Well articulated and Excellent points!

wow- just to clarify-  smart kids that know answers,love learning and everything school related are not weird-  they are nerds/geeks- just as i was in school-  the weird that I have encountered with homeschooled kids both as peers in college and in some younger kids at the karate dojo (getting their dose of socialization) is from an inability to accurately interact with others their own age and realize that they are not part of the adult world before they reach adulthood-  when one only has one point of view/ syle of life  they think that is how it is everywhere  – my regular schooled kids know not to invade my adult conversations and interactions and actually prefer to act silly with friends- whereas  the NUMEROUS homeschool kids that are in my circle of life are so used to adult interaction that they think they are privy to be in that arena-  there is plenty of time before school, after school, summers and holidays to enhance you childs regular school education without making them weird and most importantly annoying by keeping them home-  unless they beg- and are at an appropriate age to make such a decision- it should not be made for them-  just as you would tell your child to try a new food because they may like it-  you shouldnt deny them all that school has to offer without letting them try it and letting themmake that decision

 No – homeschooling doesn’t *have* to be the answer for all children. But, what happens when you have a child who doesn’t thrive in the school system? Three of the smartest (in the academic sense) kids I knew when I was in school dropped out before the end of ninth grade. I was a “brain”, and I hovered on the edge of dropping out for my last two years of school.

When things aren’t working for my kids, I can tweak what we do. When things weren’t working for me, there was nothing to be done.

I can’t imagine any reason why I would see my children as “not part of the adult world”. The idea of an “adult world” and a “children’s world” just makes my head hurt. My children are part of the *world*. Full stop. There’s really not anything more to say to that part of it.

Are you letting your children try homeschooling, so they can make *that* decision? If not, your arguement is hopelessly flawed. Of course I make the educational decisions for my young children (although we do take their feelings and views into account), and so does every single parent who puts their child in public school or private school, or anything else. To suggest that educational decisions shouldn’t be made for our children is…odd. Every parent makes those decisions.

I also find it interesting that you frame it as “denying them” all school has to offer. I doubt you’d like it if I said that public schooling parents are denying their children all homeschooling has to offer, so don’t sling it in the other direction. I’ve had children go through both, and I have yet to see anything that my homeschooled children have been denied. My oldest, who was public schooled, is sometime envious of all the cool things his younger siblings get to experience, but the younger ones aren’t even remotely envious of their brother’s schooling. So, who is being “denied”?

 Two things stick out in my mind:
1. I doubt if any course ever invented will truly “teach” someone how to teach. I think it quite likely that many courses aimed at educating a teacher may be more about fitting kids into a mold than about actually teaching anything.
2. I thought about pursuing a teaching role a few years ago; I decided against it PRECISELY because I don’t care to deal with all the administrative, political, and cultural BS that I’d need to tolerate.

If we truly want to see kids receive a decent education, we’ll need for the State worry far more about teaching useful stuff. We’ll need to leave the ethnicity, identity, and related malarky by the wayside.

 Sounds to me like you need to have a chat with the parents regarding how people should behave when visiting your establishment. Or else find a different group of homeschoolers. Your comments reflect more of a rabble-rousing menace than a group of well-behaved kids.

Very true, Kathy.  But better they learn that from their parents, who will teach them with love and patience, than they receive that message from other children who might not be so kind.  And to tell you the truth, I expect a lot more humility from my eldest than her public school teachers ever did.  Because she always did well academically, they didn’t need to bother focusing on any of her other qualities, either good or bad.  Now that she’s home during the day, I can help cultivate her awareness of certain socially unacceptable and/or unChristian behavior on a continuous basis.  Therefore she has improved markedly in that area since leaving the public school system.

This is a great article! I think that opinion of home-schooled children is just so outdated. When I was growing up, there were several families in our church that were home-schooled, and honestly, their kids weren’t so much  ’weird’ as much as they seemed to be really slow and behind. It gave me a really negative opinion on home schooling! When my oldest sister started home schooling, I was a little nervous, but I’m so glad she did because it really opened my eyes to how different home schooling is now. There are so many opportunities and experiences that home school offers that public school could never touch. My kids aren’t school aged yet, so we still aren’t sure what will be best for them, but home schooling is definitely in the running! 

 Wow. Homeschooled kids are exposed to more kinds of people of all ages and walks of life than a child who spends all day, every day in a building with same-aged peers could possibly be. Again, I am speaking of school hours, not what those kids might do outside of school. Homeschooled kids are involved in all kinds of service activities, for example, ranging from preparing and serving meals to the poor, visiting nursing home, special athletic leagues which pair an able-bodied child with a disabled child to help them participate in sports, homeschool groups which include kids of all ages and abilities doing activities and trips together. They get plenty of “peer pressure” in these activities, but also the opportunity to move outside the insulated little same-age cocoon. The Homeschool Legal Defense Association (www.hslda.org) has many research articles on file which verify the fact that homeschooled children are much more resilient, and better able to relate to people of different ages, abilities, and backgrounds, not to mention consistently achieving higher scores on testing and being involved in a wider range of activities and interests.

There are also studies that show that children who attend school with same-aged peers are less likely to want to play with their own siblings outside of school hours. They become less able to relate to or take an interest in children who are not their own age.

Exposure to other interests? This year alone, our homeschool group– consisting of kids from age 1 to 15 at this point, plus parents and grandparents– has put on poetry recitals, visited an apiary, spent a morning with an opera singer learning techniques, visited a monastery and talked with the nuns about religious life, had the opportunity to handle birds of prey, visited a historic site in our community and learned crafts from that period, visited a chocolatier and made candy, gone to concerts of folk and classical music, and at least 4 or 5 other things. And these are just the “formal” activities we do together. A child in school is lucky if they have one or two such field trips a year.

Jane Healy, author of the book Endangered Minds (on the effect of media and technology on learning), makes another valid point about parents as teachers, again based on research. Teachers are generally trained and certified to teach a certain range of grade levels and a certain subject. Ms. Healy contrasts a single (unmarried) teacher with extensive training in education and in his/her subject matter with a parent who has been involved with their child’s growth and development from day one. That parent will be a more effective teacher than the one with formal training, even of other people’s children as well as their own, because they are more sensitive to the subtle, individual needs and stages of development that a child is at. This enables the parent/teacher to be more responsive, even subconsciously,  to what each student needs in order to learn effectively. (Parents who think classrooms should have a computer for every child may want to read that book.)

At this point in my homeschooling career, because of my multi-age children, I have taught ALL grade levels and ALL ages, sometimes several times over. This experience in teaching many different grade levels and ages and subjects enables me to make connections among subjects that gives much greater meaning to lessons than if I specialized in one thing and taught only one thing. I can change curriculum if it isn’t “working” instead of being locked in to whatever the school has purchased. I know exactly what books my kids read, what their interests are, what excites them in another subject so I can draw it into the one I’m teaching now…and all of this provides for a rich education indeed. It uniquely qualifies me to teach my children effectively.

And after all, education IS about learning. It is not primarily meant to
be a “school of hard knocks” or “survival of the fittest.”

 I just feel the need to mention that there are many, many ineffective teachers in public schools. receiving training and a degree does not a great teacher make. In my own public school years, as well as my eldest child’s school experience before I took her out to be homeschooled, I encountered many apathetic, bored, burnt-out, nasty teachers. Of course there are many great ones. But “effectiveness” comes from really knowing and caring about your student. A parent who really loves and cares about their children can teach them more effectively than a mediocre teacher in a school.

The same-age classroom is also a relatively recent phenomenon. Think of all the great writers, scientists, kings and queens from the past, those who spoke multiple languages and were highly educated. Most were taught by a tutor, individually or with their siblings– a similar situation to homeschooling. Some, like Laura Ingalls Wilder, were taught in one-room schoolhouses with multiple-age students. (Laura was taught by her mother first).

There are also many resources available for homeschoolers. My friend has a Latin teacher come to her home weekly to teach her son. Another friend uses an online course for one subject. Sometimes Dad or a grandparent will teach a subject Mom isn;t comfortable with. There is no form of education more flexible in meeting a student’s needs than homeschooling.

What a great article!  I was homeschooled in Highschool 27 yrs ago…It was great for me because as I put it:  I was able to grow into myself without the soicial pressures of school.

What a wonderful article. My wife wanted to explore the idea of homeschooling last year. Reluctantly I agreed and worried myself at the same time. 
What a waste of time to worry. What a wonderful journey it has been. Our children are amazing and what a priviledge to see them develop in front of our eyes. Their curiosity, imagination and zest for learning is contagious. It’s not all roses, but in the end, I firmly believe it was the best decision my wife made and I so proud of her and heck I even taught a class to a homeschool group just last week! I never thought I would be doing that. Thanks again for sharing a great article. It was a great way to start the week.

 I went through public school and public college.  I have my M.S. in education.  I homeschool because I have a passion for teaching.
“There’s a reason why teachers went to school for this and they know the
subject best. They teach because they have a passion for teaching.”
I got an “A” in AP Calculus by washing my teacher’s transparency sheets for extra credit.  I was completely left behind in that class, but because I got an “A,” I got college credit and didn’t have to take calculus in college.  So, I clearly learned a lot from my AP Calculus teacher…how to wash transparencies (oh and decorate his bulletin board for him for extra points too).  My kids are expected to wash their own dishes and they don’t get extra credit for it.
“Public schools offer programs such as music, art, sports, business clubs, service clubs, etc.”  Apart from the fact that I also have my B.A. in English and another one in music, my first-grader and pre-schooler know more about music than most.  They participate in piano lessons and a pre-school music class.  My first-grader’s new “thing” is to study the work of various artists and produce his own artwork in the same style.  So far he has done an entire book of pointilism, a flower inspired by Georgia O’Keefe and an amazing piece inspired by Kandinsky’s circles.  He participates in basketball, baseball, and Tae Kwon Do.  He is a cub scout.  He and his 5 year-old brother run two businesses almost completely on their own.  They grow and sell pumpkins and they take care of their own night crawler farm.  I’m pretty sure that actually running your own business might be more of a learning experience than sitting around in a club talking about how you might do it.  As for service, last year, my Kindergartner was so moved and touched by the 1 year anniversary of the massive earthquakes in Haiti that he wrote a letter to all the local businesses asking them to pledge $0.50 per bag of garbage that he picked up around our town.  He picked up 31 bags of garbage and raised and donated over $800 to Samaritan’s Purse for Haitian relief.  This year, he is recycling cans and newspapers to make projects to sell so he can send the money to Haiti.  He also memorized over 100 Bible verses this year in AWANA…oh and by the way, he has a documented learning disability.
I could go on and on about my homeschooled child’s achievements, but what I am most proud of is his heart and character!  He is an amazing and respectful young man!
“Parents coddle their children too much and schools are not full of bullies.”
Have you seen homeschooling families work?  Because they are at home, there are consequences for their actions rather than “a time out.”  My homesechooled children are disciplined.  They are taught that education is a gift and when they are not giving their best or they complain about having to have school, I read them articles about children in other countries who have to work every day instead of going to school and give them the option.  They can either spend the day working or go to school.  Each of them has done enough chores as part of daily life to know they would much rather have an education.  My children are loved and protected–that is my job as their mom and if you want to call that coddling, so be it.  Schools are not full of bullies?  You should take a poll of some public schooled children and see if they agree.  You could also take this up with every single one of the major news networks. 
I escaped school relatively unscathed by bullies.  My husband did not.  He was even told by his teachers that he would never be anything more than a rotten kid.  And now he’s the best husband and father I could ever have been blessed with…not to mention that he has a Bachelor’s degree and an A.A.S. degree! 

And as far as our school experiences go, you might say that “not all schools are like that” or “not all kids are bullied” or “not all kids are scarred from public school.”  TRUE!  Just the same way that “not all homeschooled kids sit around chewing on shoes all day!” 

I love homeschooling!  It is, by far, the biggest and most rewarding challenge in my life.  But, I am a huge believer in doing what is best for your child.  I think we, as homeschoolers, are always under attack and the immediate response is to point out all of the flaws in the public school system in defense of our choice!   The bottom line is that we all have to do what is best for our own children and support each other in their choice.  I happen to know a lot of very well-mannered and bright kids who are schooled publicly.  It won’t kill them.  It might be what’s best for them!  And if God thought I could have done a better job parenting them, He would have given them to me!

 You have struck a nerve here because you have criticized without having any background knowledge.  You’re not a parent.  You’re not a teacher.  You are making all sorts of assumptions based on nothing at all.  Of course you’re going to strike a nerve! 
Based on my own experience, I was a perfect parent before I had kids!  I was a perfect teacher before I had students!  And I could judge a wife better than anyone else before I had a husband…and then came the humbling process that included an almost failed marriage, a colicky and strong-willed child and a kid with a learning disability.  And I’m a much better person because of these lessons from God!

 And by the way, my kids know how to deal with external conflicts….they’re called SIBLINGS!

I’m a young homeschooling mommy. I took many AP classes in high school, and I have to agree with Dottie.  None of my AP teachers were specially trained.  If fact, most of them would teach an AP class and then would teach a regular class next hour.  I remember one experience in my AP biology class where someone asked the teacher a question and he dug around in the book for 20 min., and a student found the answer before he did.  I’m not here to trash teachers, but they aren’t as specially trained as you might think.  One of my friends just got her bachelor’s in education, and she mostly learned about theories etc.  I don’t need theories to know how to best instruct and guide my children.  And as for the coddling, I think that it is a parent’s job to protect their children until they can protect themselves.  This doesn’t mean that I hover and stop any bad situation that could happen.  This means I allow them to explore and grow into themselves without having to worry about fitting in (which is an illusion anyways).

To steal your thought, LFK, “My school philosophy has evolved to where I believe my most important educational task is to give them the tools of learning… and to teach them to think critically. …Given the tools of learning and the ability to think, they can learn anything.  And my main goal is to instill a desire for heaven in them anyway.” 
Amen! THIS what I’m aiming for as we set out to begin homeschooling our Kindergardener this fall (but we may start sooner, well, because we can!). If we teach our kids to THINK and how to find answers to their inquiries through a variety of resources, they will learn and learn well – for life, not for some AP exam (though they will probably do quite well there, too, if they put their well-trained mind to it)! And to top it off, the goal of heaven stands at the top. Thanks for putting this aim succinctly.

I agree – not all socialization is good socialization! (I use that line a lot!)  My parents thought homeschooling was weird when I was a kid and would joke that they would only consider homeschooling us once kids started bringing guns and knives to school!  They thought that would never happen! I don’t want my kids absorbing what is considered ok behavior in most schools today. My kids participate in so many groups and activities – we actually have to limit their activities and time with friends so we can actually get our work done.  Our family has chosen to homeschool not just for academics, we do it so that they become happy, kind, well adjusted people who enjoy being a part of their family and community.

Thomas Edison’s mother didn’t have a background in science.  She homeschooled him. I don’t have a background in math past high school.  Our oldest son is nearing his bachelor’s degree in engineering and has been asked to consider a doctorate program.  What you fail to see is that we parents that school our children at home teach them to learn how to learn.

 I think you nailed it in your first six words:  [you] find it hard to imagine.  Most people from institutional education do.   

Parents, the people who care most about their children’s development, learn to be industrious and find the BEST sources for subject matters in which they themselves do not excel.  And you FAR underestimate the motivation of a learner who has not been “socialized.”  They know how to dig, how to research, how to figure it out on their own.  The involvement of an “expert” is not always needed, and when it is, we can find one.  When their drive hasn’t been killed in school, children are more resourceful than you think!

If a parent is taking his/her child out of school because the public/private school is full of signs that culture is somehow falling apart and they fear negative influences, the child is not being brought home for schooling because the parent thinks the child will have a better education but out of fear of the world. This kind of fear of the world is pervasive among many homeschool families I know and it seems unhealthy if not unChristian, particularly since this condescending view will be transferred to the child and left unchallenged because the primary if not majority of time will be spent at home. The world is not bad nor are the people in it, even though they may do ‘bad’ things. Taking kids out of school because one thinks a child will avoid being influenced by negative examples is delaying the inevitable and teaching children to avoid if not condemn those who don’t always make wise choices. These people need to be embraced, not rejected. I’m not saying a child needs to put himself in harm’s way but by being a witness, the child does an immense amount of good by being a source of positive peer pressure. If the bad examples are effecting one’s ability to learn then yes, the kid needs to be taken out and homeschooled or go somewhere else.
If a parent makes a conscious effort to have their children engage with others, do extracurriculars and make friendships, then great! I’ve seen some who do that; I’ve known others who don’t. I never said I was opposed to homeschool. I might do it myself if I don’t find a school we can afford and like. I’m opposed to the demonizing of those of us with claims that we find homeschoolers weird and annoying and that only homeschoolers are confident, convicted and heroically different. I’m skeptical of homeschool because we consider being around non-family members in the context of learning to be of great value for the experience it gives our children to learn empathy and understanding as well as social skills, i.e. what it means to work in a group of other intelligent people who are at your similar (b/c of age) yet varied experience level (b/c of diff background), knowing boundaries, being aware of social cues, having a sense of what can turn people away and prevent relationships – we are here to love and create relationships, not avoid them – not to mention the opportunity to be an example of Christian love to those who might not otherwise ever experience it in the way your child can give it. That might happen at the zoo on the day your kids are around others but to be an example every day for the same people can surely make an impact and in turn my child could learn something about others that makes him/her more mature in his personality and faith. 

My husband too works at a University. He’s had professional experiences with three homeschooled undergrads. One was bright and able to engage with others easily, two seemed to lack self-awareness and were narcissistic. That doesn’t mean homeschool did them in but if we’re going to get anecdotal… 

I have to disagree with your statement, as a high-school student who has been homeschooled most of my life, and having chosen to attend public school in part last year, and for all subjects this year. People have tried bullying me throughout both years because I’m a homeschooled weirdo who dared to actually raise my hand in class more than once and give an intelligent answer. The kids I see in schools, at least where I live, act passive aggressive towards any student who demonstrates anything but a passing interest in learning anything aside from how to drive, shoot a gun, play video games, or football/volleyball. They don’t accept anyone who’s noticeably different, no matter what the reason. Most kids in my school will complain for three days straight if their cell phone is taken away by their parents, but will tell someone who’s experiencing serious depression to “get over it.” because it’s not that bad in THEIR opinion.
As a homeschool student, I was exposed to many different types of people, with a vast array of social experiences, interests, and ideas. I was also challenged by my siblings to achieve more (in part because of the resulting bragging rights at the time) and to gain interest in a variety of other subjects. Furthermore, many normal home-schooling materials are on par with or better than AP classes (this from someone who’s taken both). Likewise, language courses can be taught quite well by parents, especially if they speak the language.Also, schools aren’t the only places kids can go to for sports, clubs, art, etc. Scouting programs, community service programs, volunteer activities, and private music/art lessons are easy to find in practically any area.Yeah, people need to be exposed to a thing to develop interest in it, but that doesn’t mean they have to go to school to do it. And if peers pressure each other to play more video games, eat more garbage, and study less, how’s that going to help out any of them? Peer pressure is only useful if it’s actually driven towards something useful. Otherwise it’s a load of crap at best, and dangerous to a person’s health at its worst.

Finally, home-schooling allows for individualized teaching, which public schools suck at on average. In order to actually be challenged after homeschooling most of my life, I’ve had to take courses that are far more advanced than my age-level, including a college class, and even that’s barely keeping me occupied. In addition to the academic part of school, my art teacher has to assign me about three times as much work as any other student if she wants me to work for the same amount of time as everyone else. Note that this is while still maintaining excellent grades and high standards. Kids don’t need peer pressure to keep high standards for themselves. All kids need is motivation. Sometimes, it comes from peer pressure, but (in my opinion at least) that isn’t nearly as effective as being encouraged by parents, siblings, and other family members.

I wouldn’t blame homeschooling for loneliness, although I conceed it may contribute to it to a certain extent. I was publically educated and spent a very lonely junior and senior high. College was pretty lonely also.  I think personality has a lot more to do with it.

Socialization is such a fallacy! We have been homeschooling for 12 years, our kids have more active social lives than the public school kids we know. Our kids interact well with adults and other children of all ages because they have been homeschooled. I constantly get compliments from strangers at church who are impressed by the way our sons look them in the eye and shake their hands during the greeting. Public schools are set up to make kids not interact with others who aren’t their own age, and they don’t know how to interact well with adults. I hope that the socialization issue will disappear in the future with more and more people choosing to homeschool.

 This is a perfect example of how home education does not exempt one from bullying, abuse, and/or negativity.  Why focus on a typo (or maybe it was a true misspelling, since I know I make them also) rather than the focus of the post, that annoying the secular left seemed to Dawnstiller to be a very odd reason to homeschool.  The point is that there are a lot of people in the secular left (I am one.) who home educate or have home educated their children.  More will.  Not every left-leaning humanist supports all unions, or the education unions in particular.  There are eve “lefty secularist” people who find public schools too Christian.  I believe in social justice.  I believe in treating one other with respect.  I respect your right to speak up.  I just didn’t want to let the opportunity pass to point out that opening your mind up to what others think and do might connect you with people who surprise you with what you have in common, even while everyone retains his/her differences.  For me, the commonality here is preserving (and improving) freedoms to educate one’s children as one sees fit.