Home Schooling - Good idea or bad idea?

[Alex Franke]

Every time I talk to a teacher I get a little frustrated with the school system. For example, at one of our local schools, every high school freshman is automagically in "honors English"... EVERY student. That just don't seem rite. (It's not what the teachers wanted, by the way -- I think the teachers are in a really tough position in a lot of cases.)

Every time I meet a home-schooled child, I'm amazed at how bright, well-rounded, and responsible he or she is.

Back in the 80's, as I understand it, a lot of home schooling was kept under the radar. Parents sometimes had to fight for the right to do it. Today it's easier and more popular, which helps make it a more viable option.

Our kids are 3 and 1, so naturally we're thinking a lot about school now-a-days. I think you can learn a lot from a "real" school environment -- even things like how to deal with getting bullied are important lessons. But lately I've been thinking we can do a lot more at home. For example, we're fans of a more classical education, and I don't know that schools really provide that anymore...

What are your thoughts? Has anyone else here considered this decision?

[Red88chevy]

Your kids are lucky you are so concerned for their education. So you know my background, my wife is a public school teacher and also teaches college classes online. She always tells me that students with involved parents do fine. Personally I'm not a fan of home schooling as the kids don't seem to be as well rounded. I have to give school presentations a dozen or more times a year to both public school students and home school students. The home school students tend to be far behind the public school students in their science understanding. Basic things like, heat rises. In my experience, home school students also tend to lack some of the personal skills, such as raising their hands for a question or waiting their turn, skills that public (or private) school kids know. I think it is because mommy is always right there for them. Yes public schools do alot of dumb things, and waste alot of time, but their science teachers area suppose to be experts in science, their math teachers experts in math, so on. Sure some teachers aren't very good, and a few are great, but the average ones are still very good. It would be hard for any of us to be expert in all fields. We considered home schooling one year when we happened to live in a not very good school district, but we decided we would let them go to school, AND supplement them at home with what we thought they weren't getting enough at school. For us this has worked out well. Also, we have a private/church school in our town that is made up of homeschool familes and these kids have had alot of trouble getting into college because they do not do well on standardized tests.

Hope this helps,
Doug

[Uncle Cracker]

I think it will ultimately be found that the difference between a successful or unsuccessful education is less a function of whether home-schooled or not, and more a function of whether the parents are actively involved and encouraging of the child's educational process. The knowledge is there for the taking, and it is the attitude that is fostered in the child, whether in a classroom or at the kitchen table, that will decide the issue. That said, one positive factor of out-schooling is the development of social skills that cannot be taught at home. Home-schooled kids must still be given large doses of social interaction, or they will have difficulty expressing, utilizing and disseminating all those smarts they may absorb. DAMHIKT.

[Knottscott]

We home-schooled for 6 years. Our experience was excellent. The kids loved it, we loved it, the kids all excelled at homeschool and have continued that trend for the most part in a combination of public and private schools. Economics forced us to stop 2 years ago so my wife could go back to work, but if one of you is a stay at home parent, I highly recommend it. There's so much more quality time, control of the curriculum, religion and prayer ARE allowed, it's more efficient, and can be tailored to each child. It's far less hectic for the kids too. There are also fewer bomb threats, drug & alcohol issues, and fewer violent outbreaks. Our 3 oldedst chose to move on to traditional schools after 8th grade...Not sure how well we would have done teaching a high school curriculum. but I know others who have.

The statistics we researched indicated that home-schoolers do significantly (statistically) better scholastically than public schoolers on average, but I don't know the origin of those statistics. Activities like Youth Groups, Scouts, and organized sports help round out what homeschool can't provide. You'll find HS organizations for support in your area. The vast majority of other homerschoolers we met were well mannered, obedient, happy, and Christian...YMMV. Go for it if one of you is able to dedicate themselves to it!

[burrellski]

From my dealings with middle-school aged children in Iowa and Missouri, there has been no comparison between home educated children and school educated children. I would say their average level of knowledge is pretty comparable, but when it comes to actually applying it, students from the schools have always surpassed the home school students. I can't really give you much of an explanation, just what I have experienced. I would also say the kids from the schools had much more advanced social skills and were more comfortable in "diverse" situations.

Again, these are just observations from my experiences. Not being a parent myself, its easy to stand on the outside and state what I think would be best. When the time comes for me to make these decisions, I'm sure it won't be so easy.

[scorrpio]

I really think it should not be an either-or thing. It HAS to be both. School is important as it teaches a kid to fend for him/herself without having a parent at hand. Teamwork, tact, etc. It exposes kids to a broader range of views and opinions, which is good for developing an open mind.
Education should not stop when kid comes home. Parents should take active interest in what their kid is studying, and not just 'help out with homework', but actually expand upon the school material, and go that 'extra mile'. This, of course, assumes a certain level of education on the parent's part as well - Kinda hard to expand your kid's knowledge of georgraphy if you one of those Americans who can't find USA on the world map...

[germdoc]

We home-schooled my older daughter for about half a year around grade 7. My wife wasn't working at the time. I was the science and math teacher...groan...

I didn't like the experience. It's hard to play the roles of watchful parent, teacher, disciplinarian, activity coordinator, etc., simultaneously. So, when we moved to WI we went back into public education, and I've not regretted that decision.

Home schooling's not for everyone, but if you have the time and money (so one spouse can stay at home) and background and fortitude it can work. The home-schooled kids I know seem well-educated.

The downsides are obvious--lack of exposure to diversity and challenging social settings, lack of outside activities. IMO the social challenges we all face in the real world are put off until age 18 or so (there's that magic age) then they hit you full force.

I have become much more a believer in working to strengthen the public schools so everyone can benefit. My kids have had great opportunities in the public schools, especially music and sports. One way to look at it, and I know this to be literally true from experience, a home-schooled kid (like a girl that baby-sat for us for awhile) can become a great solo musician, but it's not very likely that kid is going to have the opportunity to play in many large ensembles, like the excellent marching band and wind ensemble and show choir we have at Central High.

So take your choice: complete control over the curriculum, lunchroom menu, religious experience, etc., vs. access to a broad array of educational opportunities and activities and social situations.

[Slik Geek]

Everyone seems to have different experiences with these educational options.

Personally I'm not a fan of home schooling as the kids don't seem to be as well rounded... The home school students tend to be far behind the public school students in their science understanding.

Also, we have a private/church school in our town that is made up of homeschool familes and these kids have had alot of trouble getting into college because they do not do well on standardized tests.

I would suggest that the science deficiency experienced here is not because of "home-schooling", but because of inadequate schooling. Their parents likely were weak in sciences and didn't have a curriculum that properly covered science.

My sharpest employee (engineer) of all time was home-schooled, he was well-ahead of most people in his science understanding. (He got most, if not all of his college education paid because of academic scholarships, and he got almost entirely "A"s in college). He had absolutely no trouble getting admitted to college. (His mother created his curriculum on her own - through high school).

Another home-schooled child that I know is now a veternarian.

My oldest son was home-schooled from 4th grade on until his Junior year in high school. He did very well in science classes when he rejoined more conventional schools, and when he took the ACT, he scored 99th percentile in science.

In our particular situation, we used a home-schooled curriculum that is accredited and graded by trained educators (by mail). I suspect that most of the negative impressions people have regarding home-schooling is a result of the use of poor curriculum. Another probable contributor is parents who lack the skills to be effective teachers.

My point is that we have to be cautious in our generalizations.

In my experience, home school students also tend to lack some of the personal skills, such as raising their hands for a question or waiting their turn, skills that public (or private) school kids know. I think it is because mommy is always right there for them.

In my experience with six home-schooled kids from five families, I haven't witnessed any lack of personal skills, but I can see how it could happen. It really comes down to the parents and how they handle the educational environment. The few kids that I have witnessed tend to be confident and do quite well in social-related skills.

In case you are wondering why we began home-schooling... Our youngest son had an incredibly poor teacher in first grade. The school administration was unwilling to effectively deal with this person. We pulled our son out half way through the year and continued his education at home. Fortunately for the rest of the kids, evidence mounted against the teacher and she resigned a few months later.

It took a number of years to change our youngest sons attitude toward school. The damage done to him at a very impressionable point in his life was difficult to overcome. (He is doing great now).

My perspective: home-schooling is not for everyone and isn't appropriate in some families. Unless you are skilled in picking a curriculum, or have a lot of time to invest in researching it well, use an accredited program with independent oversight. Home-schooling is alot of work and requires more commitment from the parents than conventional schooling.

[leehljp]

Lots of variables in there - Depends on the parent(s) teaching skills; Depends on the child's personal motivation and drive.

We home schooled our youngest daughter when we were stateside for a year at a time (8th grade & 11th grade). She also participated in a certified(?) online school that had very high recommendations. This daughter majored in physics in college, so she was no slouch. Our home schooling regimen kept her up with, and actually ahead of her schools (English speaking) here in Japan when she returned back here.

She can't be used as a standard to judge whether this is good or not, but her "home school" association in the Memphis area helped her too. She still has friends from those times and meets & corresponds with them even now. She talks how well rounded they are and the jobs they have. Sure there are some that do not excel, but others that do.

A good key besides the parents is the local home school association. A good association will provide lots of interaction, outings, museum and science trips and sports also. Our daughter had several opportunities to visit science museums and training in telescope setups as well as astronomy, well beyond what LOML and I could teach. This is what pushed her to major in physics. If she had stayed totally in a public/private school, I doubt that she would have experienced that opportunity.

[germdoc]

One other comment:

I think both the benefits and problems of education are overestimated by the average person. Of course a great teacher can inspire and a lousy teacher (or a bad peer group) can have a negative influence. But--kids are incredibly resilient. Bright kids with strong parents will do well regardless. Not-so-bright kids with dysfunctional familes will not do well. Whether they're home-schooled or go to Central High or Lutheran High or Phillips Exeter Academy.

To quote Paul Simon:

"When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school,
Its a wonder I can think at all.
And though my lack of education hasn't hurt me none,
I can read the writing on the wall."

[DonHo]

I don't know how wide spread the idea is but I know a couple in my church who are home schooling and they belong to a home school CoOp. The kids are taught in a group setting and different parents teach in classes that they are "strong" in. From what I know it's working very well. Of course most if not all the parents doing the teaching have college degrees. I do know that for the most part home schooled kids seem to be much more polite and well behaved.

DonHo

[gsmittle]

As most of you know, I teach high school, so my views on home-schooling vs public school might be a little biased.....

In my not-so-humble opinion, there are three things need to happen for most students to have a decent chance at a good education: concerned, involved parents, small classroom sizes, and be above the poverty line. It doesn't matter to me if the kid is home-schooled or not, as long as all three of those are present.

I was going to type a long rant, but I just got out of rehearsal and I'm tired and need to go home.

I have had ONE student who was home-schooled until he started high school; he could not cope with having 2500 people in the halls during passing time. After his freshman year, he went back to home-schooling.

What works for one may not work for another. I do know that my students in classes of 8 learn more in more depth faster than students in my classes of 30. I have much to offer my students, but I can't when I'm overwhelmed.

I don't want this to be a screed on the troubles of public education; we've all heard plenty of that. I do think that the best teachers should be in grades K-3, after that, the rest of us have a much easier job.

In short, whatever you decide, two-thirds of what will make your child successful is in your hands....

g.

[MilDoc]

As a pediatrician I see loads of kids in public school and loads home schooled. My thoughts:

1. There are some very good home school curriculums out there, and some that seem very bad (just like schools). Wish I had kept track of which are which, but I haven't.

2. As a parent you have to be dedicated to being the teacher. Takes hours of work a day. If you have it in you go for it. If you're not sure, don't. Find a private school, suck it up, economize.

3. First, find out just what percentage of students in your public schools complete high school, go on to College, and do well without having to take remedial courses. If it is excellent, I would not home school. (Example: in one of our local districts, which includes all races etc etc etc, 98% complete HS, 89% go on to College, no one requires College remedial courses and close to 100% graduate. I don't think I could do much better than that.)


4. Be prepared to be the teacher, the disciplinarian, etc etc etc.

5. Be prepared to demand excellence. Good teachers do this and it shows, no matter what district they are in.

6. And, if you home school, be certain your kids get lots of outside exposure. Districts can not ban them from extracurricular activities, for example. They need the "socialization."

That's all I can come up with from the top of my brain.

[p8ntblr]

This is why I personally am in favor of school vouchers. If you didn't already know here's a definition from wikipedia

"An education voucher, commonly called a school voucher, is a certificate by which parents are given the ability to pay for the education of their children at a school of their choice, rather than the public school to which they were assigned. These vouchers would be paid for using tax revenues. "

IMO one of the main reasons for our country's poor education is the lack of competition. I believe competition always drives progress be it business or a school system. If the school in their designated area is doing poorly they can transfer them to another school. And if that previous school didn't start doing better then they'd go broke.

[Slik Geek]

A student's perspective

(BTW - excellent posts from varied perspectives on this topic - that's what makes BT3central a great forum!)

I asked my son, a high school junior, who was home-schooled from the last half of 1st grade through 8th grade for his perspective after reading the posts on this topic.

He has witnessed a number of home-schooled kids entering high school. He observed that a many of them were initially shy, but he said that he has found the home-schooled kids better in "personal skills, such as raising their hands for a question or waiting their turn." The troublemakers or non-compliant kids, from his perspective, were those with non-home-schooled environments. I'm sure it is the particular parents that made the difference in the varying observations that people have made.

Regarding intellect or academic proficiency, he has observed both ends of the spectrum, as you would expect from a various students from whatever background.

Hope this helps.