Home Schooling

[foogledricks]

When I lived in Florida, I worked with three people who home-schooled their kids. They'd list off all these statistics for why it was better than public school. Of course, now that I am having a baby, I am thinking about things like nannies, daycare, schools, college, etc...and so I am writing this thread.

 

Now I don't think I would ever home-school, and I don't think I would ever send my children to private school either. I admit that I expect my views to slowly change on EVERYTHING in the coming years, after becoming a parent. But my reasoning for not wanting home schooling or private school is simple. I feel that public school more closely reflects the world that children will be exposed to when they go to college and get a job.

 

What are all your feelings on home schooling and private schooling?

[JoeyN]

I went to public school and it prepared me more for the real world, then other people i know in the area who went to private school. It may not be like that in all areas, but around here it was. All these parents here made there kids afraid to go to the HS i went to saying people got beat up, mugged and so forth. In the 3 years i was there our school had no big incedents. The other schools these parents got there kids into had shootings, gang fights and so on and so forth. The kids of these parents had problems because they had big mouths and started trouble themselves. Keep quiet, do your work, and you wont have any problems. Everyone blames public schools for kids having a bad education. How about the kids do there HW and study for test. Parents need to be on top of kids to do this stuff like mine were. Ok thats enough of a rant :-)

[foogledricks]

Ok thats enough of a rant :-)

 

Hmm, did I push a button capt I too have had debates about this subject. My whole family are teachers!

[JoeyN]

Yeah a bit of a button as on all the kids on my block i was the only one who went to public school and all i heard was "my kid is this because of private school , and this one is that" . well in the end they are all doing nothing, and are home with kids"

 

Like i mentioned before. Im sure its not like this everywhere. Just my corner of queens

 

capt

[Starhawk]

I went to private school practically my entire life, and I was home schooled for several years, and even into high school.

 

I don?t regret any of it personally, but I have mixed feelings about homeshooling.

 

First, Home schooling is hard, and it takes alot of self-discipline on the part of both you the parent, and the child. Most parents choose to home school because they think that they can provide a better, focused, education for their children. They are in control over what they can learn. It's true, if the situation is right for you. There are alot of good curriculums and material out there to help you as well.

 

The main problem with home schooling is the lack of a social environment. This can, however, be adjusted by being in other outside activities. Plus, you don?t know if your child will be more of a social butterfly, where keeping them at home all the time may be one of the worst things you can do to them.

 

As far as I am concerned, I wouldnt say I have any "social" problems or anything because of homeschooling (Im in sales for Christ's sake!) and at the time I didn?t mind not going to a "real" school. I was able to work my part time job when I wanted, play video games when I wanted, and still have alot of friends. It just has to be the right situation for the right person. Plus, I made up for alot in college

 

When I was involved with it, we were apart of a support group for homeschoolers and their families. It just so happened that many of the homeschoolers in this group (almost 100%) were VERY VERY religious. They were using homeshooling as a way to shelter their kids. Obviously, a wrong reason to home school. I always thought it was funny (because I was friends with many of these kids) that most of them grew up to be really, really....uh.... "REBELLIOUS"

 

BTW, If you have any questions about it, I'd be glad to help anyway I can.

[JoeyN]

VERY VERY religious. They were using homeshooling as a way to shelter their kids. Obviously, a wrong reason to home school. I always thought it was funny (because I was friends with many of these kids) that most of them grew up to be really, really....uh.... "REBELLIOUS"

 

Thats the one thing that bugged me. The parents made there families out to be religious and such to get them to go to these schools. they when they dropped out , had kids and so forth all of a sudden they could care less.

 

ok ill shut up now

 

At least till the next post by someone else

[foogledricks]

It just so happened that many of the homeschoolers in this group (almost 100%) were VERY VERY religious.

Not surprising, everyone who I know, who has homeschooled, were very religious.

most of them grew up to be really, really....uh.... "REBELLIOUS"

That is also my experience with people who went to catholic schools. In college and high school, I became friends with various girls from religious schools who were ironically BIG SINNERS

[scobeto]

The choice is ultimately up to you.

 

For my family, my wife and I sacrifice a great deal so we don't have to put our son in daycare. I work days, my wife works part time overnights. We bought a smaller home than we needed to, don't drive new cars, etc. Personally, I don't like the thought of a stranger being the primary care giver for an infant.

 

On the issue of public vs. private school: I think that would depend on what kind of school district you live in. If the district is strong and has a good record, test scores, graduation rates, etc. then why not? There are also, generally, more extracurricular activities at public schools. On the average (nationally) private schools standardized test scores are higher than that of public schools. There are, however, exceptions to every rule.

 

I could go on and on with pros and cons, but I will be sending my son to private school. Not only private, but parochial. I think a great deal of problems in schools stem from the breakdown of the American family. Teen parents, dead beat dads, etc. So, a parochial school is the right choice for us based on our values.

 

All in all, I think if you are an involved parent that takes responsibility for your child's education, ie you sit and help with homework, get involved in the PTA and other parents groups, stay in contact with teachers and let them know you are approachable with problems and things like that, your child will have no choice but to succeed in any atmosphere.

 

The burden of proof is really on you, no matter what you decide. As long as you keep that in mind, and accept the amount of gaming time it is going to suck from your life, I'm sure your children will grow up and be happy and put you in a nice assisted living facility for thanks :tu:

[foogledricks]

Excellent post scobeto.

[adamsappel]

I'm sure it's different in other places, but I always laugh when I hear the phrase "good Catholic education," as the local Catholic high school was were you went if you were too stupid to graduate from public high school or needed straight A's on your transcript (I had friends in both camps). It's saying something (bad) when a private school is worse than a West Virginia public school. One teacher in jr. high constantly warned us of the "Red Menace" and taught from civil defense books. Did you know you can make your own nuc-u-lar bomb shelter from a door and a 3-foot-deep hole, that crouching under a desk is adequate protection from a 4000 degree fireball, and you can even drink the water out of your toilet tank? There's a reason the government chose the Greenbriar Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, WV for its post-nuclear Congressional shelter: less genetic competition.

[Cyberwoo]

For me the issue is not what school you go to or how you are taught but rather the quality of parenting you have. I am who I am today because of my parents. They laid the groundwork for my life. My Mom never worked so she always stayed home to take care of us while my Dad earned the money working night shift for many years. My parents always had time for us and were constant examples of how to live our lives. I just hope that should I ever get married and have children of my own that I can do as well as my parents did for me and my sister.

 

Personally I would not home school my children (if I ever have any). I feel you would miss out on far too many of lifes lessons by being sheltered like that. If you've done your job as a parent than you should have nothing to worry about by sending your child out into the public. They will have opportunity for social interaction, hearing other peoples opinions, etc. Stuff you just wont get if home schooled.

 

My opinion on private schooling is somewhat mixed based on my experience with it. I was in private school (Christian school) up until my junior year in HS. It was a very small school. I remember my junior class had about 15-20 kids in it. I didn't relate to any of them so I kind of just drifted through school without much of a social life the exception being at home where I had the normal childhood neighborhood friends. After my junior year my school had to close due to lack of money so I was forced to take my senior year of HS at the local public school. At first this was quite the culture shock as you can imagine. Going from having 15 kids in your class to what seemed like hundreds felt pretty strange but after a while it was pretty cool. I met some really nice people over time and most of the teachers were pretty cool. Looking back on it I really wish i would have left private school entering my freshman year of HS. I feel that being around so many different types of people really prepared me for life much more than private school could have at that point. I've told my parents this later on in life and they asked why I never brought it up back than. I guess I felt I didn't want to disapoint them because I respected them so much and I knew they were spending good money to put me and my sis in private school. Also at the time I didn't really realize what I was missing so it wasn't much of an issue. It was all I knew but I am glad I was able to experience both. I feel I'm better for it. So maybe it was meant to be afterall.

 

So after writing this I guess that if I ever have kids I might put them in private school early on and just ask them on occasion if they are enjoying school. If they are not than I would encourage them to try public schooling explaining the pros and cons of each.