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Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#51

Post by reeboo »

cvccvroomvroom wrote: post #31

Change schools or move somewhere with better schools. Unless you have a stay-at-home spouse and don't care about their socialization, homeschooling is an impractical fad that sabotages children's academic achievement and throws division of labor and specialization of trade to the wind under the mistaken presumption of ability brought on by Dunning-Kruger effect and a willful lack of comparison to the experiences of g…

> Dunning-Kruger effect

https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2022/04/08/the-dunning-k...

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#52

Post by laxk »

I recommend familiarizing yourself with John Holt, who played a monumental role in promoting homeschooling in the United States. His influence reached many, including my own family.

For more information on John Holt's work and perspectives on homeschooling, you can visit his website. https://www.johnholtgws.com/books-by-john-holt

Homeschooling offers a unique opportunity for bonding with your child and allows you, as an adult, to learn what you might have missed during your own childhood. :) It's a chance for personal growth and development. While homeschooling is certainly a commitment and can be challenging, its rewards are significant. Homeschooled children often stand out from the crowd. They exhibit high levels of curiosity, aren't afraid to ask questions, and can be quite challenging for any teacher – in a good way, of course!

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#53

Post by mattpallissard »

We homeschool our 5 children, one of which is high school age.

I wouldn't fret over experience. You're adults teaching material for children. Even if you don't remember specific material it's trivial to refresh yourself. It's mostly stuff you've learned already.

Patience as you correctly suspect is key. However it's not the typical patience you need when parenting. It's the ability to allow someone to figure something out, or to change curriculum or plans on the fly.

But honestly, that highlights the beauty of homeschooling. You can change, take a break from or altogether drop a particular approach. It takes some getting used to. Once you get over the panic that your child will fall behind and watch them work through a struggle over a long period it really is rewarding.

Go for it, you'll figure it out. The fact that you're worried about it is indicative of the fact you'll do a good job.

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#54

Post by eqvinox »

cvccvroomvroom wrote: post #32
eqvinox wrote: post #26

For the sake of perspective/completeness: No — homeschooling is illegal in my country. (Though I wouldn't do it even if it was legal.) (The thread title is "Do You Homeschool?", as opposed to "How Do You Homeschool?" or "What are your experiences homeschooling?")

Where is that?

Somewhat redundant with the map in the sibling post, but it's Germany.

This is obviously colored by my own cultural perspective, but homeschooling is seen like hereditary debt. Children have a right to build a life free from "faults" of their parents. Allowing children to be removed from the public school system is very broadly viewed as leaving them much worse equipped for their later life, not unlike had they inherited crippling debt.

(And from having attended school in Germany — I don't see how any parent [or even group of parents] can teach a curriculum even remotely similar to a German high school. You'd need more than one person's worth of full time occupation just to prepare across history, math, geography, literature, chemistry, biology, foreign languages… a pupil can pick up 3 foreign languages in a German Gymnasium ffs! Are you going to put them back into public school if your child turns out to have a talent/interest for languages? Or math? We did basic integral calculus. Can you teach that?)

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#55

Post by kdwikzncba »

johnny99k wrote: post #40

My kids are not in school yet. But, A friend of mine has a daughter that is very smart and does well academically. She would go ahead of the class in math on her own and the teacher took her aside and told her to 'limit herself' to only a certain amount of math/week, so she doesn't get that far ahead.

Disgusting

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#56

Post by kdwikzncba »

May I ask...

I have a toddler (2yrs), and I'm someone who is very concerned with the quality of education accessible to me/my kid and who's toyed with the idea of homeschooling. My biggest concern is the amount of time it requires. I think that effective homeschooling on limited time relies on the child spending large periods of time self-studying. At this stage due to his young age I don't yet know if he has the kind of personality/interest.

Would someone here share numbers? How many hours do you work a day, how many hours do you spend homeschooling your kid, and how many hours does your kid spend by themselves studying?

Thank you

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#57

Post by saluki »

We homeschooled our son, we planned on only doing it for a year or two to get around a not recommended by other parents 1st grade teacher at a private school he did Kindergarten at. My wife did most of the teaching. They loved it and continued all the way through high school. There are a ton of resources out there. It was a full time job for my wife and she put a ton of effort in to it. He completed High School early and started taking pull time on line university courses his Junior year. He's made straight As, got accepted at all 7 universities he applied at and got accepted at his first choice and invited to their honors/fellowship program. My wife did a great job so part of it is you get out of it what you put in to it. I'd recommend it. My son's friends who were in public school had tons of drama and stories about negative experiences in school. It probably depends on your school district and options and if someone can focus on homeschooling full time. I'd recommend year round schooling. So you can travel while everyone else is in school. Focus on school during the hot summer months and freezing winter months. Take days off for good weather and events around holidays. It's sort of like remote work for kids. Way more flexible. Plus let them study what they are interested in along with the standard core classes. You can always give it a try in the summer to test it out and see if the parent and student can focus on it and accomplish the required work. We did have a neighbor homeschool and the parent wasn't putting any effort in to it and their child was falling behind, that's not a good thing for their future so try it out and see if everyone is on board. Good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#58

Post by mharig »

eqvinox wrote: post #54
cvccvroomvroom wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where is that?

Somewhat redundant with the map in the sibling post, but it's Germany. This is obviously colored by my own cultural perspective, but homeschooling is seen like hereditary debt. Children have a right to build a life free from "faults" of their parents. Allowing children to be removed from the public school system is very broadly viewed as leaving them much worse equipped for their later life, not unlike had they inher…

Although I agree with your arguments, you forgot one or two things:

Public schooling in Germany is near pure chalk and talk. This kills the natural motivational learning-by- playing habit in most of the children very effectively. The approaches of Waldorf, Montessori, etc are far better. Although not perfect.

Public schooling transports the state propaganda. Although in nowadays Germany, it is more propaganda by ignorance than by direct indoctrination. Or did you learn about direct democracy, non-fiat money, self-administration in school?

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#59

Post by AnimalMuppet »

Dig1t wrote: post #19
ClassyJacket wrote: post #5

[flagged]

We are planning to have kids soon and I am seriously considering homeschooling for this reason. I also had a terrible experience with school growing up myself. It managed to make me hate learning for a long time, and I had to undo a lot of it. I really don’t want my kids to have that same experience. Seems like a confluence of factors that are making homeschool appealing.

If you decide to homeschool, do it because it is good for your kids, not because it would have been good for you.

The factors that made school terrible for you may make it terrible for your kids. Or they may not. Make the decision based on your kids' situations, not on what yours was.

Re: Ask HN: Do you homeschool?

#60

Post by t0bia_s »

kdwikzncba wrote: post #56

May I ask... I have a toddler (2yrs), and I'm someone who is very concerned with the quality of education accessible to me/my kid and who's toyed with the idea of homeschooling. My biggest concern is the amount of time it requires. I think that effective homeschooling on limited time relies on the child spending large periods of time self-studying. At this stage due to his young age I don't yet know if he has the kin…

From my friends, who homeschool their two children, it's about 2-3 hours per day. Sometimes more if they are curious, sometimes zero, because there are others more important things to do.

They are 8y and 10y.

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