Homeschooling

[feeeriek]

I'm seriously considering 'homeschooling' my 6 year old. I Know there are various pros and cons. I have done extensive research into the how's, why's, what's etc. So in terms of the details, I have that already.

Share your experiences with me, please?

Excuse me, what part of this post was not understood. Maybe I am slow or something, since I didn't graduate university. I am however amazed by the lack of reading comprehension that some supposedly educated people have exhibited. I am also saddened that this has been turned into a political thread, which was not ever the intent.

 

[angelicminx]

I'm seriously considering 'homeschooling' my 6 year old. I Know there are various pros and cons. I have done extensive research into the how's, why's, what's etc. So in terms of the details, I have that already.

Share your experiences with me, please?

Hi darlin'!

I set out to homeschool my daughter from the time I learned I was pregnant. I collected data, state requirements and laws. I spent a small fortune on materials. I was determined that she never set foot in a public school, simply because I think the system fails.

I sat down with her every day from 10 am til noon and we worked on writing her name, learning her address, numbers, colors, letters, cutting with scissors... everything you can imagine. I didn't go about it the 'right' way. She has a completely different learning style than my own, and I didn't know how to compensate for that at the time. I ended up incredibly frustrated, and terrified I wouldn't be able to teach her to read (forgetting that she learned her colors before she was 18 months old using M&Ms. She would only get on of the candies if she could name the color).

I gave up and put her in school. She entered Kindergarten when she was 4, and turned 5 the following month. She struggled to 'make the grade'. She entered first grade, and became the class bully (and she was the smallest in the whole school). At the end of first grade, the teacher had some concerns about her, mostly on a social level, and recommended I have her repeat the grade. I took her advice.

I worked with her all that summer, and put her in special classes geared toward reading and self esteem.

The second and third grades were not much better. She struggled with math, and refused to read (which she loved prior to entering school).

In the fourth grade, things came to a head. She still had little understanding of math, and spent more time getting in trouble with the teacher for talking than learning. She failed the fourth grade (the first level that gives out letter grades). Her father and I had to fight to get her held back in the fourth grade. The school's policy is that no child repeats more than one grade in the K-5 years, no matter the reason.

Clearly she wasn't 'getting it', but it didn't matter to the principal. We finally won the battle, and she got a teacher who could teach her. By October, three months into the school year, she was excelling in her studies. Things 'clicked', and she was thrilled.

She's now in the fifth grade, and made the honor roll first quarter.

I still don't quite know HOW she learns, but I've found I can teach her some things. I wish I hadn't given up so soon, but I just didn't know what to do.

 

[Liar]

Excuse me, what part of this post was not understood. Maybe I am slow or something, since I didn't graduate university. I am however amazed by the lack of reading comprehension that some supposedly educated people have exhibited. I am also saddened that this has been turned into a political thread, which was not ever the intent.

Sorry fee, guess I contributed to that. Just thought there was room for a related question I have been wondering about for some time. But as it has been largely unanswered, I suppose I was wrong about that.

I'll have to blame my lack of reading comprehension on public school. Seems to be the popular choice around here.

 

[Guest]

I believe in public school.

I also believe in the right of parents to home school.

Children do learn better, generally, with more one-on-one attention. (That's why my public-school educated children take private music lessons, attend science workshops, do summer camps, take swimming lessons, study drama, are enrolled in gifted, and so on.)

But there are things they can only learn in a group situation. Social issues are important.

But why the argument? Why do people feel threatened by having options? Hopefully intelligent parents will do what they feel is best for their children.

 

[Noor]

I am and have always been an individualist and non-conformist. My parents considered homeschooling. They took me out of school for trips, and field trips. I got my work and did it on the road. I basically went to school to have a rest from my family.

I learned things in school I could have never learned at home. I met and interacted with kids who were culturally different than I was. I learned team sports, sang in the choir. I could make an artistic mess at school, there were rooms for that sort of thing, gyms I could run and scream in. I could go on and on.

Basically it depends on the child and what the child needs, I needed down time from my parents. I am very introverted with strangers, I needed to learn to channel being an extrovert when needed. I needed to learn that not all teams were bad. I also needed a lot of stimulation and sources for creativity. I also needed to learn social skills of and for the world outside my parents environment and community. I would say that if you do end up home schooling that you make sure she too has the skills to float between various communities. Children of expats sometimes have a hard time later in life otherwise.

In some ways I guess my parents did both. I went to grade school, on educational trips with them, did academic stuff with my parents, when I visited out of town friends I went to school with them (which was always very interesting), and was in activities at a cultural community center weekdays after school as well as weekends. I was darn close to being hot housed, the exception being public school.

 

[Pure]

afaik, we haven't been discussing a right to home school, which exists.

we are looking at the alleged benefits, and in particular whether it likely produces kids with more independence of mind and spirit and real interest in learning.

on the first score, independence, i'd say, regarding mr gatto's points, that parents are likely just as often to pressure for conformity, as are schoolteachers. in my case, hypothetically, my father was likely capable of teaching me well in sciences, which he taught. but his far right views would have severely slanted the history and social studies areas.

respect for authority is generally learned in the home. at the extreme, this amounts to submissiveness to it, as in homes in Japan and Korea.

the homeshooler proponents have to make up their minds do they claim

1) that they better teach respect for and deference to authority, esp. of the father, as per the Bible?

2) that they better teach independence of mind, NON submission to authority (or skeptical or partial submission), a trait rarely promoted or celebrated in any curriculum, esp. centered in traditional religious values as prescribed by various churches.

IF they make the second claim, as some posters above have, i'd guess they're wrong in the majority of cases; the successes touted by jbj are the exceptions, perhaps a minority. why do i say this. well, how many peoples political views differ from their parents? it's a minority. so even without home schooling, parents do rather well in enforcing their authority and in having the 'subjects', the kids, accept that it's right and its views are correct.

 

[keeblercrumb]

LIAR

Education colleges generally have the lowest admission requirements.

Ridiculous. Compared to what? The admission requirements for parenthood, the presumptive qualification for home schooling?

State university systems provide the vast majority of Education majors in the US... not surprising since this was typically seen as one of their principal charters so that there were qualified teachers available for local schools...

Most state university systems also have in their charter the requirement to provide higher education to as many qualified state residents as possible... some mandate acceptance of all high school graduates.

Having said that, there are clearly many "education" colleges which have higher admission standards then non-educational institutions.... I know. I grew up in such a state (New York) and graduated from a State university college which had far higher admission standards than many private colleges.

We have worked hard over the generations in this nation to improve our educational institutions..... The reality is that in most states, now, the qualifications for teachers are rigorous indeed, many mandating compulsory "refresher" or advanced degree programs well after their graduation.

The generalizations and stereotypes about public school teachers are simply not true.

But again, if you believe Public School teachers are not "qualified" enough, what standard do you hold for "home schooling"? Must they all, like Vermillion and her husband hold advanced degrees? Or is it having failed 1st grade and memorization of the biblical creation myth?

Until you suggest or even infer ANY standards for home school teachers, comments regarding the alleged insufficient standards for public school teachers are as irrelevant as they are inaccurate.

-KC

 

[Selena_Kitt]

afaik, we haven't been discussing a right to home school, which exists.

we are looking at the alleged benefits, and in particular whether it likely produces kids with more independence of mind and spirit and real interest in learning.

That's what YOU'RE arguing about Pure dear. She's right, Vana didn't ask for the research. I provided my personal experience and some links that might help her with homeschooling in general. I provided Gatto's article only in response to someone else's question (Why did you decide to homeschool?) not to make a point.

My response to you was only to provide you with the data you asked for. I hesitated to do so, actually, given Vana's initial post...

But I agree with F... and apologize to Vana (forgot actually to apologize IN my last post for hijacking...)

and with that, I'm out.

 

[keeblercrumb]

From the movie Parenthood:

"You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father."

-KC

 

[keeblercrumb]

That's what YOU'RE arguing about Pure dear. She's right, Vana didn't ask for the research. I provided my personal experience and some links that might help her with homeschooling in general. I provided Gatto's article only in response to someone else's question (Why did you decide to homeschool?) not to make a point.

My response to you was only to provide you with the data you asked for. I hesitated to do so, actually, given Vana's initial post...

But I agree with F... and apologize to Vana (forgot actually to apologize IN my last post for hijacking...)

and with that, I'm out.

Uhh... Me too.....Sorry for the philophical hijack.

-KC

 

[Pure]

i'm reminded of some of ayn rand's stated views of parents. whatever her odd views and dogmatism, she was at least able to see that the celebration of 'parents' and 'parental authority,' and 'family values' found in the religious right in particular, militates AGAINST individualism. these items are self-proclaimed, and at the center of the homeshooling rationales.

i suspect-- correct me if i'm wrong-- that most here who consider themselves as 'individual' and/or 'one of a kind' or NOT a conformist, established that in serious conflict with their parents. such is the way of the world.

how many can say both: 1) i have individualist, 'free thinking parents', who questioned all authority, and 2) my parents encouraged these things in me.
---

the southern baptist homeschooling curriculm for elementary school is at

http://www.thesouthernbaptistacademy.org/elementary.php

 

[scheherazade_79]

I've come across a couple of homeschooled kids who've entered the system at secondary level.

From the perspective of social networking / peer interaction, she has enough extracurricular interests to be absolutely fine.

Depends on how far you're planning on taking it. If you're confident you can take care of things all the way up to GCSE level and she's happy, then go for it.

But one thing I've noticed is that kids who've been homeschooled and return to the system always struggle a bit to fit in. It's almost like they've become too gentle, and the other kids suss that they're different in some way.

 

[Noira]

I'm seriously considering 'homeschooling' my 6 year old. I Know there are various pros and cons. I have done extensive research into the how's, why's, what's etc. So in terms of the details, I have that already.

Share your experiences with me, please?

I AM homeschooled--not gonna bother reading all the thread, I generally know what comes up. I barely had to glance at this thread to see it. The political debates. Hence.

I am homeschooled and unashamed. I did not go to school. I am not socially inept, I am capable of holding a job and was practically perpetually two grades ahead of my public schooled 'classmates' - the children I did swimming lessons and piano lessons with. Although I haven't submitted any literature here yet, I'm capable of writing intellegent and interesting stories, as reviews from other sites indicate. As my ability to hold a job indicates, I function perfectly well in the normal world. There's horror cases with homeschooling - but please don't try convince me there's absolutely no socially inept children in public school. I've met them. You just don't see them.

/mini rant. I apologize for that. I was attacked on another site for being homeschooled on the grounds that I must be a republician, brainwashed, socially inept follower who'd never be able to get a job or do anything right because I didn't spend twelve years of my life in a classroom, except for vacations. ><

For home schooling to work, you need a child who's a self-starter. Unless you plan on mimicking a classroom experience--which isn't the intent of homeschooling--your goal will be to teach your child to work independantly and creatively on his or her own time. A schedule is necessary for some. Not for others. I was an independant learner, I hate classrooms with a passion - I passed my mom's ability to teach me English by grade ten and started teaching my younger siblings instead, coaching my brother (five years younger) into writing a fantasy novel and teaching him about grammar in a fun way. On the flip side, my younger sister can't take the unscheduled, unsocial method of learning. Where I could take my textbooks into my bedroom and do my work she has to be prompted and sat on. Whereas my brother learns best by doing.

You need to be able to establish order quickly to homeschool. You want a child who'll work fast and independantly in order to provide social activities elsewhere. Since they won't be in a classroom half the day, and doing homework for another couple hours besides, you'll likely want your child involved in swimming lessons or music lessons or something else where he or she can get some extracurricular activities. We did swimming, piano/violin and art from outside teachers, during the hours we had free - because we finished our classwork fast. Field trips were a highlight, where we'd be ahead and just screw school that day and go to the city where we'd go visit a museum or science center or something else...

There are risks with homeschooling, yep. Every person learns differently, and to homeschool, you have to find out how your child learns and work with that. It'll be a more personal, one-on-one experience and if it goes well, you'll have a smart child who's confident and you'll have a lot more time on your hands. The teaching isn't hard. There's a lot of different courses you can get and all the ones we've ever used came with teaching guides, so you have an idea of what you'll be preparing. You'll have supervisors, likely, who'll come around a couple times a year to check up on you and occasionally give you tests - I'm not sure how it works in the States, but here we're required to take tests at grades 3, 6, and 9, to see where we class compared to our public schooled companions and display work for our supervisors.

There's often home schooling groups in the area where you can get together for field trips. Look around.

My experience, roughly, was that I was always two grade levels ahead (Abeka's curriculums are quite difficult and advanced...) and had a lot more free time because I did all my work fast. And I learned to work independantly, giving me time to focus on creative writing and art and things. I learned to cook and clean fairly young, and a lot of things that aren't really focused on in schools from simple hands on experience. My parents were computer geeks, so we all learned computer stuff. My six year old brother can program some cheats into video games, just from watching us. I learned to do graphic design from watching mom. We all can cook.

Hah. All my friends were jealous. ^_^ I didn't have to spend time doing homework and I could do all sorts of things they couldn't.

It can be a bit hard to fit in, in a classroom setting. But beyond school, when are you going to be in a classroom with 30 children, all your age, all likely the same or similar racial groups, anyway? I can't think of many... it's the level of extra work that makes homeschoolers likely to succeed. I always thought the point of homeschooling - the reason I didn't go to school when mom offered me the option when I hit high school - it taught me to work independantly and learn fast on my own.

All right, so I'm really only speaking for myself and homeschooled best friend - but we both homeschooled til grade 12, and she's doing fine in college and I'm doing fine in the workplace.

There ya go. Personal experience from the kid's point of view. We love it.

 

[keeblercrumb]

I AM homeschooled--not gonna bother reading all the thread, I generally know what comes up. I barely had to glance at this thread to see it. The political debates. Hence.

I am homeschooled and unashamed. I did not go to school. I am not socially inept, I am capable of holding a job and was practically perpetually two grades ahead of my public schooled 'classmates' - the children I did swimming lessons and piano lessons with. Although I haven't submitted any literature here yet, I'm capable of writing intellegent and interesting stories, as reviews from other sites indicate. As my ability to hold a job indicates, I function perfectly well in the normal world. There's horror cases with homeschooling - but please don't try convince me there's absolutely no socially inept children in public school. I've met them. You just don't see them.

/mini rant. I apologize for that. I was attacked on another site for being homeschooled on the grounds that I must be a republician, brainwashed, socially inept follower who'd never be able to get a job or do anything right because I didn't spend twelve years of my life in a classroom, except for vacations. ><

For home schooling to work, you need a child who's a self-starter. Unless you plan on mimicking a classroom experience--which isn't the intent of homeschooling--your goal will be to teach your child to work independantly and creatively on his or her own time. A schedule is necessary for some. Not for others. I was an independant learner, I hate classrooms with a passion - I passed my mom's ability to teach me English by grade ten and started teaching my younger siblings instead, coaching my brother (five years younger) into writing a fantasy novel and teaching him about grammar in a fun way. On the flip side, my younger sister can't take the unscheduled, unsocial method of learning. Where I could take my textbooks into my bedroom and do my work she has to be prompted and sat on. Whereas my brother learns best by doing.

You need to be able to establish order quickly to homeschool. You want a child who'll work fast and independantly in order to provide social activities elsewhere. Since they won't be in a classroom half the day, and doing homework for another couple hours besides, you'll likely want your child involved in swimming lessons or music lessons or something else where he or she can get some extracurricular activities. We did swimming, piano/violin and art from outside teachers, during the hours we had free - because we finished our classwork fast. Field trips were a highlight, where we'd be ahead and just screw school that day and go to the city where we'd go visit a museum or science center or something else...

There are risks with homeschooling, yep. Every person learns differently, and to homeschool, you have to find out how your child learns and work with that. It'll be a more personal, one-on-one experience and if it goes well, you'll have a smart child who's confident and you'll have a lot more time on your hands. The teaching isn't hard. There's a lot of different courses you can get and all the ones we've ever used came with teaching guides, so you have an idea of what you'll be preparing. You'll have supervisors, likely, who'll come around a couple times a year to check up on you and occasionally give you tests - I'm not sure how it works in the States, but here we're required to take tests at grades 3, 6, and 9, to see where we class compared to our public schooled companions and display work for our supervisors.

There's often home schooling groups in the area where you can get together for field trips. Look around.

My experience, roughly, was that I was always two grade levels ahead (Abeka's curriculums are quite difficult and advanced...) and had a lot more free time because I did all my work fast. And I learned to work independantly, giving me time to focus on creative writing and art and things. I learned to cook and clean fairly young, and a lot of things that aren't really focused on in schools from simple hands on experience. My parents were computer geeks, so we all learned computer stuff. My six year old brother can program some cheats into video games, just from watching us. I learned to do graphic design from watching mom. We all can cook.

Hah. All my friends were jealous. ^_^ I didn't have to spend time doing homework and I could do all sorts of things they couldn't.

It can be a bit hard to fit in, in a classroom setting. But beyond school, when are you going to be in a classroom with 30 children, all your age, all likely the same or similar racial groups, anyway? I can't think of many... it's the level of extra work that makes homeschoolers likely to succeed. I always thought the point of homeschooling - the reason I didn't go to school when mom offered me the option when I hit high school - it taught me to work independantly and learn fast on my own.

All right, so I'm really only speaking for myself and homeschooled best friend - but we both homeschooled til grade 12, and she's doing fine in college and I'm doing fine in the workplace.

There ya go. Personal experience from the kid's point of view. We love it.

And good for you. It sounds as if you had a great experience with Home Schooling just as thousands of other kids do......

And you are right, of course, horror stories abound of kids in Public Schools.....

Moreover, it sounds as if your parents gave you an academically stenuous curriculum and made a socialization a priorty for you. Again... great....

Just curious, why did your parents opt for home schooling?

-KC

 

[angelicminx]

I AM homeschooled--not gonna bother reading all the thread, I generally know what comes up. I barely had to glance at this thread to see it. The political debates. Hence.

... (snipped because it wasn't necessary to quote the whole story. )

Cool. Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

KEEBLER

Lotsa educators have graduate degrees. Some of the smartest people I know quit school in the 9th grade. And I've met some outstanding educators. One taught me statistics, one taught me geometry, and one taught me to think. Most were pretty useless, though.

 

[Nirvanadragones]

Thank you to everyone for your replies, and sharing your experiences. It is much appreciated.

 

[Pure]

noira,

great account! thanks for posting it. you don't say what country, but mention outside evaluations every 3 years. sounds like a good check.

clearly you are a self starter; if you reached your mom's level in English in gr 10, clearly you took yourself beyond.

i suspect your parents were free of 'tics,' odd behaviors and allegiances that would affect you: religious fundamentalism and/or far rightwing views? is that correct.

dedicated, informed, tolerant parents can obviously make home ed. work.

 

[Camilleon]

My Experience

I home school my older son. He is presently in the 4th grade. I home school him because he is autistic, and the school was unable to address the inexcusable bullying he endured. Although he is autistic, he is not learning disabled. Quite the opposite.

My younger son still attends public school.

There are numerous off-the-shelf curricula for elementary-school-level home schooling. They run the gamut. Some are great; some are horrible. When you reach middle school and above however, the choices narrow quickly and I'm not too impressed with any of them. They tend to rely on rote memorization and push aside critical thinking. I haven't seen a high school level curriculum that was worth having. I will go it my own then, with the public school approved texts.

My son takes nationally standardized testing to measure his progress against his peers. The tests are administered at a local private school. He always scores well into the top percentages. Standardized testing runs the gamut in quality, too. If you want your child's test scores to look good, you can, more or less, buy it. I would not recommend anything less than Stanford Achievement or Iowa. ISEE is excellent, but very difficult.

My son takes piano lessons at the local university. I can't teach piano. There are numerous options for classes outside the home if you do not know a particular subject area.

I don't pretend to be an educator. I only have to teach one child, not 20. On the other hand, he is my son, so I can tell immediately if he is getting a concept or not. That makes home school very efficient and there is no need for "homework." An hour of home school can be worth two hours of instruction in a regular school.

I particularly like the option to incorporate current events from TV into the lessons. We always have great examples for lessons in history, economics, ethics, art....just some of the more recent topics. It makes some good variety.

For what it's worth, I have a BS in Mathematics, a BS in Economics, and an MBA in Economics. Most of the home school moms I know go outside the home for instruction in math and science at about middle school level.

I would not be home schooling if I didn't have to. However, it has far exceeded my expectations. I was scared to death at the start. I know several families that home school. Most do fine. Two are disasters.

I am considering home schooling my younger son. From a strictly academic point of view, he would do much better. However, he likes the social interaction, so my husband and I are still undecided. Every kid is different, and for some, the social aspect may be a very healthy, if not necessary, component.

If I can answer any specific questions, please feel free to PM me.

I hope this helps.

Good luck!

Camilleon

 

[Pure]

hi nirvana,

sorry if my postings went afield; they did if you wanted only first person accounts. i thought the general issues would be of interest, even though you have done some research yourself.

it should be a practical matter, as described by the last couple posters, the choice where to school. in the US, it's become a chosen tool of certain groups of fervent views. this may not affect you, though it affects the material available.

it does seem ironic that, if the goal is to escape the system, so many home schoolers, choose a package like the Southern Baptist Home Curriculum. even Calvert, which appears secular, mentioned the great detail of each lesson plan you are to follow.

noira's point about self starting is key. 'learning lessons, ' as pre-set, as prescribed, and perhaps drilled by rote, is the lowest form of learning and generally leads to passivity. real learning, beyond the basics, essentially involves being able to ASK questions, find answers on one's own, and call upon genuine experts, as needed. note that extreme groups, while they challenge the establishment, typically preach submission to their own leaders.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

how many can say both: 1) i have individualist, 'free thinking parents', who questioned all authority, and 2) my parents encouraged these things in me.

Me!

But I realize I'm probably an exception to the rule...

I forgot to mention homeschooling groups... we have tons of co-ops available in the area, where parents get together and share their expertise. We have Spanish classes, French classes, music classes (guitar and piano) advanced math classes, all those things that we might not have the ability to teach ourselves - we share the wealth, and the kids get to be socialized with other kids at the same time.

If you're going to travel, Vana, that may not be an option for you, obviously... but if you do settle somewhere eventually, look on the Internet for homeschooling co-ops... they're out there!

 

[champagne1982]

Samuel Clemens said it: "Don't let schooling get in the way of a good education."

Provide a whole spectrum of learning to children and try not to bog down in schedules over structure, struggle over fun and results over process.

That said, education is lifelong and as parents shouldn't the focus be on imparting a love of learning and knowledge of how to learn? Give your babies skills to adapt and morals to aid them in making healthy choices in every aspect of being in society. Do your job well and I'm betting, no teacher or school system will have the power to damage your children.

 

[Vermilion]

hi nirvana,

sorry if my postings went afield; they did if you wanted only first person accounts. i thought the general issues would be of interest, even though you have done some research yourself.

it should be a practical matter, as described by the last couple posters, the choice where to school. in the US, it's become a chosen tool of certain groups of fervent views. this may not affect you, though it affects the material available.

it does seem ironic that, if the goal is to escape the system, so many home schoolers, choose a package like the Southern Baptist Home Curriculum. even Calvert, which appears secular, mentioned the great detail of each lesson plan you are to follow.

noira's point about self starting is key. 'learning lessons, ' as pre-set, as prescribed, and perhaps drilled by rote, is the lowest form of learning and generally leads to passivity. real learning, beyond the basics, essentially involves being able to ASK questions, find answers on one's own, and call upon genuine experts, as needed. note that extreme groups, while they challenge the establishment, typically preach submission to their own leaders.

Whilst Vana is planning to travel, her daughter has been brought up in Britain so far and Vana will, presumably, use British material for her teaching if she needs help... I have never come across a Creationist in the UK. Even all the Xians I know credit Darwin over Genesis. I haven't looked, so this is all assumptive, but I would imagine that British teaching material, unless purchased specifically through a church, would be free of Xian 'propaganda'.

Does that make sense? I feel very discombobulated today. Just wanted to point out that the UK and America have much bigger differences than their spellings and accents. Fervent Xians are in the minority here and mostly regarded with caution and wariness by secular citizens (and more moderate Xians), in my limited experience at least.

x
V

 

[Noor]

how many can say both: 1) i have individualist, 'free thinking parents', who questioned all authority, and 2) my parents encouraged these things in me.

I can.

 

[3113]

I have to say, Selena, that I did take offense at the list, and I agree with Pure that Parents are as likely as teachers to do exactly the same. It's wrong to slander all teachers with this bias brush given that so many try so very hard to give children a good education, individuality and freedom of thought. This often in spite of the parents who might not wish their children to have any of that. I remember vividly a child who wandered into a comic book store being dragged out by a parent shouting, "I don't want you to have an imagination!"

Having said that I also have to agree that the public schools in the U.S. are the worst they've ever been, often graduating seniors who can't read. Had I kids, I'd probably homeschool them, or, if I could afford it, send them to private school rather than let them attend such schools. This public school disaster is not the fault of the teachers, much as many people would love to scapegoat them, but that's a whole other thread that I'll leave Pure to start

On the one hand, I can tell you that miserable as I was in public school from age 6-13, I would have hated being educated by my parents. They wouldn't have done badly, and they certainly took me to museums and such trying to give me a well-rounded education. But they didn't understand me and what I needed any more than the schools did and it would have been six-of-one, half-a-dozen of another. Honestly.

We moved to a new town when I was 14 and from then on I was happy with my school.

But now we come to my husband. A brilliant kid born into a loving family that were uneducated. They couldn't teach him. The public school couldn't teach him. Luckily, the public school got visits from a private school with a scholarship program and he got that, giving him the best education he could have ever wanted or desired, as well as some of the best social connections. I can say for sure that he would have been a very frustrated person if his education had been up to either his parents or the public school.

So, in a way, public school served him well by giving him access to that private school. In addition, there are kids from terrible homes who find public school a refuge, a place where they can feel safe, can flex their minds and all that. There are plenty of quotes you can find from kids saying "I love going to school, I wish I could stay there all the time." Most of these kids would say that the teacher is far more understanding of them, is far more likely to urge them to think and be individuals than their parents.

I can say, in my case, that I would--and was--frustrated either way. I did not get the best education from the public schools, and would not have gotten the best education if my parents had taught me. So my humble opinion on the subject is that the child needs to get the kind of education that is best for them, be it public, private (if that can be managed) or home.