Arguments for homeschooling

[clouds]

That's too vague and is no different than daycare. Give me specific reasons why I should send my kids to public school. Why are they the best option for educating our youth and if they aren't then why are we sending them there?

haha, I don't think I could defend it, I was just speaking the only thing I could thing people could say.

 

[nate895]

Nate, how far away are you from Monroe, WA? Check out Sky Valley Education Center.

I am three hours away, I'm gonna do that Running Start program you mentioned at the local college next year anyway, I'm gonna take the test this Wednesday or Thursday.

 

[pinkmandy]

haha, I don't think I could defend it, I was just speaking the only thing I could thing people could say.

I agree.

 

[Agent CSL]

I am three hours away, I'm gonna do that Running Start program you mentioned at the local college next year anyway, I'm gonna take the test this Wednesday or Thursday.

Cool. I was thinking about doing Running Start but I'm kind of too old to do it now, but my "official" credits might allow me to go. I'unno. I need to talk to the school director.

We have people who come to SVEC from the San Juans because our program is so good. There's a huge waiting list though.

 

[orolonn]

We started homeschooling my daughter three years ago when she was in the first grade. It was the toughest, but best decision we have made for her (and us).

The first thing I'd like to tell you is that, IMO, homeschooling is not primarily about politics. Homeschooling is about giving your child the best education they can have.

Look at your local schools. If I had known about the school my daughter was to attend when we moved here, we would have never even bothered to enroll her. One example would be that first grade here is not equivalent to first grade in VA where we lived before. Here the first graders are learning what they mastered at the beginning of kindergarten.

I go to college and haven't met one student who was homeschooled, are homeschooled students capable of going to college, are they allowed?

The colleges around us have a ton of homeschooled students. In fact, I know of kids who are starting in the local community colleges when they are 15 years old. Even the larger universities here have plenty of homeschoolers in them. I'm not sure where you are from and I can't speak for all colleges, but here they jump at the chanced to take homeschoolers.

How hard is it to properly homeschool a child? I knew of a couple of people who were "homeschooled" but they did absolutely nothing, they were basically dropouts. How can somebody properly homeschool?

"Properly" homeschooling isn't hard, IMO. You find what method of learning your child works best with and go with it. We don't do "unschooling" (which sounds to me like what those people above did). My daughter needs the structure and I prefer that she have it anyways. I'm of the opinion that a young child doesn't know what they need or what is best for them, the parent does. Once you find your child's niche for learning it's quite easy, IMO, to help them learn. If you help them realize the desire the child will yearn for it. There are so many ways to "properly" homeschool that you're sure to hit on the one that best works and run with it.

What about social interaction, etc? I've heard that homeschooled kids aren't as social and are shyer than other kids. Also, how can my daughter make friends if we don't know anybody since she wouldn't be going to a school?

This is a common mis-perception. If you look, there are tons of ways to keep children "socialized." Girl/Boy Scouts, 4H, churches, sports teams, play dates, etc etc.

We attend a local learning co-op once a week. Basically, it's a group of homeschoolers that get together on a set schedule. The kids attend classes all day (not unlike public school) and the parents volunteer to fill the positions needed (ie teachering, set ups, break downs, etc). It gives the kids the experience of learning from other people besides mom or dad and how to behave in a classroom of children. We also plan group outings to places such as renn faires, art museums science museums, have our own "sports leagues" (right now we are bowling, but the kids play kick ball in the summer), have a yearly "lock in" that is like an overnight party for everyone involved, create our own yearbook, and lots more. We love our co-op!

We are busy with at least one activity every day. In fact, you'd often wonder how the heck we sleep if I were to show you a calender lol

Any other benefits and arguments for homeschooling would be greatly appreciated.

Anything and everything can be turned into some sort of lesson. Grocery store trip is a math lesson, dinner can be an etiquette lesson, listening to dad on his ham radio quickly turns to a geography lesson!

Depending on your local area you can take local field trips for history. We've been all over Philadelphia to learn about our Founding Fathers, the Constitution, the Liberty Bell, and a ton of other great historical items/events. We've taken a trip to NYC and the Statue of Liberty where we learned about Ellis Island and immigration (even illegal immigration). I'm originally from CO and plan to take her on a historical trip out west this summer. The hands on history is our favorite part of homeschooling. It's the best feeling ever to introduce your child to things like your local history and watch it come alive in their eyes and imaginations when they can see the things they are learning about. It's so much better than learning a time line in a public school and forgetting it long before graduation!

 

[christagious]

Thanks to everybody for their feedback, and if anybody else has their two cents, please continue as I will be continuously coming back to this thread to read it.

I will also be PM'ing a few of you as well.


I have another question though

what about standardized tests? Are homeschooled kids still expected to take tests such as the Proficiency tests, Ohio Graduation Test, and any other standardized tests out there? (I"m from ohio by the way that's why I mention the OGT)

And how do you go about after the education to get a diploma? Is it a GED or do you get a diploma from the local high school?



I'm getting really interested in this and I think I can do it. I'm going to college for K-12 Spanish Education, and I'm almost finished so by the time my daughter begins school I'll even be a licensed teacher which will probably make things easier on me in terms of getting any kinds of certification or anything I'll need.

 

[nate895]

Thanks to everybody for their feedback, and if anybody else has their two cents, please continue as I will be continuously coming back to this thread to read it.

I will also be PM'ing a few of you as well.


I have another question though

what about standardized tests? Are homeschooled kids still expected to take tests such as the Proficiency tests, Ohio Graduation Test, and any other standardized tests out there? (I"m from ohio by the way that's why I mention the OGT)

And how do you go about after the education to get a diploma? Is it a GED or do you get a diploma from the local high school?



I'm getting really interested in this and I think I can do it. I'm going to college for K-12 Spanish Education, and I'm almost finished so by the time my daughter begins school I'll even be a licensed teacher which will probably make things easier on me in terms of getting any kinds of certification or anything I'll need.

They can take proficiency tests, but they must take graduation tests. If your child has three brain cells, is literate, and can compute basic functions, they will pass.

 

[LibertiORDeth]

I have a 7 month old daughter and I plan on having 3 to 4 more in the future. I would really like to homeschool them but I have a few questions. First, my fiance seems to be fairly supportive of the idea, she's not against it, but I'll need a little help convincing her. Problem is, she's not political at all, she's voting for Ron Paul because I want her to, if not for that she wouldn't vote, so I can't use the "indoctrication/brainwashing" argument to convince her of homeschooling. So what other benefits are there for homeschooling other than that?

And some other concerns (SOME OF THESE MAY SOUND DUMB, but are legitimate questions:

I go to college and haven't met one student who was homeschooled, are homeschooled students capable of going to college, are they allowed?

What about social interaction, etc? I've heard that homeschooled kids aren't as social and are shyer than other kids. Also, how can my daughter make friends if we don't know anybody since she wouldn't be going to a school?

How hard is it to properly homeschool a child? I knew of a couple of people who were "homeschooled" but they did absolutely nothing, they were basically dropouts. How can somebody properly homeschool?


Any other benefits and arguments for homeschooling would be greatly appreciated.

I have been home schooled, as well as several of my friends, and nearly all of them have attended college.

There are ways to make up for lack of social interaction, by putting them in touch with kids their own age through other ways.

It is not very difficult, there are many curriculums tat make it very easy to homeschool. ( try www.abeka.com)

 

[LibertiORDeth]

Homeschooling can be a blessing and a challenge. I am 18, and I've been half homeschooled (I'll explain later) since 7th grade. My sister's been homeschooled since 1st grade. I'm in the very unique position to offer you advice and share my own experiences with homeschooling.

Some parents who rely on public school, I feel, they rely on the "I can start my kid in school at X age and they will be taken care of by Y age" and that is a farce! Parents who are like that doom their children to a life of struggle and pain. Learning starts with experience and it doesn't end.

Public school is very outcome-based and it's been dumbed down to a level I find shocking. Instead of learning the basics, most schools have been bullied (by funding) into teaching kids the answers to the tests. They'll learn a unit in math, take a test, then be done with it. Some children get bored because they can't get ahead, and some get left behind. Very few of them are satisfied and by middle school they lose interest and become wrapped up in social politics. That is why I left middle school. All my old middle school happened to be was a robot factory. Get them in, get them out, let them fight over relationships and push medicine on them when they get dissatisfied with the system.

After "dropping" from middle school in 7th grade I went through a bit of a re-education. Homeschooling was satisfying to me. I could learn what I wanted, when I wanted. But my parents were concerned with my social development (even in public school I was very shy.)

We found a charter school, it was a homeschool-based parent partnership program. It was still ran by the district, but wasn't required by the state to report test scores, except for the WASL, which students and parents could protest.

So here I was in 8th grade in a charter school, PPP, homeschool-based. I loved it! If you can find a program similar to this it might be worth investigating. In programs like this the parents still have control over all the curriculum, but there are certified teachers to help tutor or school your child. Everything's out in the open. At least in my experience. Very free, very open.

In the case you want to fully homeschool I'll get back on track. It's challenging to teach children the basics if you do not know how. You might need help when it comes to this point. Phonics is an important part of development, yet it's hard to teach.

Shyness and social issues, I think, can be solved through youth groups. Christian youth groups, 4H, girl/boy scouts. These are wholesome youth groups that will engage your child into some kind of community involvement. Groups like 4H have different clubs for different interests.

When your child is young, take him or her to community parks every once in awhile. When he or she gets older, look for youth groups and ask if you can come to a group meeting as a guest and see if you think it's right, then join.

I have a strict belief that things are best learned through EXPERIENCE. Except for matters of safety (which may be more difficult - you obviously don't want to have your kid touch the stove to prove it's hot), experience is key. Do not neglect the senses. Let your child make a huge mess with paint (outside), let her have different kool-aid flavors to try out.... When she gets older, teach her math through grocery shopping (that's how I initially learned).

There's a lot of things you can teach in everyday life and it's enjoyable. It's not all books and assignments. Life is a learning experience and one that doesn't stop after some man with a funny hat tells you that you have "passed."


As for colleges and universities. I have not had any trouble with this. There's a program in my state called Running Start and a lot of homeschooled kids I know go to it. There is a growing number of grants for homeschooled teens, and if the USA doesn't mess up, I expect the list of opportunities to keep growing.

The key to having successful homeschooling is to keep your child interested through experience and involvement, and fairly disciplined. You may need help and advice down the road.

Now I'm no expert on this subject, but hey, I speak through experience - one of the key learning factors I've explained above. See how it all fits?

Great post.

 

[orolonn]

It really depends on your state. You'd need to find our your state laws to be sure.

Here in NJ, once you pull the child out of the school system, the school system has nothing to do with you unless they want to bring you to court to prove that you aren't giving the child a proper education. It's on the system to prove that the parent isn't though so it's not a normal happening. The kids aren't required to have diplomas, but parents keep transcripts for the colleges. Then to get into college the student will need to take the normal tests like SATs.

Here is a summary of the OH requirements
http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=OH

 

[christagious]

Two more questions:

Can homeschool students play high school sports/cheerleading at their local high school?

And how is it financially to homeschool compared to sending your children to public schools?

 

[clouds]

I think a full curriculum costs around 500$. You should probably expand on it some so you're not just having them memorize a book.

 

[pinkmandy]

Two more questions:

Can homeschool students play high school sports/cheerleading at their local high school?

And how is it financially to homeschool compared to sending your children to public schools?

Depends on the states and the schools, all of it. Each state has their own laws. Example, Texas you just don't send your kid to school anymore. End of story. Other states you need to provide yearly evidence of progress (like VA).

Financially, you lose an income usually. I'm spending my college education teaching my own kids so yeah, that's a monetary loss. Worth every cent, though. Prices of books, curriculum, etc. can be expensive to free. Depends on what you choose. Libraries are free and the internet is awesome. There are also cheap curriculums available and used (check ebay, Craig's list, etc.). I'd recommend NOT buying an expensive curriculum. Very few people like and continue using curriculum they first pick out.

And to disagree with the homeschooled guy here on just one point (rest is dead on imo)- phonics are NOT hard to teach. There are tons of phonic programs that are easy to use. I highly recommend Scaredy-Cat if you want to go that route.