to Home school or not?

[Nightwing]

This is interesting, I wonder what the performance level is of home schooled kids when they become adults? I would think, because they can take breaks at any time, they may have a harder time sticking with long tasks or meetings. I think there is a great deal of socialising they miss out on as well.
Also I don't think I could teach my kids without loosing my mind.


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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- It's nearly noon, and 11-year-old student Elisheva Ben-Avraham is just now thinking about breakfast. She's curled up on her family's velvety brown sofa flipping through a book of math problems when the mood strikes. She pulls her bare feet out from underneath her, pads to the kitchen and comes back, pancakes in hand, to her workbook.

This is hardly the classroom familiar to most American students. There's no chalkboard, no bathroom pass, no ringing bell to signal the beginning and end of the lesson. This is home school, and if Elisheva is hungry, well, she doesn't have to wait for the lunch hour.

"At regular school you have to sit at a desk all day," she says. "You can't even put your feet up. I didn't like that at all."

Elisheva and her brother, Noam, 13, are entering their third year of home school at what their mother affectionately calls the "Comfy Couch Academy." The "classroom" is an amiably cluttered living room whose corners are stacked high with books, movies, craft supplies and musical instruments.

Noam and Elisheva's mother, Linda Levine, says she pulled her children out of public school because she felt the school wasn't addressing their needs.

"With 30 students in one room, the teacher doesn't have time for each kid," she says.

Noam and Elisheva, though bright, capable students, have learning disabilities that demand attention their busy teachers were not able to provide, Levine says.

Now, at their Georgia home, their mother says she can tailor their schedules and assignments to their needs at a pace appropriate to their learning styles.

Their school consists of a few key subjects -- whatever is interesting or pressing at the moment (for Noam, a math whiz with an approaching bar mitzvah, that means math and Hebrew) -- a set of assignments from their mother and an abundance of free time.

"[For] most people, there's a certain amount of time you do for school," Noam says. "For us, it's just a certain amount of work."

Time is one of the key differences between traditional school and home school, says Laura Derrick, president of the National Home Education Network, a web of support groups for home schooling parents and students.

Derrick points out that without the administrative necessities of traditional school -- dealing with things like attendance rolls, discipline, doctor's notes and permission slips -- educating takes less time.

"These families spend often just a few hours [a day], sometimes as little as one hour with very small children. And the rest of their time is left for them to enrich their lives," Derrick says.

Noam and Elisheva spend that extra time playing with friends (both home- and traditional-schooled), reading with their mother, and taking classes offered through their local home school support group. Noam recently finished a course in rocket science; Elisheva took jazz dance.

An increasingly popular choice
About 1 to 2 million school-age children -- who make up 2 to 4 percent of the school-age population in the United States -- were home-schooled during the 2002-2003 school year, according to statistics collected by the National Home Education Research Institute. That's a big jump from the 850,000 home-schooled children in a 1999 Census report.


Noam plays a song he wrote for piano. Music is a big part of home schooling in his family; mother Linda Levine is a trained music teacher.
Yet the statistics on home-schoolers can be tricky. They are not as easy to collect as public school rolls because not all home-schoolers will respond, some researchers say.

But anecdotal evidence also suggests that the home school population is growing, and quickly. Levine says her e-mail support group has nearly doubled in the past month.

Derrick attributes the growth to a number of factors, including what she says is a growing dissatisfaction with public schools and recent outbreaks of school violence, but her favored explanation is that the home school population has reached a tipping point.

"When people can identify something or see it for themselves, they're much more likely to see that as one of their options," she says.

Derrick's own home school support group in Austin, Texas, numbers more than 60,000.

Facing criticism
Many home schooling families belong to support groups that offer to help sort through legal and legislative issues (home schooling is legal in all 50 states, but laws about teacher certification and administrative responsibilities differ from state to state) and provide social opportunities for members. The groups also provide support for those who face resistance from families and friends who disapprove of home schooling.

The National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union, has long lobbied against home schooling, passing a yearly resolution that says "home schooling programs cannot provide the student with a comprehensive education experience."


During the school day, Elisheva can still cuddle with Stormy, her pet chinchilla.
Critics often charge that home-schooled kids miss out on important social aspects of schooling, such as learning to deal with other people, making friends and communicating.

"Unless we are prepared to keep our children in bubbles their entire lives, we have to give them an opportunity to have some exposure to real-world problems so they can develop coping strategies," says Ted Feinberg, assistant executive director of the National Association of School Psychologists.

Feinberg argues that as cultural understanding becomes more valued, social interaction and exposure to different people and ways of viewing the world are necessary components of education.

"It's one thing to read about it," he says. "Much of what we learn in life is a matter of interaction. I just wonder how that takes place in a home school environment."

The most commonly cited studies of home-schoolers have found the majority of the population to be a homogenous group of white, middle class Christian families, though some recent research has suggested that the growth of home schooling may be attracting a more diverse group.

By the numbers
When it comes to the standard measures of school achievement, some studies show that home-schooled students outdo their counterparts in traditional schools. In 2000, the average SAT score for a home-schooler was 1100, compared with 1019 for the traditional student.

And 35 of the 265 finalists in the 2004 Scripps National Spelling Bee were home-schoolers. That translates to about 13 percent of finalists, though even the most generous estimates put those taught at home at 4 percent of the school-age population.

Noam and Elisheva have yet to take any standardized tests as home-schoolers -- Georgia requires that home-schoolers be tested every three years -- but their mother is not worried.

"Testing is not everything, and my kids are very good at math," she says.

Neither is she worried about another common criticism of the home school approach: the difficulty of keeping up with the increasingly tough subject matter as her children get older. When Noam gets ready to take calculus or Elisheva wants to tackle chemistry, Levine says she will learn along with her students.

"If you know how to learn," she says, "and you know your kids, you know how to teach your kids."

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

From an educational standpoint, I'm more or less neutral.

But the most valuable lessons in your teen years are learned in high school. Outside the classrooms. I know homeschooled kids... they missed out on a *lot*.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

The lack of social interaction is the biggest (and most legitimate) concern I can see with home-schooling. But my current co-worker is a 17 yr girl that has been home-schooled (along with ALL of her siblings) and she certainly doesn't seem to be missing out on any social interaction. She still has lots of friends that she hangs out with. She goes to parties with the other teenagers and I often find myself forgetting that she IS homeschooled because her daily activities and interactions with her friends seem so normal. Keep in mind that cell phones and Instant Messaging help close the "socializing gap" a great deal in this day and age.

I also know two other ladies that homeschool their kids. One is my first cousin and the other is a former highschool classmate. When the second girl came up from Florida for our High School Reunion, she brought her two boys with her. After the Reunion, they visited some historic sights that were within short driving distance and counted the trip towards their school credit as a Field Trip.

I know that my coworker receives her coursework on video from an accredited school, so the argument about lesser academic learning is moot (and statistics even suggest it is wrong altogether). I think there IS an argument about the lack of social interaction. Hanging out with friends is a lot different than having to put up with all the different personalities you have to deal with in school. Some are good, some are bad, but all of them can teach us how to adjust our social interactions and react in appropriate ways. And I do feel this is one area that homeschooled children are somewhat "shielded" from.

[Nightwing]

Would this also create an elitist attitude by the home schooled kids. In all the reports i've read one of the reasons the parents are doing this is because they feel their kid is better than the education they were getting from school. I know parents, and I'm sure they are letting their kids know the difference.

[pritchke]

Having fully gone through the school system I would have to say there are merits to home schooling.

Often times the teacher answers questions and assigns answers and you do work in your classes on your own. Bright kids will have this work completed in about 10 minutes, and will; be twiddling there thumbs. I also found school to be very disrupting especially if the teacher left the room. Thus most of my work and studying was done at home in the evening. If I was home schooled this would not have been a problem as I could do my work and have extra time for play after. Many kids don't get all they can as a result of this because parents feel they are putting in 100% during classroom that there is no need for work after school and they can go out and play this is false as many only put in 30% to 40% in school with all the distractions as a result there ends up being alot of 50's to 70's scored on test on subjects that are relatively easy. With the internet home schooling is becoming more of a reality.

The only downside is group projects, and team work. They will most likely still get socialization through play but may lack team building skills, and leadership skills. These can be overcome if there are several home schooled kids in the same area. Parents could organize field trips, and group projects they need to complete on certain subjects. In some science courses there is also the missing element of the lab, as materials to do labs and much learning and questions are done in the labs. I don't know how many home schooled kids who have dissected a frog.

There are definiatly pros and cons to each, but with newer and newer technoligies, and ways to do things the home education seems to be the way things are going in the future.

Oh yah, I almost forgot, the other thing about home schooling is the conservatives will have to come up with another excuse when there kids come home with a piercing, tatoo, or some point of view that they consider to liberal for there taste. They can no longer blame it on those liberal teachers.

[ 08-23-2004, 12:46 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[John D Harris]

Originally posted by Illumina Drathiran'ar: From an educational standpoint, I'm more or less neutral. But the most valuable lessons in your teen years are learned in high school. Outside the classrooms. I know homeschooled kids... they missed out on a *lot*.

The most valuable leasons learned for life are in Kindigarden(sp?) in the sandbox you learn how to deal with others, and let's not forget the most valuable leason ever "a nap and milk & cookies" in way underrated

[Timber Loftis]

I was originally VERY against home schooling.

Now, I know a fair amount of home school kids. My 3 little cousins are doing fine with it -- one of them moved into a private small-classroom middle school recently.

Every home school kid I've met actually excels. My 14-yr-old cousing won a music competition based on her original composition (the other competitors played traditional classical music). I went to law school with a kid who'd been home-schooled, and neither he nor his brother (who graduated MIT) seemed any worse off for it.

For me, I would doubt my ability to teach a kid past a certain point. If they were doing the kind of math I was in high school (up to calculus), I would certainly feel unequipped to instruct them without a LOT of brushing up. At some age, I'd want them to get more competent instruction.

As for social education, your kids can get that in the neighborhood and at church or other functions. So long as they get some social exposure, they'll be fine.

[ 08-23-2004, 12:44 PM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by pritchke: There are definiatly pros and cons to each, but with newer and newer technoligies, and ways to do things the home education seems to be the way things are going in the future. Oh yah, I almost forgot, the other thing about home schooling is the conservatives will have to come up with another excuse when there kids come home with a piercing, tatoo, or some point of view that they consider to liberal for there taste. They can no longer blame it on those liberal teachers.

LOLOLOLOL!!! [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] That was hilarious, Pritchke. Thanks for the chuckle.

You also had several good points regarding the pro's and con's of homeschooling vs traditional schools. Good job all the way around. [img]graemlins/awesomework.gif[/img]

[Oblivion437]

Originally posted by John D Harris: The most valuable leasons learned for life are in Kindigarden(sp?) in the sandbox you learn how to deal with others, and let's not forget the most valuable leason ever "a nap and milk & cookies" in way underrated

I never napped, and I got me no milk and no cookies. I just sat, and got pissed at my damn hippy Liberal teacher for wanting me to sleep. Then again, I was the only one who ever paid attention to what anyone was saying.

Personally, aside the potentiality for social problems later in life, it seems to me that in many ways Homeschooling is far superior to public school. It's better for the same reasons that a single hamburger cooked on a grill tastes better than a mass-produced one down at the burger joint. A parent knows their kid better than some stranger, and can adjust everything, down to the last detail, on full knowledge of what the child can or cannot handle and what would be best for building their education...

[Nightwing]

I know when my kids went to grade school the teacher was god to them. If we said something contrary from the teacher our kids wouldn't believe it. Some teachers do abuse this authority but my kids were always motivated to learn. I have one left in high school now and he stills has tramendous respect for his teachers.

It has to be hard to teach your own child without a lot of butting heads I would think. My kids are very strong willed. Stats do show it works however. Never knowing anyone who homeschooled their kids, I wonder how many hired tutors. The article states most are "white middle class christian families" and could probably hire tutors without a problem.