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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

#371

Post by clausok »

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…

We started homeschooling by happenstance when it turned out that kindergarten was going to conflict with our son's beloved jiu-jitsu class. The class was a bit of a drive and we weren't going to be able to get there in time for his favorite part: the 30 minutes of horsing around on the mats before class started.

We thought, "Well, it's only kindergarten". It worked out well enough (knock on wood) that we just kept going.

Compared to my own harried "THE BUS IS COMING!!!" sleep-deprived school days, it has been a wonderful change.

If I could go back in time, I'd put my mom in an ankle lock until she agreed to do the same for me.

Especially since I learned that in my home state homeschoolers can participate in high-school sports. In high school I had to wake up at 4AM for 5AM hockey practice. If I could have returned home afterwards and slept, rather than going straight to school, I would have thanked the Gods.

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

#372

Post by lolinder »

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…

Where was this? How did you find the events? How many families were involved? Did they find the events through the same channels you did, or did the others all know each other ahead of time?

In my experience not only is OP correct that there are different kinds of homeschooling, but the people involved in the different segments don't really interact at all. My wife and I were both homeschooled, living less than a mile away from each other for 10 years, but we didn't meet until we were adults. Her circle was much like you describe, but ours was far more secular, and there was very little overlap.

If you accidentally found your way into the local religious-homeschooling circles, I can understand how it would be eyebrow-raising, but that doesn't mean that the other circle isn't close by.

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

#373

Post by watwut »

krastanov wrote: post #9
boeingUH60 wrote: post #5

Good luck to these people, hope it turns out well. Personally, I can't imagine home-schooling kids. I neither have the time nor patience to do that, which is why I appreciate teachers. Besides, I believe school is also a place for kids to socialize with and learn from their peers. I'm very introverted, but I think I would have ended up horribly social-wise if I was home-schooled.

Just FYI, while I share the overall sentiment, I think you are not up to date on the socialization aspect of homeschooling. Typical homeschooling today includes activities where most homeschooled kids from the town gather together for PE or art or other enrichment activities, maybe even specialized academic activities.

Large part of socialization is what happens outside of structured interactions. During breaks, when being with friends you have choosen by yourself and so on.

The activities you mention are not even thought about as socialization situation outside of homeschooling context - because kids come, engage in highly structured activity and leave.

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

#374

Post by [deleted] »

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,…

[deleted]

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

#375

Post by standardUser »

jewayne wrote: post #273
rcpt wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ridiculous amounts of standardized testing and curriculums designed to optimize for that was the main thing we hated. Seems to be a thing everywhere. When I was a kid teachers had a bit more freedom to decide what to teach but now you teach to the test or lose your funding.

Teachers absolutely should teach to the test. And individual teachers really shouldn't be in the business of deciding what to teach, either. Why is there an assumption that what is on the test is inherently worthless but every individual teacher is qualified to design an entire curriculum?

The educators that stood out in my life were the ones who were passionate and interesting and added their own experiences and perspectives. We have somewhere between 40-60 teachers over the course of a typical public education. I'd hope at least a good cross-section of those bring something to the table other than rote explanations of test questions.

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

#376

Post by potatopatch »

efd6821b wrote: post #335
verisimi wrote: post #326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> religious indoctrination indoctrination is a given. Do you prefer your secular type, the religious type or the government type?

All education is intertwined with indoctrination. At least religious indoctrination is a known quantity, unlike other less self-aware forms.

That's strange, I knew a lot about how my society rejected the views of each of my teachers as a child and I feel neither motivation to follow in their footsteps nor try to undermine their particular political constellations. If those people were all related to me and I couldn't get away from them I might feel a bit different.

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

#377

Post by dbjacobs »

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,…

We let our 3 kids choose between homeschool and private school. As a result they tended to bounce back and forth between the systems depending on their priorities. By the time they reached 4th grade I was mostly a coach when they chose homeschooling. I would let them know the things they needed to learn and help them find curriculum. And when they got stuck on something they would come to me for help, but in general they were responsible for themselves. Mostly they would only do schoolwork for 3 hours a day or so.

They had no problems reintegrating into regular school when they chose to do so. Our youngest stayed on the homeschool track the longest (from 7th grade because they got involved in competitive Call of Duty. So they ended up doing the homeschool->community college->GaTech track.

> But it boggles my mind how people can assume, with a straight face, that they are equipped to educate their child alone - something which is normally a profession for which you have to study O(years) (and even then most people aren’t really good at). What gives parents this confidence? And what gives parents the right to squander the future of their children on a whim?

There are awesome resources to educate you kid on just about anything. The real distinguishing attribute on whether a parent can be a good educator is whether their children can spin them up emotionally. If a parent can't stay calm when their child is pushing their buttons homeschooling probably won't work. And then secondarily, a parent should know when they are over their head and need to bring in assistance. Not every parent is equipped to help their children learn calculus and other advanced courses.

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

#378

Post by addicted »

xyzelement wrote: post #329
jandrese wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

// other aspects of homeschooling were just a fig leaf over a whole lot of religious indoctrination I was raised totally secular but I now understand that religion is about fundamentally aligning yourself to the highest aspirations ("what kind of man does G-d want me to be?") and even w/o actual faith, I am starting to think that's preferable to the current mode of "anything goes, you can be whatever you feel like an…

Your ideas of secularism and religiousness does not match anything in my personal experience whatsoever (I have friends of any different religions including many most haven’t heard of…I was raised in 1 major religion and followed 1 other major religion for a few years before turning to atheism and non-religousness almost 2 decades ago).

Of course it’s probably true for certain individuals, but you’re talking about religion and secularism (which isn’t the opposite of religion, btw, so I don’t even understand what it means to be raised “secular”, and in fact secularism is essential for a society with multiple religions) broadly, and you only need to see what’s happening in the world right now to observe that your generalization is almost certainly wrong.

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

#379

Post by petertodd »

llbeansandrice wrote: post #281
jandrese wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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

...and why do those groups create so many resources? Because they tend to be people trying hard to replicate the traditional schooling experience, with high academic standards and expectations. Evangelicals are rarely the ones doing unschooling.

Source: was mostly(1) unschooled as a kid, but spent a lot of time around evangelical Christian homeschoolers because we'd go to the gym classes and other organized events they ran. The evangelicals didn't seem to have any issues with the fact that I was 100% an atheist.

1) A key exception being reading and writing. The main reason why I ended up being homeschooled was the school systems useless "whole word" approach to reading was failing me. So I was drilled intensively on phonics and other traditional techniques, and finally learned how to read and write fluently much later than I should have. Meanwhile, I had no problem learning math and science with much less structure.

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

#380

Post by pfannkuchen »

akira2501 wrote: post #120
burcs wrote: post #27

We're homeschooling our kids. I was pretty against it at first, but seeing our education system degrade to the state it is today, and being honest about my schooling experience definitely opened me up to it. I think the biggest argument for schooling is the socialization aspect of it. I don't know about the rest of you but I was bullied pretty relentlessly throughout grade school and it completely changed my personal…

> That's not the socialization that I want for my kids. On the other hand, I'd definitely want my children to be familiar with it. Bullying is not something isolated to schools. I've seen it in nearly every social and political situation that exists at nearly every age group. In my estimation people are getting worse at identifying it and collectively we're getting worse at punishing it.

As an adult there is basically no situation where someone is harassing you and you have no way out of it. What do you have in mind?
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