I have spent the last month now looking into home schooling. I have found a lot of information on home schooling and I am aware of all the pros and cons. I know it is not an easy task either, but I am seriously thinking of doing it. Has anyone here been home schooled before or know anyone that has been? What are your thoughts on home schooling?
Homeschooling is a very interesting topic for me, partly because I was homeschooled from the age of five, until I graduated. I personally find homeschooling to be an awesome tool for learning, especially for instilling the want to learn in the child. As long as there are other social outlets, (join a sports team, any thing as long as it's social) you should be completely fine. This might be a little off topic, but I'm not a fan of vaccines, and homeschooling is the only way to avoid them. My only big concern (again, this rings very true in my life) is finding a career, and getting into College without a diploma, unless of course you use your School's curriculum. Good luck to you. : )
dushechka thankyou very kindly for your comments. It is great to hear from someone who has personally been home schooled. I am going to be making a visit to our local education department this week and look into it and hopefully be able to home school my children. I think that the benefit is knowing what is being taught to my children and know that they are learning in a safe and controlled environment. Tor
I'm glad I could help. : ) But yes, I'm actually contemplating that as well, whenever I have kids that is. I like the idea of independent thought. (If that makes sense to anyone.. lol)
I basically agree with the above. Homeschooling, in my opinion, is probably one of the better options when it comes to getting the most out of education, that or a small private or public school with a good reputation and motivated staff members. My only issue with homeschooling is that it maybe detrimental to the personal development of social skills and copying mechanisms of the child in question however, this could always be counteracted with regular, intensive involvement in social groups, sports is a great option - especially group sports which involves working in teams. Of course, I suppose it’s all a matter of location, if you live in a city or very large town then I suggest the child to go to a school- as schools may offer specialist programmes to your child that you may not normally have access to; for example my high school offers a maritime programme, whereby students learn how to sail, scuba dive, drive boats ect. It also maybe more beneficial as schools (especially here in western Australia) engage in a wide range of community based competitions both sporting and academic (for example, a school I went to was heavily involved in debating and attended a state debating competition which was held between different schools). Then again, if you live in a smaller town, like I once did, homeschooling is probably the better option especially when it comes to ensuring your child is up to date with the content specified by the curriculum (I found at my old town, my school was somewhat inept when it came to getting through the content that we needed to be taught). Of course another option, if you do live in a smaller town is to send your child to a boarding school. Personally I find that to be one of the best options if you want the benefits of both environments. However, it can be pretty damn expensive, so unless you're completely certain that is what you want to invest in then maybe further research is required before a definite decision can be made.
Eoz thankyou kindly and I have been putting all of those things into perspective and I am not taking this decision lightly. If I were to decide to home school my children I would have them involve in as many out of school/social programs as possible. I thankyou kindly for your comments and they really do help with the decision making process. It certainly does give me something to think about and yes once my children are older I will be looking at sending them to a private school or boarding school as I dislike public schools altogether.
I know not all are that bad Eoz. I myself went to a public school. But I would just prefer not to send my children to a public school if it can be helped. I didn't mean to offend anyone by the comment!
lol. But the thing is, you have to be diciplined yourself. I mean, no flitting off to the shops when you want, no, gulp, internet... Not meaning you shouldn't do it but be careful with your decision. I mean, if your children go to a public school, then you have the time yourself to do a few things without your kids bugging you. Not that that's a bad thing, just most parents I hear from enjoy school time! So the thing is, it's not just your children that need to sit down in one spot, it's you as well. I think that this is coming across harsha dn I honestly don't mean it to, but yeah, you have to be careful in your choosing I suppose. ..don't hate me!
Nah tis a good point DOZ and yeah you know me well but you should also know that I am devoted to mykids and would go to the ends of the earth to give them the best out of life!
oh yeah, wasn't disputing that fact! It's mroe or less like, be prepared for tedious boredom, not that I know it for real, just that i know I would be like, YAY! at first and then I'd get too lazy to teach them anything productive!
Yeah I know exactly what you are saying there DOZ! Don't worry sweety, I will think long and hard about the decision.
It's not a terrible idea, as long as you keep them socially involved. In fact, it's good enough that I might try it after I have kids Then again, this is for those parents who love spending time with their kids, unlike those who want their lives safe from children. Think hard about it and don't rush it.
Backtracking a little here, what do you mean by public school? In England it means a private school (i.e. independent, fee-paying), but I know in other countries it is used to refer to state schools...
Do you believe you have the skills, intelligence and mindset to be able to teach a child everything they need to know without any bias.
I went to a state (public school), and some of the teachers simply didn't give a rats ass about us. I was not challenged there, and did very poorly as a result. I also had a lot of fights there. However, it was definitely a good social environment. I've heard about private schools. They are full of rich kids with god-fearing parents who wouldn't belive the bad things their kids got up to. There was one girl in particular that I knew very well, she was 13 and I was 17. She told me that because of the money all those kids had, the drugs followed close behind. When I was lucky to get a baggie of weed, she, at 13, could buy speed, extacy, lsd or heroin. And she did. That scared the **** out of me. She had an abortion at 14. Anyway, my point is, when I have a kid, they will either be home schooled, or go to a decent state school. With home schooling, you get to choose what you teach them. My sewing skills have yet to come in handy. But like someone else said, getting them involved in something social, like sports, cadets, arts or something else is essential if you want them to grow up normal. Cadets was definitely the best influence on me at school. That's my two cents anyway.
See that is what I mean. All the drugs that are so readily available for children these days is just digusting. The high school I went to now has the primary school, pre school and not sure but possible even the kindergarten there as well and I know what kind of drugs were going through there when I was in school. Also that schoool has had that many pervert teachers, even teachers sleeping with studeetns. So I'd rather protect my angels from those predators as much as possible. I know I am not the smartest person in the world, I have a high IQ but still it does not make me the smartest person around. With doing home schooling it also gives the parent an opportunity to learn things. As for state and public schools, I am sure there are some fine ones out there. But I have never found one yet!
I have had to spend countless hours with my son when he was younger teaching him to learn to talk through placing his hadns upon my cheeks and uponm my lips so he could feel the way my mouth moved and the vibrations. My son could basically not hear at all and I set out to teach him to talk and to understand me. I had no idea if I was doing it right but the ENT then informs me I gave my son the best start possible as he could talk better and understand far better than he should have been able to. I may not have all the skills, but life is all about learning and adapting. If we don't give something a go just because we may or may not have the skills to begin with then why the heck would we bother with anything we do in life.
I think a good parenting method is to actually let your child have contact with the environments that many parents try to avoid. In my opinion, if you spend all this effort trying to shelter your children from things like drugs, sex, bullies, it’s going to either promote their curiosity or drive god strong fear into their hearts, which could be detrimental to their normal function in society. Children, especially those approaching adolescence, should learn about these issues in gradual amounts until they build up their own understandings, ideologies and copy skills. The reason why I've attended a state school for the latter of my life (when I was 13 I attended a catholic private school) is not necessarily because my family can't afford a private education or they don't care about my education period, but because my Mum wants me to grow up in an environment which is similar to that of reality (also the state school I go to is actually of a reasonable standard), so when the time comes for me to leave school and enter the real world, not only will I have a decent education but I will not be ignorant nor upset by its 'dark side' which, no matter where or who you are, is bound to appear. Also, the fact that I have not been brought up in a particularly sheltered environment has given me the opportunity to research and gather my own insight and opinions about the world, which I may not have had if I were under the constant influence of my families own ideologies. I suppose in conclusion to this whole babble is to say be careful with how you chose to educate your child and what you choose to shelter them from, by all means be protective of your child, that's just common sense, but don't be one of those parents who strictly regulate their child's exposure to the world and even if you do choose to homeschool or send them to a private school, make sure that you still mother them in a way whereby there is a constant level of trust and ease especially when it comes to the issues most parents are concerned about. Anyway sorry if this has come across as a ‘I’m pointing out the obvious’ lecture, but its something I feel strongly about especially because I and my younger brother are the only children in my entire extended family (on both sides) to choose public education over private, a choice which my Mother has received constant criticism on, even though my Mother has been a teacher for 25 years and is thoroughly aware of the differences between public and private education (in which, in my area anyway, there are none) and thus the irrefutable logic to her decision. Then again, I suppose it is all to do with your area and if home schooling and private schools have the better offer then by all means take it.
Eoz I assure you that my children are and always will be brought up knowing what life is like and all about. Sadly my children who are aged 3 1/2 and 2 next month have been exposed to drugs by their father who used to smoke it in the same room as them. My children have been a witness to a lot of harshness and cruelty in the world already. I opt to home school my children for the first years of their lives just because I myself feel that it would be in their best interests. There are numerous reasons and another is we will be going travellign quite a bit over the next few years. How ever my son is enrolled in kindergarten for next year and will attend most of the year. As for other activities they both attend playgroup and have plenty of time with children of all ages. My son is motorbike crazy and will be going to join the motorcross club on his fourth birthday, my daughter well she is just as crazy about them so will be there anyways. I have looked into all the factors, all the pros and cons and honestly this is the kind of thing that best suits our lifestyle for a few years. Although I have not made any decisions as yet whether to send them to the public school or home school as yet, but either way the main thing is that a child is getting an appropriate education in safe environment.
