Why is there so much home schooling?

mreimer102

Another good reason to home school.

AndyLL180

US schools now can make medical decisions regarding your children's healthcare thanks to our horrible president. My daughter is now homeschooling her kids because she doesn't want the government in her children's healthcare or have government propaganda taught to her kids and I don't blame her.

What kind of medical decisions can they make for your kids? What are you talking about?

They are now able to legally take your middle school daughter in for an abortion without any parental consent. It's law here in Florida. How do people NOT know this? Yeah, no aspirin, but an abortion is fine. Sadly, I am not kidding. Out.

Not true:

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ppsoflo/teens-seeking-abortion-services-32356.htm

In fact in 2004 FL passed a constitutional amendment requiring parental notification.

grandpoobah12

I've been away from The States for a few years, and am fascinated by this discussion. Thanks OP for posting!

Of course, I am fascinated with this too. I am an American raising kids in the Japanese public school system.

From a lot of posts on here, seems like fear , of being indoctrinated, of medical issues, of bad teachers, too conservative, too liberal. and such are the driving forces for a lot of homeschoolers.

Sounds like homeschool can be good if you have the time and the money to stay home and do it. Or it can be bad. Just like public school.

I really like it when people say, I don`t believe in evolution but I taught it as a theory. Well, it is called the theory of evolution. You don`t have to believe. It is a series of facts that lead to a logical conclusion. I think you could still value Christian morality and value science at the same time.

BinaryPulsar

There is a bit of fear mongering going on in here, though.

mreimer102

What can the govt schools do? Forced vaccinations, for one and against parental knowledge. Pushing flu vaccines and pushing the Gardisal vaccine now, on both boys and girls. Girls have passed out, and one girl died right after the shot; and her parents did not have knowledge that it was being done at the school. Their agenda.

BinaryPulsar

Maybe things are different in the States now. I'm in Canada.

grandpoobah12

I hate having my kids in the public school system, however, I do not feel i am equipped to homeschool 5 children, and fear I would be setting them up for failure. That being said, I am currently homeschooling my oldest daughter, who is 15, as a discapline for her. See, she is a social butterfly, going to school for her is fun, she is popular, friends with everyone, all the boys like her, and she views it as a social event. Fine, fine... But, she broke i big rule this summer, and so her discapline was no school for this year... its driving her insane, and having me as her teacher, is driving her even more insane... Win win for me... Just kidding, but seriously, I am using this as a discapline for her, and once this year is over, I will stop homeschooling her, and send her back to school.

I am very curious as to what she did, and how this punishment will benefit her. Could you elaborate?

BinaryPulsar

I hate having my kids in the public school system, however, I do not feel i am equipped to homeschool 5 children, and fear I would be setting them up for failure. That being said, I am currently homeschooling my oldest daughter, who is 15, as a discapline for her. See, she is a social butterfly, going to school for her is fun, she is popular, friends with everyone, all the boys like her, and she views it as a social event. Fine, fine... But, she broke i big rule this summer, and so her discapline was no school for this year... its driving her insane, and having me as her teacher, is driving her even more insane... Win win for me... Just kidding, but seriously, I am using this as a discapline for her, and once this year is over, I will stop homeschooling her, and send her back to school.

I am very curious as to what she did, and how this punishment will benefit her. Could you elaborate?

Yeah, wow...taking her out of school for a year seems a pretty harsh punishment (I don't mean harsh like child abuse), just a big deal, long time thing to do. I've never heard of anyone removing a kid from school for punishment.

grandpoobah12

I don't think you all know anything about the Common Core Standards. Now that I have had 60 hours of training, I can tell you that it will not mean that kids will sit in school and take classes on a computer. Mostly, it means an emphasis in argumentative and expository writing, close textual reading, and more reading of informational text.

I also want to thank you Sherry for commenting. It seems you are the only teacher to comment so far. I teach (ESL) in Japan. I am very passionate about it. It takes a lot of time and effort and interest to be a professional. Getting paid to teach drives me to work even harder. I am not good at math at all. I can`t imagine my kids learning math from me. Plus, each adult (teacher) had different interests to share with me. I learned about Gone with the Wind and old films in the 8th grade, just because my teacher loved them. It is still a great memory for me. After seeing the film in class, I read the whole book. It is a tome.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. I am not a village, I am one person with my own interests. I can share those readily, but I won`t be able to share every subject to an equal degree. We do our best to teach.

Homeschooling sounds like a perfect fit in some instances. ( gifted kids, kids living in very rural areas, kids with behavioral problems)
It also sounds like an excuse to foist your personal opinion of politics down your kids throat. Even if you don`t really think so. You are the only example they have. You or the like minded people you choose for them to visit.

did any of you see Victoria from America`s Next Top Model? She was painfully unequipped to deal with the crabbiness of her fellow models. Maybe that was just her....

2ht2hand1e

Common core

mreimer102

I'm a teacher too, and yes that is part of it, and part of it is good, seemingly anyway. I attended two community meetings at our public library about it. Two public school teachers now travel across our state informing parents of UN details connected with Common Core, and taught our community all about the truth behind it and its dangers. It WILL change things in the future; and yes, there are plans to put all students behind a computer for most of the day. That, in particular, may not be part of the Common Core, but it will and is happening here in our area. I don't mind that part, because my home schooled daughter does that presently as well and it is the trend of the future. But outside of the classroom, look online of just how many people are up in arms about the Common Core Standards and why. It goes much deeper than what you have discussed; and it is and will be tied into the UN Agenda 21. Look it up. It is already here and is being used in many communities already. It will change our communities as we know it. Here is a link if you are interested:
http://www.thebrennerbrief.com/2013/06/03/common-core-based-on-un-education-program-and-agenda-21/

Madame_Goldbricker

What can the govt schools do? Forced vaccinations, for one and against parental knowledge. Pushing flu vaccines and pushing the Gardisal vaccine now, on both boys and girls. Girls have passed out, and one girl died right after the shot; and her parents did not have knowledge that it was being done at the school. Their agenda.

Interestingly in the UK they use Cervarix instead. Which boys aren't administered. Also parental permission must be given here.

*It's a cheaper substitute I should also add.

grandpoobah12

Aren`t we sitting here behind a computer for most of the day?

And I might add, the idea of a common core, common ground with all of humanity is ideal. We are all human beings and should learn that our humanity transcends country, creed, race, and any divisor we choose to put on ourselves.

Let`s find out exactly what common core is, I have never heard of it.

Technically we all believe the same way for basic human rights so why be afraid of it?

xmysterix

Yeeeah, Agenda 21 doesn't scare me, nor does a national curriculum. I think both are fantastic aims and both are already in play where I live.

jdad1

Common core is a joke. I wish i was at home and i could get to my Facebook. I have about a dozen links with examples of its stupidity. However there is one main point, it is a dumbing down of education instead of a way to help those that can excel to do just that. It is an indoctrination program pushing certain philosophies. For everyone that has not researched it i just have to say that you must take the time to do so. As parents it is our responsibility to be aware of what are children are being taught. Even if you find no flaw in it, you just are not a good parent (when it comes to their education) if you don't at least educate yourself about it.

Now to my main point, not about common core but about homeschool in general. School is for learning.......period!!! That is what it is for. Kids get a better education when homeschooled then from the public school system. (Generally speaking) Kids spend nearly 60% of their time in school not learning. (That is a stat I got from a published report, I will post link later when not at work. It’s on my home computer)

Parents have a right to educate their children and choose what is a part of their children’s curriculum. When we send kids to public school they are being taught what others feel is important for them to learn, when it is the parents that should be making those decisions. Parents know there kids best.

Now, with all that being said, home schooling is not for everyone. Many children would not be educated at all if it were not for the public school system. It is an imperfect but necessary part of society. Home schooling is a better alternative but public school is still necessary. Those utilizing the public school system should not be mocked because of it and even more importantly the parents within the public school system should be looking at parents that home school with respect and admiration for the efforts they are taking to better educate their children.

Lupercalia

I home schooled my son for about a year and a half. It had absolutely nothing to do with religious issues, or school curricula. In a nutshell, it was down to his extra curricular life taking over everything. He was/is a young ballet dancer and was at a stage in his training where it was becoming necessary to have male teachers and other boys to study dance with. Because of where we were living at the time, this meant a LOT of driving to make that happen on a regular basis, so something had to give. After many discussions and a whole lot of schedule juggling, we decided to try home schooling and driving inordinate amounts to a more suitable ballet school in the big city. It made everyone nuts, including my son. He did very well academically during that period, but really missed the social aspects of school. We tried home schooler group classes/activities, but it didn't really make up for being away from school (for him), and for the most part, he didn't relate in any way to the home schooled kids he met. He left home for a residential ballet school at age 13, and that was that. He was much happier in that sort of a setting where he had academics and his dance all neatly put together for him, and as parents, we were very happy for him, and also relieved that we could resume a somewhat normal existence.

Danagirl28

I cyber school, which is kind of a blend of home and public schooling. I receive a pre-planned curriculum, have support of an online teacher and IT person, and my kids have the option of attending a classroom one day a week for the "school" experience. I chose this because my one child is gifted, reading and doing math 3 years above her grade level, and my other child has special needs that my school district did not want to accommodate in an IEP. I have always been very proactive in teaching my children, I even have a curriculum set up for my youngest who will be 2 this month. For me, it was the option to have a greater decision-making power in what my children learned, when they learned, and how they learned. While I do consult with the public school as part of my job (I work part-time), and I am appalled by the dress and behaviors I see there, that was only a minor part of my decision not to enroll my children there. We do not consider ourselves "Christian", but we do hold very strongly to the beliefs of honsety, integrity, hard work, personal responsibility, tolerance, and civic duty.

YesIAm17

But outside of the classroom, look online of just how many people are up in arms about the Common Core Standards and why. It goes much deeper than what you have discussed; and it is and will be tied into the UN Agenda 21. Look it up. It is already here and is being used in many communities already. It will change our communities as we know it. Here is a link if you are interested:
http://www.thebrennerbrief.com/2013/06/03/common-core-based-on-un-education-program-and-agenda-21/

For anyone who hasn't clicked that link please allow me to summarize....

- Common Core is bad because Obama
- Common Core is bad because Bill Gates
- Common Core is bad because it teaches equity, economy and environment
- Common Core is bad because department of education is teaching stuff
- Common Core is bad because the United Nations

Basically Common Core and Agenda 21 are an evil left wing socialist communist nazi plot to take over the world, enslave us all, and permanently ban all pictures of kittens with "I can haz cheezburger" captions on them.

That's about as far as I got before I realized the piece had thoroughly discredited itself.

YesIAm17

Aren`t we sitting here behind a computer for most of the day?

And I might add, the idea of a common core, common ground with all of humanity is ideal. We are all human beings and should learn that our humanity transcends country, creed, race, and any divisor we choose to put on ourselves.

Let`s find out exactly what common core is, I have never heard of it.

Technically we all believe the same way for basic human rights so why be afraid of it?

^^^This! Except for the MFP/non-MFP divisor, can we keep just that 1? pleaseeeeee?

3foldchord

And I might add, the idea of a common core, common ground with all of humanity is ideal. We are all human beings and should learn that our humanity transcends country, creed, race, and any divisor we choose to put on ourselves.

Let`s find out exactly what common core is, I have never heard of it.

I am confused. It seems you say you agree with Common Core.... Then you say you have never heard of it.

I don't know much about Common Core; I have been homeschooling for 13 years and have no need to keep up with what new thing the public schools are doing this year (as it seems to change every few years). I thought it had to do with all kids learning the same level things the same way. Stuff like: Getting math answers marked wrong, even though they are correct answers because they didn't use the method the teacher taught... That sort of thing. But like I said, I am no longer in the loop. 2/3 of my unschooled brood are in college now.

peachcats

There's no way I would let my children go to a public US school.
I guess if I wanted them to be a macaroni artist I would consider it, however.

YesIAm17

There's no way I would let my children go to a public US school.
I guess if I wanted them to be a macaroni artist I would consider it, however.

Do you have kids? If so do you home school? Do you live in the US? If not where?

OMGeeeHorses

I will be home schooling my children and I am Christian. I am doing this 50/50 in my belief for God but also because I went to public school ( husband did not) and see were he was able to expand in things he found interesting. I am doing the aspect in God because as a mom its my duty to train my children to be respectful young adults. WAY back then that's what they did and I saw what I was lacking in from public school and just figured God was right in a lot of things when it comes to this area. If my child came to me and said she/he wished to go to public school. I would enlist them in some classes and let them explore what they think they are missing and go from their. I am not home schooling to affect my children's social skills, seeing as children seem to thrive in this at a young age . I am doing it to correct my children in things they would need help in to be a much better suited young adult. And lets all face it, detention really didn't correct you much as you mainly sat down and talked to friends who ended up there as well and did not accomplish any of your school work like you should have.

Also having the bomb threats or gun threats or knife threats actually got old in the end of my high school years and I just don't wish my own children to go through this. I am able to do this in my life as I have a very blessed and understanding husband and I realize not everyone can do this and I don't judge them for needing public school as like someone said some public schools are not that bad. But the public school I went to was actually listed #1 as the worst school in the WORLD. So yeah, seeing as I still live in the same district, I think with the best interest of my child involved I will home school!

OMGeeeHorses

And I might add, the idea of a common core, common ground with all of humanity is ideal. We are all human beings and should learn that our humanity transcends country, creed, race, and any divisor we choose to put on ourselves.

Let`s find out exactly what common core is, I have never heard of it.

I am confused. It seems you say you agree with Common Core.... Then you say you have never heard of it.

I don't know much about Common Core; I have been homeschooling for 13 years and have no need to keep up with what new thing the public schools are doing this year (as it seems to change every few years). I thought it had to do with all kids learning the same level things the same way. Stuff like: Getting math answers marked wrong, even though they are correct answers because they didn't use the method the teacher taught... That sort of thing. But like I said, I am no longer in the loop. 2/3 of my unschooled brood are in college now.

UGH! I hated when a teach did that! I am dyslexic with math and would get the answer right but not do it the way the teacher wanted and she would mark it wrong! I remember getting a detention for being very rude and telling her that it was sad she marked it wrong just because I didn't do it HER WAY!

YesIAm17

UGH! I hated when a teach did that! I am dyslexic with math and would get the answer right but not do it the way the teacher wanted and she would mark it wrong! I remember getting a detention for being very rude and telling her that it was sad she marked it wrong just because I didn't do it HER WAY!

Teaching conformity for the sake of conformity is not something I would support. I can certainly see how conditioned conformity could be very dangerous. However I also think sometimes it's important to learn things in a standardized way and to learn to follow instructions and follow the rules when appropriate.

That being said I was always first in line to tell off a teacher ... yea I was that kid.

SmileCozYouCan

I was homeschooled for a few years in high school, and I'm so thankful that I got home schooled. Homeschooling gives kids a chance to get one on one attention, and the bad influences from school don't affect them as much when they are home schooled.
I have a lot of friends who were or are home schooled and some who have always been to school, and I can see a difference between them.
A lot of people think that children who are home schooled don't have life skills or aren't as social or as smart as children who go to school, but there are co ops that children can go to and have fun with other home school-er

IvyRose8

We've homeschooled for our children's entire academic years. Our oldest child is 18 and is a junior in engineering at MIT. When that acceptance letter arrived I wanted to enlarge it to billboard size and put it in my mother-in-law's front yard.

6bizymom

Ok, so I have read a lot of posts and have to jump in. I am a mom of 6, ages 14-23 yrs old. I home schooled them all from k-12th grades. I had some that were very advanced, some that were right in the middle and one that really struggled through almost all school. I am not saying that it is the right thing for everyone, but it was for sure the right thing for our family, and the best thing for my kids.

As far as socialization, that is a bunch of garbage! Obviously with 6 kids in the house there was plenty of interaction with others on a daily basis. They were all active in Awana program, youth, choir, karate, park days, field trips, co ops(everything from scholastic to crafts, hobbies). They were out there in the community constantly interacting with others, while we did community projects and out reach projects to help others.

I have had 4 graduate from high school. 3 of them did Dual Enrollment at the Community College starting at age 16. None of them had any problem at all "fitting in" at the college level. Quite the opposite, they were leaders in their classes, with their papers being used on the website as guides for how to do the work expected in college. My oldest graduated Community College 1 yr after graduating High school, then went on to graduate with a degree in Psychology 2 yrs later. My next one graduated at 17 and is currently a junior in college. I currently have 9th and 11th grade students at home this year. My 11th grader is starting Dual Enrollment in Jan.

Things have changed so much for home school families over the years. There are SO many different options for teaching them, You can find the right one that works for EACH child, and not try to make them fit into someone else's mold. There are book, computer, online, dvd classes, so many possibilities.

We live in Florida and I will say that the public schools here are horrible!! I know that they are many awesome teachers there but they have a very difficult time teaching when there is no discipline, and no desire for many of them to learn. Even in the Community college that my kids attended the Professors would ask in Comp, how many graduated from Public school, and one time when most were public school graduates, the teacher even stated out loud, "Oh, well I will know not to expect mus out of this class then". Sad but even the College professors know that the public school is dropping the ball majorly.

While I do agree that there does need to be a public school system, I am very thankful that mine have not had to be a part of that system. As their mom, I seriously doubt that even the best of teachers is going to care more about my kids and the education that they receive than "ME" , their mom. We as moms are educating/instructing/teaching them from the time they are born, we do not just all of a sudden become incapable of continuing once they reach school age.

mreimer102

I couldn't have said it better. Well done.
Melba

Naomi0504

We've homeschooled for our children's entire academic years. Our oldest child is 18 and is a junior in engineering at MIT. When that acceptance letter arrived I wanted to enlarge it to billboard size and put it in my mother-in-law's front yard.

This is just awesome, all of it!!