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Poll: How many homeschoolers/unschoolers here? When did you start?

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Re: Poll: How many homeschoolers/unschoolers here? When did you start?

#31

Post by niels_olson »

tc7 wrote: post #14

Homeschooled all the way (til I started college classes at 15), in Ashland, VA (near Richmond). Worked for me, and my brothers, but my mom was really involved and committed to it. That's an essential component. :) My mom now writes home-school curriculum and other helpful books, and speaks at conventions and such (maybe the one you're going to). If you have any VA-specific or general Q's, I'm sure she'd be happy to a…

Good to know. Thanks. I'm getting the sense that Virginia is one of the hotbeds for homeschooling nationally.

Re: Poll: How many homeschoolers/unschoolers here? When did you start?

#32

Post by netcan »

curoi wrote: post #25
netsp wrote: post #11

With the growth of homeschool, I'd be interested to know if there is any reaction/support coming from the private school industry. The first thing that pops into my mind is 'Can't there be a hybrid?' A 10 hrs a week school or something like that. I'm not sure what exactly (if anything) would appeal to home schooling parents, but it seems likely that many of the trade-offs or difficulties would be overcome with a litt…

There are several avenues already in place, availability varies by geography of course. Some anecdotes from one homeschooled through high school: - Many homeschool families will form study groups for some of the subjects less conducive to individual study (such as music or hard sciences) and will have a knowledgeable parent or outside teacher lead a class or two a week. In grade school I took a homeschooling drawing…

Was there a primary reason for your home schooling?

Re: Poll: How many homeschoolers/unschoolers here? When did you start?

#33

Post by pincock »

we've lived in northern virginia and montgomery county maryland and homeschooled our kids (now 3,6,8) from day 1 and continue to do so. go for it! it's not nearly as hard as people make it out to be and you can go with your children's interests and teach them how to love learning. really, can you possibly fail worse than the public system?

Re: Poll: How many homeschoolers/unschoolers here? When did you start?

#34

Post by pincock »

curoi wrote: post #28
spamizbad wrote: post #16

My parents faced the same decision, decided against it, and I'm glad. My ride through public school was a bit bumpy but overall I did OK, and made several life-long friends in the process. I was exposed to homeschoolers in college and while they were hard working and serious students, they just didn't seem to have the same academic chops as their public/private schooled peers. This was not because they were dumb, or…

Generalizations based on anecdotal evidence aside, I do have to agree with you on the lack of "institutional learning skills". Even with a bit of experience at public high-schools and community college, I wasn't prepared for the gaming, the time constraints, and the group participation required at the university level. Quite often my freshman and sophomore years I'd end up pulling stupid hours because I got sidetrack…

sounds like you got "distracted" learning, and had to refocus on "playing the game" -- what a shame that we have to do that to get through a so called education.

Re: Poll: How many homeschoolers/unschoolers here? When did you start?

#35

Post by mattchew »

niels_olson wrote: post #29
mattchew wrote: post #22

We homeschool our son (6) and daughter (8). We knew we were going to homeschool well before our daughter was near school age. Reading and research is good. Carry on. :) You should read John Holt at some point. I think homeschooling is easier the younger you start. Teens sometimes have a rough time making the transition. Connect with other local homeschoolers. Interacting with other homeschooling families is good for…

could you please elaborate on the "inevitable crises of confidence"? What about? How often? How severe?

You'll probably have moments where you're not sure you're doing the right thing by homeschooling, or that you're not doing a good enough job.

Specifics vary. Whoever is the main hsing parent will certainly have days where nothing goes right and everyone quarrels. Several of those in a row and you'll wonder if hsing was the right choice. Sometimes parents get disappointed that their kid isn't learning fast enough or is resistant to teaching. If you lean toward unschooling, you'll probably wonder if that's really "enough" to equip your kids for college/adulthood. You may worry about inadequate socialization. Any area where your kid seems to be lagging behind his peers will probably cause you to question yourself.

Once you start homeschooling, it's all on you. It's a lot of responsibility. You'll worry, at least some.

From what I've seen, it's common for new homeschoolers to have a big crisis of confidence a few months in, for one reason or another. Some decide it's not for them at that point.

Lesser moments of anxiety occur more often. For some folks, nearly continuously. :) We worry about some thing or other every few months. Sometimes we make some changes to try to address it, sometimes we decide it's no big deal or at least nothing that needs immediate fixing.

Re: Poll: How many homeschoolers/unschoolers here? When did you start?

#36

Post by curoi »

netcan wrote: post #32
curoi wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are several avenues already in place, availability varies by geography of course. Some anecdotes from one homeschooled through high school: - Many homeschool families will form study groups for some of the subjects less conducive to individual study (such as music or hard sciences) and will have a knowledgeable parent or outside teacher lead a class or two a week. In grade school I took a homeschooling drawing…

Was there a primary reason for your home schooling?

As I understand it, the reasoning was three-fold. A better education than public schools, not enough money for a private education, and the desire for religious education.

Re: Poll: How many homeschoolers/unschoolers here? When did you start?

#38

Post by anelson »

I was home schooled or unschooled on and off through sixth grade, then completely unschooled after that.

My parents at one time or another had me enrolled in just about every structured education scheme you can imagine, from reputable urban public school to shitty urban public school to expensive Catholic school to quaint small-town school to rural one-room schoolhouse to formalized home-school curriculum. I found them all stifling, boring, and wasteful of my time.

Unschooling, on the other hand, was very liberating. I got to study whatever I wanted, however I wanted. I dabbled in chemistry, electronics, literature, even carpentry. Once we got our first computer when I was 13, I dove into computing and programming utterly.

It worked out wonderfully for me. I had a paying job as a programmer when I was 15, and haven't looked back.

I was always introverted, so school was not a positive socializing experience for me; in fact it was quite the opposite. Despite concerns to the contrary, I've socialized myself over time through professional and personal relationships with co-workers and friends.

The most appealing outcome of my unschooling experience is the autodidactic learning style it reinforced. This comes in very handy as a software engineer, where the ability to independently pick up a new language, tool, technology, or architecture quickly and completely is a real asset.

I am the oldest of five children. All of us were homeschooled to some extent, with the proportion of homeschooling to structured education declining from oldest to youngest. We are all fairly bright, but the difference between those of us with more homeschooling and those with less is striking. The home schoolers are more eloquent, more insightful, more responsible, more disciplined, and more politically active (although not politically homogeneous, which makes for tumultuous dinner conversation at family get-togethers).

There is no doubt in my mind that unschooling had a massively positive net impact on my life, and would encourage any parents able to make the necessary time commitment to try it as well.

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