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I notice that the activities you describe your kids doing are, for the most part, structured. How do you know they are socially adept or sociable? Will they f

I notice that the activities you describe your kids doing are, for the most part, structured. How do you know they are socially adept or sociable? Will they freak out once on their own? I have 15 nieces and nephews from 2 sisters. Both home schooled through elementary school and one did it for all of k-12. The k-12 homeschooled kids were done a great disservice by their mom. She has b.s. degree in accounting and is in no way qualified to teach kids. I guess my pint is that our anecdotes cancel each other out but I'm curious to know why you think homeschooling is benefitting your kids. Why do you think you are qualified to teach them the variety of subjects one learns in high school. Why do do you think they are more successful being homeschooled?

js2 10y ago
> the activities you describe your kids doing are, for the most part, structured It wasn't an exhaustive list of their days. > How do you know they are socially adept or sociable? You'll have to take my word for it. > Why do you think you are qualified to teach them the variety of subjects one learns in high school We're both college educated. My wife has a masters degree. We use outside/online resources to fill in subjects outside our expertise or that we don't have time to learn ourselves first. My daughter is taking a college level chemistry class. Next year (11th grade) she'll be taking classes at community college. We have both kids take standardized tests each year to measure their progress against their peers. But honestly, I don't know what your HS teachers were like, but I think I had maybe two competent teachers in my HS. It's not a high bar to beat, no that we'd stoop so low.
- yequalsx 10y ago
  I know you believe they are sociable. But how do you know that when seemingly most 9f their activities are structured? Would they adapt well if the structure wasn't there? I'm assuming you've never taught high school. I haven't either. I do have a lot of experience teaching in higher ed though. I was recently paired with a high school teacher and visited his classroom. I doubt I could teach high school. It's easy to denigrate them but apparently they didn't do too bad with you. Personally I think think it's absurd for soneone to think that they can teach without any training. There are outliers and seemingly you are one of them. Though you'll never know if you were a benefit or hindrance to your childrens' education. They are clearly successful so it's bit important whether or not it is because of your teaching or in spite of it. One thing is certain though. Your experience is not normative. What you've done has been successful but is it replicable for anything beyond a small percent of families? I'm skeptical.
  - js2 10y ago
    > I know you believe they are sociable. But how do you know You keep asking this. It's an absurd question. I'm their parent. I see them every day. I watch them interact with other kids. I see my son stand up for the next door neighbor younger brother against his older brother. I see my daughter keep the peace at a sleep over party with a dozen friends and wildly different personalities. Besides that, you imply that public school confers sociability to children, an assertion with which I disagree. I'll go further: my kids have friends who are both "schoolers" and homeschoolers, and as a rule, it's the home school kids who are more polite, more sociable, more well adjusted. > but apparently they didn't do too bad with you I have done okay in spite of high school, not because of it. They were the worst years of my life. > Personally I think think it's absurd for soneone to think that they can teach without any training. My cousin is a special ed teacher, and an excellent one at that. She teaches in D.C. I couldn't do what she does, and I haven't claimed that anyone could. Home schooling is a different situation. It requires dedication on the part of the parent (like doing anything well of course), but it's not that hard. There is a wide variety in how parents approach home schooling, from unschooling at one end, to very disciplined like a traditional school taught at home at the other end. We're somewhere in the middle. Our kids have a lesson plan each year. They have a daily check list of items. We leave it up to them to manage their day. Here's today's: http://imgur.com/bRYpGQr http://imgur.com/bRYpGQr I'm writing from experience, not just about my own kids, but having family who are teachers and having been involved in the home school community as well as reflecting about my own experience in public school and that of my siblings. I never claimed home school was for everybody, but I think you over estimate its difficulty and give way too much credit to public schooling. I think you underestimate how much time is wasted in public school, and completely discount things like bullying and cliques. My K-12 school years were an awful social environment filled with horrible kids and mostly disinterested teachers, and were nothing like the real world. > They are clearly successful so it's bit important whether or not it is because of your teaching or in spite of it. This is condescending to the point that I feel like you're trolling. I have nothing else to say.

js2 10y ago

> the activities you describe your kids doing are, for the most part, structured It wasn't an exhaustive list of their days. > How do you know they are socially adept or sociable? You'll have to take my word for it. > Why do you think you are qualified to teach them the variety of subjects one learns in high school We're both college educated. My wife has a masters degree. We use outside/online resources to fill in subjects outside our expertise or that we don't have time to learn ourselves first. My daughter is taking a college level chemistry class. Next year (11th grade) she'll be taking classes at community college. We have both kids take standardized tests each year to measure their progress against their peers. But honestly, I don't know what your HS teachers were like, but I think I had maybe two competent teachers in my HS. It's not a high bar to beat, no that we'd stoop so low.

yequalsx 10y ago
I know you believe they are sociable. But how do you know that when seemingly most 9f their activities are structured? Would they adapt well if the structure wasn't there? I'm assuming you've never taught high school. I haven't either. I do have a lot of experience teaching in higher ed though. I was recently paired with a high school teacher and visited his classroom. I doubt I could teach high school. It's easy to denigrate them but apparently they didn't do too bad with you. Personally I think think it's absurd for soneone to think that they can teach without any training. There are outliers and seemingly you are one of them. Though you'll never know if you were a benefit or hindrance to your childrens' education. They are clearly successful so it's bit important whether or not it is because of your teaching or in spite of it. One thing is certain though. Your experience is not normative. What you've done has been successful but is it replicable for anything beyond a small percent of families? I'm skeptical.
- js2 10y ago
  > I know you believe they are sociable. But how do you know You keep asking this. It's an absurd question. I'm their parent. I see them every day. I watch them interact with other kids. I see my son stand up for the next door neighbor younger brother against his older brother. I see my daughter keep the peace at a sleep over party with a dozen friends and wildly different personalities. Besides that, you imply that public school confers sociability to children, an assertion with which I disagree. I'll go further: my kids have friends who are both "schoolers" and homeschoolers, and as a rule, it's the home school kids who are more polite, more sociable, more well adjusted. > but apparently they didn't do too bad with you I have done okay in spite of high school, not because of it. They were the worst years of my life. > Personally I think think it's absurd for soneone to think that they can teach without any training. My cousin is a special ed teacher, and an excellent one at that. She teaches in D.C. I couldn't do what she does, and I haven't claimed that anyone could. Home schooling is a different situation. It requires dedication on the part of the parent (like doing anything well of course), but it's not that hard. There is a wide variety in how parents approach home schooling, from unschooling at one end, to very disciplined like a traditional school taught at home at the other end. We're somewhere in the middle. Our kids have a lesson plan each year. They have a daily check list of items. We leave it up to them to manage their day. Here's today's: http://imgur.com/bRYpGQr http://imgur.com/bRYpGQr I'm writing from experience, not just about my own kids, but having family who are teachers and having been involved in the home school community as well as reflecting about my own experience in public school and that of my siblings. I never claimed home school was for everybody, but I think you over estimate its difficulty and give way too much credit to public schooling. I think you underestimate how much time is wasted in public school, and completely discount things like bullying and cliques. My K-12 school years were an awful social environment filled with horrible kids and mostly disinterested teachers, and were nothing like the real world. > They are clearly successful so it's bit important whether or not it is because of your teaching or in spite of it. This is condescending to the point that I feel like you're trolling. I have nothing else to say.