In my years of teaching and time with my own 2 kids, I've encountered about 20 or so homeschooled children (either in school, church or sport teams) About 1/2 seemed to be receiving excellent educations. The remainder ranged from grade level to big Springer fans.
The reports I've heard from FR are those of parents who are very involved with their kids and providing top-notch educations either at home, at a private or public school. Wish there were more of them out there. All kids would be better off with involved parents.
Cue the chorus of they are still better off than the public school kids........
Sounds like my sister in law. The real reason she home-schooled her son was so she didn't have to get out of bed and take him to school.
Dad travelled 3/4 of the time.
Boy in mid 20s now and there is no college he can get into. Drifts through life, underwritten by his parents.
Do I hope that my children homeschool my grandchildren? ABSOLUTELY! But ... you gotta be committed.
I wish their were more competent teachers and public schools, too. Some teachers and group schools are better than others and some are downright destructive...just like homeschoolers. Excellence is not uniform in any walk of life.
Some parents say they are "homeschooling" to cover up for chronic truency. I don't deny that they are out there.
The homeschoolers that I know are all doing very well. Then again, the way I know them is from homeschool support groups and such, so if they weren't very committed parents, I would not be interacting with them in the first place
Similarly, the homeschoolers that you see are those that, for one reason or another, were not making it as homeschoolers, which is why they're back in the public school. So I'm not surprised that each of us is seeing a different view of homeschooling, because each of us is seeing a different subset of the homeschool population
You would not be seeing the successful homeschoolers because successful homeschoolers generally do not reintroduce their kids to formal school systems until high-school (fully equipped biology/chem labs are expensive, etc), or college.
My oldest, for example, went directly from homeschooling to community college for a year( at 15), then to 4-year college
I can cite 2 cases of public schooled students who were passed along, making good grades, but who are far below grade level.
Can you tell me how a 10th grader who reads at a low 6th grade level makes A's and B's? Or how a 9th grader, making overall good grades, can be failing math, because she is 4th grade level in her math skills. They put her in college prep algebra with 4th grade math skills!!!!! Big surprise that she is failing, huh?
I have known all types of homeschoolers, including unschoolers, who are successful. I have also known public and private school students who are successful. Then again I have known some from each of the above groups who are below where they ought to be. I don't think it's a good idea to paint all students from any group as good or bad based on a small subset of any group.
Personally I think the mother of the 2 children I know should remove them from the school system and homeschool. She couldn't do any worse than has been done to them.
As for my family, our daughter graduated from a magnet school in Dekalb Co. GA. Our son was in a magnet school until our move and then we homeschooled. I do not believe homeschool is for every family, it requires a strong committment of time and energy. For those committed it can be a wonderful experience.
ping
I recently began homeschooling. I am in a cover group that makes the parents accountable. If they aren't, they are dropped from our group and reported to the local school board. In my short time, I have found a variety of reasons and methods people use for homeschooling. Some are not so good. My deal is that as long as my kids produce an objective 90% plus in a subject, they can independent study that course. I still outline the assignments and tests based on a legitimate curriculum.
We do not watch TV during OR after our school time, but I had never thought of such until you brought up that point. The TV is a very powerful negative educational tool for even public school kids no matter what time they are watching it.