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My husband and I have decided to home school our children because we do not feel that the public education systems are very good these days. When we were in public school the teachers spent more time trying to control and disipline the class or individual students then they spent teaching. I also feel that the public school system is too focused on passing standardized tests then on real education. And it seems to be getting worse as the years go on. (I have a 13 yr old sister in the public education system and I am appalled at her reading/writing skills!) My husband and I feel that education is important and we want them to have good and strong educations, as they are already very bright children and at three years old, my twins can already spell a few words. Since there are four of them, we're not very concerned about their social skills. My kids have great social skills already, and besides, the husband and I decided we are going to get them involved in other activities that they show interest in (such as music or sports or art) outside of a school setting so they can make other friends and explore their interets. We also live in a neighborhood with lots of families who have young children as well.
However, my mother is so ANTI home school that she says it borders on child neglect and that parents who home school are lazy and bad parents. Yet, she always comments on how smart my children are and she's amazed by how much they know. And I ask her where she thinks they learn everything from? She quickly changes the subject and gets angry if I tell her it's because I'm already home schooling them on a pre school level. She's convinced that public school is the best way to go and I'm horrible for thinking otherwise.
So my question is - for those who home school, AND for those in the public school system to share your thoughts and experiences and how you think it's positively or negatively effected your children? Or if you are a child who has been home schooled/public schooled - your thoughts are welcome too.
I'm just looking for outside input to share with my mother because this is an issue she and I both get very heated about.
Thanks!
*EDIT* My kids already have Florida Prepaid set up so they can go to college when the time comes for that and my husband and I agree that we both feel college is important to their continued education so they can have good careers when they become adults.
So my question is - for those who home school, AND for those in the public school system to share your thoughts and experiences and how you think it's positively or negatively effected your children? Or if you are a child who has been home schooled/public schooled - your thoughts are welcome too.
I'm just looking for outside input to share with my mother because this is an issue she and I both get very heated about.
Thanks!
*EDIT* My kids already have Florida Prepaid set up so they can go to college when the time comes for that and my husband and I agree that we both feel college is important to their continued education so they can have good careers when they become adults.
My wife and I homeschool our children. But we were both brought up through the Public School system.
It was our experience growing up in the Public School system which soured us to to the Public Schools.
I know most people harp on the "socialization issue", but our opinion of the matter is that in the Public Schools, children winding up teaching children how to behave in the world. Thats called "peer pressure". If you think about it, that means that your children are being taught to remain immature.
Home schooled children who are well mannered and mature are looked down upon as "unsocialized". As though being well mannered and mature were a fault.
School is supposed to prepare children for adult life. It is not supposed to perpetuate immaturity. In the home school, your children will be socialized by you, a mature adult, who can instruct them in life and how to behave in accord with the law. Not in how to misbehave and get away with it. Not in how to dress sloppily.
Another wonderful side effect of home schooling. My children love each other!!!! Arguments and fighting between my children are few and far between. The older children can discipline the younger without hearing "your not the boss of me!" The younger children admire and boast about their older brother and sister and rely on them for a great deal.
In a recent youth group meeting at our Parish, the other youth were amazed that my son and daughter considered themselves best friends. Everyone else and I mean about 100 kids who voted said they despised their siblings.
Oh and unlike my own relationship with my parents. My children and I are best of friends. They don't hesitate to tell me anything on their minds. Nor do they shy away from telling their mother anything on their minds.
I would definitely encourage homeschooling! I have been homeschooled my entire life and I love it. I am a Junior in highschool, I take two regular highschool classes, I work two jobs, and I am currently taking twelve college credit hours. Part of being homeschool is the parents participation. The more you put into educating your child the more they will benefit. For instance, my mother and father have dedicated so much time to me and my five other siblings and we are all going to do something great with our lives. I am graduating next year with honors, a full year of college finished, a track scholarship, and 4-H scholarship. I am currently working for my Orthodontist as an Officer Manager Assistant and I teach private ballroom dance lessons. The parents participation, diligence, and patients is the key to your child's outcome and success. One thing that you may hear about homeschooling is that your kids will not have any social life. Not true! It all depends what you get your children involved in to what determines your child's social outcome. Like I said, I have been homeschooled my entire life and wherever I go, I am one of the most popular kids. Mostly, it depends on your child's personality. Also to add, my sister is fifteen and she is taking college classes with me. Just some advice, make sure you educate yourself fully before making the final decision. Homeschooling is a full time commitment. If you have any question about homeschooling send me a message. One last thing... a great curriculum is Abeka. I used that the whole timed being homeschooled, it is an advanced curriculum and is well worth the challenge. Hope this will help your final decision.
I personally would not home school my kids.There are a lot of subjects you cannot teach your child at home which they learn at school. I am not saying home schooling is a bad thing i could never have the time. I always help my children with home work and if there is problems in the school i like to go in and adress these. But your kids sound like they are doing fine so good luck
My husband and I have decided to home school our children because we do not feel that the public education systems are very good these days. When we were in public school the teachers spent more time trying to control and disipline the class or individual students then they spent teaching. I also feel that the public school system is too focused on passing standardized tests then on real education. And it seems to be getting worse as the years go on. (I have a 13 yr old sister in the public education system and I am appalled at her reading/writing skills!) My husband and I feel that education is important and we want them to have good and strong educations, as they are already very bright children and at three years old, my twins can already spell a few words. Since there are four of them, we're not very concerned about their social skills. My kids have great social skills already, and besides, the husband and I decided we are going to get them involved in other activities that they show interest in (such as music or sports or art) outside of a school setting so they can make other friends and explore their interets. We also live in a neighborhood with lots of families who have young children as well.
However, my mother is so ANTI home school that she says it borders on child neglect and that parents who home school are lazy and bad parents. Yet, she always comments on how smart my children are and she's amazed by how much they know. And I ask her where she thinks they learn everything from? She quickly changes the subject and gets angry if I tell her it's because I'm already home schooling them on a pre school level. She's convinced that public school is the best way to go and I'm horrible for thinking otherwise.
So my question is - for those who home school, AND for those in the public school system to share your thoughts and experiences and how you think it's positively or negatively effected your children? Or if you are a child who has been home schooled/public schooled - your thoughts are welcome too.
I'm just looking for outside input to share with my mother because this is an issue she and I both get very heated about.
Thanks!
*EDIT* My kids already have Florida Prepaid set up so they can go to college when the time comes for that and my husband and I agree that we both feel college is important to their continued education so they can have good careers when they become adults.
If you live somewhere in a Chinatown, where most of the students are Asian, don't bother with homeschooling. Asian parents are almost despotic with respect to discipline and education. Your kids will be in the right place.
If there are other minorities in the public school - just skip the public school.
Any school is as good as kids in that school - and their parents.
I don't like teacher unions, but, to be fair, it's not their fault that so many minority students are stupid and lazy. Except Asians, of course.
Also, here is a free advise for future teachers. If you want to become one of the best teachers, go to work in the school where most of the students are Asians.
If you want to be in the worst quarter with respect to results, go to work in a minority school.
My husband and I have decided to home school our children because we do not feel that the public education systems are very good these days. When we were in public school the teachers spent more time trying to control and disipline the class or individual students then they spent teaching. I also feel that the public school system is too focused on passing standardized tests then on real education. And it seems to be getting worse as the years go on. (I have a 13 yr old sister in the public education system and I am appalled at her reading/writing skills!) My husband and I feel that education is important and we want them to have good and strong educations, as they are already very bright children and at three years old, my twins can already spell a few words. Since there are four of them, we're not very concerned about their social skills. My kids have great social skills already, and besides, the husband and I decided we are going to get them involved in other activities that they show interest in (such as music or sports or art) outside of a school setting so they can make other friends and explore their interets. We also live in a neighborhood with lots of families who have young children as well.
However, my mother is so ANTI home school that she says it borders on child neglect and that parents who home school are lazy and bad parents. Yet, she always comments on how smart my children are and she's amazed by how much they know. And I ask her where she thinks they learn everything from? She quickly changes the subject and gets angry if I tell her it's because I'm already home schooling them on a pre school level. She's convinced that public school is the best way to go and I'm horrible for thinking otherwise.
So my question is - for those who home school, AND for those in the public school system to share your thoughts and experiences and how you think it's positively or negatively effected your children? Or if you are a child who has been home schooled/public schooled - your thoughts are welcome too.
I'm just looking for outside input to share with my mother because this is an issue she and I both get very heated about.
Thanks!
*EDIT* My kids already have Florida Prepaid set up so they can go to college when the time comes for that and my husband and I agree that we both feel college is important to their continued education so they can have good careers when they become adults.
Academic Statistics on Homeschooling
Many studies over the last few years have established the academic excellence of homeschooled children.
I hope these stats help. I am not aware of any academic or psychological comparison between Public and Home schooled students in which the homeschooled students do not excel.
In my opinion, the two are simply not comparable. Public School teachers can't provide one on one attention without depriving the other 39 students in their class. Obviously, they try to do so, we've all heard the accusation of "teacher's pet" used against a student who excels in one program or another.
Nor can the Public School teacher provide the type of loving environment which only a parent can provide.
Nor can Public School teachers tailor the education to the child. They have to follow a program and if your child can't keep up, too bad.
In contrast, not only do parents provide a loving environment, but they have the child at home 100% of the time and can give almost continual one on one attention tailoring the program to the child.
Even homeschooling parents with large families (the largest family of which I'm aware has 13 children) give every child one on one attention when they give the elder children the duty of reading to and teaching the younger children. And that is wonderful to behold. Unlike Public School families where the elder children dislike their younger siblings. In homeschooled families, the children actually love each other.
>>>Nor can the Public School teacher provide the type of loving environment which only a parent can provide.
>>>Nor can Public School teachers tailor the education to the child. They have to follow a program and if your child can't keep up, too bad.
>>>In contrast, not only do parents provide a loving environment, but they have the child at home 100% of the time and can give almost continual one on one attention tailoring the program to the child.
For the vast majority of those who homeschool, this is quite accurate. Certainly there are those at the other end of the spectrum who are either ill equipped or disinterested to do an adequate job of it.
I have seen homeschooled students who have excelled, and those who have been woefully behind their peers, both academically and socially. As with any task in raising and educating children, you will have the proficient and the deficient.
If a parent is truely interested, and is adequately prepared, I say go for it. Provide your child with a wonderful opportunity for individual learning and exploration. If a parent is simply thinking they will homeschool because they can't be bothered to get their child to school on a regular basis, or think it is just sitting the child down with some text books, they will be in for a rude awakening.
There are pros and cons in both locations...much depends on the child's home life. For some, school is the only consistency they have in their young lives....the only place that they get a hug each morning....the only place where someone shows they care with consistent and meaningful expectations. Sadly, for some, it can also be a place where they find ridicule from peers, struggles with academics, and teachers who are overwhelmed with ever changing district, state, and federal mandates (often propagated by individuals with no or little experience in the field of education), and an ever growing societal need for dealing with unruely children whose parents have not fulfilled their roles. Much of what was once the domain of the parent and family has fallen onto the schools simply because of the increase in parents who are too busy with their own lives, and/or who have little interest in dealing with their child. The cycle continues to be repeated with each generation.....alas, you reap what you sow.
In the right conditions, the advantages of homeschooling over public education can be numerous. However, there are advantages that can be gained from public schools as well. Once again, it often depends on where one lives, what the homeschooling and public school climates are like, family dynamics, and the individual child in question.
If you live somewhere in a Chinatown, where most of the students are Asian, don't bother with homeschooling. Asian parents are almost despotic with respect to discipline and education. Your kids will be in the right place.
I wouldn't say "almost" despotic. They ARE despotic, at least they used to be. (I'm not sure it's true anymore. Things change.) I am white and went to a public school where nearly everyone I knew was Chinese-American, and my parents never had to tell me to do my homework. I would have been too embarrassed to go to school without my homework. My junior high was mostly Chinese, and in 9th grade I was the only white kid in my class; everyone else was Chinese-American. At lunch, we spent most of our free time practicing for tests and I thought that was normal and fun. It was always obvious who had studied and who hadn't...
BUT I was never invited to their houses because their parents wouldn't allow white kids over. And no Chinese boy would even talk to me, let alone ask me out, so I grew up thinking I was unattractive to boys. One girl friend let me come over to her house. Now that we are grown up, in our 50s, she says she had to have a big fight with her parents for me to come over. She also says I'm a "hard-boiled egg"--white on the outside, yellow on the inside. Definitely partly true. I used to hear the white kids say--"Those Chinese kids aren't that smart; they just work hard." But my friends were smart AND they worked hard. I felt sorry for the other white kids, for being so lazy.
The downside of course was sexism. My friend's parents paid for her older and younger brothers to go to college but not her. On top of that, because of quotas, she had to have an SAT score 300 points higher than a white kid to get into UC Berkeley. Despite these hurdles, she went anyway, working her way through. Of course, my own white father was no different. When I got accepted to Berkeley, he also told me I couldn't go. (He wanted me to stay home and continue keeping house for him.)
For more on old-fashioned Chinese-American families, read "Fifth Chinese Daughter," by Jade Snow Wong.
Just Asking
[b]In contrast, not only do parents provide a loving environment, but they have the child at home 100% of the time and can give almost continual one on one attention tailoring the program to the child.
I agree with all the pluses. BUT, two parents cannot possibly know as much as the many teachers that children in schools come into contact. It's not like there is no downside at all to homeschooling. It has both advantages and disadvantages. My younger son is now taking Latin from a teacher with PhD in Classics from Harvard. There's no way I could offer to my son what this teacher can. His current physics, math, and history teachers are way better at teaching these subjects than I could ever be. And I can still spend time with my son teaching him my values and the things that I know about myself. So it's not like he doesn't learn anything from me just because he's in school.
I have sent my two sons to a combination of private school, public school, plus I home schooled my younger son for one year. Mostly, they went to public school. For elementary school, it was okay, but not for high school, where the older was in a class of 45 for second year algebra. Not okay! I think homeschooling the younger one for that one year was absolutely the best thing I could have done for him at that time. And I wish I had homeschooled the other one part of the time and been able to send him to a private school, but at the time, it wasn't possible. I respect home schooling and homeschooling parents. (It's not for sissies!) But none of these choices is a perfect solution. Homeschooling has some drawbacks and the biggest one is that no parent can be as good as the best teachers in advanced subjects such as science, math, and languages. I think the right choice depends on the schools available and the parents, and the kids too, of course. And of course, sometimes, parents CAN'T homeschool because they have to work. That's a reality too.
Asking
My husband and I have decided to home school our children because we do not feel that the public education systems are very good these days. When we were in public school the teachers spent more time trying to control and disipline the class or individual students then they spent teaching. I also feel that the public school system is too focused on passing standardized tests then on real education. And it seems to be getting worse as the years go on. (I have a 13 yr old sister in the public education system and I am appalled at her reading/writing skills!) My husband and I feel that education is important and we want them to have good and strong educations, as they are already very bright children and at three years old, my twins can already spell a few words. Since there are four of them, we're not very concerned about their social skills. My kids have great social skills already, and besides, the husband and I decided we are going to get them involved in other activities that they show interest in (such as music or sports or art) outside of a school setting so they can make other friends and explore their interets. We also live in a neighborhood with lots of families who have young children as well.
However, my mother is so ANTI home school that she says it borders on child neglect and that parents who home school are lazy and bad parents. Yet, she always comments on how smart my children are and she's amazed by how much they know. And I ask her where she thinks they learn everything from? She quickly changes the subject and gets angry if I tell her it's because I'm already home schooling them on a pre school level. She's convinced that public school is the best way to go and I'm horrible for thinking otherwise.
So my question is - for those who home school, AND for those in the public school system to share your thoughts and experiences and how you think it's positively or negatively effected your children? Or if you are a child who has been home schooled/public schooled - your thoughts are welcome too.
I'm just looking for outside input to share with my mother because this is an issue she and I both get very heated about.
Thanks!
*EDIT* My kids already have Florida Prepaid set up so they can go to college when the time comes for that and my husband and I agree that we both feel college is important to their continued education so they can have good careers when they become adults.
hi i am 13 and i was homeschooled untill 4th grade. when i was young i couldn't learn to read, i would struggle with comprension but my mom still homeschooled me, she decided to stop teaching me to read for a while, and instead just read boooks to me,, she said that i was a late bloomer and that it takes 5 parts of the brain to be working right to read at all! she said that by the time i was nine or ten i would be reading fine, and guess what when i started 4th grade in school, i began to read and it wasn't because of school i rember something snapping and now i read at collage level. see in schools they exspect all kids to learn to read at the same time, and it doesn't work thatr way. a
and as far as my social skills, i had a milion friends in my neighboorhood i took ballet and acting classes not to mention my 3 brothers and 4 sisters. it is true that in school there are more kids to interact with, but the important thing is since they are with there parents alot they are learning how to act in front of adult! and that is what we are raising them to be right? now in some cases school is good and i think you should give your children the choice to go to school or not, i'd put them in schoola and if they didn't like it take them oout. and remember all you people who are freaked out cause your kids arn't reading, i am reading at college level, and i didn't read till i was NINE!
We have been homeschooling since my son was in kindergarten. We wouldn't think of sending him to public school.
Socialization issue---why send him to public school to be with the same age kids ALL DAY when they have the opportunity to socialize with all different ages all day long. Children have to learn to deal with all different ages when they get out in the real world. Why not start with homeschooling and teaching what you want him to learn. If your child has trouble with a particular subject in the public school, too bad, the public school doesn't have time to say OK let's stop for a day or two until everyone understands this area or that area. With homeschooling you can stop what you are doing until your child understands the material you are studying. When they master that, then you can move on to the next area.
You can choose the curriculum your child studies. We are getting ready to start 7th grade curriculum now and we have switched curriculums to tailor it to his particular needs.
My mom was totally against us homeschooling in the beginning. Now, she is so glad that we do after she hears what goes on in the school systems these days.
Good luck in homeschooling.
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