Homeschooling

[EverlyGrace]

With the pandemic that continues, I’m sure some of you have been on the fence on whether to send your child back to school or homeschooling. I know I have been. For the experienced homeschool parents, can you give me a list of pros and cons of homeschooling vs Public/private school. And what program do you recommend?

 

[Billyd]

Unless you can devote eight hours a day five days a week to you children's education, send them to public school.

Visit virtual school sites if your county doesn't offer online education services while schools are locked down.

 

[blueluna5]

I would pick a cyber school instead. It's free and they attend online classes. They offer free laptops, curriculum, and internet.

A child only needs to do school 3or 4 hours a day this way. Scary but that's how much time is wasted at school.

 

[Godsgirl83]

With the pandemic that continues, I’m sure some of you have been on the fence on whether to send your child back to school or homeschooling. I know I have been. For the experienced homeschool parents, can you give me a list of pros and cons of homeschooling vs Public/private school. And what program do you recommend?

Well, I'm anything far from experienced as we just started homeschooling (personal reasons) right before covid shut our schools down, BUT I have done quite a bit of research on the subject.
One good place we started at is the organization (Christian faith based) Homeschool Legal Defense Association (clickable link)
Through their site you can find a wealth of information, including links to information about homeschooling in your state. In the US the homeschool laws vary from state to state.

Click here for the link that takes you to another thread on CC about homeschooling.

As far as programs, one of the pros in homeschooling is that there are endless possibilities. You don't have to spend a fortune on curriculum. I also recommend searching your library for books on the subjects "homeschooling" and "curriculum".

Hope this helps.

 

[Subhumanoidal]

With the pandemic that continues, I’m sure some of you have been on the fence on whether to send your child back to school or homeschooling. I know I have been. For the experienced homeschool parents, can you give me a list of pros and cons of homeschooling vs Public/private school. And what program do you recommend?

When homeschooled correctly colleges and universities often want homeschooled children. They tend to be more well educated and have more "extracurricular activities" since they don't require the extra time that school requires. Eight hours a day is not required for homeschool, unlike one poster wrongly claimed. Often times school time for homeschoolers is cut in half vs going to school, and accomplish the same, or more.

Also, in the modern age, sexual harassment is becoming more and more common among junior highers. Keeping children out of that environment can only be beneficial. For both guys and girls.

Due to the extra time saved by homeschooling it allows for more chances to do more things. Granted in a pandemic that benefit is lessened, but nonetheless it still free's up more time. So even if you are unable to get out much, you can find ways to do more at home.

Children are able to work more at their own pace. So if they whiz through some things and struggle with others, you can make those adjustments so they don't get bored on the easy parts pr frustrated with the pressure of being rushed through the difficult topics.

But homeschooling does require organization and planning. And to get the full benefits of it maintaining a consistent structured time and expectations, similar to how it would be in a school, provides a better benefit than being too lose.

 

[Quiverful]

Unless you can devote eight hours a day five days a week to you children's education, send them to public school.

Visit virtual school sites if your county doesn't offer online education services while schools are locked down.

I completely disagree because I'm speaking with years of experience. We spend 20-30 minutes a day per child. They are way more advanced than other kids their age. Reading books at 4 years of age and multiplication table at 7. Buy curriculum at Costco or online.

 

[Billyd]

I completely disagree because I'm speaking with years of experience. We spend 20-30 minutes a day per child. They are way more advanced than other kids their age. Reading books at 4 years of age and multiplication table at 7. Buy curriculum at Costco or online.

You have exceptional children if they are on track with 20-30 minutes per child per day. My son could read, write, add, subtract (any numbers), and could sit and listen for 20 minutes at a time, when he was in kindergarten. He spent four hours in the morning learning social skills, and one hour each afternoon learning how to read/write and add/subtract. That was at least five hours a day.

His class was a public school kindergarten class, and every student in the class could do the same thing.

How much are your children missing? What are you doing with the rest of the school day? Seems to me that you are cheating them out of education.

Can they pass the same grade level tests that public school students? In Florida, they are required to pass these tests.

 

[Quiverful]

You have exceptional children if they are on track with 20-30 minutes per child per day. My son could read, write, add, subtract (any numbers), and could sit and listen for 20 minutes at a time, when he was in kindergarten. He spent four hours in the morning learning social skills, and one hour each afternoon learning how to read/write and add/subtract. That was at least five hours a day.

His class was a public school kindergarten class, and every student in the class could do the same thing.

How much are your children missing? What are you doing with the rest of the school day? Seems to me that you are cheating them out of education.

Can they pass the same grade level tests that public school students? In Florida, they are required to pass these tests.

They are not missing anything useful. Most schools teach useless things that you will rarely or never need. Like where in the real world do people actually need to know about the pythagorean theorem? And you never get one on one time with your teacher.

To be honest, I don't know if they'll pass school tests but I'll tell you my 10 year old just changed our kitchen faucet. I only needed to make sure the connections were tight enough. My 7 year old is learning about photosynthesis, biology, electricity, how GPS works, etc. My 13 year old has plenty of construction experience and a decent bank account balance. And has a life plan for success... Buy a car at 16. Save enough cash for college by 18. Have a house and career by 21. It was all written down like a professional business plan with statistics and all.

Unlike stereotypical homeschooled kids, they all thrive socially. And I don't foresee them not adapting to the real world.

With all that said, years ago the school teacher of my firstborn child (the now 13 year old) told us he will never be able to read. So we kept him home and taught him to read. He has no disabilities. He just needed the one on one time. That's key. The rest of the day they will learn from what you do: Change brakes on the car, make meatloaf, repair a roof leak, hem a pair of pants, paint a wall, gardening, painting. School won't teach most of these useful things.

 

[Billyd]

So you really are putting more than 20-30 minutes a day on each child. To be honest, you probably spend more than 40 hours a week teaching your children.

I know that my son and DIL spend at least that much time homeschooling. My granddaughter graduated at 16. She has been full time employed since the day of her graduation. My grandson 15, failed two state exam requirements (there's no doubt in my mind that he failed the exams on purpose) and now must attend public school next year. Funny thing. That's exactly what my grandson wanted at the beginning of last school year.

 

[Quiverful]

So you really are putting more than 20-30 minutes a day on each child. To be honest, you probably spend more than 40 hours a week teaching your children.

I know that my son and DIL spend at least that much time homeschooling. My granddaughter graduated at 16. She has been full time employed since the day of her graduation. My grandson 15, failed two state exam requirements (there's no doubt in my mind that he failed the exams on purpose) and now must attend public school next year. Funny thing. That's exactly what my grandson wanted at the beginning of last school year.

The time spent was rounded off for sure. There are days where we do nothing. On rainy days we do extra. But my 13 year old was planning to go into highschool this coming year but that all changed because of how the school system plans to operate due to COVID. He was pumped about it prior but now has no interest. Oh well. The good Lord has his plan for us.

 

[Nehemiah6]

For the experienced homeschool parents, can you give me a list of pros and cons of homeschooling vs Public/private school.

There are no "cons" for homeschooling. Additionally, you can get materials suitable for Christian homeschooling (which includes Scripture within the curriculum). You can do a Google search for yourself.

The 10 Best Christian Homeschool Curriculum Programs
https://www.theologydegrees.org/best-christian-homeschool-curriculum/

Homeschool Curriculum
https://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/

 

[Quiverful]

There are cons but the pros are much much bigger. For example, we took a month-long vacation and they did not miss any school. And yes we do use curriculum with scripture in math, English, science etc.

 

[Mii]

Well, I recently heard (perhaps twice) that it was expected in Israel for parents to teach their children.

Sunday school wasn't ever mentioned.



I do think that it is a large time investment and some parents may not be the best teachers or they may be quite lazy.

It makes sense to me that the endogenous skill exists within all parents but the culture has sort of culled this to some extent consciously.


I have no children and wasn't homeschooled mostly. The one time I finally convinced my parents that I should be homeschooled I was able to finish a week of schooling in a day. Unfortunately, due to the lack of structure, this was an excuse for me to just waste time with games/TV, etc.


Thinking back, had my parents even known how to teach me or connected me with good teachers/tutors, I'm sure I would have loved to fill in this extra time. It's still a sore point to me even now so I won't get too deep into that...but it does really depend on the child and their needs.

Not that you shouldn't do it, just consider each child as needing a different curriculum.


For one, it might be a monumental achievement at the end of 12 years for them to get their diploma or GED.

For another, it would be quite ridiculous if that was all that was accomplished during that time. Dual enrollment with colleges is a thing (another lament)...this should be seriously encouraged with any child that has the aptitude. General education courses in college are a joke, easier in fact than some high school courses (honors or AP)


I won't go too much into my own personal "what ifs" but if a child is exceptional at taking tests and retaining information and absorbing it...consider CLEP

This is NOT mentioned in schools anywhere that I know and that is quite a shame.

Essentially you have to be 13 years old to take these tests but they are quite simple if one is a good test taker. It's really cool and I appreciate this thread because this may actually be an option for me with all the difficulty I had with schooling. It would've been nice to be 18 and have graduated college already to the tune of $4k but still this put it back on my mind and testing is one of the things I'm proficient at but couldn't figure out a way to use that skill.

There are homeschool groups that share the load between parents. That's a great option and also pretty realistic. It will probably take a while to figure it out, but reading from a textbook in the meantime isn't unreasonable. I myself enjoy reading textbooks and checking comprehension and being creative with how to teach someone teaches you at the same time. I do get that not everyone is geared that way, but I think we all teach in some fashion. Focus on your strengths and what you need assistance with (as a parent of a homeschooler).

Definitely a worthy pursuit. Certainly 8 hours a day is an absurd waste of time with standardized education, but 8 hours a day for learning is not unreasonable. Find out what they want to learn first and then encourage them with wisdom on what they need to learn but don't want to. If public school is any example, you can't force children to learn what they have no desire to quickly. It certainly sucked up a lot of my life and was probably the single most stressful episode.

Anyway, cool thread.

 

[Lanolin]

just wondered the homeschool parents do both of you have jobs as well or you both stay at home to teach or do you both work at home, if so what exactly are your jobs at home? Do your children just fit around your working hours or do you get paid to teach?
Many parents actually cannot work at home or stay at home as they have to be employed somewhere else...to pay the rent or mortage. Its really only those who live on farms or maybe operate homestays that can stay at home.

 

[Bluedragon]

I learned as a military brat at DOD schools. When someone says military schools, the thought immediately goes to "thugs"

When I entered Auburn I was years ahead of those around me.

Raising a daughter was eye opening. Brilliant at math until ... word problems. We found she couldn't read. Public school had failed us. The school decided to hold her back. I had a friend that had just become Principle at a new Christian School. I went to see him with a plan. Sylvan Learning Center focused on reading all summer. I was driving from Tampa to Walt Disney World every day. I got her up at 5 and had her read from the news paper while we ate breakfast each day. Soon she had the paper and was waiting for me to sit so she could read. Max had promised to try 5th grade classes until she proved she could or could not read. September started. I received a call .... " She reads everything, nothing stumps her." "Yeah but does she understand?" "When I questioned her with her English Teacher, she started telling me about the news out of Brazil!" "We've been reading about Brazil recently." "She reads Bible verses once and recalls them days later, you created a book worm." "Good, now can you tell me how to make her look like one? I fear boys tearing down my doors trying to get inside." "You did a great job Dad."

She raised four kids. Home schooled all of them. Hated the thought of public school.

 

[Prycejosh1987]

With the pandemic that continues, I’m sure some of you have been on the fence on whether to send your child back to school or homeschooling. I know I have been. For the experienced homeschool parents, can you give me a list of pros and cons of homeschooling vs Public/private school. And what program do you recommend?

Homeschooling is so expensive and limited that i would not advise it. The biggest positive is that there is more focus on the child, the biggest negative is that there are no friends to be made and no socialising.

 

[Camess]

Homeschooling is so expensive and limited that i would not advise it. The biggest positive is that there is more focus on the child, the biggest negative is that there are no friends to be made and no socialising.

Its certainly not free, but it IS worth it! As far as friends and socializing, church is the safest evironment. Public school the worst! There are also plenty of christian based events of you care to look. Plus if a child is interested in sports, they're entitled to be a part of any public school team. Plus you can find other private clubs. If you care about your childs mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health, homeschooling is the better option.

 

[Genipher]

Homeschooling is so expensive and limited that i would not advise it. The biggest positive is that there is more focus on the child, the biggest negative is that there are no friends to be made and no socialising.

No friends or socializing is a pretty absolute statement.

I've been homeschooling my kids for 15 years now and they not only socialize but (gasp!) have made friends at church, co-ops, etc, etc, as well.

I went to public school and I have to say, my homeschooled kids are waaaaay more social than I ever was.

You are correct about the financial cost. It can get spendy, depending on the curriculum. Though it's worth the price.

 

[Camess]

I forgot to add my sister and i were both homeschooled. Now she and her husband(who went to public school) are homeschooling their three children. They both work full time (as did both my parents) but they still find the time to teach. So its not imposible to homeschool if both parents work outside the home.

 

[Lanolin]

do the parents work from home just wondering.

A lot of parents dont, so they would have to change jobs to do this. Or take their children to work with them.

Just been reading Educated by Tara Westover, who claimed she was homeschooled but actually wasnt. Her midwife mum gave up on her and she ended up working for her dads scrapyard business, athough health and safety wise was extremely lax.
They were mormons, but her dad was a paranoid mormon who stockpiled for the end times.

she got abused by one of her older brothers who was a bully. Her other brother urged her to do this ACT exam, that she had never taken an exam in her life...it was multi choice. she got into BYU. Then she got scholarships and ended up doing a pHD.

despite never having been to public school (dad thought was of the devil). However she was plenty abused by her parents who turned a blind eye to all the damage they inflicted on their offspring.

not so sure why they didnt seem to have any mormon schools in idaho they could have enrolled her in, but apparently it was fine to go to BYU (brigham young university) since it was connected to their church. Maybe their admission standards were quite low, who knows. Maybe it doesnt take much to get in when they are desperate for students.

I dont think homeschool is good for children if their parents want to indoctrinate their children...public school here doesnt indoctrinate to the extent parents do! you have different teachers each year and in high school each period, so its not likely you will be indoctrinated the way you would under one controlling parent for your entire growing up years.