Yesterday in class the topic of homeschooling was brought up. I have always had a very difficult time accepting homeschooling because of personal experience within my own family where homeschooling was not taken seriously and the children never really learned anything past the sixth grade. I was also extremely involved in school, from elementary all the way through high school. I played sports, joined clubs, and did community service through school. I always felt that doing these things made me ready for dealing with people that were different from me in the real world. I am very interested however, in hearing some positive feedback about homeschooling. I would particularly like to know how people feel it prepares students socially for adulthood. My biggest concern with homeschooling is the lack of diversity that it provides as actual experiences, not just as something that is thought about and believed to be understood.

If you have a different take on this I would love to hear it.

I agree with you Mandi. I was home schooled for a short period of time and hated every minute of it. I do think that the number one job of the school system is to prepare future generations to lead this county. To me this means not only being academically ready but also socially ready, and I don’t see how a home school child is fully able to gain all of this.

I agree with both of you on this issue. I do also agree with some parents who do not want their children to be put in a situation that they, the parents, do not want their children put into, such as discussions on religion or anything else that does not go along with their own beliefs. This point is also detrimental to the child's development in learning about so much more because they are not able to truly acknowledge that something else is out there. If children are taught by their parents because their parents are closed minded enough to not want their children to appreciate the rest of what this world has to offer, then I cannot agree with homeschooling. If the parents, or whomever is homeschooling the children, are knowledgeable and want their children to learn from them, possibly because they think they can do a better job at it than other teachers, then by all means, go right ahead. It is their choice, and the choices of the children, on whether or not the children will be home schooled.

I definitely agree with where Mandi is coming from. I feel that for a minority of students that homeschooling quite possibly might be the way to go for their schooling, although it most likely won't prepare them socially for the world ahead of them. I actually had a very strong "non-homeschooling" opinion before coming to college. I met a girl on my hall who had been homeschooled her whole life, except for one year. I expected her to be socially withdrawn, homesick, and to do poor in a college classroom setting. Surprisingly she was just the opposite and has done very well in school. So this is when I changed my views to believe that some people can go through homeschooling and come out very prepared.
Although as I look back on my public school years, I feel grateful for all the hardships and opportunities that it offered me. It gave me a strong sense of independence and a deep respect for formal education. Overall though, I still feel like the majority of people would benefit by going through a public school system in the "long-run".

While I see points to all sides of home schooling, the most important thing to decide whether it's right for someone or not, is solely on personal need. I will offer up this personal experience though. I only knew one family that home schooled their children growing up. The mother was the one teaching and she was completely unqualified. Both children have graduated their home school and neither one could read at a level that was acceptable for someone their age, or had gained the necessary skills needed to succeed at a university. Having said that, making sure that the parent, or whomever is the main instructor, is capable and qualified to teach their children in extremely important before deciding whether or not children should be home schooled.

I feel the majority of people think that homeschoolers are conservative families that don't want to send their children out into the "real world". This couldn't be farther from the truth. The majority of homeschooling families are plugged into a community and work just as a public/private school would with after school activities. I played softball, soccer, had art class with other homeschooler friends and took piano lesson once a week. There were homeschool conferences that I would go to with my mom which was like any other conference that a publice school teacher would attend in their concentration. I was surrounded by children that had so much in common with me therefore I feel I had more real friends than I would have in a large public school. With the diversity argument, I feel that it is all about where you live. In Asheville, there is little diversity and even when I went to "real" school (where I didn't have any really good friends) the diversity in the classroom was just as much as within the homeschool community. As far as academics go, this is where I have a strong affection for homeschooling. There is so much wasted time in the classrooms! Especially in Middle school were everyone is awkward and learning is the last thing on a 13 year olds mind. People argue that homeschoolers are socially stunted yet I feel that the purpose of school is not some social gathering where you are suppose to learn how to flirt or win a popularity contest, school is about education! So much real education is lost in large classrooms where there is so much distraction and there are so many bad teachers out there, just as one may argue that there are bad mom-teachers. Homeschooling gives children the chance to really excel in what they love best. Having that one-on-one with a teacher (mom) really makes the curriculum stick. Also with homeschooling, my mom would incorporate learning into EVERYthing that we did: trips to the beach, we would research sea life and learn about the history of the North Carolina coast. We took trips to Williamsburg, VA and had a week long history lesson. Shows on TV would become reports. Even cooking would become a math project. Also, when you are in a community you take yearly test just like the EOGs to make sure that the curriculum at home is "up to date". In homeschooling families in highschool, they take the PSATs too.
I agree that there are moms out there that are probably not adequately suited to teacher their children, but I have heard of more horrible teachers in the public school system than children that fail college or highschool because of a bad home teaching. I learned so many valuable skills that I would not have learned in a huge classroom such as, nobody has ever told me to get my work done before I go out or play. I study very well because I was used to working on my own. Unfortunately, these days an imagination has become a lost art. I feel I kept more of my child like playfulness longer because I was able to play and imagine with my sister much longer than kids that are sent to school. I value my family so much and that is something I feel is being lost as parents give up their disciplining and teaching values as a responsibility for the schools.
As apposed to the "close mindedness", many families see a lot of corruption and loss of innocence that they don't want their children to go through that early. Last semester there was a report that a 3rd grader tried to KILL his teacher and had the whole class in on the plot! Homeschoolers experience the world too if the right curriculum is picked, just like a good lesson plan in a history or social science class in public school. Homeschool is not about creating a generation of close minded, shy adults that don't know what is "really" out there. It creates people that think outside the box!

I can see this issue from basically everyone's perspective that has posted. Although I have never been home schooled myself, I have known a few kids while I was growing up and in high school that were home schooled. So, here is my opinion. Home schooling has it's advantages. I believe among those advantages are that the students learn a lot more, are better prepared for tests like the SAT and for college acceptance, and have an overall advantage of being smarter and more knowledgeable. In my experience, the students who were home schooled that I knew were extremely bright. However, in my opinion and experience, kids that are home schooled do not have as much adequate social skills as do students that are enrolled in a public school setting. I had a whole family come into my high school that were home schooled, and they were all standoffish and not very well adjusted to a social setting. I know very well that this is not the case at all with every person that is home schooled, but it is just the experience that I have had. I believe that it is important for students to experience a public school setting, whether they are not getting what their parents think is a good education or not. I feel that parents that home school their kids are automatically putting their kids on a pedestal and saying that they are "too good" for public school. Again, that's just an opinion from personal experiences. I also think that parents need to put more trust in the public schools.

Trust in public schools

After reading the different posts above and sitting through our discussion in class today, I have truly been trying to decipher my feelings on homeschooling. I've come to the conclusion that all forms of education have their advantages and disadvantages. There are obviously good things and bad things about the public school system, which the majority of us are products of. I, personally, was never home-schooled, nor was I ever really around many children who were. But as I think about what I might do for my children in the future, home-schooling doesn't sound like such a bad idea. I would imagine that all parents want to give their children all of the opportunities and advantages they possibly can. I know that when I have children, I will be striving to provide them with the best of things, including education. For some people, home-schooling is the answer. For others, it's not. The wonderful thing about the country we live in is that no one can truly tell us what is the best way for everyone. There IS no "best way for everyone". That's what's so beautiful about humanity. Everyone learns differently, at different speeds, from different people, and in different settings. And that's okay. It's so easy to judge ideas, based on past experiences and stereotypes, but maybe we should try to open our minds and really listen and learn about the differences that others have. I think we, as future educators, should look at these differing opinions as opportunities to take the ideas that are different from ours and incorporate some of those ideas in our teaching in order to more fully educate our students.

Paige, shouldn't parents putt their kids on a pedestal? Aren't parents suppose to choose what is in their child's best interest ?With that argument then Private school is also an inadequate way to education children.

I agree with the discussion in class today about the homeschooling issue. I understood where both sides were coming from. I went to public school and i'll admit that i stereotyped home school students because, in a way, thats what people from my school had learned to do. We all thought that they just stayed at home, they never got "socialized", they never had a specific schedule like public schools, and we often wondered if they were actually meeting standards. From my college experience and talking to some home schooled students u have found out that all of those assumptions were wrong, and i was glad of it. I found the points that Natalie brought up in class today to be very interesting and informative and it actually let me know why some parents choose to home school their kids.

After reading all of the posts, and our discussion in class yesterday, i too have been trying to sort through my personal opinions about homeschooling. I agree with several points from both arguments about homeschooling. I agree that it can be very beneficial in the fact that the child can focus on areas in which they might not be able to focus if in a regular classroom setting. I also believe that it can be beneficial in focusing on certain subjects. I do not in any way believe that homeschooling is inferior. I have several homeschooled friends, all of which are very smart and have done very well at the collegiate level. They have also done very well socially, and have had no problems interacting with others.

That said, I also want to point out that I really believe that success in homeschooling, which is the sole choice of the parent, really depends upon the child. It is not really what the child does or says, but the learning style of the child, as well as their personality, that is a deciding factor in whether homeschooling is successful for them as well. I know that me, personally, I would not have done well in a homeschooling environment. I actually tried it, but I was not motivated to do things on my own, and I needed the social interaction from my peers in a traditional setting. However, my sister, on the other hand, has a personality in which she would have been able to function quite well in a homeschool setting, based on her learning style.

All that said, I think there are definitely pros and cons to both homeschooling and schooling in a traditional setting, but ultimately, I think it is the job of the parents to decide what is personally best for their child.

Everything has it's pros and cons. We tend to bash people that are most different from us. Homeschoolers don't understand Publicschoolers and Publicschoolers don't get Public schoolers. The real basis for this arguement is to think about the INDIVIDUAL as well as the family and what is best for them. Homeschool isn't the best option for everyone, nor is public school, or private school for that matter. That's because everyone is unique. That's why we have options.

I've known public school children who have succeeded. I've known private and homeschooled children to succeed. I know public school children who have dropped out or failed, and I've watched my closest friend who was homeschooled, quit one credit shy of a GED and get married against her parent's will.

The real issue isn't the program. It's how the student applies himself and performs within the program. Variety allows flexibility.

I agree with Mandi as well! In my church back home, I am very good friends with a girl who was homeschooled and she hated it because she felt that she was left out of a lot of things because she did not have the social interaction that the rest of us in my youth group had because we were in public schools. I don't doubt though, by any means, that homeschooling is the best option for some people. I think that it takes very devoted parents to be able to schedule their school day and be able to teach their children the proper curriculum for their schooling. What I have a problem with are the parents who do not take homeschooling seriously and just do it to make it easier on their children.

Mandi I too agree with you. My brother went to school with two brothers who attended public schools until the second grade and then their parents decided to home school them. Once they did this my brother still stayed friends with the boys, but I remember him telling me that they would rather be in public schools with their old friends. When the boys reached high school their parents then placed them back into the public school system. The two brothers were very excited with their parents decision because of sports and getting to be with the people they had began their school experiences with. I do not believe that it is a total wrong decision to home school children, I just believe that for them to get that true childhood experience it would be better in a public school system.

Traditionally I have always agreed with Mandi's point of view and been opposed the idea of home schooling. I agree there are many advantages of home schooling such as being able to add any lesson or skill to the curriculum that you feel would enhance the education experience of the student or being able to tailor the pace each lesson is taught to the speed each student learns. I recognize and acknowledge these benefits of studying at home. But I still feel that the institution of public schooling provides the best education for children today. To me, the most important lesions I learned in grades K-12 weren’t written on the blackboard or scribbled in a notebook, but instead were learned through interacting with my peers. I’m not just talking about basic social skills. Natalie made a very good argument in class defending how many home schooled children interact with other kids in their own community, learning how to communicate and get along. No, I’m talking about different social interactions altogether. It was on a public school playground that I learned how to get up after taking a hard punch in the gut. It was there that I also learned how to throw one of my own. I learned who to trust and who not to. I saw first hand how social class, race, gender, and ethnicity all too often determine how we are treated and how we treat others. The most valuable lessons we learn through social interaction as children and young adults are the ones we learn when adults aren’t looking. We learn how to take care of ourselves. I’m not trying to say that children who are home schooled do not learn these lessons or have these same interactions with kids their age. I’m only saying that children who attend public school are immersed in these interactions 8 hours a day, 180 days a year. They experience more of the darker aspects of growing up, like dealing with bullies, drugs, sex, and temptations of all kinds and are better suited to handle them later in life. I’m sure most would use this fact as a reason to home school kids. I believe the opposite is true. The more practice kids and teens get making tough decisions while they are young, the better prepared they will be to make good choices when they are adults.

I think whether or not a child should be home schooled depends on the personal needs of that child. There are some children who would function better in a public school setting and others who would function better in a home school setting. They both have their advantages and disadvantages, but I would like to raise the thought:
The home schooled child is not just limited to their home school group. Also, with community sports, clubs, and activities, are the home schooled children really limited? Is a recreational soccer team any different from a school soccer team aside from the fact that one takes place in a public school and the other takes place outside of school? I think just because someone is home schooled doesn’t mean they can’t be involved in sports and other extracurricular activities; they just have to go about joining in those activities a different way from those in public schools. Having to play a sport with someone you would normally not play with could improve ones social diversity.

I really enjoyed our various conversations on homeschooling in our classes this past week. It was very insightful and helpful for me to see all sides of the argument. I have always been an advocate for public school, but I have, within the last four or five years, become an advocate for the prospect of homeschooling as well. I grew up in the public school system, and I absolutely loved it. It gave me opportunities, especially as an extrovert, to learn imperative social skills as well as academic principles that have combined to shape who I am, what I believe, and my personal academic interests. I wouldn't trade my public school experience for the world. However, as I have delved farther into my college existence, I have met many wonderful people who have given me a chance to see their point of view on homeschooling. As someone who truly believes that all people are different and that all people have a unique way of learning, the public school system just isn't right for everyone. Whether it is the parents decision or the student's decision, homeschooling is an excellent way to help those students who can't function in public school, who have certain exceptional talents or abilities, or those that want a way to be more family oriented. I am a complete advocate for the options and possibilities that homeschooling allows even though I have not experienced it myself.