legal requirements. A dedicated mother can read and study on her own and be just as prepared as a professional teacher. The real learning comes when you do it. That is why you have to "student teach" to get a teaching degree. That is when you really learn how to teach, and you go through that as a homeschooling parent to. I called it the learning curve, what you thought was going to happen didn't happen and you have to learn how to teach your child in a way they will learn, and you have to do it without wanting to throttle them! The professional teacher would just walk away and not worry about it. Well you are teaching one on one, so it becomes a problem solving game..is it the method, the topic, are they tired, sick, bored, why don't they get it...so you problem solve. I teach a Sunday school class for 4 year olds at my Church as well and I can tell you that one on one makes a big difference.

I agree.

I don't think it takes as much special training to learn to be a good home schooling parent as it does to be a good teacher. Much of the training that teachers go through has to do with managing a large group of kids all at once and meeting all their individual needs. A home schooling parent has a much smaller group to deal with and only a couple sets of needs to figure out how to handle. I doubt anyone can do a good job with home schooling without educating themselves a bit first, but I think that education is obtainable for a lot of parents. It's also important to keep in mind that with modern technology, it's possible to find some great video lectures and additional resources online. So, parents don't have to do all the work on their own.

I like to think that I'm a good teacher even though I've never had any formal training. I've always had a passion for helping people to learn new things. I love the problem solving aspect of figuring out why someone just isn't getting something and how to get through to him. I taught swim lessons when I was in middle and high school, did a lot of peer tutoring throughout school, have taught many people to play go (a difficult board game that I enjoy), and currently teach Sunday school. If I home school my own kids one day, I'll already have a good bit of teaching experience under my belt. Not all parents can say that, but I bet a lot can. Teaching opportunities are all over the place.

In my mind, coaching is a completely different beast. I tried my hand a coaching a swim team once, and I failed miserably. I could not figure out how to get the kids to respect me or figure out how to motivate them to put any effort into practice at all. I definitely walked away from the experience with a new respect for coaches and decided that I much preferred working with small groups.

[scottgriffin]

No Home Schooling

I was home schooled and to be honest I wish I would have went to a public school. You need to develop those social skills and interaction with kids your age. Also my mom wasn't a certified teacher and it's hard learning from someone who doesn't know how to teach.

[mgkimsal]

You need to develop those social skills and interaction with kids your age.

The counter to this is that there are homeschooling groups that get together for activities and this provides the socialization. I buy it, but only to a small degree. You're essentially socializing with only a handful of kids in similar situations, all of whom have parents committed to home schooling. As a homeschooled kid getting all your socialization this way, you're not getting exposure to the rougher side of life - bullies, for example. Some would say that's a good thing, but it's probably not good overall - you're running away from the problem, and the kids will not get exposed (enough) to conflict/failure and social problem solving.

But that's just my view...

[DayByDay]

The counter to this is that there are homeschooling groups that get together for activities and this provides the socialization. I buy it, but only to a small degree. You're essentially socializing with only a handful of kids in similar situations, all of whom have parents committed to home schooling. As a homeschooled kid getting all your socialization this way, you're not getting exposure to the rougher side of life - bullies, for example. Some would say that's a good thing, but it's probably not good overall - you're running away from the problem, and the kids will not get exposed (enough) to conflict/failure and social problem solving.

But that's just my view...

We know a local family whose 10yo boy got kicked to the ground at school by a bully, had his head kicked in with heavy boots repeatedly until he was unconscious, had to be flown by helicopter to the hospital, and ended up with a brain injury. But that's a good thing overall because he was exposed to social problem solving? Maybe the homeschooling group could just start up a bully co-op and beat each other up once a week.

[mgkimsal]

We know a local family whose 10yo boy got kicked to the ground at school by a bully, had his head kicked in with heavy boots repeatedly until he was unconscious, had to be flown by helicopter to the hospital, and ended up with a brain injury. But that's a good thing overall because he was exposed to social problem solving? Maybe the homeschooling group could just start up a bully co-op and beat each other up once a week.

And millions of people go to school and *don't* get physically assaulted to the point of unconsciousness or death.

And homeschool kids can be abused or killed by their homeschooling parents:

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/20821

http://rogercanaff.com/site/2013/03/homeschooling-at-its-worst-a-child-starvation-case-in-oklahoma/

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Parents-are-accused-of-starving-girl-for-years-1288085.php#page-2

Anecdotes on all sides don't get anyone very far.

Some of my own family *way way way* overreact to the potential of crime or bad activity happening - driving all the kids to school, giving them phones to call to schedule pickups, etc - they just live a couple miles from the school, but more to the point, there's a school bus that goes *right past their house*. "But that's not safe! The school hires drunks and pedophiles as bus drivers, and there's nothing we can do to stop them!"

So rather than working within the system to make it better for everyone, the reaction to withdraw inwards and vilify the 'other' (public school systems, in this case), is overly selfish, and doesn't seem to send a good message to kids.

[Petunia 100]

We know a local family whose 10yo boy got kicked to the ground at school by a bully, had his head kicked in with heavy boots repeatedly until he was unconscious, had to be flown by helicopter to the hospital, and ended up with a brain injury. But that's a good thing overall because he was exposed to social problem solving? Maybe the homeschooling group could just start up a bully co-op and beat each other up once a week.

Hey, I think you have just identified a new cottage industry! Bullies should advertise their services in home school newsletters.

[Petunia 100]

The knee-jerk response "but what about socialization?" comes about because, in our society so many of us did learn to socialize primarily at school. So we seem to have the idea that socialization can only be achieved by attending traditional school. However, this idea is simply not true. We learn to socialize with others by....socializing with others. School is one place we can socialize with others; it is not the only place.

[boefixepa]

If you care to look up the actual research on socialization and homeschooling you will find that there is no difference from public school kids.

[elessar78]

Socialization seems to be the biggie formost folks and not sure I care that much about that aspect. Most homeschool parents seem to all have kids who do well academically. Is this reporting bias? Are they actually getting a better education?

I have reservations about just letting their kid decide their curriculum based on their interests. The value of well intentioned adults is an expanded world view. Plus, there's the serendipity of meeting people who may introduce you to new ideas or interests? Is there enough exposure to "different"?

[DayByDay]

So rather than working within the system to make it better for everyone, the reaction to withdraw inwards and vilify the 'other' (public school systems, in this case), is overly selfish, and doesn't seem to send a good message to kids.

As I stated earlier, my older child attended school for eight years. It didn't work for us for many reasons. His school attendance and my involvement didn't make it better for anyone, certainly not for him, my priority. The OP asked for pros and cons and the social aspect of homeschooling. I answered based on my experience.

[boefixepa]

"Socialization seems to be the biggie formost folks and not sure I care that much about that aspect. Most homeschool parents seem to all have kids who do well academically. Is this reporting bias? Are they actually getting a better education?"

Studies show that home schooled children test higher on average on college placement tests (SAT and ACT)


"I have reservations about just letting their kid decide their curriculum based on their interests."

Personally I agree with this as well. I choose the classes, and books. You may go off on a tangent if you want to now more or something interests you, but you have to meet the baseline across the board. That is going to be the parents choice.

"The value of well intentioned adults is an expanded world view."

I make it a point and will do more as my kids grow to seek and find worthy adult mentors for my kids when their knowledge, skill, or interest out grows mine. It is important for them to see the different ways different people look at things. I also think this is great at college! I know that is were my eyes were really opened to different ways of looking at something as simple as making orange juice. (I lived in a house with 5 different girls and all 5 of us made OJ a different way!! None of us made it "wrong" FYI.)

"Plus, there's the serendipity of meeting people who may introduce you to new ideas or interests? Is there enough exposure to "different"?"

That all depends on what the parents expose the child to, it is an individual thing. Because public school is lumped all together in the same age group and home is usually an array of ages homeschooled kids are actually better equipped to deal with different age groups. Really once you get out of school how often do you work with kids within your age year? How many of you married within your age year? How about your friends? Truth be told, the people that have kids my the same age are generally 10 years younger then me. I started late and that is a difference I have to deal with. Being able to deal with a large age spectrum goes on the plus list in my book.

[snafu]

What hasn't yet been mentioned is that public schools must take all children, those interested in learning and those who are there because the law demands it. Home schooling parents are not coping with 30 - 33 kids in each class. No one is mentioning that there are parents - care givers who don't know how to parent or are incapable of parenting or may not give a dam.

[elessar78]

What hasn't yet been mentioned is that public schools must take all children, those interested in learning and those who are there because the law demands it. Home schooling parents are not coping with 30 - 33 kids in each class. No one is mentioning that there are parents - care givers who don't know how to parent or are incapable of parenting or may not give a dam.

I think the point someone made above was very valid, that in a class you can have high-achievers held back by those that are not interested in being there (because the teacher must attempt to get through to these). There are private schools, gifted and talented tracks (at least when I was in school).

I came to the US when I was thirteen from a 3rd world country but I spoke English fluently. Anyway, I came into 7th grade and my math, science, and ENGLISH skills were much better than the kids that had been in the US system since day 1 by about two years (based on what we had covered and my proficiency). It was also one of the top public school systems in the country (Fairfax, VA).

[LuckyRobin]

I've homeschooled and I've done public school and I've done online virtual school which is homeschool through the public school system. I think everything has its place and it's really based on the individual child what should be done.

In our state there are basic requirments to homeschooling. The parent teaching must have at least 45 college credits to teach or take a special qualifying class that is several hours long. I know quite a few parents who are better qualified to teach than some of the teachers my kids have had. Or that I had for that matter (a teacher who had rum in her coffee thermos, but was tenured). I have often said that I learned despite the public school system, not because of it.

I've had some bad experiences with a bad apple teacher when my son was in the third grade. She ignored my child's food allergies, refused to read notes sent from home, and when I tried to have meetings with her about what was going on, she was always too busy. She didn't want to work with us. She thought we were a nuisance.

I also had an extremely bad experience with my son's middle school principal last year who allowed him to sit untreated with a concussion for over an hour before we were called. And even after three different doctor's notes and x-rays to validate my son's brain injury still acted like our kid had never been violently attacked and then ignored under his watch. We went up the chain of command, but we couldn't be guaranteed our son's safety in that school so we chose to homeschool him through the public school's virtual school until high school when he won't be under the care of a negligent administration.

Right now my daughter is in public high school and doing just fine. Not as well as she was doing when she was homeschooled through the virtual school, but that is because she socializes far too much. The down side of socialization. I do generally laugh when I hear people talk about socialization. Most parents make it a priority to do activities that involve their kids with other kids. We did soccer, dance classes, and tae kwon do. Personally I think the whole socialization in public school is sort of ridiculous. Where else in life are you warehoused with a bunch of people your own age? Nowhere. Real life has you socializing with people of all ages. My kids can get along with little kids, big kids, kids their own ages and numerous adults. That's true socialization.

I do think it takes a proper mindset and attitude to be a homeschooling parent. It takes a ton of hard work and a huge commitment. I am well-versed in many subjects, but when it comes to the algebra and geometry he is learning this year (something he wouldn't be learning until 8th grade in public school), I am learning it the night before I teach it to him. And if I have troubles with it, my husband teaches it to me, sometimes over skype.

My son is doing much more difficult school work than he was in public school last year, more 8th grade work than 7nth. The virtual school also requires a mastery level of 80% or above, while in regular school they can coast by with C's and D's and still be passed to the next grade. Also with the virtual school we are assigned a teacher. Once a week the kids write an email to the teacher or check in with her online. Once a month we have a parent/student/teacher conference over skype. We are given monthly percentages to meet in our subject matter. One hour a week he does an online synchronous learning class with an online teacher in a subject of his choosing (usually history).

I think the virtual school through the public school system using the K-12 curricula is the best of both worlds. If he wanted to continue to be homeschooled through high school he would still graduate with a public school diploma. If he wants to go back at any time, he'd be ahead of his classmates and well able to fit back in academically. And I don't have to pay for books since it's part of the public school system. They ship us the books at the start of the school year and we ship them back (with their prepaid shipping labels) at the end of the school year.

Whenever my kids were homeschooled, they passed the state testing with flying colors, well above the average of public school kids. Yearly state testing is a requirement for homeschooled kids, yet we have never taught towards the test like the teachers have to do.

Automatically assuming that a teacher can do something better just because they are a professional is a huge assumption. I've experienced too many bad teachers in both my own school years and those of my children to ever believe that. There are a lot of good reasons to homeschool and it definitely should not be dismissed out of hand if you've had no experience with it at all. But public school should not be dismissed out of hand, either. There are good teachers and there are good administrators. If you can't find them, that's the time to homeschool.

[elessar78]

...

Whenever my kids were homeschooled, they passed the state testing with flying colors, well above the average of public school kids. Yearly state testing is a requirement for homeschooled kids, yet we have never taught towards the test like the teachers have to do.

Automatically assuming that a teacher can do something better just because they are a professional is a huge assumption. I've experienced too many bad teachers in both my own school years and those of my children to ever believe that. There are a lot of good reasons to homeschool and it definitely should not be dismissed out of hand if you've had no experience with it at all. But public school should not be dismissed out of hand, either. There are good teachers and there are good administrators. If you can't find them, that's the time to homeschool.

Lucky, thanks for your response and congrats on doing a great job getting him prepared. But do you think you/your son is the exception or the norm for homeschool kids in comparison to traditonally schooled children. I always hear about the succes stories of "HS" but is that because, like normal proud parents, they will talk about their kids to strangers. Whereas, a parent who has sacrificed a lot to homeschool and has an underperforming child will be reluctant to admit that they made the correct choice.