Homeschooling thread

[Cookie]

A recent thread has brought to light the fact that we have several homeschoolers around here. I thought it would be cool if we had a thread to discuss our various experiences with homeschooling, curriculum, testing, umbrella schools, etc. Also, if anybody else has questions or thoughts about homeschooling, that would be awesome, too.

So, for starters, did you guys homeschool all the way through, or just certain years? I started in 4th grade after horrible public and private school experiences and continued all the way through graduation.

[Evil Queen]

I was homeschooled! From third grade all the way through highschool. Graduated at the Grand Ol' Opera House in Nashville.

Lets see... our umbrella school was Family Christian Academy. Yes, it was a religious school but it was very good. Most of our schooling came from College text books (Mom's idea).

[HYHYBT]

A related question, if I may: for those here who have been homeschooled, has it helped or hurt your college/job prospects? I ask because Dad and Stepmom are currently upset over Brother and SIL's possibly homeschooling their children, now 3 and 2, when they reach school age. Possibly just for the first year or so, possibly all the way through. D and SM say they know people who were homeschooled and, *because of this*, no college would take them.

[Flying Grype]

Lessee.

I was homeschooled from third grade until ninth, due to unaddressed bullying and general incompetency in the school system. My homeschooling was pretty unstructured -- I liked to read and learn, and my parents decided that they didn't have to make it structured since I liked doing stuff like that on my own. It's not like I sat around and played video games all the time.

Socialization is not a problem unless you're a Bible-belt homeschooler who wants the kids to be sheltered and hidden away from anyone who is *gasp* Different. We went to Girl Guides and karate lessons and the astronomy club and the lizard-owners' club. We had lots of friends of all ages and I think we were better socialized than the kids raised in single-age herds in the schools like yearling cattle.

There was no testing required. There's a loophole in the Ontario Education Act -- it says that kids have to go to school unless they receive satisfactory education at home or elsewhere. There was no definition of "satisfactory", because if they came up with a test they'd have to test all the schools as well, and there would be schools failing.

When I wanted to go to university I talked to three schools. One said they didn't know what to do with homeschoolers, one said they'd figure something out, and the third said "Go get your OACs and let us see your grades". OACs were like college prep or thirteenth grade in Ontario.

I took a few independent high school courses at an adult learning centre to get ready for the OACs. I took a test in this process. I think I was about eighteen or nineteen, and I scored post-secondary in all areas of science and English, and about grade 10 in math.

I got my OACs and went to university in a scientific field. I didn't finish due to unrelated reasons (mental illness). I've had no trouble getting jobs since and I think I've spent about three weeks unemployed since I left university six years ago.

[AnaKhouri]

I was thinking it might be fun to homeschool Khan (although having a few hours to myself every day might e nice too!), but what do you do when you reach a level you can't teach? For instance, I can't do math beyond basic algebra. Husband works too much to undertake teaching it (he's waaaaay smarter than me).

[Cookie]

A related question, if I may: for those here who have been homeschooled, has it helped or hurt your college/job prospects? I ask because Dad and Stepmom are currently upset over Brother and SIL's possibly homeschooling their children, now 3 and 2, when they reach school age. Possibly just for the first year or so, possibly all the way through. D and SM say they know people who were homeschooled and, *because of this*, no college would take them.

Actually, I had no problem with it. I got more interest and curiosity over it than discrimination. Plus, I tested quite well, which is what schools cared about. Job wise, I always had good references and my volunteer work in highschool showed I was used to working. Also, I started teaching piano from home as my first job, so employers and schools both were interested in the initiative and work that took as well as the glowing reviews from my students' parents. The mentality that homeschooling destroys a child's prospects is, quite frankly, very early 90s at the latest. A lot of my family was against my mom homeschooling me and my brother, but we grew up and shut them all up about that with what we've done. We're all glad now Mom did what she did.

I was thinking it might be fun to homeschool Khan (although having a few hours to myself every day might e nice too!), but what do you do when you reach a level you can't teach? For instance, I can't do math beyond basic algebra. Husband works too much to undertake teaching it (he's waaaaay smarter than me).

There are many ways around this, including correspondence, tutoring, and video courses. I actually went on to tutor a lot of homeschooled students with their math when their parents felt like they were in over their heads. Also, some families find that duel-enrollment with a college helps their high school students. This way, they are taught these subjects like higher math by a professional, and earn high school and college credit at the same time. Never tried that myself, though.

Google around for local homeschool groups. My family participated in a local homeschool co-op that met once a week. Parents with a strengths in different subjects would teach a class for all the kids that signed up for it and assign work for the week, then next week, they could help the students with any snags they ran across in their work and repeat the process. My chemistry lab was taught by a mom who majored in chemistry. My algebra was taught by dad who is an engineer at an airforce base.

[Cookie]

EQ, I like the idea of the college textbooks. My family used a hodgepodge of books, even weaving in good historical fiction to give us an idea of the times these events were happening.

Socialization is not a problem unless you're a Bible-belt homeschooler who wants the kids to be sheltered and hidden away from anyone who is *gasp* Different.

That is EXACTLY where I grew up and the kind of people I knew. My family all got over that, though. We were quite well socialized.

[Flying Grype]

...but what do you do when you reach a level you can't teach? For instance, I can't do math beyond basic algebra.

I didn't get basic algebra as a homeschooler. Well, a little bit. Most of the math I learned was from cooking, building, drawing, etc. Practical stuff. That's why I scored lower than post-secondary on my test when I was 19 -- the stuff I was missing was the stuff that you don't just pick up during the course of your life, it was more theoretical.

Some homeschooled kids blaze through a subject and get way ahead of adults -- I knew a kid who was a whiz at math and programming and wanted to take a course at the community college, but he couldn't because he was twelve. But he was already at that level. When I was nineteen and thinking about university I had to step back and go focus on math because there were some things I didn't get. I was 21 when I started university.

I guess the warning is, if you don't mind doing things on a different timescale than the rest of the kids depending on what your kid is good at or where he needs help, then you can homeschool. It'll definitely be different. You'll have a different relationship with your kid, and he'll miss some things he would have done in school and he'll do things his schooled friends would never imagine.

[Magpie]

Regarding parents not knowing the subject - it's not always a problem. When it is an issue is when the student really struggles with it, and in a different way than the parent did. A friend of mine was homeschooled, and never did well in math. Her sister was fine, but this friend really had a hard time when she switched to internet-based courses. I was able to explain some of what she was struggling with, and she picked it up really quickly. It was just that her mom didn't understand it from enough different directions, and there wasn't a teacher for the internet courses. If she'd worked online from a younger age there probably wouldn't have even been a problem.

[RetailWorkhorse]

So, for starters, did you guys homeschool all the way through, or just certain years?

All the way from 4th Grade (ON PAPER. We had to be retaught 3rd, which is why EQ put 3rd grade instead of fourth) to Graduation. I have a GED.

A related question, if I may: for those here who have been homeschooled, has it helped or hurt your college/job prospects?

It hasn't hurt my job prospects none. Only my having an out-of-state-phone number has.

Was accepted at both the art school in Bristol, Virginia and the College in Johnson City, Tennessee. Was unable to attend due to my lacking money (and I couldn't get funding since I couldn't get the past however many years of past tax returns from Parents).

I was homeschooled! From third grade all the way through highschool. Graduated at the Grand Ol' Opera House in Nashville.

Lets see... our umbrella school was Family Christian Academy. Yes, it was a religious school but it was very good. Most of our schooling came from College text books (Mom's idea).

And SHE *Points at EQ* graduated with HONORS. All of our scores were quite high, despite my nearly failing social studies.

...but what do you do when you reach a level you can't teach? For instance, I can't do math beyond basic algebra. Husband works too much to undertake teaching it (he's waaaaay smarter than me).

Dad snuck my Calculus, Algebra, and Physics into my daily hobby-job at the time; Construction. I'm still trying to figure out how he tricked me into learning math.

EQ and I are autodidacts. We essentially taught ourselves most of what know by researching various fields in books and the internet.

[Evil Queen]

Oh, I'm still terrible at math but I was a whiz way back when. I studied astronomy (which is very math heavy) for years. That helped my math a lot because it gave me an instant application for it. These days; basic math and multiplication is all I use.

As for colleges; I've heard Ivy League schools prefer homeschoolers. NMT and UNM both are HomeSchool friendly, quite a few of my friends at NMT were homeschooled as well.

Honestly, I haven't lost much in the way of social interaction. I relearned that once I got a job. When you grow up with no peer pressure you tend to be happier. No bullies, either!