I’m another homeschooled kid, now 24. I was homeschooled from grade 8.5 through high school. My parents knew that they wouldn’t be able to teach me higher maths and sciences, so we just took advantage of the dual enrollment program at the local community college when we needed it. It was great. I got the college-level classes that I needed, and by the time I graduated high (home) school, I was most of the way through an associate’s degree. Transferred almost 60 hours to university, IIRC. I feel that community colleges are a wonderful resource for homeschoolers, especially if the parents aren’t experts in every subject. The teachers are usually delighted to get students that really care about learning, and it gives the student a taste of the work that may be required at a university while giving them fully transferrrable credits.
Of course, the only reason I needed to be homeschooled was because I loved to read and learn. When I realized I wasn’t learning anything at school, I became violently depressed. That love of learning can get you in trouble! It’s also what got me into grad school on a full fellowship. YMMV.
You’re right, j.c.. It is a very unique place. But the high school is the pits.
It’s my opinion that you don’t necessarily have to “love and understand” a subject to teach it effectively. I reckon we disagree.
I was objecting to the “most”.
Don’t worry. He’ll make sure you get a can or two of tuna fish in there somewhere. If his well rounded-ness is the question, he plays the bass guitar, skateboards, plays paintball, etc.
This is in IMHO, isnt’ it? Not GQ? Originally it was posted in the Pit. I think it was intended as a rant about homeschooling producing deviant children.
If you’re interested in reading more discussion of the pros & cons of homeschooling, there have been some excellent SDMB threads on it in the past. I’m at work right now and don’t have time to search for them for you. Sowwy.
I home schooled my son 2 years. First grade and second grade. He just wasn’t ready to go to school. In first grade he always had too much energy and was constantly punished for it, even spanking. That day, I went in and said, “That is enough, he is not coming back.”
We home schooled those two years. We did scholastics in the morning and a project, that used up energy in the afternoo. We raised dairy goats. We milked them, made cheese and other things, mucked out stalls, fixed fences, etc.
It was the best thing that ever happened to him. I put him back in school in 3rd grade. We got a teacher who let students move around the classroom and he was ready for school.
He has an associates degree from the Culinary Institute of America and just finished a bachelors degree in business with straight A’s. I credit homeschooling to prepare him for school and all of the hard work he did, learning to actually work. It carried over his whole life.
It’s also what got me into grad school on a full fellowship. YMMV.