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Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

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Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#281

Post by llbeansandrice »

jandrese wrote: post #264
jawns wrote: post #150

People talk about homeschooling as if it's one single concept, but it's actually a whole bunch of very dissimilar things. There are people who homeschool because they don't agree with the government's viewpoints, people who homeschool because the public school system has failed their kids, people who homeschool because it just happens to fit their lifestyle. Those are all very different motivations. Likewise, there a…

There is a huge spectrum, but back when we homeschooled (my wife wasn't yet comfortable sending the kids back to the classroom in 2021) we did a few events where local homeschool kids got together for various activities. Tree identification/nature trail at the park, visits to historic sites, stuff like that. Of the parents I met there was some variety, but 9 times out of 10 it seemed like they were mostly doing it be…

It's really difficult because a lot of the resources and groups are created by and supported by this very religious group that homeschools.

There is still a very wide margin though. My wife was homeschooled because she did gymnastics at a fairly high level when she was young and so scheduling was easier for her that way. Her older sister wasn't homeschooled hardly at all though.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#282

Post by noelwelsh »

biomcgary wrote: post #206
lapetitejort wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was in a home-school coop about 25 years ago. We attended it a few times, until we stopped going. I was just a kid so I have no idea why we stopped. I remember it didn't help. I didn't know how to do any of the homework they assigned so I never did any (a practice that carried into high school). Since I never had tests or grades of any sort it didn't really matter.

Thanks for the additional details about your experience (and I'm sorry about them). Statistically, I'm slightly surprised that you were in a co-op that long ago. I was home-schooled a few years earlier and the notion of a co-op was just starting to be discussed.

There is a long tradition in this sort of thing in anarchist (and related) education. For example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-managed_social_center#Fre...

It's maybe not 100% what you're thinking of, but it's reasonably close.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#283

Post by marcusverus »

haizhung wrote: post #261

Am I the only one thinking that home schooling is the wrong solution to the underlying problem? The problem is that the public education sector has been - for years - continuously squeezed dry of any funding. Teachers are quitting left and right, and schools are in a terrible state. Instead of fixing THAT problem, now people homeschool. Ok; I guess. At least homeschooling is something that the individual can control,…

> The problem is that the public education sector has been - for years - continuously squeezed dry of any funding.

Public school spending in the US is up almost 50% in the last 30 years.[0]

https://www.statista.com/statistics/203118/expenditures-per-...

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#284

Post by tomtheelder »

pdonis wrote: post #210
defgeneric wrote: post #201

I'm skeptical when these parents their kids cite poor public schools as the primary reason for home schooling. When you look closer, it's almost always lifestyle and ideology that are the main factors. The often-cited failure in socialization extends beyond socialization within peer-groups as well--kids also need exposure to a variety of adults and authority figures. It's not only about learning how to make friends.…

A school-like environment that doesn't indoctrinate their children in values that the parents disagree with, which is what would happen if their children went to public schools.

Ok so they invented religious school which, again, already exists.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#285

Post by darigo »

lapetitejort wrote: post #137

I was home-schooled until high school. Long story short, it was a disaster. I bordered on having no education at all, on top of no socialization. I'm so fortunate I got at least four years of public school. I still think I suffer to this day. For parents who are thinking of home schooling your kids: best of luck to you. If you succeed, maybe your kids will be smarter. If you fail, you could be setting your kids up fo…

I mean, this cuts both ways. One of the most consistent predictors of success in public school is parental involvement.

The only school I ever went to that was good for socialization was community college. Tbh, for learning too. I basically learned all of math, from arithmetic up, as an adult at community college, to compensate for learning nothing and getting pushed through all of the grade levels at public school.

I wish they had community colleges where I live now lol.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#286

Post by tomtheelder »

jononomo wrote: post #212
defgeneric wrote: post #201

I'm skeptical when these parents their kids cite poor public schools as the primary reason for home schooling. When you look closer, it's almost always lifestyle and ideology that are the main factors. The often-cited failure in socialization extends beyond socialization within peer-groups as well--kids also need exposure to a variety of adults and authority figures. It's not only about learning how to make friends.…

> I mean reading this it just sounds like they are discovering the hard way the concept of... a school?? Yeah, a school that works.

It’s literally just a religious private school.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#287

Post by dmurray »

brightball wrote: post #7

When I moved into my current house about 10 years ago, the family next door home schooled. I'd never known any home schoolers before and definitely had some notions about how terrible it must be until I learned about it. This family was part of a home school group with other families. The kids went to different houses every day and had an instructor focus on 1 subject for half of the day, mixed in with free time, dep…

At what point does this become not "homeschool", but "school, with different licensing requirements for the teachers"? It doesn't seem right to discuss this setup in the same breath as children schooled by their own parent.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#288

Post by chasd00 »

camhart wrote: post #139

When the choice is be happy with your assigned school based on your location, or you have to uproot and move your entire household, homeschooling becomes one of the few options when public school is failing one of your kids.

If you have the ability and desire to homeschool then it's always going to be the best choice. Only if you feel like you won't be a good teacher or you do not have the resources should you consider public/private school. My kids are in public school because neither my wife nor I have the time to homeschool. However, I feel like we still do about 25% homeschool because of the engagement required to actually educate our kids. They basically goto school to sit in a chair until the workday is almost over.

/both our kids are in one of the "best" public middle schools in DFW supposedly. It's still filled with the most wildly incompetent staff imaginable.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#289

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

chmod600 wrote: post #62

If you home school, you don't get the money back. Public school is something like $12k/yr. That's a lot of money that you're essentially opting out of. For parents who do so for political or culture war reasons, that must seem profoundly unfair. To be driven out of the public schools means to be denied resources. Public schools using public money should be especially sensitive and as neutral as possible on political…

> If you home school, you don't get the money back. Public school is something like $12k/yr. That's a lot of money that you're essentially opting out of.

That's not money you have a right to as a parent. I don't take part in all the social programs my government offers, but I don't get all that money back.

Re: Home schooling's rise from fringe to fastest-growing form of education

#290

Post by bloaf »

haizhung wrote: post #261

Am I the only one thinking that home schooling is the wrong solution to the underlying problem? The problem is that the public education sector has been - for years - continuously squeezed dry of any funding. Teachers are quitting left and right, and schools are in a terrible state. Instead of fixing THAT problem, now people homeschool. Ok; I guess. At least homeschooling is something that the individual can control,…

The evidence is weak, but currently leans towards "parents can and actually do a better job than the professionals." This includes parents with low incomes, and includes parents with low educational achievement.

You categorize this as contributing to segregation, but I say that it contributes to diversity. Public school is a hugely homogenizing force and the homogeneity it targets is not necessarily good. I think it is good for society to have a set of people who were raised in an environment with fundamentally different experiences and priorities.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/parenting-translator... https://www.nheri.org/research-facts-on-homeschooling/

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