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Going fast when the child wants to go fast and slow when they need to go slow is I think most of what makes one-on-one teaching superior to classroom teaching.

Going fast when the child wants to go fast and slow when they need to go slow is I think most of what makes one-on-one teaching superior to classroom teaching. But, yeah, homeschooling can leave a big social gap.

JoshTriplett 3y ago
> But, yeah, homeschooling can leave a big social gap. It doesn't need to. Many areas, particularly those good for homeschooling, have tons of social and extracurricular activities available specifically for homeschoolers (such as by being intentionally scheduled in the middle what would otherwise be school hours). And, of course, those are just the mass social activities, as opposed to small groups of friends.
- mock-possum 3y ago
  Public schooling has socializing built in - home schooling has focused 1:1 attention built in. (In their ideal state, respectively.) Home schooling takes extra work to add socializing, public schooling takes extra work to add one on one instruction. Generally. There are exceptions out there, and there are opportunities to hybridize the practices. But again - that takes work. Public school also functions as a means to take the work of watching and educating a child during the day off of parents’ plates, so they can remain at least partially employed, or even just have a small slice of their life back. Homeschooling is a luxury most can’t afford.
- kashunstva 3y ago
  > Many areas, particularly those good for homeschooling, have tons of social and extracurricular activities available specifically for homeschoolers During the five years I homeschooled my daughter, I found that this was true but with one enormous caveat. We’re a secular family and homeschooling in many areas of the U.S. means that these groups are often organized around non-secular activities and principles. To each, their own. But I’m not going to sign a “statement of faith” to participate in a homeschool group. As a consequence, it really did feel that we were going it alone. Larger metropolitan areas are probably more inclusive; but otherwise secular homeschoolers have struggles in finding the right fit.
  - JoshTriplett 3y ago
    In our area there were lots of secular activities available, but unfortunately that's not universally true. Many people select places to live based on school districts; it may make sense to put the same amount of weight on quality of homeschooling options. But even then, that's not going to be universally available in a nearby location. There are also potentially online groups to connect with others (even more so now than when I was that age), which could help with finding and organizing groups.
    - ryandrake 3y ago
      In a lot of the US, homeschooling is entirely about religious separatism, not better educational outcomes. My wife’s old moms group would keep trying to sell us on homeschooling and the sales pitch was always about legally avoiding certain topics that public school covers. It’s never: “homeschooling lets your kid zoom past the shitty public school system”. It’s always “homeschooling lets you teach from the Bible and protects your kids from evolution and sex ed (and nowadays: protects your kids from “woke”, whatever that is)”.
      - aa1234556 3y ago
        [dead]
LanceH 3y ago
> homeschooling can leave a big social gap. I've been around and tutored way too many homeschoolers to give this a pass. If by "gap" you mean they behave in a more adult fashion, sure. There is a gap between the independence and social progression of homeschoolers and the nature of your average trend following high schooler. Saying that homeschooling creates backwards kids is just a form of continued bullying.
- firesteelrain 3y ago
  It’s not bullying. Give me a break. It’s a valid concern. No one is picking on people for being homeschooled.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - troupe 3y ago
    There are plenty of kids in public schools with and creating social problems. There are plenty of kids who "graduate" while being functionally illiterate. So yes it is a concern, but it is a concern for kids in general and acting like it is a problem for homeschoolers would be like telling kids that "growing up to be stupid is a risk for red head children." It is either being done with intent to bully red heads or just based on ignorance..
    - firesteelrain 3y ago
      These are not valid comparisons. The concern is lack of socialization not behavior of some selectively chosen public school kids. With your selection, it is inherently showing a disgusting bias.
      - troupe 3y ago
        Disgusting bias? I'm just saying that most of the concerns people unfamiliar with homeschooling usually raise are risks inherent in childhood in general.
ckz 3y ago
The social gap question has been pretty hotly debated for decades (whether it exists and/or is even a concern). For the curious, here are a couple of relevant threads: 5 Days Ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36842564 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36842564 10 Months Ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32746181 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32746181
xcskier56 3y ago
I home schooled for 2 years in middle school I wasn’t a social butterfly (and still am not). We were part of a home school co-op where we went once or twice per week and the parents taught various classes. The kids there were wildly brilliant… 6th grader getting a perfect SAT and ACT score, and almost all were very socially awkward. But I really doubt that regular school would have changed anything and may have made things worse. The social issue is a chicken vs egg problem. Are the kids socially awkward bc they’re homeschooled, or are they homeschooled bc they’re brilliant and very awkward?
- whimsicalism 3y ago
  > 6th grader getting a perfect SAT and ACT score Almost certainly an exaggeration :)
- xboxnolifes 3y ago
  > The social issue is a chicken vs egg problem. Are the kids socially awkward bc they’re homeschooled, or are they homeschooled bc they’re brilliant and very awkward? This is a big annoyance for me in the homeschooling conversation. If someone is homeschooled and is socially awkward, it's the homeschooling's fault. If someone went to public school and is socially awkward, it's their fault / they're an outlier.
dbjacobs 3y ago
Like everything else in schooling, the social gap is highly child dependent. Our kids were a mix of home-school and private schools and the kid who did the most homeschooling was the most socially adept.
sanderjd 3y ago
Are there programs where kids mostly play with other kids and then do the education side a couple hours a day of homeschooling individually or in small groups? I feel like that would be a nice structure through like middle school. We have one starting kindergarten in a few weeks and honestly it seems like too much school time for a five year old to me.
- bluepod4 3y ago
  Seems like you’re thinking of Montessori-style schools (except for the homeschooling part)
helpfulclippy 3y ago
On the other hand, public schooling can cause lifelong psychological or physical trauma due to bullying, abuse or neglect by other students or school staff. In the US, the risk of school shootings is a reasonable concern as well.
- heisenbit 3y ago
  As if the social dynamic in private schools is so much healthier.

JoshTriplett 3y ago

> But, yeah, homeschooling can leave a big social gap. It doesn't need to. Many areas, particularly those good for homeschooling, have tons of social and extracurricular activities available specifically for homeschoolers (such as by being intentionally scheduled in the middle what would otherwise be school hours). And, of course, those are just the mass social activities, as opposed to small groups of friends.

mock-possum 3y ago
Public schooling has socializing built in - home schooling has focused 1:1 attention built in. (In their ideal state, respectively.) Home schooling takes extra work to add socializing, public schooling takes extra work to add one on one instruction. Generally. There are exceptions out there, and there are opportunities to hybridize the practices. But again - that takes work. Public school also functions as a means to take the work of watching and educating a child during the day off of parents’ plates, so they can remain at least partially employed, or even just have a small slice of their life back. Homeschooling is a luxury most can’t afford.
kashunstva 3y ago
> Many areas, particularly those good for homeschooling, have tons of social and extracurricular activities available specifically for homeschoolers During the five years I homeschooled my daughter, I found that this was true but with one enormous caveat. We’re a secular family and homeschooling in many areas of the U.S. means that these groups are often organized around non-secular activities and principles. To each, their own. But I’m not going to sign a “statement of faith” to participate in a homeschool group. As a consequence, it really did feel that we were going it alone. Larger metropolitan areas are probably more inclusive; but otherwise secular homeschoolers have struggles in finding the right fit.
- JoshTriplett 3y ago
  In our area there were lots of secular activities available, but unfortunately that's not universally true. Many people select places to live based on school districts; it may make sense to put the same amount of weight on quality of homeschooling options. But even then, that's not going to be universally available in a nearby location. There are also potentially online groups to connect with others (even more so now than when I was that age), which could help with finding and organizing groups.
  - ryandrake 3y ago
    In a lot of the US, homeschooling is entirely about religious separatism, not better educational outcomes. My wife’s old moms group would keep trying to sell us on homeschooling and the sales pitch was always about legally avoiding certain topics that public school covers. It’s never: “homeschooling lets your kid zoom past the shitty public school system”. It’s always “homeschooling lets you teach from the Bible and protects your kids from evolution and sex ed (and nowadays: protects your kids from “woke”, whatever that is)”.
    - aa1234556 3y ago
      [dead]

LanceH 3y ago

> homeschooling can leave a big social gap. I've been around and tutored way too many homeschoolers to give this a pass. If by "gap" you mean they behave in a more adult fashion, sure. There is a gap between the independence and social progression of homeschoolers and the nature of your average trend following high schooler. Saying that homeschooling creates backwards kids is just a form of continued bullying.

firesteelrain 3y ago
It’s not bullying. Give me a break. It’s a valid concern. No one is picking on people for being homeschooled.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- troupe 3y ago
  There are plenty of kids in public schools with and creating social problems. There are plenty of kids who "graduate" while being functionally illiterate. So yes it is a concern, but it is a concern for kids in general and acting like it is a problem for homeschoolers would be like telling kids that "growing up to be stupid is a risk for red head children." It is either being done with intent to bully red heads or just based on ignorance..
  - firesteelrain 3y ago
    These are not valid comparisons. The concern is lack of socialization not behavior of some selectively chosen public school kids. With your selection, it is inherently showing a disgusting bias.
    - troupe 3y ago
      Disgusting bias? I'm just saying that most of the concerns people unfamiliar with homeschooling usually raise are risks inherent in childhood in general.

ckz 3y ago

The social gap question has been pretty hotly debated for decades (whether it exists and/or is even a concern). For the curious, here are a couple of relevant threads: 5 Days Ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36842564 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36842564 10 Months Ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32746181 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32746181

xcskier56 3y ago

I home schooled for 2 years in middle school I wasn’t a social butterfly (and still am not). We were part of a home school co-op where we went once or twice per week and the parents taught various classes. The kids there were wildly brilliant… 6th grader getting a perfect SAT and ACT score, and almost all were very socially awkward. But I really doubt that regular school would have changed anything and may have made things worse. The social issue is a chicken vs egg problem. Are the kids socially awkward bc they’re homeschooled, or are they homeschooled bc they’re brilliant and very awkward?

whimsicalism 3y ago
> 6th grader getting a perfect SAT and ACT score Almost certainly an exaggeration :)
xboxnolifes 3y ago
> The social issue is a chicken vs egg problem. Are the kids socially awkward bc they’re homeschooled, or are they homeschooled bc they’re brilliant and very awkward? This is a big annoyance for me in the homeschooling conversation. If someone is homeschooled and is socially awkward, it's the homeschooling's fault. If someone went to public school and is socially awkward, it's their fault / they're an outlier.

dbjacobs 3y ago

Like everything else in schooling, the social gap is highly child dependent. Our kids were a mix of home-school and private schools and the kid who did the most homeschooling was the most socially adept.

sanderjd 3y ago

Are there programs where kids mostly play with other kids and then do the education side a couple hours a day of homeschooling individually or in small groups? I feel like that would be a nice structure through like middle school. We have one starting kindergarten in a few weeks and honestly it seems like too much school time for a five year old to me.

bluepod4 3y ago
Seems like you’re thinking of Montessori-style schools (except for the homeschooling part)

helpfulclippy 3y ago

On the other hand, public schooling can cause lifelong psychological or physical trauma due to bullying, abuse or neglect by other students or school staff. In the US, the risk of school shootings is a reasonable concern as well.

heisenbit 3y ago
As if the social dynamic in private schools is so much healthier.