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I homeschooled our girls for a year. For us it worked, and why we did it...we had one that was advanced and the school wouldnt allow her to go out of her grade level, we had another that was behind for her grade level. We worked hard for a year. We moved to another state, checked out the schools and their programs and decided to try the last few months of the year in public school to see where the girls were.....The one that was behind...is now up to where she should be, and is actually reading. The one that is advanced...the school has programs for her. So our decision to homeschool for a year worked for us. We were able to help our children where they needed it.
I would do it all again. It takes alot of time and work on the parents part, so if someone decides to do this, make sure you are able to give the time needed.
I love homeschooling. I can't imagine a different lifestyle for my family. I love seeing them learn, spending time with them, and knowing that they are getting the best that I can possibly offer them. They love not being stuck inside on gorgeous days and not having to get up and off to school on cold, dark, rainy days. I also love that they can work at their own pace, and not have to be constrained by the abilities of the children around them. I love that they are able to socialize with children and adults of all ages. They love not having to do the same work over and over again for six hours per day. I love that they can have many real-world experiences that they would not have time for if they went to school 35 hours per week. They also love the autonomy in choosing what they'd like to learn about. I love that they love learning!
It's been necessary for our family to make sacrifices in order to allow this lifestyle, but I wouldn't change anything about it (well, actually, if we're being totally honest, I'd love to have a few hours of peace and quiet, and a cleaner house, but I'll have plenty of that in 10 or so years, LOL)!
I'm not in favor of homeschooling, in general. When you consider demographics and the fact that the only people who stick with home schooling are the ones it works for, results are very low. The typical demographic of a homeschooled child is middle income, two parent household, has parents involved in their education and is most likely caucasian. This demographic usually does very well in school anyway. Now add that people for whom home schooling doesn't work quit and send their kids back to the public schools and home schooling should be way above public schools which have to take every student, including those from abusive households, drug dealer parents, uninvolved parents, etc, etc, etc... and can't quit teaching the ones for whom public education doesn't work and you're left wondering why all homeschoolers can claim is that is they do better than average. They should be stellar just on demographics alone, before you even consider that the ones for whom it doesn't work quit, but all they are is better than average????
Given, that I'd expect results way better than average on demographics alone, I'd say that homeschooling isn't doing more than public schools could do with the same students. I'd expect those kids to do much better than average no matter what school they were in. So, for academic reasons, I see no reason to homeschool. I also don't see a social benefit.
I home school my daughter and we both love it. I pulled my daughter out of the public school system to due to many issues with the school system. School Financial problems, An Overwhelming overflow of Illegals (57%Hispanic, 30% White), and Very Low EOG scores 52% in math, 61% in reading. Home schooling has worked out great for us and I will continue to home school until we get moved out of this state...(were waiting to be relocated out of this state) which will hopefully be within the year. We will try going back to public school and if it doesn't work out there then I will pull her out and we will continue to home school again.
There are lots of great Benefits and not so great benefits to homeschooling...Good ones are..You can show your child that learning is not boring, but exciting (such as Baking cookies can become a chemistry lesson or going to the grocery store can become a math lesson). Our child can learn consumer skills by budgeting and shopping instead of by doing worksheets about budgeting and shopping. We can do our school work in our pajamas. We can drink hot chocolate or cold lemonade while we learn. She is more excited about learning now because she has more control over what she learns. And, If your child has a weakness in one area, we can give them the attention they need, and at their own pace. We can talk all we want...the more the better because then we are more likely to start a real discussion and find out that there might be more than one answer to a question. We can do schoolwork while standing on our heads, riding a stationary bicycle, brushing the dog, running in place, doing jumping jacks, walking the dog, riding in the car, jumping on the trampoline, washing the dishes, waiting in the doctor's office, etc. You can set your own schedule..Create a weekly schedule that fits your needs and allows you to do things without the constraint of a traditional classroom schedule, traveling..take vacations during the school year and you can make them educational, We can go to museums, playgrounds, historical sites, and amusement parks on less crowded days.
There are good and bad things about Homeschooling, and for each family it varies on what will work for you.
No offense, but part of education is exposure to diversity and other cultures. How can you claim that 57% of the hispanic population is all illegal immigrants, you need to be careful with that statement. The hispanic population is on the rise, and there is a large perentage that is legal. I am glad that you get to go to so many differnet places, and that your kids are exposed to so many different things, but they need to learn tolerance and respect for others. Unfortunately you do not learn that in a homeschool setting, unless you are part of a larger homeschooling network.
People always say that homeschooling is better than regular schooling for many reason, done right it can be, but if you reasons are to shelter your kids from the realities of the world than you need a reality check.
For Academic reasons..we HAD to homeschool as i described above. Everyone has their opinions of public v. home schooling. To say that homeschooling is not any better than public is not a fair statement. Sure you have those who say they are homeschooling, and they are doing nothing with their children, and then you have those who are. I can testify to the fact that us homeschooling for that year WAS better than the public school the children attended. If we would not have pulled out our daughters, the one that was way behind, would have kept falling further behind thanks to the "no student left behind". And because we took the time and pushed, and taught, and gave her the time one on one she is now right where she needs to be and then some.
Social wise, again..that one year of homeschooling made a huge difference. It taught our girls to be positive, and have the self confidence that they were lacking.
For Academic reasons..we HAD to homeschool as i described above. Everyone has their opinions of public v. home schooling. To say that homeschooling is not any better than public is not a fair statement. Sure you have those who say they are homeschooling, and they are doing nothing with their children, and then you have those who are. I can testify to the fact that us homeschooling for that year WAS better than the public school the children attended. If we would not have pulled out our daughters, the one that was way behind, would have kept falling further behind thanks to the "no student left behind". And because we took the time and pushed, and taught, and gave her the time one on one she is now right where she needs to be and then some.
Social wise, again..that one year of homeschooling made a huge difference. It taught our girls to be positive, and have the self confidence that they were lacking.
Actually it is a fair statement. Compare the two and you'll see that homeschooling should be delivering spectacular results but it isn't. It's better than average but half the kids in public schools do better than average.
Homeschooling almost always involves a two parent houshold, which is linked to academic success. Homeschooling is usually done by middle class parents who are affluent enough to afford for one parent not to work. Again, linked to academic success (That's the income that's linked to academic success not mom at home.). Homeschooled kids have parents involved in their educations, again, linked to academic success. Homeschooling involves low student to teacher ratios, again linked to academic success. And the icing on the cake, homeschooling is done by people for whom it works for. If a parent tries homeschooling and it doesn't work, they can, and do, return their children to the public schools (like my neighbor did). Public schools, OTOH, have to take everyone regardless of demographics, parental involvement, issues in the classroom and they can't stop teaching a child for whom the system doens't work. By all accounts, homeschooling SHOULD be spectacular compared to the public schools yet all it can claim is it's better than average. I find that alarming. What this tells me is homeschooled kids succeed in spite of homeschooling not because of it. If they were succeeding because of it, we'd see results better than demographics alone would predict but we don't. What we see is better than average results but give me the same demographics and a 35:1 ratio and I can deliver better than average results. This group will deliver more than that all by themselves.
I have no doubt my children would do well if I homeschooled them. I have no doubt they'd do well in a public school. They've done well in their charter school (the charter was less work for me because the math program fits my older dd better but had she stayed in the public school we would have worked at home to fill the gaps so it's not like her education is better. Just more convenient for me.) but they have the odds stacked in their favor, an educated mother, a two parent household, middle class SES, parents who are involved in their educations......they're in the demographic that will do well no matter where you put them. If I homeschooled them, I'd have no way of knowing whether or not they would have done just as well, or perhaps better, in a public school but if they did do well, it would, most likely, be due to their demographics not the fact they were homeschooled.
No offense, but part of education is exposure to diversity and other cultures. How can you claim that 57% of the hispanic population is all illegal immigrants, you need to be careful with that statement. The hispanic population is on the rise, and there is a large perentage that is legal. I am glad that you get to go to so many differnet places, and that your kids are exposed to so many different things, but they need to learn tolerance and respect for others. Unfortunately you do not learn that in a homeschool setting, unless you are part of a larger homeschooling network.
People always say that homeschooling is better than regular schooling for many reason, done right it can be, but if you reasons are to shelter your kids from the realities of the world than you need a reality check.
hmmmm Yea I can say they are Illegals considering the percentage for Hispanics in her school 5 years ago was only 5%!! And even the Newspaper here stated that due to the Illegals in the school system it was causing a problem with the EOG scores, this is why they tried rezoning the school district but it didn't help it just made things worse. I am not keeping her from different cultures she learns all that in her social activities with other kids. Home schooling isn't keeping our kids sheltered nor from the real world realities. There are all kinds of social networks out there for homeschool kids.. they even have athletic sports for them such as football teams, soccer teams, basket ball teams ..etc.. it isn't like they only stay inside do school work and nothing else.
In my opinion, (and maybe this isn't appropriate to say, since I posted the original question) both sides have valid points: that's why we want educational freedom, right? So we can all make different choices to suit different families? Because it will probably already be pointed out, my kids do have all the demographic advantages: married, wealthy parents, stay-at-home mom, white...by any statistic, they should succeed. But, for my husband and myself, education shouldn't be about succeeding; it should be about the pursuit of wisdom and understanding, fostering curiorisity and wonder, and enjoying the precious years of childhood..I could go on. I will use my oldest children as an example. They are twelve year old fraternal twins:
We have never used a curriculum; my son is a year or two "behind" in reading, but I don't believe children follow a learning formula. My daughter is lightyears ahead. Both are fluent in Spanish and Italian. My daughter is currently doing a unit study on horses, my son is really into the Civil War. I don't know much about either, but I know where to find experts, and my kids are very familiar with the public library, internet search engines, etc. While my kids would probably succeed in public or private school, too, it would not afford them the flexibility or (yes, I'm saying it) real life experiences that they get homeschooling. They play sports. We have lived in foreign countries. But they help file taxes, go grocery shopping, volunteer at soup kitchens and nursing homes. When it's nice out, we lay down a picnic in the backyard and do math equations in sidewalk chalk. And while my husband and I, and the tutors we occassionaly hire, all have degrees from elite universities, both my children would tell you their most enriching learning experiences came from people with no degree at all: they are currently staying with my parents in rural Michigan; their favorite, because they have daily lessons with an 85 year-old farmer up the road, who teaches them about the seasons, planting, harvesting, the business behind farming, the animals, and gives them hands-on experience. And while this knowledge may come in handy one day, it is nothing compared to the life wisdom he passes onto them, or the memories they will share.
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They should be stellar just on demographics alone, before you even consider that the ones for whom it doesn't work quit, but all they are is better than average???? 
. We can drink hot chocolate or cold lemonade while we learn. She is more excited about learning now because she has more control over what she learns. And, If your child has a weakness in one area, we can give them the attention they need, and at their own pace. We can talk all we want...the more the better because then we are more likely to start a real discussion and find out that there might be more than one answer to a question. We can do schoolwork while standing on our heads, riding a stationary bicycle, brushing the dog, running in place, doing jumping jacks, walking the dog, riding in the car, jumping on the trampoline, washing the dishes, waiting in the doctor's office, etc
. You can set your own schedule..Create a weekly schedule that fits your needs and allows you to do things without the constraint of a traditional classroom schedule, traveling..take vacations during the school year and you can make them educational, We can go to museums, playgrounds, historical sites, and amusement parks on less crowded days.
