Home Schooling

[skyedogrocks]

I'm not a fan of home schooling.  I feel children need to socialize with other adults and children.  I also feel that most children (not all) don't get the best education possible.  I wonder if they have to follow state curriculum guidelines?

There is a woman in my neighborhood who homeschool's their kids and they are just strange.  They really don't interact with other kids much and the mother looks wacky too.

Just my opinon, but interested in what others think.

[goofynina]

I dont think kids being homeschooled get the best education either and i too think they should interact with others and just have a good freaken time ya know   

[Sluff]

It all depends on the parents. The people who home school that I know are using it as an easy way out. I think there is some mandated testing but they get around it by learning the minimum. Kids need the interaction with kids their own age.

[lola]

My kids drive me way to crazy to home school, My baby starts this year so I'll have 2 1/2 hrs to myself and can hardly wait. I do wish people who choose not to have there kids vaccinated would home school, last year we had whooping cough go around and i was FREAKED Otto would get it, and now with Dani being in school I do worry about her since she gets sick so much easier.

[st789]

kids pass around viures and bacteria.  Fun stuff haa.

[glitter]

Here in florida there is alot of mandated testing, and alot of the time kids who homeschool do really well on the FCAT (state test) and SAT. BUT- I think it is more then just peer interaction they miss out on, most parents just are not qualified to be teachers. My daughter is special ed, and all of her teachers hold masters degrees, some in multiple areas. I think kids need people with direct training.
If MOM (or DAD)
has a degree in education okay, but most of the time its parents that do not want the kids to be influnced by others kids, or have a beef with the school system. I do not think you should shield your kids from the real world, (including the fact that mean people exsist) you just give them the tools to do well. College is not the place to learn how to interact with a multitude of people.

[aharris2]

My sister feels that because of the predatory nature of children, exhibited by the ganging up on and bullying of the weakest of their classmates, that children should be home schooled.

She didn't arrive at this sentiment until after her daughter reached high school, had problems and the school proved unable to do anything about it. However, she never did attempt home schooling.

Interestingly enough, my niece has gone on to study special education and graduated this May. She will begin her first teaching job in an elementary school in Tuscaloosa, AL on Monday.

Alene

[del]

Kids who are home schooled get a lot of individual attention.  Parents who do home schooling shoud have to do some kind of training course.  Some Kids who are home schooled lack a lot of the social skills and that is as much a part of education as the academic.  Part of a child's education comes from sharing and learning from other children. I am a teacher and my philosophy is that kids learn from each other by sharing and interacting with other kids.  Just my  worth.

[angela515]

I was on homeshool (thru the state not my parents teaching me) for a year and a half in high school when I get severly ill with my lupus... I stil managed straight A's and talked and hung out with my friends and never fell behind from regular school.

[KT0930]

I worked at a library for a few months in the children's department (laid off due to finances), and homeschooling is HUGE in this area. They are required to do a certain number of hours of educational material per week and cover certain topics, depending on the ages of the children. There are also many programs in this area for homeschoolers from art classes to football teams, so they have the opportunity to interact with other kids and learn that side of things, as well.

The problem is, not everyone who homeschools takes advantage of these resources, and many of them do use homeschooling as "an easy way out", and don't really do any teaching at all. I really worry about these kids and what their futures will be like. However, the only one I can really determine is my own son's future. I don't have the patience or the energy to homeschool, so I bought a home in the best school district I could afford and made sure my son gets a good education that way.

[okarol]

My husband's cousin in Chicago homeschooled her 5 kids. I asked her how she did it, so much time everyday with the kids could drive ya crazy! She asked me, "How many hours a day do you spend with your kids on homework, either supervising or helping?" I said sometimes its 4 or 5 hours. She said "That's our whole school day, there's no homework. The curriculum is laid out, lesson plans are given, the parent just provides the guidance." It works great for them, and her kids are active in outside sports, music and church and have plenty of time for socializing. It seems to have worked great for them, her older two kids are off to very good colleges now.

[Bette]

I think homeschooling can be very good if done correctly.  I have seen parents who take advantage of all kinds of resources and their kids are very well rounded and get a great education.  I thought about homeschooling, but I didn't think it would be fair to homeschool an only child.  She would miss too much interaction by not being around other kids.

[thegrammalady]

when my kids were in school there were 2 families at church that homeschooled. kids from both families attended the high school for pe, music, chemistry etc.. my daughter is still in contact with one of the girls. she is a college grad, married and has 3 kids. i think it depends on how the parents approach it.

[Black]

My husband's cousin in Chicago homeschooled her 5 kids. I asked her how she did it, so much time everyday with the kids could drive ya crazy! She asked me, "How many hours a day do you spend with your kids on homework, either supervising or helping?" I said sometimes its 4 or 5 hours. She said "That's our whole school day, there's no homework. The curriculum is laid out, lesson plans are given, the parent just provides the guidance." It works great for them, and her kids are active in outside sports, music and church and have plenty of time for socializing. It seems to have worked great for them, her older two kids are off to very good colleges now.

This is more like the norm for most home schooling.  There are networks which provide assistance, and the kids do take part in many outside social activities.  There is a much higher percentage of home schooled kids going on to college and they score disproportionately higher on standardized tests.  They also are over represented in the national spelling and geography Bees.

[Ohio Buckeye]

I know a couple families who do homeschooling and seem to do very well.
Me, it was a challenge just trying to gt homework done at my house.
If I'd try to homeschool I probably would not have a hair left in my head,
it is thin as it is. 

[kitkatz]

I know my children were smarter than I was. so I let the public schools handle it.

[angela515]

Did you know that the northern states are way ahead in teaching than the southern states?

Example. I lived in South Dakota until the 5th grade, I then moved to Florida. The first day of school in Florida I noticed these people were learning things I learned the PREVIOUS school year.. that's how far behind they are. Well, at least I felt like the smartest one in the class since I already did the stuff and knew it. This same problem just happened to my cousin last year when he moved from the north to the south.. they were almost a whole year behind in the south.

Another thing to be noted. In the north, I had never ever heard of "homework"... never knew what such a thing was... then when I went to school in Florida I got homework the first day, I had to talk to my teacher after class to find out what the heck homework was, and why school work needed to be done at home outside of the classroom. It was very weird. In my opinion school work should be done at school, where the teacher is and can help with any questions. Not all of the homework children bring home is something the parents know since they haven't been in school for so many years and may not use in real life. Just my personal opinion since I have done school both ways.

[glitter]

thats really true angela, when we moved to florida I was in the 5th grade and I was definitly a year or so ahead of the kids here, also I, and now in turn my children, have had hours and hours of homework. Just today it took my daughter three hours to finish her homework.She has seven classes, and at least three, sometimes 5 give her homework every day, and always on the weekend. So why is the teaching so behind? More and more they teach the tests the kids have to take, FCAT is horrible- if the school as a whole does not do well it gets a published letter grade, and can affect teachers merit pay...so they teach the test. After its taken every year -halfway through- then everyone relaxes and gets down to actually teaching the classes and utililizing each teachers skills and methods.  One of my children is exempt from the testing,all in her self-contained class are, and overall her classroom experience is far richer then her sisters is.