Someone earlier mentioned it -

becoming an educated person seems to depend on three things -

the person him/herself - does he/she want to or is able to learn?
are the parents/guardians interested/encouraging and do they have the means to support this?
are the materials/institutions available to the learner (either/both cost and/or location)?

The mothers that are involved in home schooling here, the kids go to a home school commune type gathering once or twice a week. They have labs and learning centers for the home school kids. It's a job for the parent who is home schooling, it's not here read this book and answer the questions. It's not cheap either. Lots of paperwork involved to keep the kids grade levels tested and recorded. The kids I know now that are homeschooled are more involved in outside activities and community then the public school kids. The parent is the key to successful home school kids and many can't stick with it. I was way not interested in home schooling my kids. They went to public school for elementary and then church private school focused on college prep until 11th grade. Then back to public school for the two years to have prom, sports, band, etc. They had all the credits needed by 11 grade to graduate but wanted the social life of school. They only had to go 1/2 day to get credit of being in school to get the attendance needed to be in graduation.

NZ you are absolutely right in your assessment. My experience was just that. I know it isn't like that all over. We had some really crabby nuns who didn't like kids, especially boys. And it was most of the nuns, not every single one. I always felt sorry for my brother because they were so hard on the boys and he was very bright but hyper. But he was resilient and ended up fine.

As hard as I am about the education I received I also feel that some good came out of it after all. I like the person I am! At least some of that must have come from school,right? :) So at the end of the day it is all good.
And thanks for the info I asked about!

We had private music lessons. One son is a guitarist who went on to music college and became a worship director. The other son was a gifted violinist.

Also, they danced in the ballet... professional performances. My daughter was a fully trained ballet dancer by the time she was 14 years old. She was also a rehearsal coach for performances such as the Nutcracker, taking the younger students through their numbers every rehearsal. She knew all the choreography for all of the dances in the ballet. My two sons danced and performed too. We never could have given that kind of time to ballet, had they been in school and had the reams of homework and outside assignments every day. But it was a wonderful life for them and our entire family bonded and grew from the ballet.

The question of science: By the time labs were part of the curriculum, we used satellite courses from Bob Jones University. They had the labs we needed to observe. We also ordered our own supplies to do some at home. We erupted the volcano, dissected the worm and frog, etc. And our co-op had science classes available too, for home ed students to take together.

If you miss something in education, your brilliant, resourceful children will pick it up somewhere else. What they are interested in, they will pursue. You can be sure of that.

Home schooling works for some kids. Usually success has more to do with the parents than the child being home schooled.

I have two grands who are home schooled. Their parents rarely involve the kids in outside of the home activities. One of them is, and always was, extremely shy, but did ok in school, had a few friends. Since he has been home schooled he has basically become a hermit. He does not know how to be around people he doesn't know. He is literally frozen if someone he doesn't know says hello. He's learning his lessons, but has learned nothing about surviving in the world.

His brother has Aspergers and is very bright, also sociable. He visited me to help me in November and I had to make sure he did school work. Since he respects me and KNOWS that I do not threaten, I actually do what I say I'm going to do, he got most of the work done relatively quickly. He had a science experiment to do - usually those are skipped by Mom and Dad - and remarked that it was 'kinda fun'. A writing assignment took him a total of about 2.5 hours work with me; with Mom and Dad it would be weeks, sometimes months, of prodding.

He's afraid of school because he feels he won't be accepted by the other kids. Might be true, but he's never had the opportunity to find out, or figure out how to get along.

So, while they are doing their schooling, I don't consider it a successful endeavor. What good is knowing stuff if you are frightened of the world? I think home schooling can work well for some families, though.

I am all for public schools! It is, IMHO, a great "leveler" of society. I like the idea that everyone who graduates has some core of knowledge and shares in the public school experience. I also think that everyone needs to learn to read very well. If you know how to read, you can educate yourself.

I tried so hard to get my son in a Montessori school when he was young. Teachers couldn't keep up with him. He asked questions about everything. everything. He still does. but in class rooms of 30+ kids, he didn't do well. lost interest. so home schooling sounds like a good thing. I applaud any parent who can do this for their child.

I wrote a response here last night but it vanished. Not sure why, but I'll recap:

-We homeschooled 17 years. I loved choosing curriculum that was challenging and fit both our educational philosophy and my teaching style.
- We were able to engage in many years of homeschool co-ops, in which mothers (and a few fathers with flexible schedules) could teach what they excelled in.
-The socialization argument was laughable. Our kids (and all their peers) were involved in so many activities that we had to say "no" to some in order to get our schoolwork done.

- I was able to spend more time on areas where each child was either struggling or had intense interest. "The way they're wired" was fun to explore.

-We made a lot more progress between Sept and May than their peers did from Aug-June because we didn't have to stop for snow days, federal holidays, religious holidays that weren't ones we observed.

-Homeschool is a natural environment mixed with adults and kids of all ages. Kids learned to interact with all those age groups, as opposed to being in a class with 30 kids their same age and roughly the same maturity.
-We didn't have to always wait for the slowest kid in class. Many times the gifted kids suffer in a public or private school because the struggling students take so much of the teacher's attention. I know because I went to public school and I volunteered in one. I also taught in a private school and realized I was always "teaching to the middle" and felt conflicted that neither the slowest nor the fastest kds were getting my best as a teacher. I gave my best, but did that mean it was their best in a classroom.

-I was able to teach our kids to write, to think critically, to integrate daily chores such as cooking and laundry with algebra and geography. I was able to help them deal with conflict by dealing with root issues, and to make consequences fit the infractions.

- We gave them the choice to attend high school when they wanted. One chose senior year, one chose jr/sr years, one finished at home. The three who graduated went on to graduate college, move out, get married, and no one moved back home, nor has been remotely tempted. LOL.

-Our youngest is 17. He homeschooled for two years, but clearly as "an only child" needed more friends around to suit his personality. The first school he went to was boring (he had learned almost all of it at home before entering ) but he loved the classroom. The next school (where he has been from 4th grade to the present) is outstanding--challenging intellectually, safe and friendly with a family feel to it, and a place where he's encouraged to be a strong servant-leader.

In America, any school can call themselves a Montessori School. If you want the method developed by Maria Montessori, you need to look for a school accredited by Association Montessori Internationale. (AMI) There is also American Montessori Society (AMS) which is the Montessori method adapted to American Culture. Then there are the schools that say they are Montessori but do whatever they feel like.
The AMI method teaches respect for the child, that the hand teaches the mind, and that learning is child lead. The teachers must have a four year degree in a subject, then go for additional training as Montessori instructors. The children are not given answers to their questions but are led to the answer by the Socratic method, often using manipulatives. One day I dropped in at my child's school and found the upper elementary (grades 4-6) out on the grounds. They told me that they didn't have to study today, they were just going to draw a map of the campus. There they were, with pads of paper and surveying tools becoming mapmakers.

"-The socialization argument was laughable. Our kids (and all their peers) were involved in so many activities that we had to say "no" to some in order to get our schoolwork done. "

That is because you made the effort to keep your kids involved with the world. Many parents don't.

I do volunteer work for a local organization that provides, clothes, shoes, school supplies, personal products, etc. to children in foster care. One family of children who came in were 'home schooled'. The youngest, 6 years old, watched TV all day and ate snacks. He was 'large' for his age. The older kids - one (about 12 years old) said she thought she could count to 100.

That is an extreme example, but it is not unique. If the school systems do Not monitor the progress of children being home schooled, well, the kids suffer.

Parents are the key to home schooling success.

The key to successful home schooling is the actual involvement of the parents. You were involved and made sure your kids got the education and socialization they require to learn how to negotiate their lives in the world. Not all parents do what you did.

We have had 7 kids in our family who were home schooled. All have done well as their parents were heavily invested in the school curriculum. These families are readers, so I (a retired college professor) do not notice any deficiencies.

We homeschooled all three of our children. We used standardized curriculums and did standardized tests every year. Was it easy? No. We did it so they could get the best education we would provide, so that meant we had to find outside activities so they could have friends, sports, music, etc. in their lives. My oldest son has an MBA from UNC Greensboro and an MA in Music Performance from UW-Madison. He now teaches at University of Michigan. My second son has a BA in business from UNC-Chapel Hill and an MA in German from the University of Kentucky. He now works in Germany at a college teaching English. My daughter has a BA from Chatham University and an MA from UT-Knoxville. She works for a non-profit, after having worked at Kennesaw State University. I guess what I'm saying is that they have all made the transition to working adults very well, and that being homeschooled did not hinder them at college.

A couple of things they got out of being homeschooled: they learned how to read and learn from a textbook; they learned how to set and achieve goals; each one of them at some point in their mid-teens took control of their own education - set the pace and took ownership of what was required to complete their programs. They all got to take some community college classes while still in high school.

Was it work for me and my husband? Yes. It would have been a lot easier to just send them to the public school. It worked out for us because we put the work into it - just about like everything in life.

it's like everything else in life, you get out of it what you put into it. One of my best friends growing up was homeschooled and our town had a huge homeschool population so there were city activities and they even threw a prom for the high schoolers in their group every year. She had a great education and has done well in adulthood. There's a huge homeschool group here in Austin that have tons of great activities and field trips.

on the other hand, I was a freshman in college and another young adult sitting next to me in a class said, "Oh! there are boys! Wow" I was speechless (rare for me.) turned out she was raised at home with her mother and her sisters homeschooled "away from men and their sin" and had never been around males. at all! :shock: she lasted less than a semester before she went home to mommy.

Men only have one sin???? Gee< I thought I had a lot more than that.

Our oldest son home schools his children. When he first started this it was hard for him and our grandkids when out on field trips. People would come up to him and demand why the kids weren't in school. Apparently he had to get some sort of paperwork saying the kids were home schooled and keep it on his person when out on events with the kids during school hours.

He has done a wonderful job with them, they are right up there with there peers who attend public school.

I can't imagine people demanding to know why kids aren't in school!!! Some people don't have enough to do...........

There is only one proper answer to that question: "Mind your own business."

It sounds like the two children you described have issues that would actually be worsened by forcing them to go to school. Anxiety is not cured by throwing the child into the pot. My son had social anxiety and I didn't understand it when he was small. I thought he was just being silly. But the anxiety was real, as I came to find out. Home education was the best thing for him. He has a brilliant mind and still does. He went to college and got his pilot's license. He's had some high level jobs with government security clearance. I think the best upbringing for a child who is "frightened of the world", is to face it with their parents at their side.

Some children are just not emotionally benefited from group education.

That's what he said..lol

That is not the case with these boys.

One of them was in school through 3rd grade and doing ok. He wasn't a star pupil, but he made friends, expressed his opinions, made decisions on the small stuff and was interested in the world around him. He was sociable, but needed some time to warm up to both the situation and the people around him. My 71 year old husband is like that, and he does not suffer from severe anxiety.

Once home schooled, his parents, despite saying that they would get the kids involved with teams, projects, etc. outside of school, did nothing to encourage any activity outside of the home. They always had an excuse for not doing so - most of them amounted to "I don't want to". They actively encourage the fear of school and people by threatening to send them to public school. I don't think the parents have a clue about how devastating their overall attitude has been to the boys. Unfortunately, the parents are 'all about me' types. They will never understand what they have done to those boys.

The first year of home schooling neither boy was doing any of the work because neither parent could be bothered. Mom got sick and had surgery so I went out to help out. The only reason the kids got started on the school work is that i made it my priority to get them going. The shy one was so eager to learn that it astounded me. He managed the entire school years worth of work from end of January to June 1. That was after telling me he had short term memory problems - diagnosed by a so-called learning disability expert. My response to that was, "Me, too. But I know how to help you with that." No one ever just sat down with him to explain how to study. He didn't understand why text was bolded, italicized, in tables, etc. Once encouraged, he was amazed at what he could do. So was I.

The younger one, who has Aspergers, is very bright. He told me he didn't have to do school and he was smarter than me. His mother encouraged that feeling in him. I dealt with it through concrete examples. For instance, he could do amazing math on a calculater. So I wrote out a couple of 3 digit addition/subtraction problems and asked him to solve them. He had no idea what to do. A day and a half later, he could actually do addition and subtraction. He is smart!

His temper tantrums ran the home, so I gently disciplined him - it took 1.5 days to modify his behavior with me. I have no idea how he behaves at home now, but when he is with me he's a great kid.

Parents of a home schooled child make a huge difference in the success of the home schooling.

:D crazy huh? as someone who comes from a family that leans heavily towards the male side and I have male siblings and my best friend for years have usually been males, I was truly stunned that she'd never been around them. She and her sisters didn't spring up out of the ground so she must have had a father at some point!

Exactly! The above mentioned and the children that were able to interact with adults is what impressed me. Also please do not mistake people that are too lazy to bring their children too school with home schooled children.

That is truly sad.

I homeschool our kids and have since the beginning. I have a bachelor of science in child development, not teaching. We started homeschooling because I knew I could get my oldest off to a good start if she learned to read well. As the years went on, she never wanted to go to school. She liked getting up, doing school and spending the afternoons doing art. My oldest is an art major and just finished her third year at the local state university. She’s maintaining a 3.75 GPA and has earned two art scholarships. She chose the local university over a private school and another college so she could live at home and continue to be involved with her friends and our church. The hardest part of going to college for her? The blatant disrespect for authority and the plethora of uses for the f-bomb.

My younger two are still being homeschooled. One will be a senior and one will be a freshman this fall. How do I teach things I don’t remember? I learn alongside them. I’ve learned more history teaching my own kids than I ever learned in a classroom. My husband teaches all the math after Algebra2. We are not in a coop, because I find them to not be worth it. We have stuff to learn and don’t have time to waste. My middle child did take an advanced biology class another homeschool dad taught and she loved it. She didn’t love some of the disruptive kids in the class tho. Lol

i don’t worry a bit about socialization. My kids will talk to anyone and can carry on conversations with people of all ages, not just their peers. We are very involved in our church, in archery and they have many friends. I’m convinced that they’re getting a far better education in our home than they’d be getting in our gang filled public school here. No thank you.

There are so many wonderful responses to this question...My Grandson in Law was home schooled as were his 5 syblings. He was a president's scholar at a private university and is working on his Doctorate of Divinity.

My son/daughter in law home school their two children, perhaps out of necessity. She runs a private daycare and she lives in a neighborhood were her children would have to walk a very busy and not too safe few blocks to and from school. My son has his own business and would drive them to school and back. After 2 years of this..common core came in. My daughter in law spent hours in the evening helping him with his school work...so after much of this they decided to home school. They did the boy/girls scout thing, choir, piano/guitar lessons, gardening, him wood working and her sewing..(guess who her teacher was). My son runs a football team so grandson (12) played football, granddaughter (10) was in cheerleading..

They have school group outings and I think that it works for them...my daughter on the other hand says, I go to work to stay sane, haha..she has three children 9, 5 & 3..

I know well a young person Theresa, that just graduated high school this week. She was homeschooled her entire education. She has excelled in all areas. I was fascinated to see she was able to participate in sports programs through the local school district. Her siblings are also being homeschooled. Her parents reasoning were much the same as others have written here. My BIL also homeschooled all 6 of his children through high school. Their's was for religious reasons. I alway felt they were somewhat isolated because they lived in a rural area. Theresa, on the other hand was well socialized with not only the church but a lot of people in her neighborhood. Theresa will also be going for her license as a cosmetologist. She completed this program while in high school too, putting her ahead of the majority of high school graduates. She will begin studies in the fall at our local community collage. All of these kids have done well and are successful.