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This was very well said, very! I am a guidance counselor and have seen kids that were homeschooled try to integrate back into the schools for high school and it is very difficult, for the most part. I have also worked with homeschooled kids, as they were allowed to come to the school and take 1 or 2 courses and I was the point of contact for them. So, I do have experience working with this population and overall have not been impressed.
I am sure that there are homeschooled kids who are very successful but, in my experience, what I have seen is what you are describing, kids that are socially awkward and have difficulty interacting with other students that have experienced the real world of school. I understand that there are homeschool groups and the kids get together and do this and that but I really do think that there is no substitution for being in school with your peers and experiencing the day to day life that happens there. One socially isolated child playing in a group of 4 other socially isolated children does not simulate the socialization that these kids would get at school, it just does not.
I am not here to judge or criticize but I have seen actual cases where the decision to home school has ultimately resulted in the emotional and social demise of the child and has done what I consider to be, irrefutable damage.
I also look at the wonderful opportunities kids have in school. What homeschooled child can play in the award winning band or on the state championship football team? What about being the president of the student council or captain of the debate team? How about being editor of the yearbook, or participating in the French Club? Friday night football games, school spirit day, homecoming, etc. No, these are not academic requirements but damn if these opportunities did not help shape our childhoods, plus they were fun! Fun is good, people. It is so important for kids to be exposed to all of these things, to let them be kids.
There are bad things going on with kids these days, sure. Drugs, sex, violence, etc. Heck, I am only 32 but have seen kids do some things that knock me off my chair. But teaching your kids to deal with peer pressure and temptation and helping them learn how to deal with the negative influences of the world is a part of life. They need to learn to make good choices when faced with a difficult situation and sheltering them from the 'real world' is just not the answer, in my opinion (and I say that so as to prevent an angry and defensive responder, this is my opinion based on having worked with several homeschool children and familes).
How scary to think of a teenager, heading off to college not knowing what it is like out there, not knowing what is the 'way of the world' for teenagers these days, not prepared with the decision making skills and the confidence to be amongst the negative influences and rise above them.
There is so much more to educating a child then what is written in textbooks, so much more, so much more.
Again, I am NOT saying that all homeschooled children are socially inept and doomed for a lifetime of loneliness so please do not come back and say I have grouped all of them together. What I am saying is what I have seen. I am sad for homeschooled kids, sad for what they are missing. High school was the greatest four years of my life and had such an impact on the adult that I became. It pains me to think of what it would have been like without my friends, my activities and my experiences on a day to day basis. I have fond memories of all the fun school has to offer, every kid deserves that. it is more than what is written in the textbooks, so much more.
your post is great but not every person looks back on their highschool years with pleasure. public schools just dont work for all.
your post is great but not every person looks back on their highschool years with pleasure. public schools just dont work for all.
Nothing works for all, life does not work for all.
Although I did have a great high school experience, my opinions about homeschooling are solely based on my experience as an educator having worked with such kids.
Well, we homeschool. The school for which we're zoned is terrible, but even if it were the best school, we'd still homeschool. Obviously, reasons that are important to us aren't the only reasons in the world and may not be reasons for other people to homeschool. Here's why we homeschool, though:
* It's REALLY hard for any school to beat the 2:1 teacher-pupil ratio at the Wallace School for a Girl.
* We love being with our child and don't have to miss out on her childhood.
* All assignments are presented at an appropriate level of challenge, neither too easy nor too hard.
* We can accomplish more in four hours than most schoolers accomplish in a whole day.
* No one needs anyone's permission to pee, eat, or sleep.
* We can shoot ahead or go in depth -- or both -- and don't need to move Heaven and Earth to do it.
* No bullies, mean girls, gangs, drugs, or fights.
* No mythology presented as if it were truth
* Emphasis on the Wallace School for a Girl is on academic achievement and classical education...we're big on math and science, not on glitter 'n' glue projects telling how we feel about math and science.
Um, I could keep going, but I bet that might be enough. You want any more, just ask.
How much the cost for homeschooling? Is it too expensive that very few people can afford to?
Well, it means not having a life that requires two incomes to sustain. For some people, that represents a sacrifice that's greater than they want to make: they want the big house or the two cars, or whatever. No judgment here -- I obviously don't agree, but the world's big enough to hold more than one opinion in it.
Where exactly is the time wasted? I'm curious since I have just recently entered the public school system w/ one of my three children, from the private school (my other two still at different private schools.... one Montessori, one catholic all-boys prep) I was under the impression that public school "time" was more accountable than for private schools.
Well, here are some ways we waste time in my class (I am a full-time schoolteacher; my spouse teaches our DD).
* Taking attendance and verifying it because we're having an attendance audit
* Checking homework to make sure people did it. Even though I do this while the students are occupied doing something else, they're usually done with "something else" before I'm done checking their notebooks.
* Listening to the looooooooooong morning announcements
* Dealing with classroom interruptions -- surprise announcements, student aides from the office coming in with passes for people, students having to go to the bathroom (which requires that I hand-write a pass -- on the principal's orders, we can't have a permanent pass -- or advise them just to sign out and sign in on return), random teachers popping in for whatever reason, etc.
* Students coming up and wanting to verify their grades. Even if I ask them to wait after class, it still wastes time to tell them.
* Fire drills
* Shelter-in-place drills
* Lockdowns or lockdown drills
* Building evacuations
* Assemblies
* Hour-long advertising pitches from the class ring people trying to sell class rings and other garbage
* Getting chatty people to be quiet
* Keeping students on task
Okay, those are all "classroom management" timewasters. Here are some academic timewasters.
* Waiting for the slowest person in the class to be done with the test
* State tests
* PSAT/Other tests
* Interim assessments other than the state tests
* Explaining directions three times: I tell them what I will tell them, I show them what I mean, and then I check to make sure they understood.
* Practice for the tests
* Test question review
No kid wants to be home schooled! They want a break from their parents and be with their friends and study and hang out together. Kind of what normal kids do.
Wow, could you be any further from the truth? It's very hard to say "No X wants Y" about ANY subject, and specifically this one. How many homeschooled kids have you asked this question? How many schooled kids have you asked the reverse question? (e.g., Would you prefer to be homeschooled?)
The trials and tribulations that go along with high school life are a real growing experience for many. I think homeschooled children lack socialization to a large degree.
Would you mind defining precisely what you mean by "socialization"?
Why do people believe that public school is the only place where a child can be socialized? My position in the school system is to teach social skills to children. We have a program created for the sole purpose of teaching kids how to relate to one another. Ironic, isn't it? And business is booming so there's definitely a need for it. As far as the social development of homeschooled children is concerned- I can only relate my neice and nephews' situation- they are more involved with the community than many of the public school children that I have contact with. The oldest takes ballet, gymnastics, tap and was just enrolled in art class. The middle child is in cubscouts, he performs in community theatre, and plays the flute. The youngest is autistic but attends a special school during the day and has several hours of 1-1 therapy at home everyday. All 3 kids have their own social groups in each of the activities that they participate in and so far, they seem well adjusted to me. The biggest complaint I hear from p.s. children is that they have too much homework and they are too tired to do anything after school. Don't get me wrong, I've been a p.s. child my entire life but when I have children, I will keep my options open. What works for one may not work for the other. Although I was in 'gifted' classes from 1st to 12th grade, I remember being incredibly bored and couldn't believe what I had to sit through on a daily basis. And I look back and I say, 'thank God for being an independant learner'-- I would read ahead, I would read add'l books on the particular subject we were studying, etc. As a student, you're brainwashed to feel guilty about that and only (years later) did I realize those feelings were valid. Public school is not the only way to go even though that's what we're made to believe.
It should be the kids choice to where she or he wants to attend?
If you asked after having them review their options. I bet 90%
would choose against home schooling...
What makes a home school parent more educated in teaching than a teacher
with a master's degree. Kids need space and will adjust better in college
then relying on their parents all their lives.
Anyways, home schooled or not we all care about our kids and their education.
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