Homeschooling -- what do you think about it?
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
India
October 9, 2008 1:31am CST
There is no homeschooling in India. All the kids go to school, and peace reigns at home for several hours.
Recently, I was writing a series of articles on homeschooling for an American client. That's where I came across homeschooling benefits, homeschooling challenges, homeschooling laws, and all that. I just wondered if homeschooling might not be too stressful for mothers.
What do you feel about homeschooling? With all your home making responsibilities, your part time or full time jobs, isn't homeschooling a bit too stressful? Isn't it easier to let the public or private schools do the job for you?
I sure would like to read some real live experiences of homeschooling.
Cheers and happy mylotting
3 people like this
23 responses
@SukiSmiles (1991)
• United States
9 Oct 08
I have sister-in-laws that have and still are home schooling. I think it really depends upon the person. I know that I would not have the patience for it. One of my sister-in-laws (now both of these were stay at home moms with kids ranging from high school age down to pre-school) had a really hard time. It was her husband that wanted the kids home schooled. They spent a lot of money on schooling materials. The kids fell behind from where they were suppose to be. They got some interaction with other kids, but not a lot. After finally, the kids were allowed to go to public school and quickly got into the routine. Most of the kids went in a grade or two below their age because they had not learned enough. It was very difficult for my sister-in-law. My other sister-in-law is still homeschooling. She has three older kids that are now in a private high school. Actually, one is now in college. This was due to them deciding what would be best for when they applied for colleges. The younger kids are still being homeschooled. Now these kids did really well. They also were mostly on a schedule and did a lot of interacting with other kids through sports groups, church groups, scouts, etc. So, I think it has a lot to do with the parents, the kids, and how it is done.
2 people like this
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
10 Oct 08
Yup, you are right. Ultimately, it depends on the people involved in homeschooling.
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
9 Oct 08
Homeschooling is quite difficult unless the person doing it is extremely well educated. If the parent has little education then how can they teach their child things that they do not know. How can they answer questions if they do not know the answers, how can they explain something they do not understand and how can they possibly know if their child is learning what they are teaching if they do not know it themselves.
It might work if you had a private tutor but that is expensive and how do you know that the tutor is any good. Schools can have their own problems and their are class size issues etc but at least the teacher is trained to teach. Well they should be.
@sharra1 (6340)
• Australia
13 Oct 08
Actually I think it is difficult even for highly educated parents as they tend to specialize as do teachers in schools. I was trained to be a secondary school teacher and I think it is difficult to home school children in every subject they need to know. Schooling at secondary school is a highly specialised intensive system. The students spend an entire day at school doing nothing but learning and then they have lots of homework to help to enhance and practice what they learned in the classroom. By the way I said trained not am. I have worked as a teacher since I did my course because I always had the wrong subjects and you need 2 subjects that the school wants before they will employ you.
To ask a parent to take on the roles of numerous teachers and to spend all day teaching then all these subjects and still manage to do all the other things they have to do is asking a lot. I would not want to do it. You say that people with little education can teach their children at home but what level are you talking about? Primary school or secondary school? I might be able to handle some primary school maths but nothing beyond that. The maths they do at school now is like another language to me. I am also hopeless at languages. My area of expertise is history so I could possibly teach that but still that does not mean that I know the history that is being examined or taught at the moment.
As for your comment about teachers having all the answers, no one has all the answers. But teachers are taught to design curriculum so that they structure what they are teaching that year and then they have to fit what they are teaching in with what others are teaching. It helps to reinforce some teaching across subjects when they can.
There is nothing wrong with instilling a love of learning into a child and every parent should do that but if you want your child to go to university and have a career that requires an education then you are going to have trouble trying to do it all yourself. That is why secondary schools have one teacher for every subject because it requires people who specialize in one or two areas at most.
I was educated at both public and private schools. I learned well in the public school, I did not do well at the private school. In fact I had a stupid teacher at the private school who failed me so badly I wanted to quit school. My parents sent me to a tutor instead who said that I would have passed the exam. The teacher when challenged said it was to encourage me. She was a fool. I failed my year 12. Then I went to work and went to night school and I passed my year 12. I went on to uni and got an honors degree in history then I did a did a post grad year to qualify as a teacher. It is like teachers doing a 4 year degree. I did 5 years.
My point is that public schools are fine as long as the child wants to learn. You will find stupid teachers anywhere. Private schools are not always the best and my parents could not have home schooled me in a million years even if they had wanted to. My father was an accountant and never bothered with me because I was a girl and my mother was too busy with everything else. I was the youngest. I doubt I would have learned enough or had the application if I had not gone to school.
@Annie2 (594)
• United States
13 Oct 08
It might be easier for "extremely well-educated" parents to teach information to their children than it is for those with less education. However, it does not require a PhD to instill a love for learning in your child. If you don't know the answers, you and your child can seek out the answers and you both learn.
Do public school teachers have all the answers? Are all of them extremely well educated? No, of course not. Some may be more knowledgeable about one subject than another subject, but they don't have all the answers.
Did you know that just because someone is a virtuoso pianist, it doesn't mean he/she will be the best piano teacher?
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
9 Oct 08
I agree there Positive but I have to be honest with how things are going in the world today, where the Children are not even safe at School, if mine where still young I would look into Home Schooling, the only bad thing about it is that they do not learn to socialize, as they would not be mixing with the other the Children, but they would be safe, my Children went to School but it was still safe then
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
10 Oct 08
You are right, gabs! Schools are becoming a terrible place to be in nowadays. :)
Cheers!
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
9 Oct 08
I've never homeschooled myself but have mixed feelings/thoughts about it. Some good friends of ours homeschooled, they lived right across the street from us and had 3 kids who grew up friends with my 3 oldest. The benefits I saw were they weren't exposed to the garabage they get in public schools but the downfall was they were not good at socializing - my kids were the ones to draw them out and introduced them to most of their now adult friends.
As for stress I really think it depends on the mother or parents. Cindy across the street was excellent at dealling with all that was required but I don't think I could have done it.
1 person likes this
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
12 Oct 08
I'm not sure about all but in a lot of areas the 'homeschoolers' try organizing social events; football games, picnics, things like that and our friends had their kids involved in other activities like dance and hocky but none of it replaced knowing all the kids in the neighborhood and just being 'kids'. My oldest son took care of that for the neighbors - he was always hauling the 2 boys out to do stuff and it continued on into adulthood. They are still all good friends including being in each other's wedding parties and when my #2 son got married the other 'boys' drove from Michigan to South Dakota for his wedding.
1 person likes this
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
10 Oct 08
Critics of homeschooling do mention the social life aspect of it. I have wondered about that too. :)
Thanks for the response.
@checapricorn (16061)
• United States
9 Oct 08
[i]HI positive,
I've never tried this but a lot of my friends are doing this really and they find it more great instead of having kids go to school but the one I have known who are doing this mostly are kids who have work like in any TV program![/i]
1 person likes this
@bluerubymoon53 (3286)
• United States
12 Oct 08
I have read all the responses to this discussion. I'm like Annie2...I don't understand why people believe that homeschooled children would not have the opportunity to socialize. One mentioned that these children would be shy...I went to public school and I was very shy.
I know the 8 year old girl that Annie2 homeschools. This little girl has played in piano recitals since she was 3. She was in a stage play when she was 6. She won best in talent in a few pageants. She gave a speech in front of a small crowd about one of the town's favorite retail store owners. There are many more things this little girl done in her 8 years than I have!!!
I believe the reason that some homeschooled children are not learning social skills is the parents do not expose their children to the many opportunities that are out there.
A parent does not have to have a master's degree in order to teach their children at home. All they have to have is the willingness to take on the devotion of teaching their children and to find the many ways of doing so. Did you know that baking a cake could be a home ec project, science project, and math project all wrapped in one?
1 person likes this
@thedogshrink (1266)
• United States
10 Oct 08
Homeschooling is not for everyone, that's certain. But trusting my child to the school systems available is not for me, at least not when I lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I homeschooled then. My daughter is autistic, so she has special needs. Because of that I enrolled her in a charter school, which is like public school in that it is all paid for by the state, but it is done in a separate school or in our case, online. I loved the idea of it. It already had all the curriculum, supplies, etc, provided, so you could know it was a good, solid education. But it was a very bad experience for us because, being public school still, and being Philadelphia, PA, we just had too many run ins with the teachers, and administrators, because of my daughter's special needs. I would have been much better off doing full home school, completely on my own. However, for typical children, that online charter school may have worked very well. I know the curriculum was very advanced.
Now we have moved to North Carolina. I have to work, and my daughter is attending regular public school. I am very comfortable with her there, but never in a million years could I have let her go to public school in Philadelphia! I think the school here is very good, and they actually have a classroom designated just for autistic kids, divided into 3 age groups. The do much more one on one with my daughter in this classroom than she ever got in Philadelphia.
I think most mothers who home school do not work outside the home, and so it is not too stressful for them. People in the US are starting to exercise their right to home school more and more because the public school systems are not always good, often dangerous, and definitely do not reflect our own values. We prefer to keep our kids at home when the alternative is having our kids taught values we disagree with or having them exposed to too much negative behavior.
1 person likes this
@ch88ss (2271)
• United States
10 Oct 08
If financial situation permits, homeschooling is great and fun. However, the cons of homeschooling, your children don't get to be exposed and learn to be in a socialize environment unless your homeschooling schedules includes lots of outings with other homeschooling parents in town. Then it is worth the time.
As a mother, there is nothing more valuable than working hard towards raising a child. If homeschooling is what it takes, then let me do it. But becuase I need to pay the bills, and don't forget the taxes so if you asked me. I love to be anywhere with my children, and hate the real job at work that I have.
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@AnneMarie39 (77)
• United States
10 Oct 08
I homeschool my children and have been doing so for 5 years. We have a very large homeschooling community in and around Chattanooga, Tennessee. There are many support groups, co-ops, and educational opportunities for families here. Homeschooling can be stressful, but it is worth the stress. The school we are zoned for is inadequate to say the least. I think it would depend on how you define the term easier. What is easier for you might not be easier for me. We chose to homeschool for many different reasons. One of which is because we think family is and should be the most important thing in our life. I didn't want to become a mother because it was an easier role in life to take. We can't afford private education for our children. My husband is very supportive which helps a lot. I studied Education in college or what you might call University.
1 person likes this
@pehpot (4762)
• Philippines
10 Oct 08
Hello my friend! I am a mother of three boys, ages 5, 3 and 5 months. I home school my 5 year old and my three year old. I did not find it difficult at all nor stressing. We enjoy our learning time together. If you have written some articles on homeschooling, you know by now that there are different types of homeschooling, I used unschooling method. I incorporate teaching with our daily life, I take every opportunity I can to teach them. I don't find it hard and I think I could make a better job than the school. But I do have plans to enroll them in a school, I will just finish their pre school year, I will enroll them when they are ready for elementary schooling. Some would think that teaching kids are difficult and you need a certain knowledge to teach them, it is not the case really. I have three kids and no house help and do manage to home school them amidst my responsibilities and house hold chores. Well, we really don't have a "school time" they learn from almost everything, like my first born, I am teaching him to read clocks by asking him what time is it. Sometimes when he ask for something, I would tell him, you can only have it at a certain time, in that way he is learning how to read clocks. I put a big calendar on our wall, and ask them what is the day today and the date and they look on the calendar. Sometimes we talk about birthdays and we start counting how many more months or day to their next birthday. Simple questions of our kids, but we can actually turn that simple question to a whole book of learning. Sometimes we do crafts, we paint and they learn colors and shape. When they watch TV and movies I explain things to them and they learn. When we eat, they learn different kinds of food. There are actually things that my 5 year old know that a 10 year old does not. Home schooling is very suitable for my kids.
1 person likes this
@animeniak (425)
• United States
10 Oct 08
I don't think that homeschooling is a bad idea at all. One good thing about homeschooling is that the parents will interact with their child a lot more, rather than just sending their child to public schools, and let the teachers do the work. If the parents have the ability to teach their children the materials that other kids learn from school, then I truly think it's rather a better idea for the parents to do the homeschooling. If they don't however, then they got no choice, and will have to send their children to school. What I really don't like about public or private schooling is the fact that children tend to get cockier, and have more of a negative attitudes (not all of them). Most of the kids who do go to public schools will bring home some negative attitudes and have bad behaviors, depending on how and what they are influenced from. The truth is that the teachers nowadays are usually not fair to some of the students, and that's really the bad thing about the public schools. The only good thing about public schooling is the fact that they can actually learn some useful things in groups, and they can make friends.
From homeschooling, I believe that kids can learn more from their parents, especially if they are educated and have the ability to teach the materials they will need. The parents have the right to choose what they will want to teach their child, and exclude the unnecessary things that school teachers teach. What I don't like about homeschooling is the fact that the kids will socialize less with the other kids in their age. happy mylotting...
1 person likes this
@chaska (170)
• United States
9 Oct 08
I think that if I could homeschool I would. I think that kids sometimes have better experiences at home and will mainly act better because they are not sitting in a boring classroom. I must work so I try to have them in a good school and provide a lot of encouragement and practice at home
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
10 Oct 08
Hehehe you are right. There are always two sides to it. :) And I am finding myself agreeing with everybody here. :)
@celestial052506 (2914)
• Philippines
9 Oct 08
If there's no homeschooling in India, the same in the Philippines. I never heard of any parent here who homeschool their kids. Kids go to public or private schools. But sad to say, that there are many kids here who are not in school. They are on the streets begging, some are selling something in order to earn money. But there is a government establishment who cater street kids and let them go to school. All kids here are in school. No body is in homeschooling. I have no idea of what homeschooling is, If I would know how it goes? I would probably homseschool my kids so that I can save my daily expenses.
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
10 Oct 08
Well, it does save on tuition fees. But it is sad about kids having to beg or work, isn't it? We have so many such kids in India too.
Cheers!
@susanh39 (200)
• United States
16 Nov 08
Good Morning,
I can understand why some people might think that homeschooling is too much for moms. However, as a homeschooling mom myself (now, I only have two children), it is a real blessing. Are there days I wish we could quit? We all have bad days, whether it's at work or at home. But, the advantages of teaching my children at home far outweigh the disadvantages. I can tailor my curriculum to each of my children's strengths and weaknesses. We can supplement our curriculum with interesting field trips, community service and other beneficial/educational activities. And, most importantly, we have the privilege of seeing our children grow up right in front of our eyes. Our children are precious and the time we have them only for so long. Why would I want to send them off to give someone else that privilege? As a mom who homeschools, writes part-time, and is caring for my husband and home, I am blessed!
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
21 Nov 08
Hey, that sounds really great. :)
Cheers and happy mylotting
@lizard211 (240)
• United States
10 Oct 08
I was homeschooled from kindergarten through 10th grade. I don't have kids so I can only tell you my experience being homeschooled.
First, I think it really depends on the family. Secondly, the parents need to have some education and be willing to spend the time. Thankfully, both my parents are educated. My mom taught English, History, Spelling, etc... My dad would teach math and the sciences at night. Overall, I think it was a very positive experience for me. I don't want to sound arrogant but I think I had a much better education than my friends who were not homeschooled - thanks to my parents. I was heavily involved in social activities (sports, music) so I don't believe I grew up being socially inept/deprived. Being homeschooled, we also went on numerous field trips - hit all the museums and educational spots in the Midwest. Being homeschooled, we also took long family trips during the school year that always seemed to emphasize historical and educational spots. I have never went to Disneyland but Monticello, Smithsonian, Capitol Hill, etc... - oh, yeah. We had to write papers on what we saw and learned - so much for vacation! :)
I entered public high school my junior year, mainly to make the transistion into college easier. I did enjoy being around my friends all day :) so that was pretty cool. I did find high school (education-wise) much easier than homeschool. Again though, this was due to my parents and I fully support public schools. There were also some people I knew that were homeschooled that really weren't. The state should have forced the issue and put them in public school.
I don't believe one can say homeschooling is better than public schools or private schools or vice versa. It depends on the family, on the parents & on the parent's education level.
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
10 Oct 08
Hey wow!! You sound like you had a great time. If homeschooling is anything like that, I would love to get home schooled too. But I guess I am too old for it now. 
Cheers and thanks for sharing!
Cheers and thanks for sharing!
@blackcatbetty (555)
• United States
9 Oct 08
I think it would depend on the child . If your child is reserved and well mannered enough to handle a home school and you yourself feels safer then go for it . Although your child can miss out on a lot of social skills you only adapt to when around other children . This can be tough at times but it is good to socialize . If your child is active in sports and or other activities that allows them make contact with other people then I think this is a healthy alternative , specially in bigger cities where schooling can be dangerous .
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
10 Oct 08
Yup, that's right! Public schools do make a child tougher. :)
@danielle3002 (3)
• United States
9 Oct 08
I actually homeschooled my last to years of highschool. I was able to do it becasue I already had the knowledge to teach and learn on my own. Now as a mother trying to teach her young children that is another issue. From experence I would rather teach a child that already learned to read and write. Eveything else is easy to teach once they understand those basic principles. When the challenge of teaching a new student to read or write, it sometimes becomes very difficult and very frustrating because we do not quit understand the secrets to help them learn these very important things. I believe that it would be great to let your child experience a fews years of public or private schooling and then homeschooling from there. That also allows vital social skills to be acheived.
@nderaad (10)
• United States
9 Oct 08
Not that I have anything against homeschooled kids but everyone I have ever met who was homeschooled was very quiet or socially awkward. I think that being home-schooled, a person misses out on an important aspect of growing into a social adult. You miss life lessons and a chance to make good friends and learn through real life experience. Being at home all the time must also be pretty boring and to protective on the parents part. Kids should be allowed to make a few mistakes and learn from them otherwise they will never be able to survive in the real world, no matter how book smart they may be. Anyone agree?
@positiveminded1977 (7072)
• India
10 Oct 08
Yup, it could happen. Unless home school students are given ample opportunities to mix with others and socially interact. :)
Cheers and thanks for the input.
