• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Homeschooling

93JC

Active member
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
3,989
^That's not surprising. :laugh:


I don't have kids so no, but if I did the answer would still be no. There are few private schools here and most are either for students with special needs or for students whose parents' are bible-thumpers. Even if I had the money for a private school that was more of a 'prep' school I would be hard-pressed to send my kid there. I'd rather my hypothetical kids learn how to relate with normal human beings from different backgrounds and who hold different views than the alternative.
 

autumnandtherain

New member
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
185
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
Did you like it, or do you wish you went to regular school?

Well, I was always homeschooled, so I don't even know if I would have liked regular school or not. I liked homeschooling enough though. I liked that I had the freedom to do things like travel with family during the off-season, pick extracurriculars to study that I was very interested in, get a job at 16 and work mornings, etc. In middle school I thought I might like to try public school but mom reminded me that I'd have to give those things up, so I decided to continue to be homeschooled. Looking back, I think it was a good decision. I wasn't anti-social, but I wasn't with thousands of other kids every day so I learned who I was at a very young age, and spoke with adults more than kids my own age, and was often told I was very mature for my age.
 

Magic Poriferan

^He pronks, too!
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
14,081
MBTI Type
Yin
Enneagram
One
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Don't have kids, but I was home schooled all my life.

It has pros and cons, but I don't regret it. I think I would be a different person had I gone to public school, but while there are admittedly also pros and cons to that, I think the things I like about myself would have been hit a lot harder than the things I don't like about myself.

I cannot recommend it because it is extremely dependent on the parents; their commitment, methods, knowledge, and desired outcomes.

Related to that:

I'd rather my hypothetical kids learn how to relate with normal human beings from different backgrounds and who hold different views than the alternative.

This is what may or may not happen depending on the parents. I am no socialite, but I will declare the conceit that I am more open to diversity and more capable of putting myself in someone else's shoes than the great majority of people who go to public school. However, being home schooled, my mother had tried to look into any sort of community support or networking for home schooling, and what we found where tons of religious zealots whose primary intentions were to make their kids single-minded devotees to the faith and its so-called values.

Me on the other hand, my dad largely wasn't involved, which left just my mom, who is of an incredibly nebulous and indecisive sort of personality. She went to further extents to warn me against conclusions than to actually tell me right from wrong. I happened to have the benefit of also being in a house jam packed with books and being of that first generation to really make use of the internet.

So it really depends on the parents, and I should also add that it depends on what kind of peer groups the children spend their time with.
 

21%

You have a choice!
Joined
May 15, 2009
Messages
3,224
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
Nope. But if I have kids in the future I think I might want to have them part home-schooled, if that's possible.
 

Fidelia

Iron Maiden
Staff member
Joined
May 31, 2009
Messages
14,497
MBTI Type
INFJ
I was homeschooled for Grades 7-9 because we wanted to travel, and I had too many after school activities I wanted to fit into my day. I also attended public and independent schools. Those homeschool years were excellent. Since then, I've seen both excellent and abysmal instances of homeschooling and of public school (I am a teacher). I don't think HSing is for everyone, but it can be wonderful under the right circumstances.
 

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
I've sort of done it. I'm not really great at routines, but most of my kids would have to be locked into a soundproofed, dark closet to be kept from learning. Of course that can leave them really unbalanced. They've all managed to adapt pretty well to public school and that is probably where they will stay for the duration.

I think there are benefits to different kinds of schooling but I'm not good at homeschooling. I am too laid back and unfocused to do well at it and I am also not great at doing the social thing. People who are good at it or who have really motivated kids can do really well with it, though.
 

autumnandtherain

New member
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
185
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
You do have to document a lot of stuff. That became an issue in high school for me when preparing for college because my mom didn't document ANYTHING I did. :p
 

Magic Poriferan

^He pronks, too!
Joined
Nov 4, 2007
Messages
14,081
MBTI Type
Yin
Enneagram
One
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
You do have to document a lot of stuff. That became an issue in high school for me when preparing for college because my mom didn't document ANYTHING I did. :p

My mom did not fail to document everything because we annually had to send the school board some evidence I was actually understanding at the level they wanted. That being said, it was still pretty bare bones and I know what you mean.
 

prplchknz

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
34,397
MBTI Type
yupp
my friend homeschools though her kids are 3 and 5 so still really young. I don't know if she's going to homeschool them their whole school career, she's not a crazy religious freak, just the public schools in memphis suck and she had an extremely bad experience with school growing up
 

Ivy

Strongly Ambivalent
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
23,989
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6
I cannot recommend it because it is extremely dependent on the parents; their commitment, methods, knowledge, and desired outcomes.

I don't think HSing is for everyone, but it can be wonderful under the right circumstances.

I was also homeschooled for parts of middle and high school, and I agree with these statements. It depends entirely on the individual circumstances. I've seen it done extremely well for children who thrive with it, and I've seen it done exceedingly poorly with children who would have benefitted from a school environment. And just about every shade in between.

For myself, I'm grateful that my parents took my individual needs into consideration and made the best choice for me- and let that choice evolve as I evolved and as circumstances changed. I was homeschooled, public schooled, and private schooled at different points, and they were all valuable experiences with both positives and negatives.
 
W

WALMART

Guest
I loved out of house schooling.

Would have been seriously deprived of experience had I never gone.
 

ceecee

Coolatta® Enjoyer
Joined
Apr 22, 2008
Messages
15,908
MBTI Type
INTJ
Enneagram
8w9
I never homeschooled and I wasn't myself but I know 4 families that do. It's far too wrapped up in religion and it seems they are only furthering their agenda by doing this, they're not taking the kids needs into account. The parents have point blank said this is what their church recommends, that's why they're doing it and I question their qualifications and ability. All 4 are farming families so I think that's the direction they're pointing the kids, not higher education. I know a couple of the kids from sports and extracurricular activity. They struck me as being fearful, one is being considerably pushed into sports, it's very obvious she doesn't want to participate.
 

autumnandtherain

New member
Joined
Aug 10, 2013
Messages
185
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
4w5
Instinctual Variant
sp/sx
My mom did not fail to document everything because we annually had to send the school board some evidence I was actually understanding at the level they wanted. That being said, it was still pretty bare bones and I know what you mean.

My mom documented that I was in fact, attending school at home... But that's pretty much it. She didn't really give me grades or document what classes I took, etc. She's a strong P and I'm a strong J, so that always frustrated me to no end.
 

Al Hoove

New member
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
11
MBTI Type
INTJ
Does anyone here homeschool?
We homeschool our 4 children. 2 have gone on to university with full ride scholarships after completing junior college locally. One is double majoring in Business Finance and Accounting (ENTJ) and the other is majoring in Horticulture with a specialization in vines and enology (INTJ). Both are making top grades, with an occasional B in the toughest science and math courses.

The older two attended a private school for the first 6 grades. The education there was adequate, but the expense was more than we felt comfortable with. The 3rd had two years in Montessori, but all grades have been taught at home. A licensed plumber friend of ours has taken him on one day a week as a helper (2 or 3 days a week in summer) and that has been an highly beneficial addition to his learning (ESFP). At age 14 he knows more about repairing things than many adults know. Our oldest son (ENTJ), now in college, worked during his teen years building fences, roofing, plumbing, lawncare, etc. He has an excellent work ethic and is resourceful. Our daughter (INTJ), the viticulture enthusiast, worked as a piano teacher and junior college tutor and instructor assistant. Ditto with her on work ethic and sense of personal responsibility. Our fourth is 10 yrs old and is a very independent student. He's self-starting and diligent. He makes it easy for us.

From my observations over the years, if you do not have the gut feeling that you're the one responsible for your children's education, instead feeling that others should be responsible for it, you will not enjoy home schooling your children. It requires commitment from the parent/s to make it a positive experience for yourselves and your children. So before you go any further, examine your own feelings on the matter. Be honest about it. If you dread taking responsibility for educating your children, go no further with it.

Next, my opinion of homeschooling parents is that the control freak Nazi types who dictate all things to their children are going to be very bad teachers. The hippie-dippy types who are lax and lazy about ensuring their children are getting an education are also very bad teachers. If you fall into either of those categories, again being honest with yourself, let somebody else do the educating so your kids don't wind up as the type of douchebag flakes that everybody looks at and says, "homeschooled... that figures!"

That much said, there are so many avenues of instruction for homeschooling that it's astonishing. You can enroll your children in a completely structured program, such as through Texas Tech University Home Schooling program, or you can assemble lessons and programs to suit your needs and those of your children.

Socialilzation: don't worry about this AT ALL. There are plenty of opportunities for children to associate with other children. Boy/Girl Scouts, Campfire, YMCA, Civil Air Patrol, extramural sports, homeschooling groups, etc. For whatever it's worth, I find homeschooled children to be more mature, more open, more able to communicate with a variety of ages/types of people than institutionally educated children. In general.

I was public school educated. So was my wife. I hated it. She loved it. Both of us agree after educating our children ourselves that we would prefer to have been homeschooled ourselves. Our children are usually finished with schooling within 3-4 hours, compared to 6-7 hours in institutional schools. Do the math on the time available for them to study their own interests, play, relax, read, etc... it's a huge savings in time that they just won't get in institutional schools.

Finally, by age 16, both of our older children were enrolled in junior college. We restricted them to 9 to 12 hours of credits per semester, not wanting to turn out drones who have graduated from college by age 19 or some silly thing like that. Yes, we've met homeschooling parents who seem to think having their kids finished with college by age 19 is some sort of positive reflection on themselves. I'd recommend not pushing your kids too far, too fast. Pace it to their interests and personality types.

Any other questions, feel free to ask.
 

Al Hoove

New member
Joined
Jul 26, 2014
Messages
11
MBTI Type
INTJ
There are a wide variety of reasons for home schooling and I've encountered many. Religious reasons are fairly common, but are by no means dominant, at least not in our circle of home schooling acquaintances. I've never seen a single instance of homeschooling because a church recommends it, although I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. One thing I do agree with some of my religious friends about is having 14 year old boys at school teaching other 14 year old boys how to be men and 14 year old girls teaching other 14 year old girls how to be women just makes no sense. And that's a lot of what passes for socialization among institutionally schooled kids.

Interestingly enough, I believe institutional schooling does a much more effective job at teaching children to lie more expertly and with less compunction than homeschooling can. If lying and prevaricating believably is to be the way of life, institutional schooling would be the way to go, no contest. The fact is, institutional socialization demands the individual subsume himself to the dictates of the herd, and most people have to lie to themselves and others in order to fit in. The better the child can lie, the better he/she can fit the mold nobody is really made to fit into.
 

ameeker

New member
Joined
Dec 13, 2013
Messages
89
MBTI Type
ENFJ
Enneagram
2w3
Thanks for the answers [MENTION=22255]Al Hoove[/MENTION]! I have a similar situation. I loved school, but my bf hated it. However, we both agree that homeschooling is the better way to go. Part of the reason why I support homeschooling is because of the Common Core, which dramatically changes the public schooling environment from what we both knew. Another part of it is the fact that I realized I did a lot of project-based unschooling with friends but just didn't realize that is what it is, and I think that contributed to why I enjoyed learning more than my peers.

Also, I am noticing even at age 30 that my bf still has certain attitudes that I'm certain he picked up from getting his education from his peers rather than from his parents. The damage has already been done and I'm working on re-educating him on *ahem* certain things, but I would prefer that my children do not learn about the birds and the bees from his or her peers, who would know just as much, if not less.
 
Top