We seriously looked into homeschooling, and at least once a year we reconsider it. So far we've decided each time that it's not for us.
The decision is made easier since the local schools here are good and each of our kids are doing very well. We supplement their education quite often (1-3 times a week), typically around the dinner table and more intensely during vacations. Most of our kids are very active readers (our eldest especially, she reads 1 novel every 1-3 days).
how would home schoolers get away with not actually teaching?
i thought they were still governed by the state, had to have curriculum and all set up with them and the children still had to go through the state required testing and such.
I didn't, and don't, let them slack as homeschooled kids. I make them work through the summer, although with a much lighter load, so they don't forget what they've learned. Yep, I'm a meanie. Have a popsicle and a page of math.
I've known a few who have done poor jobs homeschooling, but by and large most I've known personally who have done it have raised some extremely intelligent children.
I know one family where all 5 of their kids got MS/PhD in their various fields of study.
Still I know another case where their daughter was so far behind she had to get tutoring so when she returned to school she wouldn't be 2 years behind (she ended up being held back just one year).
It's not for everyone, but those who can and are willing... more power to you!
how would home schoolers get away with not actually teaching?
i thought they were still governed by the state, had to have curriculum and all set up with them and the children still had to go through the state required testing and such.
Thats what I've heard... but apparently it must be a myth or something... since I know a few people who are homeschooling... (or unschooling as lady calls it ) their kids.... and apparently they have never had to turn in anything for the state or prove anything.
My son is homeschooling this year. He was already a year behind and had been falling even further behind the last 3 years in public school. He's a really smart kid, but with his attention issues, he just rarely heard anything a teacher said. We did an IEP at school and other things, and nothing was helping. The school also wasn't great with actually fulfilling the IEP. Since he's to start high school next year, I really thought it best to catch him up at home this year. It's worked to an extent, especially with writing skills and math, so I do think he's better prepared academically for next year.
The socialization is a real issue for us because I also work full-time during the weekdays, albeit from home. Most homeschoolers have one parent who isn't working full-time. I know that around here, there are a zillion homeschooling groups and outings during the weekdays. They meet up constantly for day/field trips, bowling leagues, archery lessons, special classes in just about everything you can think of, or just for fun. It really is its own community, and it's very tight-knit, so most homeschoolers actually get more socialization than kids in public school (where now they have about 1/2 hour for lunch and about 3-5 minutes in between classes. Seriously, they can't find time for a bathroom break outside of class time!).
We can't do most of that due to my work schedule, but kiddo does do a homeschool taekwondo class twice a week...a mom down the road picks him up and takes him with her kids. It's not enough, though. He's probably going back to public school for high school even though he isn't happy about it.
I think there are benefits and drawbacks. Honestly, though, most of the homeschooled kids we've met in the last year were way smart, well-socialized, and well-behaved. Some of the older ones had already developed their interests to an extent you don't often see with the typical teenager with volunteer work and internships, etc.
If you do ever homeschool, don't feel like you have to stick to the same schedule as the public schools, though. One of the best things about homeschooling is being able to tailor the curriculum and the schedule to the child and the way they learn best. I started with the same mindset of keeping it structured as much like "normal school" as possible, but that kind of fell by the wayside. For instance, my son only worked on history and pre-algebra this week...he substituted extra history lessons for literature and science because he's really into the American History unit he's on. No problem, it balances out.
I doubt that I have the patience for homeschooling. We both work outside the home so I don't know how we'd homeschool without one of us staying home and that's not a feasible option right now.
My husband has a close relative who homeschooled all her children. They're all young adults now. They're turned out great. They have great manners. They're close to each other and their parents. They all went on to college. The mom supplemented their homeschooling with participation in various community sports activities. The boys participated in Little League and basketball and sometimes martial arts. The girls participated in Girl Scouts and tennis. In the summer time, the children participated in summer caps. The children were very active in their church youth groups (the family is very religious). They got a lot of socialization. The kids have a lot of friends. Whenever we go over to their house, they'd have friends coming in and out. It's one of those big homes with a passel of kids.
Whilst I don't think homeschooling is for everyone and I think it can be done to the detriment of the child, there are homeschooled children who are bright, curious and well rounded. I think it's like anything else - parental involvement and commitment makes a huge difference.
The beauty of homeschooling is that it doesn't have to take up the whole day, nor does it have to be completely at home.
I have had many friends homeschool their kids...one homeschooled up to HS with one child, but her other two begged to go to school. Every child is different.
You can get tons of resources (well, in the states anyway) from the local school district (as I'm sure you know) and there are networks out there with other homeschoolers where the kids can get together for field trips and the such.
The local school district should have a home-school office where you have a person that comes over once a month and helps you plan, keep on schedule, etc...and the kids take tests to make sure they are learning what they need to know.
Look up the standards for your state (not sure where you're from) and just make sure to teach from that. The ultimate goal is to get them educated and to be able to compete in the world of college and jobs.
Of the women I know who homeschool, they love it and their kids are great...not weird like the stereotype seems to be.
I could not do it. I would eat my children. My oldest is stubborn and everything is a battle. She excels in the gifted program at MS. My youngest would drain me and I'd have to eat her.
parental involvement and commitment makes a huge difference.
Couldn't agree more. We are very involved with our kids schooling. Every night we ask that they finish homework (as best they can) before dinner. After dinner we help them with anything they didn't get or understand. We read over all their reports (though my wife does most of the editing), and I help them extensively with their math.
Every night at our house homework and school work is something we talk about. Every night when we take family walks or just talk around the dinner table we talk about what happened to the kids at school.
I think part of the reason our kids do so well in their classes is because they know that we care. We celebrate their successes and we help them through their difficulties.
Oh I should add that a number of home schooled high school age kids take their science classes at Junior College so that they can get access to all the great equipment at a small cost.
Also I know of one case where the kid was doing math at such a high level that he out paced high school entirely and was doing linear algebra and differential equations as a senior by taking classes at Junior College.
I could not do it. I would eat my children. My oldest is stubborn and everything is a battle. She excels in the gifted program at MS. My youngest would drain me and I'd have to eat her.
Have you checked out any homeschool associatations?
One of my brothers and his wife have home schooled their two children since the start. They are a boy 13 and a girl 15. The kids are doing very well in their education.
Neither by brother nor his wife have the level of skills/education that I would expect for a person to be able to homeschool. They realize this. So what they do is to use a lot of resources. They buy a curriculum every year and they follow it. Both are very bright children. The boy has been able to do the same grade level as his sister all along.
For socialization, they are members of a home schooling association. The association has field trips. Some parents offer classes that other parents might not be able to teach. So sometimes they enroll the children in a special class. They have a lot of homeschooler friends.
They are also members of the Civil Air Patrol. Being very active in that allows the children a lot of socialization. And they are learning a lot from the program.
We aunts and uncles also help them with things like science, math, languages, music, art, etc.
Also, the local public schools allow the home schooled children to have access to public school programs. For example if they want to sign up for one particular class they can do that. They can play sports on the public school teams.
This coming year my niece is signing up for the online program with the public school system. She can be home schooled using their free online courses.
Next year she will be able to enroll in the local community college and take classes free. She will get both high school and college credits for those classes. So when she graduates from high school, she will get an associates degree at the same time. Then she will transfer to the university as a junior.
A nephew of mine did this save thing in California. He's 18 and has completed 3 years of college.
The options available to children through home schooling are endless these days. And if a parent takes advantage of the social interaction with the home school associations, the children get plenty of socialization.
That's how i know I couldn't homeschool. My older daughter will ask me for help with math and I sit down with her to go over the steps...i mean, I'm a teacher afterall but she argues with me about what I'm telling her!! After a few minutes of that, my blood pressure is up, she's telling me I'm not doing it like her teacher, and I ask her why she asked for my help at all!
My mom works at a community college and she says HS kids come in all the time to take classes through their school and it counts towards college credits! I wish I had known about that! I hated junior college...would have been nice to punch out some classes while in HS.
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Re: Homeschooling.
I have known people who have homeschooled. My brother is homeschooling his kids, too. The "Homeschooled children are not socialized" argument is mostly a myth.
There are homeschool organization in pretty much every metro area where parents get together for social activities. Also, in most states, if you want to home school, then the schools are required to let your kids participate in extracurricular activities. Some states offer homeschool or distance schools within their systems. The K-12 schools in WA are such a school, and may be available in other states as well.
Schedule is largely a question on style - both yours and your kids. One reason for homeschooling, for example, is for kids with ADHD. If you don't want to medicate them, and you realize that they don't function well in a classroom, you may homeschool specifically to give them an different environment that fits their energy level, mode of mental operation, and learning style better.
My opinion is that I (not the state) am primarily responsible for my kids' education. When the public schools are useful in that, I will use them. When they are not, it is my responsibility to find a way to educate my kids. If there is a private school, then I will use that (and I have). If there is not, then I am still primarily responsible for their education, so homeschooling is an option. Public schools are just a tool - not a method to control your options, or at least they shouldn't be.
When it comes to test scoring, my understanding is that kids that are homeschooled actually outperform kids from other schools on average - I don't have the actual numbers on that. I also have known kids who were homeschooled who were successful in college after graduating their homeschool ... and they are perfectly well adjusted and socialized kids. The schools are not the only option, and if they are not meeting your needs, then I'd say, consider homeschooling. After all, parents are the original teachers.
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Re: Homeschooling.
Reading a lot more responses ... I think several are hitting on this:
In Silicon valley, the population is very heavily Asian. I think many of the parents there are either not satisfied with the schools, or they just want to give their kids an advantage for the next step because even many kids who are in the public schools go to the afterschool programs that range from JEI to C2 to you name it. They get a much stronger background in math, science, reading, writing, science, and in some cases, even engineering than what the kids are getting in school.
The ironic part of this is that these kids, because they attend public schools, get tested with the other kids in public schools, and their test scores make that school look very good. However; much of the skill they learned that makes them score so high was not gained in that public school. That doesn't mean necessarily that the school is bad, it just means their ability is not provided solely by the school.
It is another part of "parental involvement" like CoffeeAmore and a few others were talking about. It also goes to my point of "I am primarily responsible for my kids' education ... and if the public school is not meeting the need ... " It's a great thing the parents are doing there, even while those parents who have been in the US and outside of that culture all their lives only complain ... they're being outpaced by the more inovative parents like those I described in Silicon Valley.
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Re: Homeschooling. 
Have a popsicle and a page of math.
) their kids.... and apparently they have never had to turn in anything for the state or prove anything.
but she argues with me about what I'm telling her!! After a few minutes of that, my blood pressure is up, she's telling me I'm not doing it like her teacher, and I ask her why she asked for my help at all! 
