Deseret News | Economy dents home schooling

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Economy dents home schooling

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mark | 2:10 p.m. March 24, 2009

Shaun McC, maybe good jokes, not whatever that was that you made.

mark | 2:12 p.m. March 24, 2009

Interesting debate.

"To: Keep them out of PS" You obviously are not noticing the spelling and grammar mistakes of the home school supporters.

"To observations" You are the best argument against home schooling on this board.

"mamafirst" You will not be able to teach your children more then you know, you said as much yourself when you stated that if your kids would learn calculus you will have to find someone that can teach them calculus. Sorry reading Einstein's works will not teach your kids physics.

I am reading much anecdotal evidence supporting the superiority of home schooling over public schooling, can someone point me to some statistical analysis of home schooling? I have a hard time believing that 90% of home schoolers go on to higher education.

A teacher, too... | 2:19 p.m. March 24, 2009

I know the family in this article. They do a great job homeschooling. I am a public school teacher. Their kids are a little different socially, but it is a refreshing different. They will grow up and contribute good things to the world. I love my PS students. There are some odd eggs in the bunch, but they also will grow up to contribute wonderful things. I love the diversity of both educational systems. I choose public education for my kids. I love the diversity of knowledge and teaching they get. Their teachers love them and are trying hard to teach them and I appreciate their interest in my children. It is great to have other adults love and encourage them. I also have seen parents pull kids out of school under the guise of homeschooling because they need a babysitter. How sad. But then other parents put their kids IN PS because they need a babysitter. Bottom line in my opinion, wherever there are good parents there will be good kids, no matter how they are schooled.

Comments continue below

MISSING THE POINT | 3:19 p.m. March 24, 2009

So many of you are SOOOO missing the point!!! School ISN'T just A's and B's. Good grief public school has so many opportunities for kids to grow that home schooled kids are denied. Social interaction, group activities, leaning to compete, life lessons from athletics and on and on ... I have known MANY LDS kids who were home schooled who suffered on their missions simply because they weren't prepared socially nor did they have the skills to interact with their companions. I can't imagine robbing my kids of the incredible lessons they learned from high school athletics - self confidence, self discipline, performing under pressure, team work, etc.... These life skills can't be learned from a sheltered home school environment so please don't even try to convince me.

Regular Public School Teacher | 3:26 p.m. March 24, 2009

Home school, private school, charter school, regular public school. They can all provide a quality education--or they can all provide a mediocre education. It all depends on the circumstances of learning doesn't it?

I don't know how many (most?) home school parents do what they do. As a regular public school teacher, I know the incredible amount of time it takes to adequately prepare for my students in a single subject area. I honestly couldn't effectively teach outside my subject area. The families that I personally know who have chosen to home school their children do a phenomenal job.

One other thing. Two of my most amazing students over the past 15 years came to me after being home schooled up through 8th grade. Neither of them were socially awkward and both were far ahead of their classmates academically. I know that this is anecdotal but I must admit that I became a firm believer in ALL legitimate forms of education after being lucky enough to teach those students.

Tell me this..... | 3:40 p.m. March 24, 2009

How does a parent teach 2nd grade reading properly as well as 11th grade pre-calculus or AP english? I know of NO college degree that afords both sets of skills. So - home schoolers - how DO YOU do it... properly? Unless you have a whopping amount of college education yourself that somehow prepares you to not only know the curriculum and the teaching technique for the age otherwise just I don't see how you can match teachers in grammer, and secondary ed public schools. My daughter graduated from the U in elementary ed and I know the of the very demanding curriculum she had to master to get her degree. I also have a sister who graduated from the Y in secondary ed and had equally demanding curriculum. So I am thinking to myself how in the world can a parent (many with no college teaching degree themselves) match the skill level of professional teachers? This is ridiculous.

nation of home schooling - YIKES | 3:46 p.m. March 24, 2009

can you imagine a nation of home schooled kids? What a scary thought. Parents - most with no college teaching degree - trying to prepare their kids for college. Oh I forgot - college's (like grammer and high school) are also evil so I guess you better continue your home schooling all the way through college... but unfortunately that doesn't work so I guess you will be forced at age 18 to release your kids into the sinful "real" world and HOPE they have the life skills to compete. Good luck!!

Anonymous | 3:53 p.m. March 24, 2009

It's all about parenting and teaching kids principles. A child's education is directly affected by the involvement of a parent. Appropriate parenting teaches the kids how to make choices, overcome obstacles and adjust to their environment. But...the overall outcome is demonstrated by how they fit into society and contributing to the success of a community.

realitycheck | 4:23 p.m. March 24, 2009

I'm amazed that most people think they can teach a child better than a college-educated teacher.

I'm not saying that a college-educated parent isn't capable of teaching their children, but how many parents that homeschool their kids barely made it through high school? kind of the dumb teaching the dumb...

and I hope these kids are getting a real education - not just 8 hrs of religious school....

I think you home-schoolong parents would be better served joining together and teaching each other's kids on what you know best. If some parents can work 4 days and spend one day teaching Math for instance, when the other parents don't know math too well, then that would be good for the kids. Another could teach English, another Political Science, etc.

and as much as I hate organized religion, it does have one good thing - it promotes a community spirit so you parents could band together.

just a thought... because it's one thing to teach an 8 yr old - it's different than teaching a teenager enough to get into a good college - assuming you're not going to home-school college...

Cats | 4:43 p.m. March 24, 2009

With the state of the current public schools, I don't blame a lot of these people for wanting to home school their children.

I personally attended a private school. At that school I had religious instruction and all the extracurricular activities that exist in the public schools but in a much healthier and academically superior environment.

I do have concerns about the fact that home schooled children don't get to participate in a lot of the sports, clubs, dances, activities, etc. that just seem to be many of the experiences that we all should have as part of growing up.

This is why I really support school vouchers. I think parents should have the choice of sending their kids to private schools. They can get a better education and experience the many social activities of growing up. Of course, There were no vouchers when I went to my private school.

I'm not criticizing home schoolers. But, I do have a lot of concerns about just how good and how healthy an educational and social experience they may be giving their children.

Anonymous | 5:28 p.m. March 24, 2009

Why do people assume that homeschoolers don't have the opportunities that public school children have?

How many activities can one child handle? I know many children who participate in sports outside the school district (swim clubs, soccer, hockey, etc), take dance, music lessons, attend church classes weekly AND manage to learn.

As for teaching a child in a subject the parent doesn't know, why not learn along with your student? Right now I homeschool a 4th grader and "teaching" her isn't a big deal. But once she gets older and in high school, there are plenty of opportunities for chemistry, biology, algebra, calculus, etc. She can attend a community college, do video classes, or read the book, ask questions, do research and learn the old fashioned way.

Most teachers with an education degree know more about educating than about whatever subject they teach which is why I changed majors as a senior. That doesn't make them inadequate teachers but might indicate that even teachers shouldn't teach certain subjects. Just a thought.

Why not have respect for all forms of education? Learning is a life long process which we should all love.

Gillman | 5:48 p.m. March 24, 2009

Growing up I knew 5 homeschool families really well. I went to public school, but some of these kids were in music classes with me and my siblings and they often invited my family to homeschool activities.

Every songle one of them was socially retarded. when they did go out in public they were mocked, ridiculed, tortured. They couldn'y deal with people. Only two of them (out of 30 or so kids)ever finished any kind of college.

Public school was a boring, troublesome, socially challenging, massive waste of my time. But it taught me and my siblings enough to find our way through this crazy world and become college-educated (with advanced degrees), socially fit and very successful. In the end it was our family that mattered most, but overcoming challenges strengthens children.

BeeFree | 6:18 p.m. March 24, 2009

As a former public high school teacher now homeschooling, I'd like to address comments made by earlier posters.

In regard to the idea that homeschooling is bad because "no one is adequate" to teach their own children due to the single point of view represented by the teacher - you are operating under the misapprehension that my children only have ONE teacher. This is untrue of every homeschooler I know. My kids learn from both parents. They also take classes from other teachers - PE at the local YMCA, and Chinese, art, music and drama from a team of other homeschoolers who volunteer to do so (in exchange, I teach their students Spanish). My children's teachers do not agree on political issues, nor parenting styles. They don't look, sound, or think alike.

Re:"socialization" - my kids spend 6-10 hours/week in classes where I am not present. They know how to share, take turns, and wait in line. The 5 year old pouts when she loses. We're working on it. My kids also play 3-4x/week with kids in our neighborhood who are not homeschooled. My children are neither weird nor deprived. They are loved.

CaliMom of 4 | 6:39 p.m. March 24, 2009

I homeschooled for years and loved it, as did my kids. We got to travel with dad on business trips (coast to coast and border to border, Mexico), take field trips whenever something interesting came up, and were able to combine vacations with educational experiences. They saw more in a few short years than many adults see in a lifetime. My kids met and interacted with many different people and never had trouble with social issues. We participated in a homeschooling co-op with some wonderful families, and the kids tried out several sports, languages (we are bilingual) music and art programs, and service projects (we were weekly regulars at the soup kitchen- the kids loved it- you meet some real characters). They finally had to go to public school (finances), and were appalled at the lack of consideration and respect on the part of some kids. They had to be advanced in grade level because they were ahead of their peers (in studies and maturity. They are enjoying public school for the most part (they hate the foul language and such), but we do reminisce about our experiences. (I'm a teacher w/a master's degree in education.)

K | 6:51 p.m. March 24, 2009

The more homeschooling parents send kids to the local public school the less individual dollars per pupil overall. Same with kids leaving private school for public.

Anonymous | 7:27 p.m. March 24, 2009

I know homeschooling can be done right, I have just not been able to see it where I live. My neighborhood is over run with families who homeschool. Unfortunately those children spend most of their time playing at the park and riding bikes in the street while the mothers read and socialize with one another. These families come across as "holier than thou". I agree with someone who commented earlier that it is the parental involvement that matters. I know that most public school teachers can tell which children have parents that care about their child's education. I just think that Utah should have higher standards for homeschooling and the kids should be tested every year to move ahead.

Carmen | 7:43 p.m. March 24, 2009

Wow. I'll try not to be insulted as an educated, non-typical, self-employed, single mother homeschooling her son. We don't sell Amway...I fix computers. I am not arrogant, actually quite humble with the responsibility before me. I am very involved in the community - even asked to sit on the school board. My son is in every sport and activity available. The list goes on...generalizations are ignorant. I admit there are good teachers, but I feel the educational system has been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. Ask any teacher. With the No Child Left Behind, they spend all their time teaching to a test. I want my son to receive an education. And so he understands my worldview, vs. the worldview of the public school system. Everyone has a bias! And just as I told my son today, a truly educated person challenges everything he/she is taught. Otherwise it's just someone else's truth. I have made my choice, as it is everyone's to make. But, until you meet me or my son, do not make judgments. And, don't try to say it cannot be done on one income.

Parents need to contribute | 8:06 p.m. March 24, 2009

100% in reinforcing learning, no matter which path they choose...it's a major factor in child's success. Kudos to all who do, encouragement to those who don't. :)

Open minded | 9:02 p.m. March 24, 2009

Thank you to "Regular Public School Teacher" and "A teacher, too..." As a homeschooling mom, reading the posts asking "What makes you think you can teach your child everything from Calculus to Drafting?!!!" Um, I don't. That's why I get others to help me. My son took Drafting from a real drafting teacher. There are so many other resources out there for homeschoolers that I don't have to go it alone. Is my son socially awkward? Yes, but that's because he has Asperger's. He'd be quirky in public school, too. He went to public school through 6th grade and it was enough. Middle school is mean. And not everyone learns a positive lesson from sports folks. Lots of parents homeschool for similar reasons. Maybe their kids would be socially behind even if they went to public school but atleast they're not bullied to death. Not every homeschool situation works, but neither does every public school situation. Generalizations rarely work, either.

done both-not sorry | 10:24 p.m. March 24, 2009

I enjoyed mixing both. I agree with both sides. Bad home schoolers give all home schoolers a bad name just as bad things at public give all public schools a bad name.
I loved teaching my own kids at home and using my teaching certificate on a personal level. I loved the good my kids could find in their part-time participation at public schools too.
It is nice to know that we can be self reliant enough to use the resources that are available and that no one way has to be "all bad" or "all good."
No matter which way you choose your child will be missing out on some parts of the other way. Some of those things you will be glad they are missing out on and some of those things you will have to make up. There is no perfect solution in this life.
It is great to know that there are children being educated to be good people and no matter what, it starts and ends at home. Home is the key. Ask any teacher.

Homeschooling & College | 10:24 p.m. March 24, 2009

My wife was homeschooled. She had the "homeschooling" upbringing. Her mom didn't trust anyone including the gov to teach her children all those lies. My wife went to "school" sometimes when her mom was in the mood to teach her. My wife's brother spent 5 months making playdough snakes when he was 14 claiming it was learning and his mother was fine with that. When my wife was old enough to work (10) she went to work with her dad in construction. She is very behind compared to someone with a high school education. She is very weak on history science reading and writing. (asked me the other day how many states there were) However, she is very smart and is going to college now. It is difficult as she has no idea how to take a school test. Both her older brothers and sister have graduated from college. However it was no favor of home schooling. When they all entered they were very behind and had to take several courses to catch up. The reason so many home schoolers go to college is because they have to learn something from somewhere.

Here's the Research | 10:49 p.m. March 24, 2009

* The home-educated typically score 15 to 30 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests.

* Homeschoolers score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents level of formal education or their familys household income.

* 74% of homeschool graduates attend colleges or universities.

* Whether homeschool parents were ever certified teachers is not related to their childrens academic achievement.

* Degree of state control and regulation of homeschooling is not related to academic achievement.

* Home-educated students score above average on the SAT and ACT tests that colleges consider for admissions.

*Families engaged in home-based education are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources for their childrens education. The finances associated with their homeschooling represent over $16 billion that taxpayers do not have to pay.

The above information is from the National Home Education Research Institute.

In Contrast:

Nationally 71% of students graduate from Public Schools (Manhattan Institute).

In October 2007, 67.2 percent of high school graduates from the class of 2007 were enrolled in colleges or universities, according to data re-
leased today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor.

K | 11:15 p.m. March 24, 2009

Homeschoolers get all sorts of interaction. And they are better able to interact with ages other than peers due to more time with parents and siblings of different ages. There are ways to do sports, learn instruments outside of school. And what about church. Another place to be social.

And some do take classes in certain subjects or employ tutors for a subject outside of mom or dad's league. Teaching 3 kids of different ages has to be easier than teaching 28 kids the same age at all different levels of attention and capability stuck in the same classroom. And they are likely being more social than academic in class, a further burden for teachers.

Homeschool, well, yes | 11:32 p.m. March 24, 2009

We did. We also sent kids to public school and private schools. My public and private school kids have B.A.', Master's and one is a lawyer (valedictorian of his law school). My home school kids have B.S.'s, Master's in engineering (He's an Air Force officer), and I have a DS son who reads the scriptures and serves a service mission. My home schooled daughter graduated from Rick's at 18. All the people who worried about her "socialization" turned to her as the one girl in the group who was dependable, obedient, friendly to all, and respectful. Her homeschooled husband just completed his Master's. I also had one child in each group who struggled.

A very wise man counseled me years ago that if you teach a child to read, encourage him to love reading, and teach him basic mathematics, he has the tools to learn everything he needs to know.

And, frankly, the tormenting that happens to some homeschool students when they are out among their peers says more about their peers than about them--tormenting and teasing and bullying are NOT the victim's fault. Cruelty is always wrong!

Opportunity | 12:04 a.m. March 25, 2009

We decided to homeschool our children to give them a greater opportunity. They have been in public and private schools and both have merit. I get to enjoy my children and participate in their educational life. My oldest (15) was bored with school and is now challenged. She is thinking about becoming an attorney, homeschooling allowed her to take consitutional law and she is very active in speech and debate. My second oldest (14) is a violist, she takes an advanced orchestra class at the local middle school, plays in the city's youth symphony, and is mentored by a professional violist. We have more flexabilty allowing them to persue their passions outside of the time constraints their publicly schooled counter parts have. Five of our six participate in taekwondo and they all play a string instrument. I am involved in lobbying to keep music education in public schools and I serve on a booster board at our local middle school. We are active in our community and the kids are very well adjusted and deal with multiple types of social interactions from high ranking military officers and elected state officials to peers.

In answer to our credentials | 11:04 a.m. March 25, 2009

Although my personal experience is anecdotal, here is the educational background of my husband and I. I have a teaching degree and current teaching certificate that allows me to teach K-8, I also have a masters degree in education. My husband has an undergraduate degree in both physics and math, with a graduate degree in instructional science. I taught in public and collegiate schools for many years before having children. We have homeschooled our children and they have a cumulative average ACT score of 30. Of the friends I have who homeschool 3 or 4 are former teachers, and 2 have degrees in social work, and 1 has no degree.

I am not my children's only teacher--we have hired many teachers from music to mathematics to help fill in areas where my children have needs I can't meet. My children do not play the bagpipes or accordion, but rather the piano. The most difficult social experiences my children encountered, has been the unkind "homeschooling comments" from adults at church--their peers have been fine. Fortunately these encounters have helped my children learn tolerance for others.
Hope that helps you understand homeschoolers better.

In answer. . . (continued) | 11:14 a.m. March 25, 2009

Oh, I forgot. Here's more anecdotal info about homeschoolers.

I have one teen who is a "nerd"--meaning, the child wears their hair in a non-fashionable way, and wears clothing that is not popular. Although the child has contacts, the child chooses to wear glasses, and is a "nose-in-book" type of person. Extremely bright, and not very outgoing. I have another teen who is also bright but wears stylish clothes and spends a lot of time in front of the mirror; wouldn't be seen in glasses, and lives for friends. Homeschool or public, I know this kind of difference in families is probably common, and has more to do with personality than where they go to school.

homeschooled girl and proud! | 12:00 p.m. March 25, 2009

I was homeschooled all the way through my high school years. My only experience setting foot in a public school classroom comes from 4 years of LDS seminary classes. I loved every minute of my home school experience and feel like I received a great education. I am now in my first year at a private liberal arts college in the east. I have had no difficulty in making friends and was an honor student last semester. I have many homeschooled friends who have gone on to do very well in college and several who graduated early. I've dealt all my life with the stereotypes that are associated with homeschoolers. In fact, one high school seminary class didn't believe that I was homeschooled because I looked and acted "normal." Yes, some homeschooled students are socially backward and receive an inferior education--but the same can be said for many publicly educated students. No home school or public school is perfect, but to dismiss home schools as entirely ineffective on the basis of only some homeschooled students is, at the very least, insulting.

To Research | 1:15 p.m. March 25, 2009

The most important thing I learned from my graduate studies (MS in Education), was to question all 'studies'. Just the fact that this 'information' was gathered by the "National Home Education Research Institute" raises a red flag. They have an obvious bias toward homeschool education.

I'm not saying that homeschooling is all bad--I've seen everything from the 'Amway' example to the highly successful kids--but I wouldn't trust data from an institution with such a blatant bias.

K | 1:50 p.m. March 25, 2009

Just like the comments from teachers in the public school complaining should be taken with caution.

Every article has bias.

re mamafirst | 3:05 p.m. March 25, 2009

wow - you may wish your kids would become famous scholars, philosophers, etc - but chances are they won't. The point is - unless you know advanced calculus, you shouldn't be trying to teach your child calculus...

understand?

realitycheck | 3:34 p.m. March 25, 2009

re - Here's the Research | 10:49 p.m

tell me you're kidding.... you actually want to use the National Home Education Research Institute, which promotes and makes their money from home-schoolers, to do a survey on homeschooling?

That's like having the National Teachers Association do a survey on public schools...

you must have been home schooled to come up with that idea...

Suzanne | 4:15 p.m. March 25, 2009

As an ex-homeschooler who returned to the ranks of employment as a high school science teacher because of the economy, I find there are many excellent homeschools as well as outstanding public schools. Whatever you're looking for you will find -- if you want to focus on a bad homeschool, I promise you will find one. However, I try to focus on finding the best of both practices and then implement them in educating both my own children and my precious classroom students. No one method of educating children is perfect. As a mother of ten children, during any academic year, you could find some of our children in public schools, some in private schools, and some homeschooled. Not every child is well-suited for public school and some absolutely thrive in alternative educational environments. As a teacher in a public magnet school, I assure you there are students at our school performing beautifully and well-prepared for college. Each child deserves the opportunity to be their best -- let's strive to be the model for all children and not their critic. Every family has to determine what works best for them. Let's support their choice.

Homeschool mom | 8:24 p.m. March 25, 2009

I'm amazed at the blatant ignorance on display about what homeschooling looks like and the laughable generalizations about its results. There are good and bad examples in all situations.

A person's ultimate success in life depends more on whether he/she knows *how* to learn than on *what* he/she learned in his/her first 18 years. Seriously, how many of us remember everything we learned in every class from Kindergarten to college graduation? Any parent who inspires a love of learning and the ability to seek out information from a myriad of sources, as *most* homeschool parents do, is much more valuable than a teacher who is merely "trained" to teach one thing one way.

The assertion that HS kids *generally* are not equipped to interact with their peers or deal with differing points of view and conflict in the "real world" is complete fallacy, and again reveals a blatant ignorance of what homeschooling actually looks like for most families. There are some that struggle. There are some that excel. Most are somewhere in the middle. This is true of *all* of us.

Homeschooling is not for everyone. Neither is public school. Thank heavens for free choice.

James | 11:44 p.m. March 25, 2009

I was homeschooled. I went to college and was behind in some subjects that I should already have a foundation. My mother was trying to keep me out the "evil" schools, where the kids swear and talk about sex. I don't think homeschooling helped me better than a public education would have. I still dropped in to the high school for certain classes. My parents meant well, they just didn't have the expertise or time to teach me as much as I wished to have had. However, we didn't spend as much time working at homeschool as they did at public school either. I think it was too easy not to hold school if we didn't want to.

Alvin | 11:51 p.m. March 25, 2009

I think homeschool is way over rated. I was taught that the schools were a bad influence and all the kids were out of contol at public schools. I just found out that my parents were free thinkers and that "organized anything" bothered them. I returned to public school my junior year. I was somewhat behind in some area, but the teachers worked with me. I think it is a myth that public education has crashed etc. I believe that students can learn there if they want too. I think that some of the idea of going private or homeschool is a bit of an exclusivity thing. In the first instance, it is a status thing. In the homeschool, I think it is a look my moral and values are better than yours.

Shirl | 12:00 a.m. March 26, 2009

Isn't it great to live in America and have a choice of where your kids go to school, or if they do at all. This is harder to monitor with the advent of homeschooling. If a parent is too lazy to hold homeschool, or if they don't know what they are doing, the children suffer. I know of a set of parents that said they were homeschooling their eleven year old daughter. Really, she was babysitting so the parents could work and not pay for childcare. I knew another family, with ten kids, that supposedly held homeschool. The thing that gave them away was the children were asked to read simple things at church and could not. They couldn't read at all. I realize that there are probably some very good educational situations at home. But I also think that there is alot of abuse of that system that has no way of being monitored.

I have to suppliment | 6:51 a.m. March 26, 2009

My kids do go to public school, but the qualtiy in math is low enough I have to suppliment. I wish it weren't so, but math educators aren't doing their job.

SLC gal | 7:09 a.m. March 26, 2009

Oh dear, I must be really stupid since I attended public school ALL 13 YEARS (k - 12), and not only had a great time, but also got what I thought was a pretty good education! (rolls eyes as I was able to read at a post college level by 6th grade - yes it was tested).

I think (yes, they teach you how to do that in public school) the COMMON thread between the good PS experiences and the good homeschol experiences are parental involvement!!! I guess that would mean though that homeschool students AREN't automatically better then those that attend public school. Hate to burst your bubble!!!

just a comment | 8:02 a.m. March 26, 2009

It is sure interesting to hear the different views of this. I have always sent my children to public school because I feel they will get a better education than I can give them. I have two daughters that are 4.0 GPA and thrive from learning from other areas than school. I could never have done this for them.
I also know home-schoolers and unfortunately the ones I know have social issues. They have a hard time getting involved with the youth at church, but I don't fell this is just because they are home-schooled, this is because the parents shelter their kids too much. Everyone should keep doing what they feel is best for their children. That is what prayer and revelation is for.

Leahhona | 8:07 a.m. March 26, 2009

I have no problem with the homeschooling aspect of this article, but I have a large problem with a 9 year old forced to work to help pay bills. Child labor laws exist for a reason, and parents who are breaking these laws need to be taken to task for violating them.

Data | 9:04 a.m. March 26, 2009

Ok, where did the National Home Education Institute get their data? You see, I learned from my public education how to determine reliable and unreliable sources of information. If this institute gathered this data on their own, without an outside and unbiased organization assisting them, I find the information highly suspect.

James | 9:22 a.m. March 26, 2009

Of all the reason to home school "Public school is very competitive and impersonal in comparison." I can't think of a scarier one than this. We don't want our kids to be competitive and not have mommy holding our hands now. This is sad, it sounds like your kids will be jobless when they are out of your home school.

Mathematics in groups... | 9:45 a.m. March 26, 2009

I agree with the comment that public school mathematics education is poor in this state. In fact, often there's a lot of competition to get into the higher math classes, because of the limited slots, and so kids who COULD do well in those classes are booted. Fwiw, even in a very well-funded educationally (dare I say) paranoid state like Washington, this problem existed. There are never enough spots for the challenging classes, and so the kids get pooled together with students that are uninterested in learning and hold the whole class up... I could probably homeschool my kids when it came to math, but my wife couldn't. She was a psych major, and avoided it like the plague. Since I work fulltime, I don't have a lot of sparetime either. So we're stuck with the status quo. Still it's fun to help on the homework they get... And truthfully I'd almost prefer they NOT go too quickly through math, cuz when they hit college, it strengthens their education to take math concurrently with disciplines of engineering and science. (and generally they're only a year behind, which in college is not bad)

Anonymous | 10:17 a.m. March 26, 2009

As a teacher of elementary age students my experience is that when students come back to school after being home schooled, (and I have had many) they are lower academically. Most can not write well and are usually more than 1/2 a year behind most of my other students in math and reading. I am sure that is not the case with all home schooled children, that is just my experience.

To the elem ed teacher | 10:43 a.m. March 26, 2009

Don't make the mistake of judging homeschooling by the homeschool 'dropouts'. Many parents just can't cut it, and very wisely send the kids back to ps. I spent several years on the board of a charter school in CA that served 5000 homeschooled students. With very rare exceptions, the kids did better academically AND socially.

Child From Both Sides | 11:05 a.m. March 26, 2009

I am a graduate of homeschooling. I am fifteen and am in a unique public high school that is linked directly to the college and allows it's students to participate in the classes directly on campus. I am almost done with my associates and have a 4.0. I know many other home schooled children in the school system that are perfectly social and are far above their peers educationally. People never believe us when we tell them that we were home schooled. Yesterday when I told a girl who sits next to me in Computer Technology that I was home schooled, she expressed disbelief and then told me that she's sorry for me. When I asked her why, she told me that because I was home schooled I'm unable to function in normal life. I find it offending that people have such unrealistic stereotypes of homeschoolers and are so vocal about them. Everybody knows of a homeschooler whose education was not best for them but everybody knows of public schooled children who are unsocial, bullies, or held down by the public school system. It is unreasonable to base a stereotype on these few bad results.

annie | 11:29 a.m. March 26, 2009

I have been a homeschooling mom at different times over the last 15 years for my 3 kids. I am currently hs'ing my 17 y-o now. During an economic crisis is difficult, but we are creative. When the dot-com bust hit, my husband and I both lost our high-tech jobs and there were NO jobs to find.
We started a family business on nothing, but we had nothing to lose.
Homeschooling families have an entrepreneurial spirit, and we have to think that way now. My husband will be laid off next month, so we need to be self-reliant and make work for ourselves. There will be no jobs to have, but there will be creative ways to make money!

Bob | 12:08 p.m. March 26, 2009

Homeschooling is fun and you learn more.

Anonymous | 4:54 p.m. March 26, 2009

"Also, they learn proper boy-girl relationships in high school that home school kids are short changed with."

Where I live many kids attend boys only or girls only high schools and the only boy/girl interaction they get is at church or through extracurricular activities. It has been shown in studies that boys learn better in this kind of setting. So I don't think this argument is very sound.

Children who are not yet schoolaged are just like homeschooled kids in that they do all their learning from mum at home and through other activities. For eg, I take my children to swimming lessons, gym, storytime at the library, play groups, and I meet up with other mums and their children at the park. My children also attend church and church activities. So socialisation is not a problem. Im sure this would be the same for HS. Now Some mothers don't do these things, and their children do seem to be a bit more clingy.
When my kids are school-aged I will look into the local PS but thank goodness I have options such as HS if PS does not work for my child.

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