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June 2014 Moms
Your honest opinions (pros and cons) of homeschooling
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Your honest opinions (pros and cons) of homeschooling
To add on to what @MrsP419 and @xnbride have to say...
I believe that deciding whether or not to homeschool your children is a choice that you have to make from both your own personal convictions and a strong understanding of what you will need to do to provide your children with an education that is comparable to or better than what public education would offer.
My mom homeschooled me and four siblings K-12. In all, she spent 26 home educating her children. She has a BS in Biology. She was not, as many have argued, a "trained educator". What she was, however, was a mother who had a deep conviction about maintaining the right to teach her children curriculum that was assigned not because it was state-mandated but because it would provide knowledge, skill-building, and foundation for future studies. She spent every summer studying the curriculum she'd chosen for each of us in the upcoming year, creating individual calendars with assignments and due dates for each child/subject, and making sure that she understood what she would be teaching her children. As we entered junior high and high school, she made sure that we were signed up for various organized team sports through local charter schools. Additionally, as we moved into more difficult subjects at the high school level, she enrolled us in co-op and charter school classes so that we could learn the subjects that weren't within her areas of expertise from otter people who did have experience teaching in those areas. Aside from classes, throughout the K-12 years each of us kids participated in various youth group activities trough our cover school, field trips with other schools, and numerous other educational opportunities that my mom found.
Not only did we receive a quality education, we also learned the values of working for what we wanted, balancing wants/needs and finances, maintaining friendships, balancing our school work and other work with "free time", and many other skills that are necessary for simply navigating life. It is wrong for people to make the collective assumption that all home educated children are doomed for college failure, low-paying jobs, and a lesser future than our public educated friends. My siblings and I had friends who were public schooled and either did not graduate high school, or, who graduated high school and made it through a couple of semesters of college and then dropped out. Your source if education is not a sole determiner of success.
Now, as the five of us range in age from 30-21, each of us has ether completed or is in the process of completing college degrees. One has a BS In Environmental Science, one in Veterinary science, one is working on his BFA, and the youngest is working on his BS in Fire Science. I have my MA in RTW and am a full-time lecturer at the UC in Merced, CA. In my experience teaching both developmental and freshman-level writing classes, homeschooled students are no worse off than many of my public-schooled students. In fact, sometimes the public-schooled students are less prepared for the rigors of college education than the homeschooled students are.
In all if this, my point is: 1) the choice to homeschool your children is one which you must make for yourself, 2) if you choose to homeschool, prepare yourself so that you can offer your children something more than what public education would offer-- not just a seat on the couch instead of at a desk, and, 3) do your research and find resources for educating, co-op classes, legal coverage, and enriching your child's life.
I wish you the best in your research and in deciding what source of education will be best for your children. It is no easy task, but I appreciate that you are taking the time to find the right fit for you and your family.
Blessings,
Grace
The bumpie formerly known as First Time in MI
There is so much I could say about it, but I just wanted to address the social argument. It frustrates me when people bring this up as a primary argument against homeschooling. When you homeschool, your child is naturally interacting with all age groups, especially if you are involved in co-ops or any of the numerous other activities available to homeschoolers (which normally involve the whole family). A public schooled child is usually used to interacting only with their peers. I've met more homeschooled children that adapt better to various social situations than public schooled children. But then again, I've had a lot of exposure to the homeschool world and my circle of friends as I was growing up was large.
Also, you can adapt the method of teaching to your child's style of learning...and on and on
So all that to say that my opinion would be in favor of homeschooling
I think it’s really awesome that you’re thinking about it so far in advance! I echo the ladies who encourage waiting until your child is a bit older and deciding based on what’s best for them at that point. My parents took this differentiated approach with each of us, and I’m very thankful for that.
My Mom developed a home/private school hybrid with my little brother and sister, and they both have had a very positive experience (lots of friends, extracurricular sports, etc.). Both are well-adjusted and normal.
In my own experience, I got bored my freshman year of public high school. My parents decided to place me in a private school for two years. When I returned to my public school my senior year, the administration had no clue which classes to place me in. I had completed most of their curriculum by mid-way through my junior year while in private school.
My sister is a public school teacher, and I have a lot of respect for how she teaches/inspires her kids. With that said, I get the sense that she has significantly less flexibility in the way she is allowed to teach than my private school professors (or my Mom for that matter) had. For this reason, we plan to default to private school unless we believe there is a benefit to homeschooling or public school.
Given your awareness, I'm sure you will decide what's best for your little one!
My fiancé was homeschooled 2 years in high school and felt like he didn't learn anything.. He kinda just did what he had to to pass and the teacher knew that. Now for kids with special needs or close teaching I think it would be more beneficial to them obviously, but my fiancé felt like he was kinda neglected from his education since he didn't have any learning disabilities.
BUT, my cousins who are 15 and 11 started doing the top cyber school in America with some help from their mother.. (Idk all the details about the cyber school but they have interactions with teachers online all day) and they both have said they have learned soo much more doing cyber school than they ever did at public school.. And they love being able to get school done in the schedule that they want it (since public schools do a lot of dinking around throughout the day) and they both do sports and take dance classes so they r still involved with other kids! So I personally think it's great and will def be considering it when my kid gets to that age.