Ask a homeschooler

[sneakypenguin]

Ahh bringing back the dreaded ask a____ thread.
I figure this one is at least a bit unique.
I was homeschooled from 1st grade until college so I'm quite well versed in anything that most HS(homeschool) kids face.
SO ask away, anything you want to know about it.
Social,how it work, everyday life, requirements for teaching, opinions about it, facts, whatever you want to ask.

Also feel free to discuss anything about it amongst yourselves, not everything has to be directed at me. I'll try to answer as best as I can, and as often as my time allows.

 

[SeaCalMaster]

Alright. To frame this discussion properly, because this makes quite a difference: Why were you homeschooled?

 

[fluffylandmine]

Do you consider yourself smarter than the average public schooled child/person?

How much of a social life did you have?

 

[black lincon]

Why were you home-schooled? Was it due to dissatisfaction with the public school system or are your parents angry that the schools teach evolution or perhaps some other reason I can't think of?

 

[keyper159]

did you have imaginary friends instead of real friends?

 

[sneakypenguin]

Alright. To frame this discussion properly, because this makes quite a difference: Why were you homeschooled?

Why were you home-schooled? Was it due to dissatisfaction with the public school system or are your parents angry that the schools teach evolution or perhaps some other reason I can't think of?

Basically parents did not want me in the public school system for religious reasons, but also they felt the education sucked in kindergarten me and my twin where head and shoulders above everyone else.(according to my teachers). I was reading and writing cursive etc. But yeah religion was the big reason.

 

[black lincon]

Alright. To frame this discussion properly, because this makes quite a difference: Why were you homeschooled?

Why were you home-schooled? Was it due to dissatisfaction with the public school system or are your parents angry that the schools teach evolution or perhaps some other reason I can't think of?

Basically parents did not want me in the public school system for religious reasons, but also they felt the education sucked in kindergarten me and my twin where head and shoulders above everyone else.(according to my teachers). I was reading and writing cursive etc. But yeah religion was the big reason.

that gives me a wee bit more perspective.

So then what were you taught that they didn't teach in public school, or what didn't they teach you? And from the latter part of the question what things did you then look up in an attempt to actually understand?

 

[ffxfriek]

i do k12 currently. anyway what did you do for fun? i mean i sit at home all day on this website or playing halo 3 or somehitng. but personally i find homeschooling awesome and im a junior in highschool for your information

 

[sneakypenguin]

Do you consider yourself smarter than the average public schooled child/person?

How much of a social life did you have?

did you have imaginary friends instead of real friends?

are you popular and socially successful

AHh the ever popular social life question. I'll get that in a sec

Do I consider myself smarter than the average public schooled person. I would say so, my act score was in the 90th percentile. I'm not brilliant or anything but yes I have a greater depth of knowledge than most.

Social life
Well contrary to what you would think most HS kids actually do have a social life. I played little league (won the state little league world series) I played basketball, HS kids are actually allowed to play for local school teams. So I had quite a few friends from baseball and though them knew most of the High school kids around town.
I wouldn't consider myself popular, but I am very well liked and generally sociable. I'm not cripplingly shy or a recluse like most would imagine.

 

[black lincon]

i do k12 currently. anyway what did you do for fun? i mean i sit at home all day on this website or playing halo 3 or somehitng. but personally i find homeschooling awesome and im a junior in highschool for your information

you seem to forget that you have a different perspective. to you the concept of not haveing to deal with shitty teachers and a generally broken school system seems perfect but you must remember that the grass on seems greener on the other side, and I'm willing to bet that if you were home schooled your parents might not let you play Halo3. Then again I'm going off stereotypes of home-schooled kids, but I'd still put money on my version being the norm for home-schooled kids.

 

[ffxfriek]

i do k12 currently. anyway what did you do for fun? i mean i sit at home all day on this website or playing halo 3 or somehitng. but personally i find homeschooling awesome and im a junior in highschool for your information

you seem to forget that you have a different perspective. to you the concept of not haveing to deal with shitty teachers and a generally broken school system seems perfect but you must remember that the grass on seems greener on the other side, and I'm willing to bet that if you were home schooled your parents might not let you play Halo3. Then again I'm going off stereotypes of home-schooled kids, but I'd still put money on my version being the norm for home-schooled kids.

im 16 my parents are pefectly fine as long as i play in proportion. an hour or 2 a day

 

[sneakypenguin]

that gives me a wee bit more perspective.

So then what were you taught that they didn't teach in public school, or what didn't they teach you? And from the latter part of the question what things did you then look up in an attempt to actually understand?

I learned a lot more history and math than most public schools, but actually most "christian" HS material is pretty much the same thing as your local schools except with an extra Bible history class thrown in. Though yes we didn't learn evolution Which didn't seem to hurt me in the least as I passed college Bio and such no problem, I did learn most of the evolution theories just though talking to people and reading around.
Also we didn't have a sex ed class. Which didn't affect me in the least as that's why we have the internet

i do k12 currently. anyway what did you do for fun? i mean i sit at home all day on this website or playing halo 3 or somehitng. but personally i find homeschooling awesome and im a junior in highschool for your information

What I do for fun, well I'm in college now so mostly work, hang with friends or the lady. But in HS I played baseball 6 months out of the year then basketball. Also took a ton of vacations cause school could come with me

Since I finished my work at like 11 am, I usually read for a few hours or played N64 or xbox until the neighborhood kids came home.

 

[dieseldub]

Almost all the people I have met that were hs are bright active vibrant people in the community that I know. My question is are you planning on hs your kids? If so for the same reasons as your parents, and if not...why? Interesting topic to bring up for people that don't know anyone hs by the way.

 

[black lincon]

were you ever exposed to any school experience after 1st grade? i.e. the experiences you might have missed in advanced classes, seeing as how you look to be actually interested in advanced learning, like my school has a class that they literally interview you and only top students have a chance to get in.

 

[Fenring]

How many of your childhood friends went to a public or private school?

 

[sneakypenguin]

Almost all the people I have met that were hs are bright active vibrant people in the community that I know. My question is are you planning on hs your kids? If so for the same reasons as your parents, and if not...why? Interesting topic to bring up for people that don't know anyone hs by the way.

I would HS the kids if the wife could teach them, if we both worked I would prolly just send them to the local christian school. I personally just don't want my kids to be around the kids that are in most public schools, not to say I don't want them exposed to the world but not for 7 hours a day. Plus I could push them and mold an education to fit them better. IE they struggle with math so work on that extra.

 

[black lincon]

Almost all the people I have met that were hs are bright active vibrant people in the community that I know. My question is are you planning on hs your kids? If so for the same reasons as your parents, and if not...why? Interesting topic to bring up for people that don't know anyone hs by the way.

I would HS the kids if the wife could teach them, if we both worked I would prolly just send them to the local christian school. I personally just don't want my kids to be around the kids that are in most public schools, not to say I don't want them exposed to the world but not for 7 hours a day. Plus I could push them and mold an education to fit them better. IE they struggle with math so work on that extra.

I hate to break it to you but public schools offer specific help on any subject. Then again my school is one of the rich suburban schools and I really have no idea how good or bad the schools in your area are.

 

[sneakypenguin]

How many of your childhood friends went to a public or private school?

most went to public school but my "best friend" went to private school.

were you ever exposed to any school experience after 1st grade? i.e. the experiences you might have missed in advanced classes, seeing as how you look to be actually interested in advanced learning, like my school has a class that they literally interview you and only top students have a chance to get in.

I don't think I missed any "advanced" learning opportunities, because if I knew something I just tested out and took the next grade level. So I finished highschool in 3 years.
Plus being homeschooled opened me up to a whole new area of learning, real life, since I was home all the time I got to go with parents to everywhere, bank courthouse shopping, plus I can now cook/clean/do most work on cars/do all my finances. basically anything my parents did I had a firsthand view and explanation of it.

most mediocre people have a score in the 90th percentile; standardized tests, especially those administered in high school are worthless for measuring "smartness"

Well I qualified for a full ride though college if that helps put it in perspective better, and I've never had any trouble with college I keep a B without trying. Like I said not brilliant by any means but quite smart(at least compared to the people around me).