# Tell Me About Homeschooling **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 31, 2023, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366 "2023-10-31T13:37:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/21 "2023-10-31T18:01:28Z")
In one of our prior homeschooling threads I shared my experience, both as someone who was very nearly homeschooled and the one group (two siblings) of previously home-schooled kids I associated with, so I’ll just copy/paste: > [@Do any politically liberal parents homeschool their children?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-politically-liberal-parents-homeschool-their-children/965248/15): > > I came within about an inch, inch and a half of being home-schooled. When I was nearing elementary age, my parents moved from MASS to southern NM. They were NOT happy with the level of public education, and there was only one private school, which was Catholic based, which did not please my Jewish parents. > > My parents have Masters Degrees and being (at the time) active University professors, it would not have been much of an effort, but a large investment of time for them to home school me. (and they are/were pretty damn liberal, although they have their individual quirks). During the 6 months or so prior to a decision needing to be made, some of their local friends convinced them that while the general education was indeed subpar by their standards, the Honors and Advanced options generally made up for it. > > So various gifted programs and other socializing reasons kept me from getting homeschooled, and by the time I was in 2nd grade there was plenty of assistance from the school system to allow for a wider range of options. With more formal ‘gifted’ options kicking in around 5th/6th grade. > > In high school (9-12), I knew a pair of homeschooled children who were probably from a household more Libertarian than liberal (and this is before Libertarian was fully co-opted by the conservatives) who would today probably be very socially liberal, but very small government/fiscal conservative moderates. > > The parents in this case had a similar lack of faith in the local schools, and had the resources to do SAH parenting. The students were brilliant, especially in Math and other ‘hard’ subjects, but struggled with softer subjects and debate/argumentative instruction (My AP History classes roxxored). The parents had felt they needed to have some socialization and that HS was safe enough with the AP program, but they both struggled in adapting to a much less structured system from their POV. > > The young lady of the pair also had issues with dealing with sexuality and romance/advances, but I believe that had a lot more to do with social isolation and the default assumptions of mid/late 80s open-but-shameful sexuality for teens rather than the politics of their parents. Addition from a later post about the young lady. > [@Do any politically liberal parents homeschool their children?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-politically-liberal-parents-homeschool-their-children/965248/18): > > > [@Do any politically liberal parents homeschool their children?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-any-politically-liberal-parents-homeschool-their-children/965248/16): > > > > Parallellines, by what do you mean by “issues”? Did she not pick up cues and ended up with the wrong boys, or nobody at all, or was she promiscuous? I’m curious. > > To be honest, all of the above, although, not at the same time of course. I guess trying to be chivalrous from a near-stranger from 30 years ago is unneeded though. > > At first, she was very standoffish with everyone, but especially boys. Since she was attractive, she drew a lot of attention, but didn’t seem to know what to do with it. A few months later, she ended bouncing back and forth between several of the more aggressive and confident guys (who were pushy) but (the guys) had a very bad reputation in the school. And that did not make her popular with many of the girls. > > By the end of the year, she was a lot more confident, and a lot more worldly, and seemed to have embraced the 80s “slutty is cool” ethos that was big on MTV and the like. Apparently (from her brother, who I was closer with as a fellow nerdy, book carrying semi-outcast) she was in a state of constant tension with her folks, who wanted her to be ‘free’ but also not to ruin her chances at a good school and future. > > And for all my concerns, she stayed in the top 5% of the school the whole time, so for all I know it was a part of a surface rebellion. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/22 "2023-10-31T18:05:06Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > what quality or resource you think “most parents” are lacking Most **humans** do not have the breadth of knowledge required to effectively teach every single subject, especially past elementary school. Effective teaching is also a gestalt of learned skills and emotional intelligences that you don’t inherit when you become a parent. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/23 "2023-10-31T18:07:13Z")
I homeschooled my daughter for a while, through third grade. So I can speak about my own experience at least. In my county, and possibly the whole state of California, home schooling is an option within the context of the public school system. A school district assigns a homeschooling coordinator who works with all the families both individually and together. In my county, if a district didn’t have a coordinator you could ‘move’ to a district that did. The coordinator for our district came out of a Waldorf School set of beliefs (which, in my opinion, work very well for the lower grades, but then you get into real problems in various directions – subject of a different thread) which meant that she encouraged such things as nature studies, arts and crafts, etc. Each student kept a journal or multiple journals in their various subjects, and some basic things like spelling and math were required, although your choice of how to teach them was your own. There were hippie families, conservative Christian families, and university professionals much like us. Everyone seemed to get along okay. Everyone went on the field trips together, and most kids would show up at least some of the time for the weekly drop in sessions where games were played, kids had show and tell, and stuff like that. One quite nice thing was that there was no segregation as to age or gender, all the kids played with each other. We stopped doing it because my daughter was having problems learning from me. We had no idea she had ADHD – girls present very differently from boys and at that time girls with it almost never got a diagnosis. Plus she was far brighter than average and enormously creative, and those attributes masked her symptoms too. However, my experience was quite positive, and the slight structure and oversight of the public school system (and of course they got the head count money) was in my case, a big plus. She’s now a marriage and family therapist. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/24 "2023-10-31T18:07:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And who is determining what they need to know? > The parents. Just like parents determine: 1. What a child eats 2. What a child wears 3. When a child sleeps 4. How much screen time a child can have 5. Whether a child goes to church 6. Whether a child spends time outdoors 7. Where a child lives 8. Nearly everything else about a child’s life It would actually we weird if education were excluded from that list. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/25 "2023-10-31T18:07:54Z")
I _will_ say this-At least “There is too much liberal/heathen claptrap going on in school, so I am going to teach them myself!” is better than “There is too much liberal/heathen claptrap going on in school, so lets take over the school boards and/or get laws passed that “protects” _all_ children from it!” ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/26 "2023-10-31T18:07:57Z")
Mid-dau homeschooled her very rambunctious boys throughout COVID crisis and kept on because of the distance the school is from here. They are now in public school. It was a BIG adjustment. They got their lessons done quickly here at home. Homework was not a thing. Bedtime was adjustable. As far as academic progress they were above the grade levels when they started public school. And may yet be a little bored with the classroom work. The homework is a joke. And a pita to enforce on them. How many addition/subtraction worksheets are necessary for a second grader to do to become proficient at it? I swear we counted 17 one week. I know they were repeats. I still think they’ll be better off in public school, for now. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/27 "2023-10-31T18:10:17Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > I’m not really sure what you mean by that. Do you mean that there’s more to education than academics? Certainly that’s true, but I was making assumptions about what you meant when you said As far as resources to walk a parent through any academic subject they struggle with - I’m not sure exactly what you mean by that but I have to assume you are talking about the parent staying “one chapter ahead” of the child? Which probably works for a parent trying to refresh their memory of a subject they learned previously - but if it’s a subject the parent never mastered, it probably gives the same educational experience as I had in college with a professor whose lectures paraphrased the textbook. Or at least the two I attended did. No info that wasn’t in the book, no discussion. It was like having the book read to us. I went to those two classes , took the midterm and the final and got an A. Would have learned exactly as much just buying the book - and that’s what’s going to happen if I try to homeschool a kid in high school physics. I understand some homeschoolers try to eliminate this problem by having parents teach the subjects they know best to a small group of kids so that maybe 5 parents are teaching 10 kids - but I’m not clear on how exactly that’s different from a tiny school. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/28 "2023-10-31T18:11:42Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > but I’m not clear on how exactly that’s different from a tiny school. No gubmint oversight forcing your kids to hear about things like evolution or whatever else you dislike. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/29 "2023-10-31T18:13:23Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Most **humans** do not have the breadth of knowledge required to effectively teach every single subject, especially past elementary school. Like I said, that’s demonstrably not true. > [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Effective teaching is also a gestalt of learned skills and emotional intelligences that you don’t inherit when you become a parent. That’s pretty vague. Paying somebody to be a teacher doesn’t make them magically better at the job. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/30 "2023-10-31T18:16:39Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I understand some homeschoolers try to eliminate this problem by having parents teach the subjects they know best to a small group of kids so that maybe 5 parents are teaching 10 kids - but I’m not clear on how exactly that’s different from a tiny school. That is one way. But that’s usually just 1-2 days a week for specific subjects. There are full curriculums you can purchase. They might have video lectures, online coursework, answer keys, etc. That’s more like “remote school” than “parent taught” at that point though, so there are all kinds of options short of that. Subject-specific curriculums, co-ops, extracurriculars through the local school, etc. Also, no shortage of experienced parents ready to share their wisdom. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/31 "2023-10-31T18:17:28Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > Paying somebody to be a teacher doesn’t make them magically better at the job. Cool. It’s pretty clear you have a fundamental lack of respect for educators, which means you’re unlikely to believe anything I have to say. No point beating my head against a wall. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/32 "2023-10-31T18:20:48Z")
> [@tofor](#): > > Like I said, that’s demonstrably not true. Then demonstrate it…and giving examples of households with both parents having degrees and the time to stay home to homeschool does not show us that most households just aren’t like that. > [@tofor](#): > > Paying somebody to be a teacher doesn’t make them magically better at the job. It isn’t magic, it is common sense. Teachers aren’t just taught about the subject matter. They are also taught _how_ to teach. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/33 "2023-10-31T18:26:56Z")
I think the truth is usually that parents of limited education tend to produce children of limited education. Just like in public school. Both nature and nurture are in play here There’s a reason that stories about people who overcame their upbringing and became rocket scientists are so compelling: they’re rare. The best guarantee of a good education, whether private, homeschooled, or public, is parents who have a good education. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/34 "2023-10-31T18:27:50Z")
I will say that my sister is extremely progressive and one of the reasons she homeschooled my niece is because they thought the local school district was too conservative. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/35 "2023-10-31T18:29:54Z")
That’s true. In all the cases I know where homeschooling was successful, the parents are highly educated. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/36 "2023-10-31T18:34:42Z")
Income plays a part, too. If the parent/parents cannot afford a quality homeschool program, the child suffers. There is also the problem of parents not knowing _how_ to teach which, as I mentioned before, is something most public school teachers have to learn before they ever see the inside a classroom. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/37 "2023-10-31T18:49:18Z")
I was private schooled, but played piano and was involved with several formal music competitions, camps, and other activities. Within our group were several homeschooled children who also played various instruments, and we were often carpooled with one of the parents in a station wagon or van. To pass the time, the kids in the back would play games like 20 questions, generally guessing either a historical figure or an animal with yes or no questions. The homeschooled kids did fine with historical figures, but I found it endlessly frustrating when they would choose an animal – inevitably they would not know the difference between vertebrate and invertebrate, or reptile and amphibian, or other very basic zoological distinctions, that made it impossible to correctly guess their creature. My 12-year-old self could hardly believe kids my own age didn’t know these very basic scientific distinctions. Just an anecdote, but I get the impression that many homeschool families do so because they are opposed to many of the basics of science, most commonly evolution. And that’s just terribly sad for these kids. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/38 "2023-10-31T18:58:03Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Just an anecdote, but I get the impression that many homeschool families do so because they are opposed to many of the basics of science, most commonly evolution. And that’s just terribly sad for these kids. And this is part of the problem. The OP acknowledges this, in that the _reasons_ for homeschooling are so incredibly varied that it’s hard to judge except on a case by case basis. Thus the prior thread I quoted, which was a response to a generalization that home-schooling often seemed to be a big issue with Religious/Conservative groups. Which, well, yeah, there are plenty of groups who do that, and for the exact reasons @iiandyiiii mentions. But there’s plenty (in this thread, in the other thread, and out there in the wild) who do it for other reasons. So lots of “many,” “most,” “some,” but certainly a metric ton of fudge factor. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/39 "2023-10-31T19:04:18Z")
As a child of two elementary school teachers (both private and public), a product of both private and public schools, and someone who currently works for a public school, I just want to say that one of the things I resent about this debate over homeschooling vs traditional schooling is the level of disrespect for dedicated educators that devote their entire lives to helping children and families that are not their own. This idea that anyone can be a good teacher by just using the internet is incredibly offensive. I’m sure some parents do a great job homeschooling, but no, not anyone can just be a good teacher by using Google. As was just mentioned, we have a lot of broad brushing all over this topic, so I’m not trying to add more of that, but _some_ of the homeschooling advocates I’ve heard from tend to have this sort of smugness or arrogance about the subject just because their kids seem to be doing well in their circumstances. That does not make one an expert on all areas of education. Nor does it make homeschooling the best choice for every family or student. It is wonderful to be happy with ones choices, it is less so to be condescending about everyone else’s choices. ---
**Author:** ![tofor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tofor/32/13727_2.png) [@tofor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366/40 "2023-10-31T19:10:04Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > Nor does it make homeschooling the best choice for every family or student. It is wonderful to be happy with ones choices, it is less so to be condescending about everyone else’s choices. I have never, ever, met anybody who said, “All parents in all circumstances should homeschool”. Many students move from homeschooling to classroom learning and back. It’s not at all unusual for one child to be in a school and another child to be home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-homeschooling/992366.md?page=3)