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I homeschooled my youngest son, the last year and a half of highschool.
The decision was based on poor academic progress in the local small town highschool. My son would frequently complain that disruptive students were distracting in class and his grades were poor. We chose a homeschool program that allowed us to meet regularly with the teacher, discuss his progress and any questions he might have. Tutoring was available if he were to need it. One year he also attended an evening college art class.
He applied himself and graduated a semester early. He's 18 and now attending college.
Are parents who homeschool their children depriving them of a necessary part of life, growth and development, and once in a lifetime experiences?
OR
Do homeschooled kids have an advantage?
You have to define what are the necessary experiences that children need to have. For some people, it means being exposed to different kinds of people, the good and the bad. But then why do some parents try to place their children in the "best" neighborhood or the "best" schools. Why do some families avoid working class areas or schools with high rates of free lunches? To make it more personal, why are some preschools acceptable to me but not others?
Who has the advantage? It is children who are being raised in families, homeschool or not, where they are encouraged to know what they know best, oneself. Then they are encouraged to get to know the people around them and to respect their differences. Finally, they are encouraged to be aware of their surroundings.
It's good. The current curriculum in US high schools is very weak. You can probably teach you child all of it by Gr. 10. If you want social interaction, then you can get your child to join day-care programs and play with kids there.
I don't know anything about homeschooling but when I read this thread, one question came to mind. What kind of high school diploma does your child receive? Is it a GED?
I homeschooled my youngest son, the last year and a half of highschool.
The decision was based on poor academic progress in the local small town highschool. My son would frequently complain that disruptive students were distracting in class and his grades were poor. We chose a homeschool program that allowed us to meet regularly with the teacher, discuss his progress and any questions he might have. Tutoring was available if he were to need it. One year he also attended an evening college art class.
He applied himself and graduated a semester early. He's 18 and now attending college.
Please forgive me if I'm wrong in my assessment of your post but I am a high school dropout. At least I know that High School is two words. Your grammar seems to be poor. Maybe an English teacher will come forth and correct it and/or mine for that matter. When I read how proud you are that you "homeschooled", it makes me cringe.
At 53 yrs old, I went back to school and graduated from a University. Most of the kids were great, smart, funny, nice to be around. Unfortunately, I also got to know 5 homeschooled kids who seemed, at times, traumatized by the system. These children had not been enculturated, did not know how to get along within their own age bracket. For the most part, they were all in remedial math and had difficulties with some of the most basic of scientific theories (yup, read that as "evolution", among others) These kids were ill-at-ease in social situations. I can understand that there are children in back country Alaska who can not make attendance at any regular school who are homeschooled and learn the basics of reading, writing, and 'rithmatic. Unfortunately, at least in this part of the south "homeschooled" is often a euphemism for "southern baptist who don't want their children to learn "Devils' Science" and the parents aren't educated enough to teach the child. It seems as if "homeschooling" isn't done for children, but, rather, to them.
Last edited by Dusty Rhodes; 11-21-2010 at 05:24 PM..
As a college math instructor, my experience with home schooled students has been positive about, I'd say, 95% of the time. As I mentioned in another thread, the home schooled students typically mop the floor with those from institutionalized state schools. Of course, math is only taught up to what used to be a fourth or fifth grade level in public schools these days (unless the student is "gifted" and gets in some sort of special program). Most students, upon entering college, can't even add two fractions together properly.
Also, most home schooled students that I have known were taught by hired private teachers/tutors in the topics their parents weren't comfortable with. In fact, I've been looking into teaching math and/or English privately to such students. I think it's a good way to go these days if you want your child to actually learn what has traditionally been considered common knowledge in a modern, civilized society. There are quite a number of countries that are killing us in math and science education. I wonder if that could be because they are actually teaching the material rather than wasting time with trying to program "social interaction" into minds that may well be socially "hard wired" in the first place? If one is "born gay," why is it such a leap that someone may be "born introvert" or "born extrovert"? And, more importantly, we need to all understand that there is nothing "wrong" with either personality type no more than there is anything wrong with the color yellow as opposed to the color orange.
As for social interaction, if you think the contrived situation within the walls of a modern high school is "real world" social interaction, you're nuts. That's the last place I would send anyone for social interaction--it might work for social dysfunction. The sooner everyone understands that introvert/extrovert tendency is a personal trait, the better. An introvert is an introvert, home schooled or not. An extrovert is an extrovert, home schooled or not. You can't turn a duck into a hawk. Plus, what most folks fail to realize that the ability to interact socially is not dependent on introvert or extrovert tendencies. Plenty of introverts function just fine in social settings (I'm one of them), but prefer to be allowed to "do their own thing" in relative solitude. That's the way I like it, yet I stand in front of students and teach them every day and have no problem at all doing it. Introversion does not equal lack of ability to interact socially. Likewise, there are plenty of extroverts who interact superbly in a social setting, yet are horrifyingly flawed individuals to the point of being sociopaths. You have to separate the two traits of introvert/extrovert and social interaction ability--there's no ironclad cause/effect relationship.
Ultimately, I'm a firm believer that education is education as in the "three R's" that we all seem to have forgotten about, and that learning social behavior and etiquette is an entirely separate matter that should be treated as such. You learn to mingle in the real world; you learn academic subjects through study (what you are supposed to be doing in school).
Also, most home schooled students that I have known were taught by hired private teachers/tutors in the topics their parents weren't comfortable with.
The above line from your post would almost make me laugh if it didn't sicken me. You obviously know not what you speak. I live in Southwest Virginia and believe me, the people in this area ain't payin' no private teachers/tutors for uncomfortable topics since a lot of them are on SSI, Welfare and Food Stamps.
So answer the question that I posted earlier. What kind of diploma does a home schooled child receive? Is it a GED?
You don't need a diploma if you don't graduate from a high school. Some homeschooling parents make their own transcripts and diplomas, and others don't bother. Some use accredited online or correspondence programs that offer diplomas. Still others do get GEDs. It depends on the family.
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