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Hi ya'll!

I would like to know what some of the negatives of homeschooing might be? I've been researching online, but have only found good things about it. What do the skeptics think?

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Monday, November 17, 2003 - 08:29 pm: Edit

"Homeschooling" is a misleading phrase. The skeptics take it totally on its face and assume that it means that the student stays home and is entirely taught by their parents. Then they raise arguments like 1) students won't develop social skills, and 2) parents are not qualified to teach high level subjects like calculus.

However, the skeptics miss the point. "Homeschooling" is whatever you want it to be. It is "individually tailored education" if you will. Homeschoolers can, and do, take advantage of all the resources of both the homeschooling community and the local communities where they live. They might take college classes, homeschooler classes, self-study, on-line courses, distance learning courses, mentorships, work, volunteer, work with tutors, play sports, travel, take individual courses at a local school, whatever they want. If a homeschooler perceives that something isn't working, they just change it.

Think of it like traveling independently in a foreign travel vs. buying a packaged bus tour. The individual traveler can stay at the same hotel that groups stay in, can join a group for a day, hire guides, change plans, do whatever they want. They are not restricted to the package. Both types of travel have plus and minus points and will probably involve good and bad experiences. Someone else does the planning and worries about the details on the group trip, but it's more generic and more removed from the life of the local people. The independent trip requires more risk-taking, flexibility, and possibly more effort. But the rewards are more personalized and potentially greater.

By Homeskulmom (Homeskulmom) on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 12:44 pm: Edit

Cons of homeschooling:
1) students get used to being in control of their learning and may resent having to be force fed soundbites of useless information
2) students may have friends of all ages, and may bristle at being stuck in a room full of same age students in a college;
3) students learn in many settings and may feel stifled having to pretend that learning can only happen in a college classroom.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 02:09 pm: Edit

4) students may have to learn how to deal with the mickey-mouse garbola and bureaucratic nit-picking that characterize large entrenched institutions like public schools (and prisons).

By Unbroken (Unbroken) on Wednesday, November 19, 2003 - 02:16 pm: Edit

Don't do it. It makes getting into a top tier college hell, trust me I'm trying to do it... And it's way too freakin expensive lol.