Is homeschooling a success?

[patreiche]

Well I think the success of home schooling depends on several factors.

1. The teachers (parents) ability to teach.
2. The child's willingness to learn from their parent (most kids behave worse for their parents then they do some one else)
3. The parent's desire to teach the right things ( as you can see from on here every parent has different desires for their children) slightly skewing your child's education to your interest is all right but a major skew could be harmful.
4. Is the proper socialization provided for the child?

Problems I have with homeschooling:

1. The child will basically have one teacher all their life. ( I think children learn better from multiple sources) just like we show them multiple pictures to ensure they understand a concept I think children should have multiple teachers.
2. If the parent (teacher) is disturbed in some fashion this is all the child is exposed to and the child is likely to be disturbed also.
3. Parent could be a  horrible teacher.
4. If the parent's desire to home school is to enrich their child's life and expose them to a wide variety of topics then great, but if the parent's idea of home schooling is to brain wash their child and limit their exposure to other cultures and ideas then I am totally against home schooling. My nightmare would be a KKK person or NAZI extremist or Taliban or any other zealot home schooling their child. The risk to home schooling is brainwashing a child and not developing a healthy member of society. It is not the libertarian left teachers that bother me but the extremist right educators that concern me.

Why do families choose to homeschool? An analysis of 300 newspaper and magazine articles about homeschoolers revealed that the top four reasons were dissatisfaction with the public schools, the desire to impart religious values freely, academic excellence, and the building of stronger family bonds. Those reasons coincide with the findings of polls of homeschoolers. For example, the Florida Department of Education surveyed 2,245 homeschoolers in 1996. Thirty-one percent returned the survey. Of that group, 42% said that dissatisfaction with the public school environment (safety, drugs, adverse peer pressure) was their reason for establishing a home education program.


I can see the parent's concern about the education environment. I think if you have an effective homeschooling program that you probably will have academic excellence. What do you do if your child gets a bad teacher in a school system? I do think a parent should teach values to their child and certainly stronger family bonds can't hurt. I just do not agree with brainwashing your child to your religion. I feel that children should be able to choose their religion just like they would choose a career or spouse. The children should be taught about all the different beliefs and later in life allowed to choose their religion or no religion when they are capable of making that decision (at least 20). The problem I have with most parents homeschooling is their desire to brainwash their child with their religion. Religions are based on faith and not facts but yet generation after generation brainwashes their children and passes on their religious beliefs. Wars are fought over these differences in beliefs and a lot of innocent young soldiers die for some faith which was created years ago. I have found that children who are brought up stifled with religion do not turn out the way the parents would like but the ones brought up with the freedom to choose will most likely make their parents proud of their informed decisions.

I do see many benefits to home schooling if done effectively. I believe in a free choice society, so even though I can for see many problems with permitting home schooling, I do not think that choice should be eliminated for parents.  I think home schooling your child is such a huge responsibility, that guidelines and monitoring should be established. Personally I think a parent should augment and monitor the education provided by a school system for their child, although sometimes an adequate school system is not provided. I do believe in home schooling for young children where education systems are lacking. I think this is a crucial age and the parents opportunity to mold the values of their child.

One thing that I think is an excellent result of homeschooling is forums like this where ideas can be shared. I see better educational tools being developed as a result of the desire to home school. Just look at leap in progress of Little Reader from the first version to the curriculum version. KL and his group are excellent at listening to feedback and improving their product. I think a lot of the material being used at the public schools is out of date. I think they are just beginning to study the brain. I think the education field is wide open and ready for a revolution and why most parents are anxious about their child's education.

[mother of faith]

This topic was split to start a new one, here is the original post http://forum.brillkids.com/homeschooling/homeschooled-parents-homeschooling-their-children/msg44463/?topicseen#new

[Denise Joy]

For me and my 6 year old son homeschooling is a success.

I believe that one of the keys to our success is that I try to make learning fun.
I have attached some pictures of some things I have done. The math robot would spit out equations that George would answer.  For math we also play math bingo and math war. The other math chart was used to keep track of when he was able to say an equation instantly without pausing. When he knew it well enough to give the answer instantly he could colour in a cirlcle. When he completed the chart he got a prize.

The other chart is for the bowling competition. Every piece of school work he did earned him a sticker. When he completed the whole chart he earned a trip to the bowling alley.

There are so many fun things you can do especially for the little ones. Even for bigger kids though games can be used. The key is knowing your childs interests.

George loves science so we may do a science experiment for a reward after doing some other school work that he doesn't enjoy so much.

George is in grade 1 and is reading at grade 5 level. His math skills are also beyond his grade. We do lots of things he enjoys and the nice thing is that we rarely spend more than 2 or 3 hours in a day on school work.

In our case socialization is not a problem as George is a very social child. We have friends over , he attends a weekly kids club and is very well adapted.

Our homeschool is far from perfect but it has been effective and enjoyabe for both me and George.
Denise
 

[mother of faith]

Thanks for the pics. That's right homeschooling is fun if you make it fun. I love making new games, and ideas up for my LO. They seem to enjoy having something new presented each week instead of the same old routine everyday, don't get me wrong a routine is great, but sometimes we need a little play, 'play time' mix.
We use smiley faces, we circle a smiley face for things completed and that wins them a popcorn party, a cupcake party, etc. We even go to the park when the weather is suitable. Or we get to go to work with daddy.

Wow, level 5 reading that's great.

We spend around 1 to 2 hours a day at school as well sometimes less but we get to do tons of cool things to earn us our smiley faces.We use a lot of software as well, lapbooks, art projects, crafts, and music to enhance our curricula.

[Krista G]

I love homeschool!  I homeschool my 6 children grades 9, 6, 4, and 2.  My older children now use the Abeka video homeschooling.  It was quite an adjustment at first but we are very happy with it.  Before Abeka we did a combination of unschool and homeschool.  I really like the relaxed environment of unschooling.  I was never brave enough or organized enough to jump in fully to unschooling, but I think it can really be an excellent way to encourage learning.  I love when my children jump into a subject or a project tirelessly because it is something THEY want to do.

I have also found that you can begin teaching children much earlier than school normally does and this way they get a headstart. Most of my children are at least a grade ahead of where they should be just because we started earlier.  I think this is awesome because it allows them to pursue a career at an earlier age, giving them the opportunity to finish college earlier and getting a head start on their careers.

I am hands on with my 5 year old.  We do school for about 2-3 hours per day.  He would be in kindergarten if he were in the school system, but because he learned to read early he is working on a second grade level.  I don't know what his reading level is, but it is certainly higher than 2nd grade. 

Even if you don't teach your babies to read you can teach your 3 year old to read.  I didn't know of Doman until baby number 4, but I taught all my other children to read beginning at 3 years old.  Early reading definitely gives them a strong start in school and later in life.

[patreiche]

The part I like is the amount of time spent on home school seems to be much shorter so the extra time can be spent learning music or field trips or something new and exciting everyday. I think a lot of time is wasted in the regular school day. Maybe because  they did not start learning soon enough. Wouldn't it be nice if they invested in teaching the kids at a younger age and shortened the school day, then it would not increase the cost. The children would get a better education and in a shorter amount of time.

[mother of faith]

I have also found that you can begin teaching children much earlier than school normally does and this way they get a headstart. Most of my children are at least a grade ahead of where they should be just because we started earlier.  I think this is awesome because it allows them to pursue a career at an earlier age, giving them the opportunity to finish college earlier and getting a head start on their careers.

I like this idea. I started homeschooling my children at 6 months old. I knew a kid in high school that was 14 when he graduated from high school. he then went on to our local university. he had a full time job and career at age 18.

[Krista G]

I love that!  Finished with school at 14!  Imagine, you could study to be a doctor and start working in your early 20's.  That is so awesome.  So much of the day is wasted with regular school.  First you have to get up and get ready and pack lunches and driving time.  For the early years in just the time that it takes to do that you could be done for the day.  Participating in other activities is a very big reason for homeschooling.  One of my kids will graduate highschool at 15.  She will have plenty of time to finish college and begin a career by the age of 20.  I hate to think of my children wasting years of their lives in school when they could begin their careers.

[Nikita]

back on to my high horse about homeschooling, but I do speak from experience... regular school with my older three has been a great time-wasting experience, as well as a great emotional drain. time-wise, the trips to the school to discuss bullying issues, as well as finding parents who have experienced the same problems with the bully, has been and still is, quite draining on myself. I just swapped my daughter's school due to on-going bullying, and have uncovered quite a cover-up over this boys bad behaviour, which will take up more time exposing it. And I will expose this, as it amazes me that one boy can get away with causing his friends to be expelled for things he does, and causing other kids to be removed from the school, with the parents regularly complaining to the school yet it all falls on deaf ears.
Then there's the cyber issue. Kids in school love to msn, myspace, facebook etc. And have mobile (cell) phones. All of which take up a lot of their time, especially if there is cyber-bullying going on (and there is, believe me. It's shocking. My daughter just started at her new school and already a girl in a higher year level took offense to her as apparently this girls love interest is keen on my daugheter (and everyone knows who likes who at school). i was shocked by the facebook messages this girl sent to my daughter a few days ago. All sorts of name-calling and swearing at her. And trying to turn other kids against her. All due to that green-eyed monster, jealousy. And so my daughter is consumed with these new issues, trying to fit in and make new friends, and dealing with instant enemies. This takes up A LOT of her time. I try to encourage her off the net, but she get's resentful. It's making her into the troubled moody teen I believe homeschooling would have avoided. I'd love to homeschool her!! But she refuses..it's nerdy. And her father refuses.
So with the younger ones (different dad) I look forward to homeschooling. I truly hate school. And yes, a lot of time is wasted at school, with kids mucking about in class and not much getting done. The travelling to and from school. Parent-teacher interviews. Information sessions. graduations. Awards ceremonies. helping out in class and with excursions, fetes, canteen etc. It really takes away from family time in so many ways. I'd never do it again. I want to move interstate now, but hey, the kids are complaining because they'll miss this school friend, and this school camp etc...the family unit is not their priority.

[Krista G]

This is awful what you have to go through.  My husband and I were discussing school versus homeschool the other night and I think one of the huge benefits to homeschool is the lack of all waste that happens with regular school.  You don't have to worry if you have the right clothes, the right friends, the right boyfriend, etc...All this takes away from actual learning anyway.  When my kids get up and go into the schoolroom, they are going to learn, period.  They know that and they like that.  I can think of so many examples of things that distracted me from learning when I was in school.  I always loved school.  I love to learn, but that was not my focus each day.  It was all the other stuff.

[romacox]

Homeschooling is not for everyone.  However it is well worth considering.  Teachers are now the biggest influx into the home school venue, and in the article linked below they give their reasons:

 Thinking About Homeschooling? Teachers Are  http://ezinearticles.com/?Thinking-About-Homeschooling?-Teachers-Are&id=2499296

[Baining]

You know why I started homeschooling my kids?  Don't keep reading if you don't want to know!
I did it because the education system failed me!  I felt so stupid, embarrassed and inadequate at school.  I felt apathetic because well what was the point.  I always thought if I had kids I would send them to school and just hope they were smarter than me!  Then I had the boys and they loved to learn, everything, all the time!  We were having so much fun and the crazy thing is I was learning!  I learned the planets and many stars, I learned geography!  I sent my oldest to school and it was gone!  He hated being there and he was not learning!
I cleaned house for a former teacher and I did not want to tell her my desire to homeschool (of course she would be against it right?)  Well it came up one day and I asked her opinion on it.  Her answer "If your really love your kids, you can not do a worse job than the school system!"  Needless to say we have been loving home studies ever since.
An added bonus our state Nevada is ranked 50th worst of the 50 states!  Speaks for itself!

What have I learned since I graduated?  A lot!  Including Mandarin!  More importantly that I am not an idiot! 
Bonnie (Baining)

http://mandarinkids.wordpress.com/

[Nikita]

i love that I am learning new things. And as I always wanted to be a teacher, but wasnt allowed to study education as my parents were against it as a career choice, I am putting my natural inclinations as a teacher and researcher to the best use possible...my own kids (as opposed to other peoples kids and not my own. It saddens me that parents who are childcare workers or teachers are usually not allowed to have their own children in their class/room).

[shadah]

I just wanted to say that parents do not have to be good teachers. My mother was not. But, she was good at motivating us to learn. She structured our days well. She was consistent.
She also got other people to show us things. We learned a lot from other people, which meant that we in reality had many "teachers".
I think school is a waste of time. Schools use how many hours, days, years to teach what can be learned in a relatively short time.
All that said, I do not believe homeschooling is for everyone. I have friends whose parents should never have homeschooled. One has a teenage brother who cannot read. His parents never tried to teach him. They thought if he really wanted to learn he would teach himself.
So, homeschooling is what each person makes of it.

[Tanikit]

My husband and I would like to homeschool our children and the main reason is that the schooling system here in South Africa is awful. Besides that even in a private school my daughter is already well ahead and will have to sit through things she's known since she was 18 months until she is 6 years old - and what will she know by the time she does get to grade 1?

In part I do want to protect her from the schooling system - not just educationally, but also the bullying and unhappiness. If she has a sibling or two she will learn about that from them with an adult there to step in and teach how things should be.

The homeschooled kids I have talked to seem more mature and happier speaking to adults than children who come out of schools and spend all their time with children the same age as them.

As for religion - yes I do want to teach my child about my own religion, but she is already asking questions about other religions and she is only 2.5 years old - "why are those people wearing those clothes?" I tell her the truth and will tell her something about other religions, but I think religion is generally "taught" as young as a year of age and you cannot get away from it. Homeschooling or not our children will be in contact with our own religion because we will take them with us to our own churches or wherever we go. Even strongly religious-biased curriculums do at a later stage teach about other religions purely because children need to know what goes on in the world. A child is always free to make their own decisions regarding this- it is not possible to brainwash a child - in the end they will be adults with the right to make their own decisions and if we have homeschooled well then they will be well equipped to make good choices (religious and otherwise)

 

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