Weddingbee boards

I believe I'm with teaandtoast on this one. Like with so many other things, I imagine that there are some significant advantages and disadvantages to home schooling. I also imagine that it depends on the type of person teaching and the type of child being taught. Personally, I'm looking into Waldorf schools.

Doubt I'd ever do it myself.  I think it works out well for some but I think some people use it as a crutch.  Others are too overprotective, and others turn out great!

When I was in high school I actually begged my mom to homeschool me! She wouldn't.However, we did come to a compromise. I only went to traditional school half day and was homeschooled via an online charter school (although then it was by mail) by taking correspondence classes. My mom actually had to pay for me to do this and get it approved by the school board, but I loved it!!!!

I was a competitive figure skater so I did this in order to make practices 1.5 hours from home and to train with better coaching. I wish I could have done it full time. I also learned more this way because in a sense I was teaching myself and everything I learned was reiterated when it was time to take exams. I also want to add I graduated high school with more than enough credits (more than double the amount of science credits needed), I also took AP classes, and graduated college with 2 degrees in 4 years.

Homeschooling isn't ideal for everyone. If you decide to do it and your child likes it, learns and thrives that's one thing, but if they hate it then I couldn't force it on anyone either.

I feel the need to play the devil's avocate somewhat (and I'm a teacher, so I totally agree with lilyfaith's perspective and I am totally for schools ultimately, BUT FWIW):

I don't subscribe to the idea that homeschooled children are going to have social problems--I think that's a convenient assumption. It's not like homeschooled children are locked away in towers and study all day. Most definitely interact with other kids--they sometimes work with other homeschooling families and oftentimes the kids are enrolled in a variety of after-school activities--Little League, AYSO, art classes--everything that other school children do. It's just the academic side that isn't in a classroom setting. So the idea that they're not socialized is not always true. I do worry about the fact that part of education is creating a learning environment in which kids learn from and help each-other and you don't necessarily get that from homeschooling.

You have to look at the reasons why people to homeschool and how homeschooling compares to other options. Yes, the majority of homeschoolers do so because of religious reasons, but there are a lot of parents out there who might live in rural areas and would have to travel hours to get to the nearest school or areas with underperforming schools without options for private schools or magnets, and then there are parents who have found that it makes the best sense financially--I have a friend who homeschools her 4 children because they can't afford to live in an area with good public schools and can't afford private school. Sometimes it really is the best option.

And I have to say that I knew a person in college who was homeschooled because his parents were fundamentalists and he was truly the kindest and most tolerant person I knew. Whether he was an exception and not the rule, I don't know though!

Having the ability to interact with people that are different than you- different race/religion/ideas/families- EVERYTHING- is so incredibly important to your success in the real world.

Not to be judgemental of anyone, but being book-smart does not equal being "street" smart (for lack of a better word). You need social skills and the many experiences of interacting with other people that schools provide. Now, that isn't to say that all homeschooled children don't receive that and homeschooling may be a better option for some kids but I also think children need to learn that the world doesn't revolve around them and that they need to learn how to work in a setting that doesn't focus entirely on them. Because that's how the real world is. 

I don't think there is one right choice for everyone.  I wasn't homeschool, but I grew up in a rural community where many people homeschooled their children.

I am the oldest sibling and I know that we were treated differently based on what we were able to achieve.  I went to a super tiny school (110 in my graduating class) and literally ran out of classes to take after my sophomore year.  So, I took colleges classes my junior and senior year.  My brother and sister didn't do this - they are smart too, but they instead wanted to have a traditional highschool experience (participate in sports, hang out with friends, etc).  

What I'm saying is that there are so many factors that one must consider when deciding on public vs. private vs. homeschooling.  You're decision may be different when a child is in elementary school vs. highschool for example.

Note:  There were no private schools within 45 minutes of where I lived.  I had to drive an hour each way every day to go to college because that was the closest one.

I was overseas in most of my schooling years and many people chose to home school since they didn't trust the DODDS school or local schools.  (Dodds = department of defense depends' schools).  This is a good example of when homeschool is probably beneficial.  I was in the UK but plenty of families are stationed in (non war) non english speaking countries where the base schools aren't superb nor are local.  Germany, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Bahrain, Korea, Japan etc. 

Also they move around so much it's easier just to stick with home schooling rather than switching teachers mid year.  Often moves can take weeks or longer and you miss so much school transitioning and settling its easiest to homeschool while living in hotels.

I'm sure it's a great option for some people, however, I did notice that all of the stranger ducks I met my freshman year in college just happened to have been home schooled.  Could've been a coincidence, sure, but all of the home schooled kids' lack of social skills was definitely noticable.

@teaadntoast:

This is sort of a devil's advocate argument, but I think that there's something to be said in some cases for not wanting kids to learn how to relate to others primarily from a school setting.  Bullying, cliques, pecking orders... Ick. 

I see what you're saying but disagree.  In order to be properly socialized, you have to be exposed to all different types of social environments, both good and bad.   How is little Billly going to learn how to deal with cliques and bullies if he's never been exposed to them?  Chances are, he's going to run into them in college and even in the professional world. Better to learn how to deal with them at a younger age than be totally unprepared when faced with them later in life.

For those that made the comment about homeschooling limiting interactions with different race/gender/social class/etc just remember that geographic location can also influence this!

When I was in grade/high school everyone was basically from the same race/social class (I'm from central PA which since has changed). There were a few exceptions but for the most part this is how things were. When I went to college (in NJ) things were totally different!

You encounter so many different people that sometimes simply where you grew up, regardless of where you recieved your education, cannot prepare you. I'm not saying I struggled with this or anything or had a hard time adjusting/socializing. I'm just trying to point out that sometimes people are limited in certain "street smarts" based on geographic location.