We do video classes for most subjects. Takes the pressure off the parent. You can just teach as needed and grade tests, projects and papers.

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That is not the same thing as your graph which is saying your dollar is worth more today than in 2000.

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While this has gotten off the topic of homeschool, it has been quite enlightening to your overall views. Lots of rigidity there.

You don't understand what an inflation calculator is. Your graph is simply showing the time value of money, which is not the same thing as the value of a dollar.

Value of a dollar = purchasing power
Time value of money = equality of a dollar to a point in the future or past

I understood the graph. But I'm not a pedantic ass.

And you all educate your kids however you want. Just leave me the hell alone.

It's all good. I'm sure the labels could have been better.

Alex understood that a dollar buys less today than it did 25 years ago. And he understands the converse way of saying that it is that it takes more dollars to buy what a dollar bought 25 years ago. And that's the purpose, so all good.

Teslag said:

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More importantly, they were almost all socially awkward. As kids, we could pick out the homeschoolers from a mile away. They were exceedingly socially inept because they had never had the natural socialization that kids get between the ages 5-12 that make up the bulk of their personality and social understanding. What made it worse (and makes it worse now that I see it as an adult) are parents who think they're kids are perfectly normal when they are clearly painfully awkward.

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And it's quite clear the parents are as well, so that leads to a lot of the inability to see it.

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This has also been my experience. Good post.

agsalaska said:

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Teslag said:

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More importantly, they were almost all socially awkward. As kids, we could pick out the homeschoolers from a mile away. They were exceedingly socially inept because they had never had the natural socialization that kids get between the ages 5-12 that make up the bulk of their personality and social understanding. What made it worse (and makes it worse now that I see it as an adult) are parents who think they're kids are perfectly normal when they are clearly painfully awkward.

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And it's quite clear the parents are as well, so that leads to a lot of the inability to see it.

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This has also been my experience. Good post.

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I think a lot of good info both for and against homeschooling is on this thread. One thing I disagree with is that I still see that awkward social quality in most homeschoolers I run into. However, as the previous post states, many parents are socially awkward as well.

To me, the big worries with homeschooling would be (1) socialization and (2) making sure the education is well-rounded and not used to curate the world. Both of those can be avoided with dedication and effort. The major benefit is a tailored learning plan that can help the smart kids move faster and the slower kids move slower.

"The major benefit is a tailored learning plan that can help the smart kids move faster and the slower kids move slower"

Which never happens in public school. A teacher can't possibly teach to the 30 different learning styles in their classroom.

A classroom of 2-3 kids - much easier, while also using co-ops, etc.

zooguy96 said:

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"The major benefit is a tailored learning plan that can help the smart kids move faster and the slower kids move slower"

Which never happens in public school. A teacher can't possibly teach to the 30 different learning styles in their classroom.

A classroom of 2-3 kids - much easier, while also using co-ops, etc.

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It's also not best for everyone. I'd venture to say most kids do fine in a classroom environment with 20-30 kids. I was one of those kids who loved the delineation between home and the classroom. Some of my great childhood memories are the joy of meeting buddies on the bus, talking about our weekends, or those first days back from long breaks.

The public school you're in and the teacher all play significant roles. But, as has been mentioned in this thread, everyone knows home school kids who are far behind their public contemporaries as well. It's heavily reliant on parents to make sure kids keep up.

My GF has three kids: 1st, 4th, and 10th. They were all home-schooled until this year. All of them thrived in that environment, but its shortcomings are also notable. Job circumstances necessitated them being moved into public schooling this year with three different results.

The 10th grader is having the time of her life. For the first time, she's making friends, going out on Fridays, and joined some extracurriculars. She has a 3.8 GPA and starts taking AP classes next year. She has that homeschool awkwardness to her, but I'm hoping she can get past that. I'll add this: she went through a stage where she got bullied by other girls in one of her extracurriculars and handled it beautifully. She shrugged it off and kept moving forward. So many kids turtle in on themselves or go whining to parents, but she was a champ.

The 4th grader is having a very tough time. She's the "artist" of the family, and equates school to being in prison. She's also failing a bunch of classes and will likely have to retake the grade. She refuses to do homework, basically equating it to "professional overtime". She's really struggling in the structured environment. She's also the most socially normal of the three kids.

The 1st grader is fascinating. He's already been marked by the county go into the district's gifted programs, which will speed up his curriculum. Kid is insanely articulate and very smart; however, he has personal space issues. He hasn't been around kids his age much and is behind in learning that getting up in other people's grills is not a good thing. He's always touching other people, and it's a problem (which is wild to me, since I was an anti-touch kid). He's young enough that he should learn pretty quickly.

I don't think there is necessarily a right or wrong answer here. It's a matter of what you want and how much time you can/are willing to make sure the kids are alright.

Understand post, but would point out that, "Best" and "Do Fine" are two very different things.

That's kind of the entire point of this conversation. My child is doing fine, but is that enough. Am I setting her up with the opportunity for long term success with fine, or do I need to make a choice for something that may be better or the best?

AggieKatie2 said:

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Understand post, but would point out that, "Best" and "Do Fine" are two very different things.

That's kind of the entire point of this conversation. My child is doing fine, but is that enough. Am I setting her up with the opportunity for long term success with fine, or do I need to make a choice for something that may be better or the best?

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I think that's a personal answer. We've all met whipsmart kids from bad schools and complete idiots from upper-tier private schools. I've met homeschoolers who were so far behind they were ruined and homeschoolers who were so far ahead, I wondered why they weren't in college at 15. One of the smartest kids during my time at the USMMA came from public school in podunk Missouri. The dumbest person I knew there came from an elite boarding school on Long Island. In a sense, education is what you make it, regardless of location.

I don't think anyone here is saying homeschooling can't be the best method for the kid. However, what makes it the best method is how far the parents are willing to go to ensure they have (1) academic and (2) socialization resources they need, the latter of which can be really tough on kids who aren't around lots of kids from lots of backgrounds for dozens of hours per week.

This is a very useful thread, thanks for all the insights. My family and I are evaluating our options right now (currently in a great public school system).

Has anyone ever gone the home school / co-op / charter school / private school route, but then regretted it and went back to public schools for some reason? Just curious.

In my circle, there have been some families that let their kids pick and some decide to go back to public. Of those, some loved it and some hated it and were back to homeschooling in a month or so.

Among the groups I belong to, it's not uncommon to see parents gonna public school because they weren't prepared for the work involved or more commonly they tried to replicate public school at home and it went poorly.

So it happens. And it's good to be flexible.