Winged Wheeler

For those of you who've expressed opinions against home schooling. Are you saying the child SHOULD (it's your opinion) go to government schools? Or are you saying that the child MUST (compelled by statute) go to government schools?

If it is the first answer, you are entitled to your opinion--hopefully you support the right of homeschooling parents to theirs. If it is the second I'd love to hear more of your reasoning.

WW

ryan1234

Regardless of which system you subject your kids to... any parent should realize that being in public school is not the end of their learning experience. It seems like more than not, parents just expect public schools to be the do all of education. Traveling is something great that parents can do with their kids that augments academic learning. It is quite a bit different to see Normandie, rather than falling asleep in history class with your Blackberry in hand. Another thing parents can do is foster their kid's critical thinking skills... that is becoming a long lost art.

Lowtimer77

...or maybe have both parents work so they can afford a decent private school to send their kid to. They still get the social experience and the academics are generally better. Just a thought

Outlaw2097

Private school versus public school.

Education versus social skills.

The only hope as a parent is that they pick up what theyve missed out on along the way...

FuelJetA

I think the whole 'social skills' argument is a load of bull. If you don't just stay home with your kids all day, they will get social skills by just being in the real world. Additionally, if they are exposed to children and adults of different ages, they will have a well versed social universe, rather than a singular one based solely on their own age group. If you actually take the time to educate your children in the ways of the world, they will have nothing to worry about. Also, think about this, they will spend very little of their time (relatively) in school and the rest of their lives socializing with people of all ages, mostly answering to the ones that are older (and assumed wiser) so why not give them a head start? Isn't that what education is all about? Just a thought. Homeschooling is healthy in all respects if done correctly. But, people can screw up anything.

Outlaw2097

Schools are a very nice taste of the real world. Thats all Im getting at.

I could ramble on for a while, but pretty much the last sentence there sums it up: People can screw up anything. The bigger differences between homeschool and school-school is that you are subject to one or two people for a span of years and they can not really be fired for doing a lackluster job...

flywithjohn

I was home schooled and did some public school.
If the school district your child attends is **** poor and you have enough discipline to do a good job home school is the way. If you have a good district there is nothing wrong with it. So I say which ever is the best benefit but if they are equal being with peers can have some benefits.

atpwannabe

I believe that homeshcooling has it negatives and positives.

One of the positives is that your are more able to quickly identify an area were a child needs improvement in a subject area and able to specifically target that area with the necessary resources to help that child overcome any deficiencies.

The negative is the social implication. Our world is much smaller than we think and we have to become a globally minded people if we are to recapture and maintain the level of influence that the US has historically enjoyed.




atp

MrPlow

I couldn't have said it better myself. I was one of the lucky ones, my school district was one of the best in the province. My elementary, middle, and high schools were brand new and included great teachers and a heavy emphasis on technology. In my high school, every class had movie theater quality overhead projectors, students were given laptops to use throughout the year, and there was school-wide wireless internet. I was even lucky enough to be an extra in the Hollywood movies and TV series that were filmed there which was a great first "real" job for a 15 year old. It was the teachers, technology, and social skills I acquired from public school that allowed me to strive academically and ultimately allow me to be accepted to competitive universities. However, Ive had acquaintances in terrible school districts where the only thing learned was how to calculate how many grams in an ounce. I'm continually thankful for my childhood public education giving me a great start to life.

Your always friendly,
MrPlow

FuelJetA

Absolutely guys. Good thoughts on here. I have heard of homeschool groups, which is most likely what we will do, where different people teach things they are good at. So, a few times a week, the group gets together and does group stuff. Then you get the best of both worlds. Again, homeschool is fine if done right, in fact, it can be great, or people can really damage their kids. Of course, similar stories can be had with public and private schools...it just depends.