What do you think of homeschooling? I am not really for it. I think that when a child is homeschooled they do not get the socialization that they need. And then when they are out on their own or go to college this can affect their lives. What do you say?
Personally I'm not a fan of homeschooling, but I suppose it should be the parents' right to homeschool their children - as long as they are held to the same academic standards as the children in public and private schools. I know our school system is far from perfect, but I'm not presumptuous enough to think that I could do a better job of teaching my kids than a teacher who is trained to educate children. I think that many teachers are underpaid and underappreciated for all that they do.
If one is home schooled then they should have to live up to the standards that schools do. I do not think that this is the problem because parents may be stricter and make them learn more. The problem I see with it is that they are not getting the social aspect of it that they really need.
There is that as well. Social education is possibly the most important thing children learn in school. I know there is also reason for concern, however, at the quality of secondary education in some areas, particularly science education. The problem is that educators are trained to educate, but many are not experts in the fields that they teach. And even if they do teach their specialty, their degree of expertise can be somewhat lacking. While it may not seem to be a huge problem for those high school graduates who do not choose to pursue post-secondary education, I think it is the main reason for the general public's lack of understanding of basic science, and this can have serious consequences.
Yes PK you are right. Social interaction is very important. If they do not have this in the home schooling, then they have to find somewhere else to get that from,.
I think home schooling could be better than schools, at least where I live. The schools here are awful and the kids don't learn anything. Teachers don't care about their jobs. I would consider homeschooling my kids when I have them. There are plenty of opportunities for socialization, it is up to the parents to get them out there. There are plenty of kids groups for sports, theatre, dance, etc that they could join and make friends. Plus I feel like they would learn more because they would have more attention and we could go on more educational hands on trips.
I was homeschooled from 6th to 12th grades. It's definitely not for everyone, but it was the right choice for our family. Me and my siblings were pretty bored in school and homeschooling allowed us to work at a much faster pace, which suited us much better. Honestly, I think the socialization issue is overrated. School is the only time in your life when you'll be jammed in with a bunch of people your own age eight hours a day, with very limited interaction with people who are older or younger. Homeschooling opens up more opportunities to interact with people who are not within six months of your own age. I think it's better preparation for life after school myself.
Most of the parents I've met who are dedicated enough to do the homeschooling are also involved enough to take care of the socialization. The home-schooled kids I know are on youth hockey teams, in soccer leagues, volunteer at local charities, etc. More than most of the traditional school kids are doing around here.
Yup. At various times and to varying levels of seriousness, my siblings and I were involved in ballet, horseback riding, soccer, theater, art, swimming, and chess. We were involved in a homeschool support group early on, and started taking science and foreign language classes at the local community college when we were 14 or 15. My sister, who's the family extrovert, also kept up with something like 40 or 50 penpals from around the world.
From what I've seen about the school system in our area, I'd home school Holly in a heartbeat if I could do it all over again. I don't think that people who home school necessarily deprive their children of socialization. I know of at least one group that home schools their children together--three families, 10 children. All of them are taking classes advanced for their age and are doing well with them.
