Poll: Homeschooling: Where do you stand?

[maswell]

I think this explains it better than anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFkIJBVZ4_w

 

[MissGinaKid]

I was home schooled my whole life and I'm mixed about it. I lean more towards being in favor of it but My 'teacher' was really laid back and after a certain point I wasn't really learning anything. Only do it if your confident enough to teach your kid everything he/she needs to know by 12Th grade.

 

[Esotera]

Being taught by someone who actually understands the subject, one-on-one, is going to be infinitely better than learning in a classroom with 30+ students who don't care. Homeschooled students I know all have great social lives, so I don't see the problem.

 

[Angry_squirrel]

Homeschooling has been amazing for me, and my social life is good. Honestly - in England at least - I think people have completely the wrong idea about it

 

[Saulkar]

As long as the kid is being taught properly, i.e. The actual facts, then I am all for.

 

[Brandchan]

I'm very deep in the "it depends" pool. I've known several people who were home schooled in my life and sometimes it works out and sometimes it really doesn't.

In one case, I knew a brother and sister who were home schooled because their parents felt public schools brainwashed children. The mother was left up to teach, but in fact wasn't a very educated or worldly person. It was pretty obvious the sister (who was home schooled her whole life) was far behind, education wise, where we were at that age. She had no social life and really didn't have any real idea how to interact with people.

But I've been a pen pal with a girl who's family lived up in the mountains and the nearest school was very far away. I don't think could get any sort of public transit to and from school. She was very well adjusted though and her parents were able to give her a proper education. She went on to become a nurse.

I even had a night school teacher tell me she home schooled her own child. She felt that she could give him the best education.

When I was growing up, I was bullied and teased a lot and always wanted to be home schooled. In the long run though, I think being forced to go to school and deal with people helped me, otherwise I think I just would have stopped interacting with people.

So, it really depends on the parents and the child. I think in some cases, like when the nearest school is still very far, I can really understand. But I think in a lot of cases the parents are just not educated enough to be able to handle the job.

 

[Verlander]

In my experience the vast majority of the job market accepts people more readily on their social graces than on actual achievement. So for the vast majority of people, homeschooling is not a good option.

Also, as an alternative to school, it;s not a great option for a number of reasons. Mainly that many parents and children aren't qualified or responsible enough to pull it off. It's also massively unfair on the child, as they loose the independence that they gain at school

 

[DaJoW]

In general I'm against it, it just seems to be used as a tool for parents to decide too much for their children - I'm not saying that's always the case nor in a majority of cases, but there seems to be too much of that going on. There are exceptions, like military kids who have to move a lot as mentioned earlier, where it's probably the best solution, but for the most part I honestly don't trust the average parent to do a good enough job/be knowledgeable enough to prepare their kids for higher education.

 

[tehroc]

I'm against it, human social structures are quite complex and difficult to learn. It's best to get your children started early.

 

[JCBFGD]

I voted "It depends."

I'm for it if the child is being bullied, or there's some other reason like that to keep him/her home. On the other hand, I'm against it if it's used to give the child an alternate education that doesn't include scientific fact and high-school level math.

If I could make up the laws of the land, I'd say that bullied kids can stay home, but they will be doing the exact same things at home as they would at school. And you gotta have a state-certified teacher teach the kid.

 

[TheDooD]

homeschooling is very good if you have a good program and know the learning method the child accepts the best. A child can truly learn whatever they're ready to learn they don't have to drone in a class for a year before they can level up in the content. When they're ready or wishes for more challenging content you can give it to'em. When taught right and the child is allowed to grow most likely around the 4-7 grade age range most kids should learning shit that 9-10 graders are just getting into. which when they're older and choose to go into an high school environment. All they really have to do is focus on becoming more well rounded since they been learning the harder stuff for most likely years now and everything should be review for them unless they decide to study more at home and or get into college level course.

For social I can pretty much say overall it's not needed, social nowadays it's more so an excuse to say a school has too many of *blank ethnic groups* so they need to add on those they lack so they can social diverse so they can get funding. If schools want to get social right they'll need to create a more interactive learning methods that'll allow children to work together. Basically in my eyes on a non quiz or test type work sharing answers and ways to solve problems are no longer "cheating". Children are encouraged to help those that are struggling instead of keeping everything secret so they'll bring up the class as a whole instead of a few shining stars, the middle ground and those that just don't get it. Until school systems fix the whole social standards it's much better for kids to be home-schooled if possible.

 

[dyre]

Torn. On the one hand, most of the people who seem to be in favor of it are frighteningly ignorant people (Glenn Beck, et al), and the thought of them indoctrinating their kids without any outside influence terrifies me.

On the other hand, we have to admit that the public school system is failing. Personally, I think we should be taking half the money we're pissing away on our military and pouring it into education. At least half.

Yeah, I'd be for homeschooling, considering the quality of public education, but a lot of homeschoolers get taught creationism and such, which is a bit disconcerting. I too would prefer better public education instead (not just throw more money into it, but curriculum reform, higher standards for teachers, smaller class sizes/more availability of one-on-one tutoring, etc). US actually spends a ton of money on education compared to other countries with quality education, but the money gets spread around badly.

 

[Rblade]

against because I feel the social part of school is very important.

and also because quality can't be garuanteed. Learning what you want sounds good but universities are going to expect a level of skill in various subjects and upto a certain standard, and even though it's very possible a homeschooled person is up to par it might very well not be, severly limiting you chances in the remainder of you academic life.

 

[everythingbeeps]

I too would prefer better public education instead (not just throw more money into it, but curriculum reform, higher standards for teachers, smaller class sizes/more availability of one-on-one tutoring, etc). US actually spends a ton of money on education compared to other countries with quality education, but the money gets spread around badly.

Well of course, but all those things require money. And yes, we spend a ton, but we don't spend enough, and like you said, we spend a lot of it in the wrong places.

But it's not enough to just spend more money; you can throw all the cash you want into inner city schools, that's not going to make them better or make people want to teach there. In order for education reform to work, we need to reform EVERYTHING.

 

[Aprilgold]

There doesn't *have* to be lack of social interaction as a home-school kid.

Yeah this, don't sterotype the Home Schooled with those who would rather not talk to people. I get / got out a lot and am still very well on the social meter of things.

Im enrolled in a cyber school, that's technically homeschooling. Im all for it because its easier, I have more free time, and I can finish a days worth of school in an hour.

Same here. *High Five.*

Cyber Schooling IS homescholing technically, and thats what it should be, its much better because your being taught... Technically by a teacher, but by yourself or with the help of a parent.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I'm against it.

I haven't met a single normal person who was home schooled.

Try this [http://writingishard.wordpress.com/2010/07/16/logical-fallacy-friday-argument-by-anecdote/]

Also, please define "normal"

 

[Berithil]

I was homeschooled and am in favor of it (for the most part. Not in favor of the "homeschooling" where the kids are allowed to do anything without any actual learning). I was homeschooled for several reasons, mainly due to the fact that it is cheaper than private schools and all the public schools in the area were trash and still are. Also, on the topic of education, when I was 16, I applied at the local community college to take classes. I shocked the counselor when he pulled up my placement test scores and they were higher than most public school graduates.

And I just have to say about the issue of no social interaction, school isn't the absolute only means of social interaction. I was in both a local homeschool co-op and 4-H and got plenty of social interaction through those activities.

 

[DEAD34345]

If your parent happens to be a teacher with all of the qualifications necessary to teach you everything you need to learn in every subject (unlikely at high-school level, possible at primary), then maybe. Even then I can't think of a single actual benefit of being taught like that compared to going to school, and you're still missing out on a lot of social interaction and development, but it's feasible at least.

But really, what actual advantage is there to home schooling compared to actual schooling anyway? The only one I can think of is that you can deprive your child of a balanced viewpoint so that it's easier to force your opinions upon them, and that is not an advantage I support at all.

 

[dyre]

I too would prefer better public education instead (not just throw more money into it, but curriculum reform, higher standards for teachers, smaller class sizes/more availability of one-on-one tutoring, etc). US actually spends a ton of money on education compared to other countries with quality education, but the money gets spread around badly.

Well of course, but all those things require money. And yes, we spend a ton, but we don't spend enough, and like you said, we spend a lot of it in the wrong places.

But it's not enough to just spend more money; you can throw all the cash you want into inner city schools, that's not going to make them better or make people want to teach there. In order for education reform to work, we need to reform EVERYTHING.

I think we actually spend more per student (and in total) than any other country on Earth. It's just that we have really nice schools with shitty teachers and then really broken down schools where I have no idea where the funding went.

It's true that general reform would help education reform, but I'm sure countries like France and Finland and Australia have poverty problems, but they still have better public education.

 

[De Ronneman]

I honestly don't think a parent can act as a teacher, unless they actually are teachers. Also, you will not interact with other kids in a playfull, cooperative fashion, as you're tought at school.

A pro is that you don't have to go to a school, which can be dreadfull for people who live isolated.

Still, I don't think that that is a big enough advantage to allow such a disadvantage at life.