Why homeschool?

[TeachCatechism]

Okay I don’t get homeschooling. I get it if one lives in a bad area with horrible schools and the parent is say a teacher. What I don’t get are parents who aren’t educated homeschooling in good areas. My neighbor down the street “homeschools” her kids but really doesn’t. The kids are outside all the time, including in the middle of the night. She then decided to send them back to school and they were at the level much lower than they should. The so called 7th grader reads at a 4th grade and the 4th grader at 1st grade. This is wrong. The schools here are fantastic and this is a conservative area so not as much secular garbage. I feel they need to be far more selective on homeschooling, like give the parents tests to see how smart they are because dumb parents are doing their kids a disservice.

Btw I wasn’t homeschooled but my mom taught us how to read, write and math before kindergarten which helped. My brother is a doctor and I have a Master’s.

 

[pensmama87]

I’d say the situation you describe, even if accurate, does not describe most of the homeschoolers on CAF.

There are tons of reasons to homeschool, whether academic, spiritual, familial, whatever. A decision to homeschool now does not mean a decision to homeschool forever (not to mention there’s lots of different curricula in addition to “unschooling” or a combination of methods, what have you.)

We probably won’t homeschool given our circumstances now, but I have friends who - at least from the outside - have pretty similar circumstances yet have determined that’s probably the best course for them. I don’t live in their families or have their children, but I don’t suspect them of neglect and expect that their children will do just fine. I imagine they feel the same way about me.

 

[TeachCatechism]

So the homeschooling parents have college degrees? That makes sense I suppose, but not if they only have a high school diploma or less. My cousin homeschools but she was a teacher and her local schools are horrible.

 

[pensmama87]

So the homeschooling parents have college degrees? That makes sense I suppose, but not if they only have a high school diploma or less. My cousin homeschools but she was a teacher and her local schools are horrible.

The ones I know do, but I could imagine being a very good homeschooling parent without one. Many college diplomas aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

 

[TeachCatechism]

The ones I know do, but I could imagine being a very good homeschooling parent without one. Many college diplomas aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

True but they still mean something usually. I would support homeschooling parents taking tests to see how smart they are because what if the parent isn’t smart? That way the child will get help they need.

 

[pensmama87]

True but they still mean something usually. I would support homeschooling parents taking tests to see how smart they are because what if the parent isn’t smart? That way the child will get help they need.

It takes a lot more than just intelligence to homeschool well.

I live in the US and in several states there is some requirement for assessment (of the students), or a documentation of the type of curriculum that is being used.

If I were to suspect neglect on the part of a parent, I would probably report it to the authorities. But in most cases I prefer to mind my own business.

 

[TeachCatechism]

It takes a lot more than just intelligence to homeschool well.

I live in the US and in several states there is some requirement for assessment (of the students), or a documentation of the type of curriculum that is being used.

If I were to suspect neglect on the part of a parent, I would probably report it to the authorities. But in most cases I prefer to mind my own business.

More people should report because kids need help. I’ve reported this kid because it is neglect.

 

[Mary_Estelle]

I am of the opinion that most home schooled children are above average in academics and social interaction. Just my opinion.

 

[SuperLuigi]

Okay I don’t get homeschooling. I get it if one lives in a bad area with horrible schools and the parent is say a teacher. What I don’t get are parents who aren’t educated homeschooling in good areas. My neighbor down the street “homeschools” her kids but really doesn’t. The kids are outside all the time, including in the middle of the night. She then decided to send them back to school and they were at the level much lower than they should. The so called 7th grader reads at a 4th grade and the 4th grader at 1st grade. This is wrong. The schools here are fantastic and this is a conservative area so not as much secular garbage. I feel they need to be far more selective on homeschooling, like give the parents tests to see how smart they are because dumb parents are doing their kids a disservice.

Btw I wasn’t homeschooled but my mom taught us how to read, write and math before kindergarten which helped. My brother is a doctor and I have a Master’s.

The fact is homeschooled kids on the whole do better on the whole, and if you’re talking about America, well, there’s a bunch of reasons why that is.

If you have a good public school that actually teaches instead of indoctrinates, then that’s a choice for parents.

But I will warn parents and grandparents (having been in the education system myself now for 28 years) that you need to pay attention to what goes on in your kids’ schools, and that includes religion classes.

The worst think you could do as a good Catholic parent is drop your kids off with someone else, dust off your hands and say that you’ve done your job. The American public education system is rife with scandal and under-performance from K-postdoc.

I think nefarious forces out there know that people don’t pay attention and take advantage.

 

[SuperLuigi]

I am of the opinion that most home schooled children are above average in academics and social interaction. Just my opinion.

It’s really a proven fact that I don’t think sits well with a lot of academic elites. Reading between the lines, I think some of them are trying to find the silver lining in public education, but realistically it just isn’t there.

 

[alphawoman]

Why shouldn’t someone with a high school diploma teach his or her children? Particularly in the case of a high school graduate who obtained excellent marks in a wide variety of advanced courses, how exactly is that parent disqualified from instructing students up to his/her functional level, until such a time that a more advanced specialist teacher is needed?

In my province in Canada, most public school boards require a bachelor’s degree in education to teach. An elementary or middle school teacher is not required to specialize in any specific subjects, and could feasibly be permitted to teach students subjects in which the teacher didn’t even complete junior or senior high school credits! It is possible that a parent with a high school diploma could be more educated in multiple teachable areas than a certified teacher. For parents holding advanced degrees, the parents–either individually or jointly–could be better qualified in many or all subjects than a generalist teacher, or even a subject specialist.

I am homeschooling my soon-to-be 4 son because no other educational setting exists where I live that can meet him in his zone of proximal development across subjects. No school is going to let him work multiple years above age level, depending on the subject, with accommodations for the fact that he is, in terms of attention and motor development, age-typical. That’s just not a reasonable request, but that offering is what is in his best interest at this point. We can accomplish a year or two of academic progress in under an hour of “school” per school day, with the remaining time available for him to be a little boy discovering the world and playing. Far better than for him to sit in a classroom for 6-7 hours per day revisiting things he taught himself by osmosis 2+ years ago.

 

[Xantippe]

Okay I don’t get homeschooling. I get it if one lives in a bad area with horrible schools and the parent is say a teacher. What I don’t get are parents who aren’t educated homeschooling in good areas. My neighbor down the street “homeschools” her kids but really doesn’t. The kids are outside all the time, including in the middle of the night. She then decided to send them back to school and they were at the level much lower than they should. The so called 7th grader reads at a 4th grade and the 4th grader at 1st grade. This is wrong. The schools here are fantastic and this is a conservative area so not as much secular garbage. I feel they need to be far more selective on homeschooling, like give the parents tests to see how smart they are because dumb parents are doing their kids a disservice.

Btw I wasn’t homeschooled but my mom taught us how to read, write and math before kindergarten which helped. My brother is a doctor and I have a Master’s.

I find it interesting that you know so many details about the grade level that your neighbor’s kids read at. I don’t know the reading grade level of any of my neighbors’ kids, my kids’ classmates, or even of my friends’ kids.

Heck, I don’t even really know what grade level my school kids read at. We have a bunch of ribbons and medals for placing in academic contests, though.

But back to your main point, my feeling is that homeschooling produces a much broader range of results than school does. So, there is potential both for extraordinarily bad results as well as extraordinarily good results.

We are very fond of our kids’ private school but:

1. It costs an arm and a leg. If we homeschooled, we could go on actual vacations. We could literally all go to Europe every year.
2. School does own us and control our schedule. If things got too far out of hand, but so far, so good. A lot of families leave school (at least temporarily) because they want their freedom.

amywelborn.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/amy_welborn_schoo/

1. It’s selective. My friend with a special needs child was distraught when he flunked the pre-K entrance interview.

 

[Allegra]

The only good reason to homeschool is because you believe that with the time and resources you have available to you, you can provide the best opportunity for a good education for your children. For many homeschooling parents, this is the case. For some, it turns out not to be the case and they generally give up and choose something that works better for their family. There is a small percentage who persist in homeschooling despite all evidence that their children aren’t learning anything and that is really unfortunate, but it’s probably not an issue of the parents’ intelligence or credentials, if that’s the case. If an outsider suspects the reason has something to do with not wanting others to see the bruises, or hear stories of what goes on when mommy or daddy drinks too much, or find out that the eight-year-old is the only source of childcare for three children under five, then they should call the police. Otherwise, they should mind their own business.

 

[TeachCatechism]

I find it interesting that you know so many details about the grade level that your neighbor’s kids read at. I don’t know the reading grade level of any of my neighbors’ kids, my kids’ classmates, or even of my friends’ kids.

Heck, I don’t even really know what grade level my school kids read at. We have a bunch of ribbons and medals for placing in academic contests, though.

But back to your main point, my feeling is that homeschooling produces a much broader range of results than school does. So, there is potential both for extraordinarily bad results as well as extraordinarily good results.

We are very fond of our kids’ private school but:

1. It costs an arm and a leg. If we homeschooled, we could go on actual vacations. We could literally all go to Europe every year.
2. School does own us and control our schedule. If things got too far out of hand, but so far, so good. A lot of families leave school (at least temporarily) because they want their freedom.

amywelborn.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/amy_welborn_schoo/

1. It’s selective. My friend with a special needs child was distraught when he flunked the pre-K entrance interview.

Because I deal with tests they take. Kids should be at their normal grade level in most cases (not talking special ed)because it hurts the kids. Parents shouldn’t teach if they are not smart.

 

[alphawoman]

Xiantippe:

1. It’s selective. My friend with a special needs child was distraught when he flunked the pre-K entrance interview.

I could totally see my son botching an entrance interview. Something like this imaginary exchange I just made up would be par for the course with him :

Admissions officer: So DS, how old are you?

DS stares off into space, avoiding eye contact and not responding

Admissions officer: Do you want to show me how old you are on your fingers?

DS: No thank you.

Admissions officer: Are you 3? 4?

DS: I don’t like to talk about my age because it reminds me of my mortality.

How the heck do you score answers like those on an admissions test?!

 

[TeachCatechism]

For example if a parent can’t read, write and do math they shouldn’t be teaching. That’s why testing should be enforced.

 

[Allegra]

For example if a parent can’t read, write and do math they shouldn’t be teaching. That’s why testing should be enforced.

Presumably, if they graduated high school, they can do those things. Aside from that, homeschooling doesn’t always mean that the parent is the direct teacher. The parent is responsible for supervision, but with the internet, there are many courses that are taught and graded by another party, especially for older kids.

 

[Allegra]

Because I deal with tests they take. Kids should be at their normal grade level in most cases (not talking special ed)because it hurts the kids. Parents shouldn’t teach if they are not smart.

Are you their garbage collector? Why would you be “dealing” with the tests of your neighbors’ homeschooled kids? Besides that, how do you know your neighbors’ kids aren’t “special ed”?

 

[AClaire11]

Our first hasn’t even been born yet (due in March), but we’re planning on homeschooling when the times comes. Good school districts can be very expensive, and even then I’d rather homeschool after my experiences working as an assistant teacher. The amount of time teachers had to spend getting the rowdy kids to calm down and disciplining troublemakers was astonishing. We probably won’t be able to afford private or parochial schools, either. Homeschooling provides a tailored 1-on-1 learning environment at an affordable cost, without the distractions. I am very well educated and have a lot of teaching experience, so I should be able to do an excellent job. I do think parents should know their own limitations. If I find I’m struggling to teach a certain subject, we’ll find a tutor or a coop.

 

[bitterhope]

Are you their garbage collector? Why would you be “dealing” with the tests of your neighbors’ homeschooled kids? Besides that, how do you know your neighbors’ kids aren’t “special ed”?

Yes, they could be or at least have dyslexia. I pulled my kids from school a few years ago. At first it was only two and it was because despite being dyslexic they did not qualify for special services. They were very smart kids but falling behind because they struggled with reading and writing. My fourth grader’s teacher didn’t realize that my son couldn’t read until I proved it to her at a conference. His grades were great–not sure how that worked out–but it made me realize he was falling through the cracks. Now he is reading but not as well as I would like. When we move I plan on trying our new school system but I might change my mind. Time will tell. There are so many reasons parents homeschool and so many reasons kids may be ahead, on track or behind. It may or may not be due to homeschooling at all. And a child that’s behind may have been that way before the parents pull them from school or it could be why the parents put them in school.

I am the homeschool mom that actually sees more good in public schools but whose kids are better with homeschooling. We move a lot and that makes getting services difficult. Many states have different qualifications and retesting each move is hard on the kids. I also have two gifted kids that get bored in some districts because the programs for them very as well. If my kids were either all average or above I wouldn’t have started homeschooling at all, but with mild-severe LD it gets complicated during transitions.