Homeschooling hits record numbers • Hacker News Board

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#621

Post by prng2021 » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 3:57 AM UTC

eucyclos wrote: post #573

prng2021 wrote: post #546

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everytime I see these kinds of arguments, it sounds like someone desperately trying to argue that a park playground is almost as entertaining for kids as an amusement park. Your example of 5 kids socializing with each other is definitely better than 1 kid at home. It’s also definitely worse than learning to socialize in a school of 500 kids each day. This is undeniable unless you have an argument of how a pool of 500…

>This is undeniable unless you have an argument of how a pool of 500 kids would somehow have less diversity of personality, thought, languages, physical features, intelligence, etc. I have such an argument - have you considered the amount of forced social conformity in a public school versus a community of homeschooled people? Humans are weird in a way that 'public school culture' tries to paper over.

“Humans are weird in a way that 'public school culture' tries to paper over.”

I went to a public school as did the vast majority of the world’s population today. Genuinely curious… Are you saddened by what you view as a lack of diversity and creativity in the world and do you blame that on public schools?

Schools have athletic kids and within that, groups interested in different sports. And within each sport, subgroups of kids who become close friends. All of that also applies to kids interested in musical instruments, art, computers, board games and on and on. Some kids are nice, some are assholes, and everything in between. You make it sound like public school systems output an army of clones. No. Your friend group changes over time as you meet others, as your interests/views change, and as other people change. You're constantly immersed amongst all the other groups and you learn to tolerate some, love some, and hate some. All of this learning is tremendously stifled if you’re talking about a kid learning to socialize in a group of 5 instead of 500.

Aside from individualism, there has to be conformity as well. That’s part of learning to socialize and function in the real world for later as an adult. Conforming is also just human nature stemming from wanting to be accepted in a group. We all naturally learned to balance conformity and individualism when we were thrown into the public school system. By home schooling, you’re saying no, I don’t have the confidence that my child can do it on their own, even if 99% of the world has done so.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#622

Post by soufron » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 3:59 AM UTC

This is so stupid on so many levels, I don't even get silicon valley engineers can envision this stuff for their own kids. Or maybe they don't care. Whatever.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#623

Post by angelgonzales » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 4:03 AM UTC

I attended an objectively good public school system in California. There was very little political slant pushed by teachers except a far left slant in my journalism class. Thankfully we had many AP and honors classes which allowed motivated and competent students to thrive. I personally found myself disliking most normal classes because some students seemed unmotivated or incompetent and I didn’t like to be around those types of people. In scouting I met many homeschooled boys who didn’t seem very well socialized but their parents were always affluent, intelligent, mature and stable people who supported their boys. On one occasion a homeschooled kid didn’t want to be so he ran away for a few days and all the parents grilled us for clues as to where he may have gone. He ended up going to public high school with me the last two years and I think he made friends there. Another boy was homeschooled because he never managed to make friends and was quite annoying and quick to anger. He left out scout troop because he failed to adapt to the group and threw a knife at me! In college I met kids who went to ineffective public schools and they were very obviously much less competent than the people in my high school and heavily at a disadvantage. Based on my observations all children raised under homeschool were socially awkward but far more intelligent than the average public school kid. After moving out of state I observed that public schools make a really big difference in outcomes, I found that the people that came out of Portland Public Schools (PPS) were palpably less intelligent and also learned that group exams were sometimes taken! Also there were always needles, homeless camps, public drug use and fires around Portland schools. In these cases I think homeschooling (or groupschooling) would provide better outcomes.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#624

Post by ethbr1 » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 4:03 AM UTC

ecshafer wrote: post #524

TaupeRanger wrote: post #376

Earlier quoted context omitted.

15+ years ago, that might have been the case. Now, you might find some friends in the 3-8 year old range, but then the kids just...don't do things anymore. In both suburban neighborhoods I've lived in the past 10 years, there are basically zero middle school or high school kids doing anything except playing video games and messing around on their phones from the comfort of home. School is quite literally the only soc…

The previous neighborhood I lived in, had around 100 townhomes, very secluded. I never saw kids outside other than walking from the bus stop. However my current neighborhood, which is a development of 15 houses, 11 of which have children. The kids are almost all doing things outside every day. Caveat: everyone in my neighborhood is college educated (mix of engineers, professors, finance, teachers, doctors, lawyers, a…

It's also a question of accessible public spaces.

The US (especially the vast bulk of suburbia) is incredibly varied in quantity of these.

Some areas have them. Ironically, for all their faults, Florida master planned developments do better than most, and the west has a surfeit of natural land.

Others are an endless sea of kid-unfriendly private businesses and/or income-gated spaces, locked behind access to an automobile.

At some point the US, especially east coast suburban US, forgot that roaming kids need somewhere to roam...

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#625

Post by cosmic_cheese » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 4:07 AM UTC

zten wrote: post #616

cosmic_cheese wrote: post #440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone else who was homeschooled except the last three grades, I also agree. Additionally, the effect is multiplied if the kid in question lives in a rural or semi-rural area rather than a suburb or city. For the majority of my adult life I’ve been playing catchup. Even now, barreling towards 40, there’s aspects of social capabilities where I come up quite short relative to my peers. If I’m ever to be a parent, I…

> Even now, barreling towards 40, there’s aspects of social capabilities where I come up quite short relative to my peers. I identify with your post as a rural kid who mostly didn't socialize with classmates after school. I went to public school, and I'm 40 now. I think the human experience is that you are inevitably going to encounter social situations where you feel outmatched or simply don't belong. I do agree wit…

Yeah, there are always going to be outliers, that can't be avoided. The problem lies with the kid never having been given the opportunity in the first place.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#626

Post by stackedinserter » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 4:07 AM UTC

meheleventyone wrote: post #271

hereme888 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Define "real world".

The one that exists with problem children and opinions you don’t like. As a parent I get the impulse to remove my children from any potential harm but the real world has sharp edges. They need to be confident in that world not just smothered. And really as the person who used the term it’s really up to you to define what you mean.

Why would I let anyone brainwash my kids with opinions that I don't like? Why do my kids have to be bullied by these problem children?

> As a parent

I guess you still want them to go to a good school, not a ghetto one. And most likely you don't want them to be brainwashed with ideas that you personally don't like.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#627

Post by ethbr1 » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 4:08 AM UTC

WalterBright wrote: post #605

wildzzz wrote: post #359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need a degree in math to teach children age-appropriate math topics. Teachers don't become teachers just because they have a degree in that subject, they have been taught the methods on how to teach. Having prior knowledge of the subject is almost irrelevant. Teaching is really just applying solid methods on how to build knowledge from the most basic concepts as well as having the patience in dealing with h…

Why do 3rd grade math Teachers' Edition books have an answer key in them, I asked a 3rd grade teacher. She replied that many of the teachers couldn't do arithmetic.

It's a funny joke, but I'd be very surprised if that held at any grade school math level.

Someone would have to be numerically illiterate (with a college degree!) to be unable to do grade school math they've been teaching for multiple years.

Year 1, possible. But eventually it rubs off on even the teacher.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#628

Post by el_benhameen » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 4:11 AM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #602

el_benhameen wrote: post #576

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah I think the context matters a lot there. I’m assuming it means “on a state by state basis”, which is true. But within my state, at least, family income, outside spending, and property tax revenues correlate very strongly with outcomes.

I've seen that too, but to my understanding it is less about the money and more about the parent participation. Wealthy school districts don't have any problem with finding volunteers for all sorts of activities, because one of the parents is frequently a stay-at-home parent.

This is true, but it’s also true that the money buys all of those extra activities and services. At my kids’ school, the garden program, music program, arts program, and teachers aides are all funded by the PTA. The field trips are funded by the students families so must be calibrated to their budgets. There are also volunteers associated with all of those programs, but they wouldn’t exist without the money.

A few (much wealthier) towns over, the district wide PTA raises millions of dollars yearly to support additional programs and facilities, and the district can offer higher salaries because of the larger tax base. Again, lots of parent involvement, but there’s also more to be involved in.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#629

Post by next_xibalba » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 4:22 AM UTC

ethbr1 wrote: post #617

jhawk28 wrote: post #610

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the most common myths about homeschooling. In reality, the kids at public school sit at a desk most of the time. They don't get to socialize. Most activities are structured. Homeschoolers have CO-OPs, field trips, weekly PE visits, real interactions with adults, and actual free time. They are the most socialized kids in the US. The diversity in the homeschool relationships is quite large which you can see whe…

You're straw-manning the worst public school experience against the best possible homeschool experience. > They are the most socialized kids in the US. Bullshit. You know how I know? Because on average parents are terrible at exposing their kids to Things Not Like Them and Things They Don't Approve Of. There are great homeschooling parents and crazy ones, but maybe it's not the worst idea to give kids a few hours a d…

> Bullshit. You know how I know?

People should be able to bypass public schools if they want.

Re: Homeschooling hits record numbers

#630

Post by sbuttgereit » Sat, Nov 22, 2025, 4:24 AM UTC

vivzkestrel wrote: post #618

sbuttgereit wrote: post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You think avoiding these things are why people are thinking about homeschooling?! In San Francisco where I live the public school system made the decision to not offer algebra until later for egalitarian reasons. Basically since they couldn't bring up the students that faired poorly in math, they delayed the subject for everybody. Along the same lines, they took the one high school dedicated to the highest achieving…

they create the feeling of belonging to something, a group, a social circle. you cannot recreate that at home. you ll see what happens after a decade going along this path. The feelings of being an orderly part of a group and partaking in group stuff cannot be recreated at home

You know, I'm relatively social and I don't even go to school let alone a public school! How do I manage it? I engage with social groups in other ways.

Homeschooling doesn't necessitate going into a dark room somewhere and closing/locking the door. Sure, some may do that... but majority simply don't. Suggesting that there aren't paths to good socialization outside of public school is just rationalizing a position and ignoring the reality that many home schoolers don't operate in isolation. We're a social species and we tend to seek out others. This is even true for homeschoolers who can collaborate or engage in all manner of social opportunities that exist amongst a coalition of homeschoolers or they can take advantage of the social activities which are available in most communities of any size. Again, we're social creatures and we'll give into that impulse. To suggest that has to be nurtured by a public institution or is somehow unavailable outside of a public school just isn't credible on its face.

As others have said all up and down the thread, you take measures to build that social circle and interaction. And I can tell you from direct personal experience... a public school offers positive interaction opportunities to some, but wholly negative and even damaging to others... public schools absolutely offer a social experience. Whether that's good or bad in my experience is at best a case-by-case call.