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Some of my cousins were home schooled and half of them are now not on speaking terms with their parents. Many of the kids in my college program who were home s

Some of my cousins were home schooled and half of them are now not on speaking terms with their parents. Many of the kids in my college program who were home schooled were also kind of weird and sometimes socially crippled. A lot of home schooled kids are clearly from incredibly conservative religious fundamentalist families, so that's a stereotype you may have to deal with and quite potentially the type of people you place your children around for extra-curricular socialization activities or in hybrid home schooling environments. I worked with a lot of MIT graduates, and there was a definite trend of private education amongst them. Of course that's from outside looking in, probably better to interview those who have been home schooled to get their perspectives.

jlkuester7 4y ago
> kind of weird and sometimes socially crippled > A lot of home schooled kids are clearly from incredibly conservative religious fundamentalist families I wonder if anti-social tendencies are more of a function of a child's home environment, in general, and not specifically related to homeschooling (though, of course, spending more time in the home would amplify the effect of that environment on a person's upbringing....). I say that because I have spent time around a good number of home-schooled teenagers who live in stable, middle-class, non-extremist households and I can say that basically all of them are able to socially function at a very high level (well above average). Sure they might be hip with the latest Zoomer lingo (are teenagers still Gen-Z?) but they understood how to have intelligent conversations with adults as well as their peers (e.g. look someone in the eye when speaking to them, express their thoughts and opinions clearly, listen and understand what was being said to them).
- hayst4ck 4y ago
  That is probably true. I suppose the real question is what the primary goal of home schooling is. If it's primarily to prevent liberal indoctrination, I expect that will have poor outcomes. If it's primarily to avoid the hazard of daycare for teenagers and classes aimed for the lowest common denominator (no child left behind), as well as the hazards of an environment that won't let people fail and can't reasonably handle disruptive behavior (by kicking out bad students), I would expect that might lead to better outcomes.

jlkuester7 4y ago

> kind of weird and sometimes socially crippled > A lot of home schooled kids are clearly from incredibly conservative religious fundamentalist families I wonder if anti-social tendencies are more of a function of a child's home environment, in general, and not specifically related to homeschooling (though, of course, spending more time in the home would amplify the effect of that environment on a person's upbringing....). I say that because I have spent time around a good number of home-schooled teenagers who live in stable, middle-class, non-extremist households and I can say that basically all of them are able to socially function at a very high level (well above average). Sure they might be hip with the latest Zoomer lingo (are teenagers still Gen-Z?) but they understood how to have intelligent conversations with adults as well as their peers (e.g. look someone in the eye when speaking to them, express their thoughts and opinions clearly, listen and understand what was being said to them).

hayst4ck 4y ago
That is probably true. I suppose the real question is what the primary goal of home schooling is. If it's primarily to prevent liberal indoctrination, I expect that will have poor outcomes. If it's primarily to avoid the hazard of daycare for teenagers and classes aimed for the lowest common denominator (no child left behind), as well as the hazards of an environment that won't let people fail and can't reasonably handle disruptive behavior (by kicking out bad students), I would expect that might lead to better outcomes.