Yes there's peer pressure, but equipping your children to deal with it appropriately instead of avoiding it completely (when they are sure to run into it at some point anyway) is a better route IMO. Of course the wider socialization is important, but it's also my understanding that there are many homeschool organizations and they bring parents and children together to help with that aspect.

What's the worst that could happen if a kid doesn't go to school (assuming you mean they are homeschooled instead)? All kinds of potential problems. The parent/instructor needs to be committed, skilled, resourceful and if they're not, that could have negative long term consequences...

Admittedly, I don't know a ton about homeschooling, but I've always wondered if you could be homeschooled until the end of high school and actually be accepted to post-secondary studies.

 

My daughter goes to a private school right now. She'll stay there until she finishes sixth grade, probably. She gets lots of interaction but the quality of the teaching is far above a typical public school.

After that, I'll move her to public school, probably. My wife would prefer to home school her but I don't feel that the quality of the maths and sciences at home would be as good as in a school.

That said, my sister has five kids and three are home schooled right now. They can do all of their school work in about two hours of the day and they're well ahead of the curve for their grade. Why? Because public schools have to teach at a pace that allows for slower students but home schooling allows students to progress quickly if they catch on easily. My sister has them do their regular studies, plus she picks a special topic each week and they do internet research, watch videos, and read books on that topic. It's interactive and interesting enough to keep them learning and enjoying at the same time.

The kids have lots of friends around the neighbourhood and also at church, so they get lots of interaction. My daughter, on the other hand, has very few friends outside of those she sees at school, so I think it's best for her to go to a "normal" school.

Bottom line: If the kids have lots of friends outside of school, I think home schooling is a good idea, especially for the first five or six years. If the kids don't have many friends, send them to school to get them properly socialized.

I still believe that a public school is a good idea for the later school years when higher sciences and math are encountered and require equipment and teachers that would otherwise be unavailable in most homes (ie, my wife can't teach advanced algebra, pre-calculus, physics, or chemistry or provide the lab equipment for some of the science classes).

 

I don't have kids and I went to public schools so my opinion may not be worth giving.

I see good and bad to both sides. The added socialization skills of a public or private school are likely worth their weight in gold. The downside of a public school is that they must teach at a lower or more

 

Tests show home-schooled children score on average 30-37% better across all subjects. There is no question that a child, taught by a capable parent, will receive a better education at home. It's then the responsibility of the parents to seek social envoironments for the children outside of school, as this is equally important

 

I seem to recall an article in Scientific American that reached this same conclusion.

 

That settles it then, it must be true.

 

Major Universities and Colleges are actually seeking out Home Schooled kids because they excell. My wife and I Home School our kids, we have three that have completed their College careers with honors.

Home schooling is not for everyone, it calls for a high level of responsibility and committment. But the benefits of added interaction/exchange of ideas amongst your kids is worth every second spent.

 

Tim and others who say there are SO many downsides. what exactly are those downsides?

i dont know what schools you went to, but mine was basically like day care. if they never taught me anything, i wouldn't have known the difference.

all this talk of socialization doesn't compute imo. jr high and high school are special times where people are esp mean and can bully others. after wards in college and beyond, it is no longer cool to be the asshole, so i dont buy the argument that those are valuable social skills.

again, what exactly are the downsides?

 

Doesn't this guy homeschool his kids?

 

not to be condescending, but what the HELL are you talking about? who says what you learn in high school is essential? you say that the negative situations are essential, but WHY are they essential? and how is money equal to being successful in life?

obviously, some of you are making your regular schooling methods look pretty bad. when you write a composition, you give a statement, then support it with evidence. the poor writing in this thread alone makes one wonder about wtf the going on with our education system.