Readers Forum:
Im homeschooling and I hate it. I want to show my parents how bad homeschooling is. How can I put it in its worst light. How can I convince my parents to let me go back to my old school. Or any other school would be better than homeschooling. Statistics. Testimonies. Anything negative about homeschooling. Links plz. Books? Movies?
There are none. The only negatives that are found in homeschooling are in individual cases, as not every student is cut out to homeschool.
Instead of trying to paint a fictional bad light (not yours, but of homeschooling overall), why not just change things up to make it more how you want it? As a homeschooler, you have the ability to do that. Your curriculum doesn’t work for you? Find one that does. You don’t like your classes? Choose different ones. You want to take co op classes with other kids, or find things to do? Go find them. You want to follow your interests? Go follow them.
You probably can’t convince your parents to put you back in school if you can’t show them that you can homeschool responsibly. Seriously, why would they give you more responsibility if you can’t handle what you have? So…figure out what you hate about it, and talk with your parents about changing it.
Show some responsibility in what you do, quit whining, and *then* approach your parents. Show them how you’ve taken responsibility, and then you can ask them for what you’d like to do. Quite frankly, if my son approached me with your attitude, I’d say “no” right off the bat.
I’m really not trying to go off on you, just trying to be honest as a parent. If you want your parents to see that you can handle it, you’re going to have to show them through your choices and behavior.
Well, the good and bad news is that what stats there are on Hormeschool do not point out anything universally bad. In fact, on average, homeschoolers are better students and socially better adjusted to the real world. You sound pretty desperate to get your way. I don’t know what aspect of homeschooling has you so upset, but take some comfort in the fact that homeschooling can be modified to fit your personality, schedule and learning style. So, don’t fret. Looking for reasons to be miserable or to dupe your parents into sending you back to public school probably won’t help your situation. The truth is there are no set positives or negatives. Homeschool is what you and your family make of it. It can be as rewarding and fun as you like, or as dull and dreadful. If the problem is missing your friends or just the rapid pace, try beginning your day early and being ready to go see your friends as soon as school lets out. You might also look into a local internship. My advice to you is to look for your silver lining and give your folks way a fair chance before you jump ship.
Georgia: Do you expect us to believe that the only challenging children that you have ever had in camp were homeschooled? If the best case you can make for your opinion is that 2 homeschooled children out of millions are brats, I’d say you may need to rethink your position. Recently a class of 11 third graders plotted to murder their teacher and went as far as to bring the weapons and duct tape to school. Do my 11 homicidal school kids trump your two homeschooled brats? Would you consider it fair of me to paint the lot of you brick schoolers with that brush?
Well,there is some positive and some negative. You dont need to do home school if you are not motivated. Im 18 years old,and i wish i didnt mess up in high school like i did. I did faith academy and i can say this,at first i liked it,but then i lost it. I now have my GED. So,the best thing i can say,be an invovled parent in public school. No what they are doing,when and everything. Be friends with the teachers and the staff your child comes in contact with.And even in highschool,check their home work.Make sure they have GOOD friends. And make sure you know their parents,cause one person can bring your kid down.Good luck
l. It drives the governing body of the NEA nuts!
2. It provides an atmosphere that nurtures a close relationship between parent and child thus potentially making the child look “uncool” to outsiders whose family members can’t bear to be in the same room together.
3. It forces participants to think on their own and does not provide an environment condusive to “fudging” answers. And even worse, there is no way you can catch up on your sleep in class.
4. There are no assemblies and other “time eaters” and so you get done with your work early. This sometimes leaves time for reading books, doing volunteer work, helping around the house, extra time to pursue individual interests and who in their right mind would want to do that.
5. It often creates an young adult capable of independent thought, self directed lifelong learning, little concern with current trends or fads, and self reliance. Not always valued qualities if you want to be one of the popular kids at the college bars.
There are no statistics. The reason being that most homeschooling families make it work well.
Homeschooling itself doesn’t have any negative side effects; how the homeschooling is conducted, how the kids are parented, etc., can, however, make homeschooling less than ideal.
Since you were previously in school, I’m sure you are finding it a huge adjustment. Instead of trying to convince them to send you back to school, work with them in finding solutions to whatever problems you are having. DO NOT BLAME HOMESCHOOLING in your conversation. Why not? First of all, it’s not homeschooling’s fault–it’s what you and your parents make of it, so really you’d just be blaming yourself. Second, they will perceive it as a matter of you trying to get out of homeschooling and will be less likely to consider school as a viable alternative.
Therefore you need to figure out your specific issues, present them to your parents and work with them to find solutions. Maybe going back to school will be the best solution; maybe it won’t be. But it’s surely not the only solution.
Homeschooling’s fine when done right.
I’ve been homeschooled all my life. I had plenty of homeschool groups, so I never had any social problems, and my education of top-notch. Being homeschooled allowed me to work with my father often, so now I’m a decent plumber.
I’m a senior now, and as I look back on my life as a homeschooler, I really don’t regret anyhing. I’m attending UPenn next year, and looking forward to it.
If you don’t like homeschooling, then that is a negative enough for you. Have you talked to your parents?
Sweetie, you’re asking the wrong crowd. Most of the people in this section are homescoolers and support it whole-heartedly. My three kids are homeschooled and I have yet to see any drawbacks. Maybe your family is different than mine but I’ve seen better grades, family closeness, interest in study material, happy and relaxed kids, more time for other pursuits, cooler field trips and closer friendships. I’ve also seen a lot more creativity, confidence, effort and motivation. I don’t know how your parents are going about it, but my kids wouldn’t go back to school if you paid them to!
To Georgia Z: You have no idea what you’re talking about.
To Georgia Z: I have been on both sides of the table. I no longer believe in “wonderful” schools, public or private. Also, I don’t consider your example of the two girls to be valid. I don’t believe their behavior can be blamed on homeschooling. It can, however, be blamed on parenting. My kids are polite, considerate, well spoken, articulate, helpful and friendly. I often receive compliments on their behavior. Your one example can not compare to the scores of homeschooled kids I know. For the most part, they’re just kids and their behavior is highly dependent on how they are raised, not how they are schooled. Furthermore, my kids’ behavior was WORSE when they attended school.
You could probably find some negative testimonies about homeschooling, just as you can find negative testimonies about anything. However, there are no statistics regarding the negative effects of homeschooling because, in general, there aren’t any.
Why did your parents decide to homeschool you? Are you responsible? Do you complete your assignments and make good grades? Do you stay out of trouble?
These are the things I as a parent would be thinking about if my child asked to go to public school.
Why don’t you think that over and try making a list of the problems you are having and how you think school will address them. Talk to your parents about it and see what they think.
If they do not agree to send you to school, find constructive ways to address the problems you are experiencing.
You may need to find a new homeschool method:http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/…
You my need to join a coop, support group, or find other avenues of support.http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/…
Right now your happiness, or lack thereof, is in your hands. If your parents won’t send you to school, find a way to make homeschooling work for you.
You can do it!
There are no negative statistics about homeschooling, sorry. There are myths about homeschooling, especially the laughable one about lack of socialization. And then there is the myth about homeschoolers not being admitted to college – again, laughable. Colleges recruit homeschoolers.
Perhaps you might want to share what you dislike about homeschooling and get some suggestions on how to improve your experience.
…why don’t you start by telling them WHY you hate it?
Homeschooling in itself really isn’t a negative thing at all. When done right it promotes a high quality education, strong and healthy social skills, countless opportunities for community involvement, extracurricular activity, social outings, and academic enrichment, strong family bonds… It gives students the opportunity to persue their interests and passions, find new interests, set their own goals, have a major say in the curriculum and how it is presented, get their hands dirty (so to speak. Real hands-on experiences) study topics in deapth that would have only been glanced over in public school, participate in more community service and extracurricular activities than they’d even have time for in public school, possibly start college several years early, get accepted into highly selective universities, take more classes than would have been offered in public school, study interesting and unusual subjects such as robotics, computer animation, archetecture, equestrian studies, sociology, whatever you can think of and find resources for.
The problem is never homeschooling. It’s the people who are homeschooling. Maybe your parents are doing a poor job of it and aren’t helping you enough or doing enough to make it a unique and memorable experience? Maybe you’re simply not cut out for homeschooling, or aren’t trying yourself to make it a great experience both academically and socially (it DOES take effort. Nothing is forced upon you like it is in public school) Maybe you lack motivation? Maybe you miss your friends and haven’t made the effort to get out and socialize? Maybe you’re doing online school and are bored (this is usually just public school at home, and in many people’s opinions it defeats the purpose of homeschooling). Maybe you’re using another curriculum that doesn’t work for you.
You need tostop trying to figure out what is wrong with homeschooling and how it is bad as a whole and START trying to figure out why YOU don’t like it and what YOU or YOUR PARENTS as individuals might be doing/not doing that is causing it to not work out for you.