What are your thoughts on home schooling?

[Gralin]

yeah officially there is a lot involved in getting permission to home school a kid, you can't just say you will do it in Vic at least

which is why groups exist to provide curriculum and tools to get approval

like anything though you gotta look into those groups if you are thinking about it, like the nazi group in the US I posted about earlier

there are a lot of religious groups that promote home schooling, and a lot of conspiracy groups, another grift for them to sell you the tools to teach your kids the "truth"

 

[Rotayjay]

I know a person who was mostly home schooled and to be honest they're a semi-bum - dead-end jobs and on and off unemployment benefits. Their siblings who were not home schooled seem to have better careers.

I didn't have the best time at high school, and these days I might have been diagnosed with anxiety. But I just put up with it, learnt to deal with high school and got through. I reckon kids get overprotected these days. Isn't being moody part and parcel of adolescence?

 

[dumb]

mixed feelings. i know of home-school kids that do meet ups with other home-schooled kids, for what that's worth. it seems that there's an understanding there that you can't cocoon children socially to their benefit.

for some, there's a fine line between benefits that social interaction will bring, vs the figurative furnace of the playground. i have in mind something like autism. these sorts of kids will benefit greatly from being around other kids but at the risk of bullying or other unfortunate things. society certainly has become more accommodating and even children are more understanding but for kids like them, happy schooling is a much more precarious proposition and it can be unfair to put certain 'types' of children in that situation.

on the other hand, home schooling and the parents themselves often come in weird flavours. religious, hippies of various persuasions. no doubt it's why there's some overseeing of curriculum from above. at its heart is the distrust of others to either protect or teach the kids the correctly. eventually the kids need to enter wider society in some way and parents need to consider where this is because it will be trickier for them, socially and perhaps academically and professionally as well.
there's a real chance to fine-tune their learning in a way that school cannot. but school teaches discipline and that is something which child-led learning (home school where the kids interest of the day is the subject) won't provide.

 

[Rotayjay]

It's quasi popular in the US, isn't it?

All the more reason to steer clear. Anything America touches turns to s**t.

 

[74561347]

my parents home schooled me and i turned out ok

i had to go to normal school eventually though as i got expelled from home school for having sex with my teacher

 

[Saint]

mixed feelings. i know of home-school kids that do meet ups with other home-schooled kids, for what that's worth. it seems that there's an understanding there that you can't cocoon children socially to their benefit.

for some, there's a fine line between benefits that social interaction will bring, vs the figurative furnace of the playground. i have in mind something like autism. these sorts of kids will benefit greatly from being around other kids but at the risk of bullying or other unfortunate things. society certainly has become more accommodating and even children are more understanding but for kids like them, happy schooling is a much more precarious proposition and it can be unfair to put certain 'types' of children in that situation.

on the other hand, home schooling and the parents themselves often come in weird flavours. religious, hippies of various persuasions. no doubt it's why there's some overseeing of curriculum from above. at its heart is the distrust of others to either protect or teach the kids the correctly. eventually the kids need to enter wider society in some way and parents need to consider where this is because it will be trickier for them, socially and perhaps academically and professionally as well.
there's a real chance to fine-tune their learning in a way that school cannot. but school teaches discipline and that is something which child-led learning (home school where the kids interest of the day is the subject) won't provide.

I reckon if you've got the time to home-school them, that it's probably better that you supplement real school with your own insights/lessons than completely removing them from school.

Don't forget, school shuts at 330 and you'd have ~4 hrs before bedtime to supplement any lessons if you think school isn't doing a great job.

I think you're right that parents are trying to protect their kids from something they perceive at school. I'm just a long way from convinced that the negatives of schools outweigh the positives.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

My wife and I owned a Post Office in country Victoria for a few years in the early '00s. There were a lot of religious families in the district and most of them seemed to home school their kids on the farm. They used to come into the Post Office from time to time and though well mannered and behaved, the were all pasty skinned and jittery, we got real Deliverance vides from them.

 

[TheEscapeClub]

my parents home schooled me and i turned out ok

i had to go to normal school eventually though as i got expelled from home school for having sex with my teacher

Your parents home schooled you but you don't identify which one it was that you got expelled for having sex with? Poor form.

 

[por_please_ya]

Pretty amazing how many here think that children who are home-schooled don't get social interaction and turn out awkward etc. Couldn't be anything further from the truth, at least from my POV. My sister has decided to home-school her girls (one is 5, the other is 2). My 5yo niece, who is 6 in September, is creative, confident, and curious about EVERYTHING lol. She's always asking questions. She's displaying leadership qualities already. She interacts with other kids all the time - they go to a playgroup with other home-schooling families, she does dance, basketball, swimming. Sometimes the girls are babysat by a family who has home-schooled her children and they are both in high school (and no do not seem socially awkward, they are intelligent and kind etc). There's a lot of support and loads of families here in Adelaide doing it.

My sister's reasoning is a little political... she distrusts a lot of authority these days (that includes vaccines which I obviously don't agree with and we don't talk about it lol). She doesn't want her kids to be bullied, and/or get into the wrong crowd. She feels like kids aren't being taught what they should be taught, she believes in organic learning, rather than what she sees as 'institutionalised' learning. I can see her point of view, and try and understand where she's coming from. (For the record I don't have kids and don't plan on it). She personally feels like she didn't learn anything in high school at all whereas I had the opposite experience, and enjoyed school. She says that if her daughter wants to learn about <insert topic here> then they will find resources and learn about it. My niece already seems super smart and switched on, I'm amazed at some of the things she comes out and says. There is no way in hell home-school is impacting her development at all, socially or otherwise.

One downside for my sister is that she can't get a break from the children as much as she'd like!! I'm not sure if she'd consider sending them to school if things get too tough or not, I guess that remains to be seen.

 

[Off The Couch]

Pretty amazing how many here think that children who are home-schooled don't get social interaction and turn out awkward etc. Couldn't be anything further from the truth, at least from my POV. My sister has decided to home-school her girls (one is 5, the other is 2). My 5yo niece, who is 6 in September, is creative, confident, and curious about EVERYTHING lol. She's always asking questions. She's displaying leadership qualities already. She interacts with other kids all the time - they go to a playgroup with other home-schooling families, she does dance, basketball, swimming. Sometimes the girls are babysat by a family who has home-schooled her children and they are both in high school (and no do not seem socially awkward, they are intelligent and kind etc). There's a lot of support and loads of families here in Adelaide doing it.

My sister's reasoning is a little political... she distrusts a lot of authority these days (that includes vaccines which I obviously don't agree with and we don't talk about it lol). She doesn't want her kids to be bullied, and/or get into the wrong crowd. She feels like kids aren't being taught what they should be taught, she believes in organic learning, rather than what she sees as 'institutionalised' learning. I can see her point of view, and try and understand where she's coming from. (For the record I don't have kids and don't plan on it). She personally feels like she didn't learn anything in high school at all whereas I had the opposite experience, and enjoyed school. She says that if her daughter wants to learn about <insert topic here> then they will find resources and learn about it. My niece already seems super smart and switched on, I'm amazed at some of the things she comes out and says. There is no way in hell home-school is impacting her development at all, socially or otherwise.

One downside for my sister is that she can't get a break from the children as much as she'd like!! I'm not sure if she'd consider sending them to school if things get too tough or not, I guess that remains to be seen.

Don’t have an issue with her choices which are fine while at primary level but there are strict guidelines around home schooling and they do get visits from the education department curriculum program leaders.

I also agree about education being institutionalised but unfortunately there’s no way you can do individual programs for every kid

They will also at some point should they wish to continue with their education meet the graduating requirements

I know a few who home school including my niece and socialising is not the issue, it’s the transition to main stream that’s difficult