Does homeschool cause a child...

[Mike Vande]

I have only gotten to speak in any depth with two kids who were home schooled. But if homeschooling is what made them what they were, I think public schools should be abandoned. These two young women were quite apt, socially. And, they were both more mature, more solid in their faith, and seemed to make better choices about living than the children of my friends who attended public, and even private Christian schools, of the same age.

I met them while they were working at a Christian bookstore where I hung out. The store owner and I attended the same church, and I knew her and her husband quite well. She, the owner, was constantly thanking God He sent those girls her way, because they were honest, consciencious workers, always on time or early, and pleasant to work with. In dealing with customers they were warm, friendly and knowledgeable. You couldn't ask for better employees, and that's all the more impressive when you know they were both just 17. Try and find a seventeen year-old you can count on to always show up at work on time or early...

Both girls were quite pretty, but one of them was exceptionally so. I'm talking about an honest-to-pete natural-born beauty queen, the kind the boys fight over and the other girls hate, a daughter who would keep any parent more aware than an armadillo awake nights worrying, even if she wasn't out on a date. Bottom line, she was gorgeous.

This fine Christian young lady was calm, confident, and centered way beyond her years. She was intelligent, gracious, respectful, and nothing like the vain, selfish, gum-chewing, giggling, ditzbag cheerleader that girls who look like her often become to fit in with their peers in public schools.

I don't know if homeschooling is a magic formula for turning out impressive children or not. I figure, like anything else, some parents would be better at it than others would, and that would make a big difference in how the kids turn out. The parents of these two, particularly their mothers, did what seems to me a really exceptional job of overall parenting, and home schooling was just part of what made the girls what they were.

But I very strongly believe that the usual teenage 'tude and irresponsibility they were fortunate enough to lack was, in large part if not entirely, due to the fact that they weren't institutionalized by the social structure of a public school.

I left that town a year or so after I met them, and their parents attended a diferent church than I did, so I don't know what became of them. The "beauty queen" was, under the watchful eye of her parents, being courted by a guy from her church, and the other one had her sights on college. But I am confident they went on to become fine Christian women, and do whatever they do with excellence.

If the way they turned out is what could be expected of home schooling, I'd say the socializing influence of public and/or private Christian schools is at the least highly overrated, at worst a total canard.

[forestwalker]

Does homeschool cause a child...
to be less social or socially inept?

I can't offer a statistic but have some second-hand anecdotal evidence:

A buddy of mine is an English professor at a state school in Georgia. In his experience, the home-schooled kids he teaches are not socially inept, they're fine. But they do tend to go off the rails once they're away from the controlled environment of their parent's home. Not all, of course, but those that do go crazy with their new freedom go over-the-top crazy.

[Dr. Ron]

There is another element that one can consider.

The local Civil Air Patrol squadron is a great opportunity for kids to have a chance to experience the same things as a JROTC.

We have homeschool kids every year who are accepted into the Air Force Academy, West Point, and the others because of their experience with this group. They get school credits for Aerospace Ed. and the like.

It is a great opportunity with scholarships available for all areas of study.
Anyone interested in knowing more I can help you.

[AndyG]

We are a family who has homeschooled and only stopped because of the lack of real sports opportunities in TN for homeschooled students. In TN, a public school cannot play a non traditional team (read, no brick and mortar building school) in a regular season game without loosing certification from the state organization. The loss of that certification would prevent those teams from playing for state championships. Even Private schools who join and are certified cannot play against non traditional school teams. Also, none of those teams can have a player who does not PHYSICALLY attend the school, public or private.

My son LOVES football and wants to play, but the only teams which play more than one or two games belong to that organization.

From a social standpoint. I think the only problem my son has had adjusting to public school is the "nonsensical attitudes" (his wording, not mine) of the other students . His test scores are among the highest in the state and the staff at school thinks he walks on water. He gets along with adults and older teens better than fellow 7th graders, but, as he says, "Don't worry about those guys Dad, they'll eventually grow up and I'll get along better with them."

[Kenya]

I've seen wonderful products of homeschool and I've seen bad. Imho, it depends on the parents.

[Steve]

Here is a link that contains some research on homeschooling. The main site has oodles of info on homeschooling.

Our children have always been homeschooled, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[Steve]

Does homeschool cause a child...to be less social or socially inept?

If you homeschool, you smile when you are asked this question. It is a holdover from when homeschool had to be done privately because it was illegal, and also a propaganda phrase from the NEA.

It is kinda like hearing..."don't pick that frog up, you'll get WARTS!".

[justsam]

Why wouldn't a child go to school so he or she could be with their peers and deal with everyday social situations? Being home, isolated from classrooms, playgrounds and lunchrooms, doesn't seem to be a very healthy way to raise a child. One would think that even if a child could get a better education at home, socially he would be deprived. Although these are legitimate concerns, home-schooled children, with dedication from the parents, can actually be at an advantage socially.

Read the whole article here:

http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/faqs/a/socialjacobs.htm

[Pastor Gary]

Do you think that homeschooling is more popular in certain parts of the country than in other parts?

I don't think it is regional; we have a huge homeschool group in Hawaii, and we are roughly in your region.

[pastorables]

The Duggar family from Arkansas (yes, the family with 17 children) use the following materials for home schooling: http://ati.iblp.org/ati/

Does anyone know anything about this material?

pa

[A2JGirl]

That material is from Bill Gothard. Interesting.

[teach]

Why wouldn't a child go to school so he or she could be with their peers and deal with everyday social situations? Being home, isolated from classrooms, playgrounds and lunchrooms, doesn't seem to be a very healthy way to raise a child. One would think that even if a child could get a better education at home, socially he would be deprived. Although these are legitimate concerns, home-schooled children, with dedication from the parents, can actually be at an advantage socially.

Read the whole article here:

http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/faqs/a/socialjacobs.htm

great article! thanks!

wendy k

[DeWayneTN]

Okay, I'm not trying to cause trouble (or maybe I am) but using articles from homeschooled kids and parents to prove your point is, uh, a little biased, don't you think? "I am TOO normal!!!"

[AndyG]

Homeschooling is almost ALWAYS presented in a negative light when portrayed on TV, either in the news or on TV shows. This negativity skews popular opinion, which, in turn, leads people to make up statistics.

Whenever a "bad seed" does something wrong or is caught truly abusing their children, the rest of the homeshcooling community takes it on the chin. However these cases are the exception, not the rule. Also, some people consider the mere act of homeschooling to be "abusive" on some level and report people to social services regularly for just being "different." While some social service workers have the common sense to figure out real abuse from bad reports, they have to investigate each report and that creates a negative image, especially if that worker is predisposed to believe homeschooling is wrong.

A year or so ago, there were several episodes in the Law and Order programs which portrayed homeschoolers as backwater, religious nuts, or bad homes where children were in danger. One of the characters on the SVU series even stated public school should be required for no other reason than to allow someone from outside the home to examine the child for signs of abuse. LO:Criminal Intent portrayed homeschooling as a base attempt at maintaining control, not educating the student. CSI had an episode where a person was suspected in murdering her child almost solely on the basis she homeschooled the child and therefore had no "me" time which drove her to murder.

In the end, it is the good homeschoolers whioch take the beating deserved by the few who have no business having kids in the first place, let alone educating them.

I suggest going to http://www.hslda.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1 and reading some of the fights people have to endure to simply exercise their right to homeschool. While I am no longer homeschooling, I remain a member of this organization and help where I can.

[Tracy]

We are members of HSLDA too. It is a wonderful organization which provides legal support if we ever need it. We've been members for 7 years I guess.