home-schooling

[Whateverist]

What is the purpose of home-schooling?

is it practised in order to keep children away from gay teachers and peers?
that they will not study evilution in those godless schools?

to mods: maybe this thread should go to some other section.

I suspect it is most often chosen when the world view you wish to impart to your kid is not the one implicit in the education the local school system provides.

[mlmooney89]

There are multiple reasons to home school and most have nothing to do with religion.

Live too far away from a public school to make the trek back and forth daily

Child is sick and can't attend enough days to meet the min required days. Or the parent is too sick to leave the house enough to help make sure the child is getting a good education.

Social skills can't be raised and it is difficult on the child in large crowd settings

The local school district sucks balls and they would learn more away from it

Child learns either quicker or slower than the general public and either falls too far behind or becomes bored and disruptive

The family moves too much to bother with public school (ie famous, rich, or military families ((I once spent only one month in a school because of military moving and had to because of public school rules and it was very irritating)) )

[CapnAwesome]

I think people home school for a million different reasons.

[Minimalist]

The purpose of home schooling is to give parents the illusion that they can manufacture perfect little clones of themselves if only they can keep them away from "outside influences."

[drfuzzy]

The vast majority of home-schoolers in my area (US Bible Belt) are doing so because parents want to teach xtianity (usually fundamentalist) and keep their children away from the evils of the world: music, sex, drugs, tv shows, homosexuals, tattoos and piercings, gambling, - you name it.  These children are usually only socialized within their church groups and are usually completely unprepared for college.

Although I did know one woman, an atheist with three Masters degrees (Math, Psychology, and Special Education) who home-schooled her kids to keep them away from the Jesus freaks.  All three kids graduated high school courses years early, and are now in college on earned scholarships.

[Aroura]

I home-school my daughter, but not to keep her away from ideas, or to indoctrinate specific ones. I know a lot of Christians do, and it gives home-schooling a bad name. Secular home-schooling is a rapidly growing movement, so our outdated notions of all home-schoolers being sheltered creationists with no social skills needs to be re-evaluated.

The reasons we pulled her out of PS at the beginning of 2nd grade were many, but included:
1) The teacher and schools continuous suggestion that she might be a "high functioning autistic", and for us to test her for this so they can get more money.
2) The enormous class sizes. 30 kids with one teacher and often no helpers is insane.
3) How kids with behavioral issues were dealt with. Essentially, any misbehavior gets kids pulled out of class and put into a room where they can play or read quietly. If their behavior shows improvement, they get candy and cookies at the end of each week. All I saw (and I volunteered 3 days a week) was this school turning normal kids into problem kids by training them to associate bad behavior with rewards.
4) Speaking of awards, did you know that every child is special? One child was suspended in Kindergarten for willfully rubbing another childs face into a rope until they bleed. This bully of a child later won a school award for "Great sense of humor". Because every child needs to win an award at assembly.
5) My child was basically being taught to hate learning. 1 hour doing 2 math problems, bored to literal tears. Music is 30 minutes a week. Gym was cut entirely. When I brought her to public school, she was an eager learner. 2 years of PS later, she HATED school. So I brought her home to learn to love learning again.

I am very glad that public education exists, because every person deserves access to education. But our public schools in America are a disaster, and since I am able, I won't expose my kid to more of that until she's older and has a great basic education under her belt. She can go back to PS in middle school or HS, if she so desires.

[Edwardo Piet]

Social skills can't be raised and it is difficult on the child in large crowd settings

The local school district sucks balls and they would learn more away from it

Child learns either quicker or slower than the general public and either falls too far behind or becomes bored and disruptive

All these reasons combined is why I was taken out of school at age 6. Also I never lied as a child (and I still don't as an adult) and so when I told my parents I wouldn't sleep unless they took me out of school they knew I was serious.

[SenpaiNoticeMeYouBlindShmuck]

I was taught at home, and while I can't speak for anyone else it didn't do me any harm, I mean I've got a degree and plans to keep studying.

I wasn't taught at home for religious reasons, it was more moving to a new country my mother (quite rightly as it has turned out) didn't think the UK education system was as good as back home, and the statistics then and today support that. There was, and still is here, an obsession with English and Maths; kids do precious little else outside of it and they still rarely leave school competent in those fields.

It was a way of ensuring I had a fairly broad curriculum, I did study the same things children in state schools did although I did plenty of extra things too. Classics, Theology, Languages, Philosophy, Psychology, Law. So much time is wasted in a school that if you put your head down you can get through a lot more than the on average 20 minute main activities you get in a hour class here.

I don't think it would work for everyone, for some children school is the only social time and the only introduction to routine and consistency they get. For a child who has an active social life or doesn't like other people and one who can be kept to a strict routine by a parent who has the time it is far superior.

Seriously, even if you're only up to a basic level if you've the determination and persistence to study up yourself before preparing a lesson for your child I'd wager you could do a better job than most teachers; for the simple fact younger children are hardwired to listen to their parents and not other random adults who are also watching thirty other children.