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> It's designed especially for intellectually curious kids who love to read. What does "intellectually curious" mean here exactly? The reasons people homeschoo

> It's designed especially for intellectually curious kids who love to read. What does "intellectually curious" mean here exactly? The reasons people homeschool mostly seem to be about being (over)protective, which goes against it: "Parents were asked which of the reasons they homeschooled was the most important reason. Figure 2 and table 4 show the most important reasons students were being homeschooled in 2003, as reported by parents of homeschooled students. Concern about the environment of other schools and to provide religious or moral instruction were the top two most important reasons cited. About a third of students had parents who cited concern about the environment of other schools as their most important reason for homeschooling (31 percent). Approximately another third of homeschooled students had parents who were homeschooling primarily to provide religious or moral instruction (30 percent). Sixteen percent of homeschooled students had parents whose primary reason for homeschooling was dissatisfaction with the academic instruction available at other schools, making this the third most common primary reason for homeschooling." https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/parentsreasons.asp https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/parentsreasons.asp It would be great if you could help some to get some what they're missing from being shielded from other schools, but to make it sound like homeschooling is more efficient and that all the time saved enables more learning does not reflect the typical homeschool experience. Also some do online charter school where a company gets thousands of dollars a year per student to give people lousy content (when there's great free content on Khan Academy) and no social connection. It seems pretty bleak. https://www.reddit.com/r/education/comments/3r4w96/study_on_online_charter_schools_it_is_literally/ https://www.reddit.com/r/education/comments/3r4w96/study_on_...

cjensen 4y ago
Don't dismiss too easily the real needs to homeschool for some people. I have a friend whose child had some learning disability. The school district's "solution" was to put them in the disabled class with an overwhelmed teacher and call it a day. Homeschooling allowed the parent to ensure their child had a full education at a pace the child could handle. Another friend had a gifted child who was pretty bored. Homeschooling let the child plow through the material at a more challenging pace and then continue to challenge themselves with material no high school would have taught. Homeschooling is an alternative that some people pretty much have to take for their children's sake. Homeschooling is harder for the parents than regular schooling and is not a decision taken lightly.
myself248 4y ago
"Mostly" is not everyone, and frankly I tend to forget the religious weirdos even exist. All the homeschooling families I knew were doing it because the local schools sucked; even those with "gifted and talented" programs couldn't keep up. If this scratches an itch for some homeschoolers, it's valid and useful. There will always be others for whom it is not interesting, but so what?
- benatkin 4y ago
  That's why I included the link. I didn't say that most of them were being protective for religious reasons. Just that they made a decision out of a desire to be protective. That's both of the first two categories (31% and 30%) and I'm sure some of the remainder. Of course some parents are overprotective. And I get that about the local schools sucking but who's providing a superior alternative and are you sure they are? I'll take your word for it on the homeschooling families you knew. I knew plenty myself and saw the opposite.
- all2 4y ago
  > religious weirdos I fall into that category in that I find the public education system extremely lacking in terms of (and especially) moral development. I don't appreciate the characterization of "weirdo", though you are welcome to it. Just know that the majority of the people in the space you aspire to serve are fundamental Christians of various stripes and colors and you will lose that segment of business very quickly if you continue to demean them publicly.
  - 4dayworkweek4u 4y ago
    >though you are welcome to it. No. They are not! We're offended and will not tolerate hate speech. # Learn intolerance from the left (until we can peacefully separate)
  - quacked 4y ago
    I think the guy you're responding to isn't the one developing the system.
all2 4y ago
> and no social connection I've seen great benefits come out of home schooling co-ops. You get the ability to have your child learn at their pace and study subjects they find interesting (to a certain extent, obviously), the added benefit of a little less labor on the part of individual parents, and a social group of kiddos that are following a similar path.
- benatkin 4y ago
  Good. I've seen parents join one so they would feel good about their choice to homeschool and quit it after a year but continue homeschooling without that extra social interaction and still feel good about it.
lolinder 4y ago
This feels less like an sincere question for OP than it does an uninformed attack on homeschooling in general. You start with a phrase OP used to describe their target audience, imply that there is no such homeschool family, and then tangent off into unrelated attacks that show a strong lack of nuance. Yes, there are families that homeschool for the wrong reasons. But there are plenty of others (as your own cited stats show) who choose to homeschool because the public education system kinda sucks. Those families (my own included) are very conscientious about addressing the known weaknesses of homeschooling through co-ops and other tools.
- benatkin 4y ago
  > uninformed attack on homeschooling in general You can probably tell I have direct experience with it, yet you call me "uninformed". It's a pretty common tactic when defending a fringe group. However, I brought information into it. There's no mention in your comment about the reference I provided. Gee I wonder why.
  - lolinder 4y ago
    I did reference your data, I just don't find it to mean what you think it means. It shows that plenty of people (68%) choose to homeschool at least in part because of "dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools". That those people are also worried about peer pressure doesn't make them intellectually incurious. For a bit more nuance, see this report [0]: > This exploratory study examines the academic outcomes of homeschooled students who enter a medium size doctoral institution located in the Midwest. Descriptive analysis reveals homeschool students possess higher ACT scores, grade point averages (GPAs) and graduation rates when compared to traditionally-educated students. In addition, multiple regression analysis results reveal that students who are homeschooled earn higher first-year and fourth-year GPAs when controlling for demographic, pre-college, engagement, and first-term academic factors. And this one [1]: > Consistent with the findings on socialization of homeschooling youngsters and the social and civic engagement of their parents (Lines 2000a), available research finds that homeschooled adults also participate in community-based activities at rates much higher than those found in the general population (Ray 2005). Two studies in particular open a window on this issue. In the mid-1990s, Knowles and Muchmore (1995) reported that homeschooled adults were not disengaged socially or civically. In a comprehensive analysis of the issue a decade later, Ray (2004a) documented that homeschooled adults were indeed heavily involved in community life at the local and national levels and were more civically involved than the general population of adults. He found that compared to public school graduates, homeschooled adults were more likely to (1) vote; (2) be involved in ongoing community service; (3) be part of an organization; (4) write, telephone, or sign petitions; and (5) participate in a protest or boycott. I'm not cherry-picking here, I'm literally just going down the list of results for this Google Scholar search [3]. [0] https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ893891.pdf https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ893891.pdf [1] https://www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/sites/www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/files/2022-07/The%20Social%20and%20Educational%20Outcomes%20of%20Homeschooling.pdf https://www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/sites/www.educa... [3]. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C45&q=college+outcomes+of+homeschool+students&btnG= https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C45&q=col...

cjensen 4y ago

Don't dismiss too easily the real needs to homeschool for some people. I have a friend whose child had some learning disability. The school district's "solution" was to put them in the disabled class with an overwhelmed teacher and call it a day. Homeschooling allowed the parent to ensure their child had a full education at a pace the child could handle. Another friend had a gifted child who was pretty bored. Homeschooling let the child plow through the material at a more challenging pace and then continue to challenge themselves with material no high school would have taught. Homeschooling is an alternative that some people pretty much have to take for their children's sake. Homeschooling is harder for the parents than regular schooling and is not a decision taken lightly.

myself248 4y ago

"Mostly" is not everyone, and frankly I tend to forget the religious weirdos even exist. All the homeschooling families I knew were doing it because the local schools sucked; even those with "gifted and talented" programs couldn't keep up. If this scratches an itch for some homeschoolers, it's valid and useful. There will always be others for whom it is not interesting, but so what?

benatkin 4y ago
That's why I included the link. I didn't say that most of them were being protective for religious reasons. Just that they made a decision out of a desire to be protective. That's both of the first two categories (31% and 30%) and I'm sure some of the remainder. Of course some parents are overprotective. And I get that about the local schools sucking but who's providing a superior alternative and are you sure they are? I'll take your word for it on the homeschooling families you knew. I knew plenty myself and saw the opposite.
all2 4y ago
> religious weirdos I fall into that category in that I find the public education system extremely lacking in terms of (and especially) moral development. I don't appreciate the characterization of "weirdo", though you are welcome to it. Just know that the majority of the people in the space you aspire to serve are fundamental Christians of various stripes and colors and you will lose that segment of business very quickly if you continue to demean them publicly.
- 4dayworkweek4u 4y ago
  >though you are welcome to it. No. They are not! We're offended and will not tolerate hate speech. # Learn intolerance from the left (until we can peacefully separate)
- quacked 4y ago
  I think the guy you're responding to isn't the one developing the system.

all2 4y ago

> and no social connection I've seen great benefits come out of home schooling co-ops. You get the ability to have your child learn at their pace and study subjects they find interesting (to a certain extent, obviously), the added benefit of a little less labor on the part of individual parents, and a social group of kiddos that are following a similar path.

benatkin 4y ago
Good. I've seen parents join one so they would feel good about their choice to homeschool and quit it after a year but continue homeschooling without that extra social interaction and still feel good about it.

lolinder 4y ago

This feels less like an sincere question for OP than it does an uninformed attack on homeschooling in general. You start with a phrase OP used to describe their target audience, imply that there is no such homeschool family, and then tangent off into unrelated attacks that show a strong lack of nuance. Yes, there are families that homeschool for the wrong reasons. But there are plenty of others (as your own cited stats show) who choose to homeschool because the public education system kinda sucks. Those families (my own included) are very conscientious about addressing the known weaknesses of homeschooling through co-ops and other tools.

benatkin 4y ago
> uninformed attack on homeschooling in general You can probably tell I have direct experience with it, yet you call me "uninformed". It's a pretty common tactic when defending a fringe group. However, I brought information into it. There's no mention in your comment about the reference I provided. Gee I wonder why.
- lolinder 4y ago
  I did reference your data, I just don't find it to mean what you think it means. It shows that plenty of people (68%) choose to homeschool at least in part because of "dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools". That those people are also worried about peer pressure doesn't make them intellectually incurious. For a bit more nuance, see this report [0]: > This exploratory study examines the academic outcomes of homeschooled students who enter a medium size doctoral institution located in the Midwest. Descriptive analysis reveals homeschool students possess higher ACT scores, grade point averages (GPAs) and graduation rates when compared to traditionally-educated students. In addition, multiple regression analysis results reveal that students who are homeschooled earn higher first-year and fourth-year GPAs when controlling for demographic, pre-college, engagement, and first-term academic factors. And this one [1]: > Consistent with the findings on socialization of homeschooling youngsters and the social and civic engagement of their parents (Lines 2000a), available research finds that homeschooled adults also participate in community-based activities at rates much higher than those found in the general population (Ray 2005). Two studies in particular open a window on this issue. In the mid-1990s, Knowles and Muchmore (1995) reported that homeschooled adults were not disengaged socially or civically. In a comprehensive analysis of the issue a decade later, Ray (2004a) documented that homeschooled adults were indeed heavily involved in community life at the local and national levels and were more civically involved than the general population of adults. He found that compared to public school graduates, homeschooled adults were more likely to (1) vote; (2) be involved in ongoing community service; (3) be part of an organization; (4) write, telephone, or sign petitions; and (5) participate in a protest or boycott. I'm not cherry-picking here, I'm literally just going down the list of results for this Google Scholar search [3]. [0] https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ893891.pdf https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ893891.pdf [1] https://www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/sites/www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/files/2022-07/The%20Social%20and%20Educational%20Outcomes%20of%20Homeschooling.pdf https://www.educacaodomiciliar.fe.unicamp.br/sites/www.educa... [3]. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C45&q=college+outcomes+of+homeschool+students&btnG= https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C45&q=col...