4 ms·

I was a camp counselor for many years in my teens and into my twenties. We could always--always--tell which kids were the homeschooled kids.

by na85 4y ago

slackware_linux 4y ago
Can you elaborate?
wngr 4y ago
Would appreciate an anecdote.
Turing_Machine 4y ago
Because they were less amenable to blindly accepting orders from arbitrary authority figures?
- Shared404 4y ago
  In my experience s/less/more/ . I was homeschooled for several years, and have known a variety of other homeschooled people. For me personally, I was impacted in my ability to socialize with people in my own group, and did not develop any rebellious tendencies until I re-entered public school and realized there were other options. For some homeschooled people I know, they can't read at above a first grade level. Others can read/write at a higher than average level, may be average or better at math, and have little capability to interact with others. Still others are some of the smartest, most well rounded people I know. Unfortunately, most homeschooled people in my experience sit somewhere between the first and second groups - which then means that gatherings of home-schooled families will also tend that direction.
trendoid 4y ago
Can you explain briefly in what way you could tell?
gnicholas 4y ago
Whatever selection biases there may have been in the past, homeschooling is becoming much more popular now. COVID and remote school pulled back the curtain on the type and amount of learning that is happening in public schools, and parents of all types are opting out of the system. What we are seeing now is a seismic shift that will result in a much more mainstream population of homeschooled kids. I doubt it will be as easy to tell which kids were homeschooled in a decade.
- juve1996 4y ago
  Can you provide data to back this claim?
  - gnicholas 4y ago
    > James Dwyer, a professor at William and Mary Law School and co-author of “Homeschooling: The History and Philosophy of a Controversial Practice,” told me: a growing segment of “the mainstream middle class, well-educated and not on either political extreme, has been very disenchanted with public schools’ response to the pandemic.” from https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2022-01-24/8-to-3-homeschooling-on-rise-8-to-3 https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2022-01-24/8-t... There are many other articles about the growth of homeschooling during the pandemic, and the likely causes. As the author of the LA Times article notes, the data is still being gathered so experts' theories have yet to be validated with certainty. But I've not seen anyone question the notion that the people who have recently started homeschooling are not demographically the same as those who homeschooled pre-pandemic. If you have seen such claims, I would be interested to see them!
giaour 4y ago
There could be a selection effect at play. When I was growing up (the nineties), there was a social stigma around homeschooling due to its association with creationism. I went to Christian summer camps until I was a teenager, and the homeschooled kids stood out even in that environment as by far the more religious among us. Whether they were awkward because their religious practices shielded them from normal life or because they were raised by naturally awkward parents that self-selected into a highly regimented lifestyle is a mystery.
yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
> We could always--always--tell which kids were the homeschooled kids. With 100% accuracy in which direction? You noticed every homeschooled kid, or every kid you thought was homeschooled was actually homeschooled? Because those have very different implications.

I was a camp counselor for many years in my teens and into my twenties. We could always--always--tell which kids were the homeschooled kids.

by na85 4y ago

I was a camp counselor for many years in my teens and into my twenties. We could always--always--tell which kids were the homeschooled kids.

slackware_linux 4y ago

Can you elaborate?

wngr 4y ago

Would appreciate an anecdote.

Turing_Machine 4y ago

Because they were less amenable to blindly accepting orders from arbitrary authority figures?

Shared404 4y ago
In my experience s/less/more/ . I was homeschooled for several years, and have known a variety of other homeschooled people. For me personally, I was impacted in my ability to socialize with people in my own group, and did not develop any rebellious tendencies until I re-entered public school and realized there were other options. For some homeschooled people I know, they can't read at above a first grade level. Others can read/write at a higher than average level, may be average or better at math, and have little capability to interact with others. Still others are some of the smartest, most well rounded people I know. Unfortunately, most homeschooled people in my experience sit somewhere between the first and second groups - which then means that gatherings of home-schooled families will also tend that direction.

trendoid 4y ago

Can you explain briefly in what way you could tell?

gnicholas 4y ago

Whatever selection biases there may have been in the past, homeschooling is becoming much more popular now. COVID and remote school pulled back the curtain on the type and amount of learning that is happening in public schools, and parents of all types are opting out of the system. What we are seeing now is a seismic shift that will result in a much more mainstream population of homeschooled kids. I doubt it will be as easy to tell which kids were homeschooled in a decade.

juve1996 4y ago
Can you provide data to back this claim?
- gnicholas 4y ago
  > James Dwyer, a professor at William and Mary Law School and co-author of “Homeschooling: The History and Philosophy of a Controversial Practice,” told me: a growing segment of “the mainstream middle class, well-educated and not on either political extreme, has been very disenchanted with public schools’ response to the pandemic.” from https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2022-01-24/8-to-3-homeschooling-on-rise-8-to-3 https://www.latimes.com/california/newsletter/2022-01-24/8-t... There are many other articles about the growth of homeschooling during the pandemic, and the likely causes. As the author of the LA Times article notes, the data is still being gathered so experts' theories have yet to be validated with certainty. But I've not seen anyone question the notion that the people who have recently started homeschooling are not demographically the same as those who homeschooled pre-pandemic. If you have seen such claims, I would be interested to see them!

giaour 4y ago

There could be a selection effect at play. When I was growing up (the nineties), there was a social stigma around homeschooling due to its association with creationism. I went to Christian summer camps until I was a teenager, and the homeschooled kids stood out even in that environment as by far the more religious among us. Whether they were awkward because their religious practices shielded them from normal life or because they were raised by naturally awkward parents that self-selected into a highly regimented lifestyle is a mystery.

yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago

> We could always--always--tell which kids were the homeschooled kids. With 100% accuracy in which direction? You noticed every homeschooled kid, or every kid you thought was homeschooled was actually homeschooled? Because those have very different implications.