Homestar Runner Wiki Forum

I see no need to have an introduction for this topic. I'll come right out and ask...

**drumroll**

The Question:

What do you think of Homeschooling? Do you think it's effective? Do you have any homeschooled friends? What have you heard about it? etc.

I have been home-educated all my life, so I'm slightly qualified to answer questions about it, as well. Y'know...just in case you had any questions about it.

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I'm mainly apathetic about it, but I'm a little more for public schooling (Not necessarily in a public school, however) over homeschooling. When you go to school with other people, you also develop social skills, simply by making and hanging around friends and dealing with difficult people. You can learn a lot more about human nature by experiencing it in a public (Or private) school, and you don't get the same thing when you're homeschooled.

Now, I've never actually been to a public school. I was at a private school for 6 years and now I go to a charter school, which, while technically public, is different from other public schools. From the private school, I got more "hands on" education and got taught in a smaller group most (Or some) of the time, two things you don't get from a public school that often but can get if you are homeschooled (Small group changing to 1-on-1 learning), so my opinion is sort of biassed in the fact that I was lucky enough to get a very good education, which some families cannot get. So, that brings me back to my apathy on the subject (I'm starting to think apathy is not the right word, since I continue to write about the subject). Different systems work better for different people, so homeschooling can be a good alternative.

I see no need to go to a certain place in order to learn. I mean, as long as you get regular social activity, what's the problem?

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<(* ) THRUSTER DUCK
( << )<~~~ WANTS
O O YOUR SOUL

[rant restraint mode: ON]

hmm.. A friend of mine's younger brother was taken out of school for a year and homeschooled. Apparently he became a lot less whiny, more mature, regained a love of learning and learned much faster. He stayed active in the stuff he was doing before, so there was no social isolation.

People say it's bad for socializing, but you can still join sports teams, hang out with people when they're out of school, and many districts allow you to come to school just for a class or two that would be hard to do at home. School is an extremely fake society anyway. First off, there's the age segregation, second, there structure and flow of a school day is nothing like the real world.

People I know who have been homeschooled have turned out to be the most mature, stable, kind, curious, entrepreneurial, confident people I know. If I have kids one day, they will never set foot in a school for full time classes until college (unless after a certain age they decide they actually WANT to go to school).

PS, some people think homeschoolers can't get into college. Actually, many colleges prefer homeschoolers.

EDIT: R&P?

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ATTN: LOWER BOARD USERS HAVE MOVED TO ANOTHER FORUM. COME JOIN THE FUN!

I assume that opinion i based on a typical public school, so remember that there are also private schools. In my opinion, the trick to a good education is the encouragement of learning.

I agree that this should be considered for the R&P forum, since public schooling is a government institution.

My basic stance: I don't know much about homeschooling, nor can I think of anyone I know who was homeschooled. However, the things I've heard about homeschooling show it to be a very positive alternative to public schools. Public school was hard for me socially, because I was a very late bloomer socially (which is largely due to having gone to a private school up through 4th grade). I found this lengthy article to be a good read, too, criticizing the social Darwinism that occurs within American public schools.

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The meaning of life is 'bucket.'

FOR PONY!!!

I've been homeschooled since I was in kindergarden, and this year I'm going to be.

I can say that it has it's advantages such as: Shorter time periods spent, privacy, flexability, and it helps build your self-dependance.

Flexability is really one of the best things. Infact, I can listen to my music while working and be on the forum at the same time. It's a very nice advantage.

And I can't always say that going to a private/public school helps with building socal skills. I went to a private school when I was thirteen, and it only hurt in me in so many ways that I'm still affected by it in some ways. Including my shyness.

In my opinion, it really matters what the child wants to do. I prefer homeschooling, and that's what I've been doing almost my entire life.

I went to public and private schools. I can say that homeschooling would have deprived me of that experience. Not to mention I was cloistered enough when I went to public schools, homeschooling would have made it worse.

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I thought about putting this in R&P, but since it wasn't really religion or politics, I put it here.

As for socialization, Wikipedia says


and here's an article that goes a bit more in-depth on socialization of homeschoolers. It goes on the offensive against public schools some, which I do not wish to be part of this topic, but be prepared for it anyway. I haven't read the whole article, btw.

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I was homeschooled or part-time schooled (half-home, half-public schooled) from 4th to 10th grade, and I think I learned a lot more than if I had been at public school full time. Of course, I missed out on some of the socialization (no big loss; up to the point when I started homeschooling, my classmates were grade A jerkholes hardly capable of intelligent conversation, imagination or rational thought), but I think I gained far more in the long run with a more diverse cirriculum. I think public school has its share of problems, and while homeschooling might not work for everyone, I preferred it immensely to the cattle drive of public schooling.

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I've always been to Public school, because I am lucky enough to have a more than decent School District. I know people who are homeschooled, and those who go to private schools.

The guys I know who were/are homeschooled have less... well... people skills. I know one switched from homeschool to public school this year, and from what I understand, he had a tough time. I can imagine that. He's a nice guy and all, but frankly, he doesn't deal with others very well.

The private school guys generally act like snobs. To me at least. I don't get why though. If I wanted to go to private school, I could. I'm no moron, and I think I could easily pass an entry test. I don't get why they think they're so much smarter and better than I (no offense to JuJu and anyone else here. You guyses are rawksome).

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Sister, now that we're grieving
Our fingers will falter
Our lungs will be leaking
All over each other and without even speaking
We'll know that it's over and smile and go greeting
Whatever comes next

Well, I was full time into Catholic school, so I have no personal experience.

However, my girlfriend teaches a private school that brings in home school students at times for group activities.

Conclusion: a lot of people jump to incorrect conclusions about home schooled kids. They seemed just as socially adjusted as the private school kids.

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True, private schools are usually better because they actually expect things of the students and encourage them. Most private schools are a better alternative for education than most public schools. But my personal opinions (which I can only back up with stories of people I know) are more in line with unschoolers.

Everything you think you know about society is useless when you get out of school, whether public or private, unless you've already had a lot of experience with jobs and other ways to work with people who aren't your same age in a contrived environment.

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ATTN: LOWER BOARD USERS HAVE MOVED TO ANOTHER FORUM. COME JOIN THE FUN!

I know lots of people who are homeschooled. And they say they don't really miss out on anything.

But if you're someone like me, who really never goes out... Homeschooling is not the way.
School is the only place I see my friends, really.

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NOT A SIGNATURE!

I'd say something about both being good and tell resons why but everything I want to say is above me.
I hope this isn't spam.

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(THE ABOVE USER HAS BEEN BANNED)

I would like to say this. Going to a private/public school cannot promise you friends.

I went to Heritage Christian School when I was thirteen in order to try and gain friends.

At first I was accepted, partially, but after two months my "friends" abandoned me.

I was teased for my poetry, I was ignored by everyone, and I was treated as an odd person. Whom everyone avodied.

At the end of the year I left, and I never want to go back to a situation like it. Just because it's listed as a "Christian school" doesn't mean anything.

Sorry for your bad experiences there, Alexander. I blame private school for a lot of my social problems as well.

Other than my physical appearance, one of the main reasons I got bullied so much was because I was a very late bloomer socially. I didn't know how to act around people for the longest time, and I can trace that back to my parents putting me in a private Christian school growing up (until we moved to Texas after I completed 4th grade). In that school, everyone was always well-behaved and never insulted anyone. So because I was never called out on what was socially unnacceptable then, I never learned what was wrong to do. What's more, growing up there, my parents essentially led me to believe that everything I would ever need to learn would be taught in school by my teacher, so if it wasn't taught in class, there was no point in learning it...so I never tried...meaning that I never gained "street smarts" until high school. And going to public schools in the district I was in here in Houston, not knowing street smarts was social death. Also along similar lines of thinking to learning only what the teacher says, I also took everything very literally for the longest time. So all those insults I suddenly started getting in 5th grade really got to me. And I became extremely suicidal and homicidal until I graduated, which I sometimes still have to fight from time to time even today.

[sarcasm]Yay for private schools.[/sarcasm]

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The meaning of life is 'bucket.'

FOR PONY!!!

I agree that homeschooled kids can be socially mature and all that, but it does take a lot of work on the parents' end. They need to actively involve their kids in music, sports, art, whatever outside the home environment so they can interact with other kids on a frequent basis. I've known a lot of children whose parents didn't do this, and they are so socially backward I fear for them even if they never attend school until college.

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I'm deeply sorry that you both had bad experiences. I'm always here, just so you know.

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(THE ABOVE USER HAS BEEN BANNED)

My wife was homeschooled from about midway through junior high until she finished high school. Her little brother started homeschooling well a couple of years before that even, and did pretty much 5th grade onward homeschooled. The reason that their family went to homeschooling wasn't because of some familiar distaste for the public school system or anything like that, it was because as kids they weren't doing very well in that structure.

Going to public school doesn't make you social, and being homeschooled doesn't make you socially inept.

The people you know who are awkward socially mostly likely would be socially awkward no matter how they are schooled, and by homeschooling those people, they have a much better possiblility of turning out better in the long run. If you hate public school and dislike the teachers and avoid other students, you won't learn much. But possibly, by homeschooling, you can remove a lot of those stressors and become a much higher achiever academically. This won't affect you socially, and in fact, by reducing a lot of the school-based social stress at a younger age, they might be much more confident at making friends and integrating outside of the school environment.

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If I ever have kids, I plan to homeschool them until about 12 or so. I hope to teach them Latin and Greek. But after 12, I hope to enroll them in Christian school, preferably Lutheran.

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Didy, I'm glad to hear it.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the reaction to this topic. Homeschooling is more accepted now than it used to be. The main concern seems to be socialization.

Homeschooling isn't so much just "school at home" as it is more increased parental control over education. As such, it's their responsibility to make sure the education is of a high quality in all areas of the child's life. including social education.

Homsechoolers interact with each other way more than you'd naturally think.

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I think if a kid is brought up homeschooled... It's good, I guess. As long as he/she is involved in things. Sports, clubs, that type of thing.

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NOT A SIGNATURE!

I have been in several public schools, and I can tell you that it is not always better for a student socially. Being in public school can have just as much a downside as homeschooling. Kids can be bullied, cast out, or pretty much ignored, and these things can really turn someone backward too. I'm not going to promote homeschooling since I don't know much about it. I just wanted to point out that socializing isn't any easier in a public school than it is in a home school or private school.

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Exactly. It all depends on the effort the parents and/or children put into it.

And the same goes for education in general. Regardless of where you go to school, you can get a good education if you try. If you try to be socialize'D, you will be.

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I'm not a fan of homeschooling. I know people who are, and they are social wrecks. They have a hard time in conversations. But, I respect the parents choice, because it's their child, not mine.

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If I were in a position to do so, I'd love to homeschool Derek. Unfortunately, it's just not possible at this time.
However, I can and do educate him constantly about anything and everything of interest to him (and if I am unaware, we learn together). I never let slide the opportunity to teach him, that would be negligent in my opinion.
I am currently working toward a degree with the intent to become a special-ed tech in an elementary school, and though my original intent was to be teaching in whichever elementary school my son attends (for we will relocate in the spring), for reasons on which I care not to elaborate it cannot happen that way.
I certainly play an active role in my son's education, which *should* be the case with every parent. There is no reason that publically educated children can't be as enriched and well-rounded as home-educated children, but children need to learn more than six hours a day.
I've exercised my right to ramble here and hope that I have been clear in my drivel. It's late and I've got Lightfoot on my mind...

Oh, I love that guy! I wish the Brothers Chaps hadn't gotten rid of him.




Kidding.


As for homeschooling, I don't have much to say about that, but I don't see anything wrong with it. Except maybe that the kid might have less social skills, but other than that, I don't see why not as long as the kid learns.

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So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain. Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?

Homeschooling is fine as long as the parent/guardian who is teaching is doing a good job. My cousins who had been homeschooled all their lives had very poor education until they went to an actual school. That's beacause my aunt didn't really teach them anything. Then again, I'm sure a school could be bad and not teach you anything...

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There's a homeschooled girl down the street from me who's about 12 or 13 years old who I've never talked to because her parents taught her never to talk to any strangers. I've met her parents, though, and they've tried to enroll her in a private school, but she's so shy that she's afraid of anybody except her own family. That leads me to believe that kids should be in public schools for at least a year, even if it's only a preschool class, to get used to meeting new people and making friends. That's only needed, though, if the parents don't have enough time take thier kids out and let them socialize them with others at a very young age.