As a former homeschooler and now as professional educator, I understand. Been there, done that. My big gripe was people who would look at me wide-eyed and say "what about socialization?"

Finally I got fed up and prepared a speech:
"Most of the 'socialization' that goes on in school is negative--bullying and cliques. In the 'real world' people are not sorted according to age in groups of 20-30, so traditional school socialization is not preparing them for work-place dynamics. Homeschooling teaches children how to function and learn within a family setting. They will be part of a family for the rest of their lives. Homeschooling allows more time for socialization with friends because there is no homework. The kids are involved in church, scouts and 4H activities in addition to the home-school support group. Besides, in a family of 10, what they are craving is not socialization, but privacy."

That finally shut up the nay-sayers

In a reality where public school seniors are told they are doing well if they can read at a 9th grade level and do math at a 7th, I think any public school educator who even thinks of challenging the validity of a home school eduation is just being a total boor.

Public school systems are against home schooling for one reason and one reason alone... they hate the competition. They hate that there is a choice other than locking our kids up as their personal play dough.

I live in an area that has a great school system. The teachers are paid well, have great benefit packages (yet constantly complain about how it isn't enough). They have so much money they have to invent ways to spend it all (yet the books are tattered and out dated); I mean, the school districts here have their own tax levy authority!!

Yet... When you talk to teachers or administrators about the short comings in the system, they will drown you in the high standardized test scores, the low truancy rates, the high graduation rates.... all sorts of things....

However, when I ask them questions like, "how many graduates of the Sheboygan County Puplic Schools are in sub 101 classes in college? How do your alumni do in college math, science and classes specific to their major?"

What I get from those questions are blank stares and "well, we don't track that"...

Hmmm, so what they are telling me is, they only care about stastics and numbers and don't give a rats behind about how well they are truly educating students.

To me, if a dish looks wonderful, smells great, and makes my mouth water just looking at it... if it tastes like mud when it reaches my mouth, it is probably just nice looking and smelling mud.

I have seen homeschooling shine, and I've seen it fail miserably, however, whether it was great or terrible for the child, it wasn't the institution of homeschooling that made the difference... it was the parents doing it.

Been there, done that. My big gripe was people who would look at me wide-eyed and say "what about socialization?"

My anwer to that is, "what socialization... anytime we got too social in class we were told to be quiet" ;~D

"Most of the 'socialization' that goes on in school is negative--bullying and cliques. In the 'real world' people are not sorted according to age in groups of 20-30, so traditional school socialization is not preparing them for work-place dynamics. Homeschooling teaches children how to function and learn within a family setting. They will be part of a family for the rest of their lives. Homeschooling allows more time for socialization with friends because there is no homework. The kids are involved in church, scouts and 4H activities in addition to the home-school support group. Besides, in a family of 10, what they are craving is not socialization, but privacy."

Ms. Mitchell,

I've gone through a number of responses on this one. Finally I settled on the following answer:

"If you're a part of an active homeschooling group, as I ALWAYS advocate, you quickly find the problem isn't about getting ENOUGH socialization. It's about getting TOO MUCH. So many great opportunities, so many activities that you have to be able to get good at saying "NO" to some activities so that you actually have time to stay home and educate".

That one works well with "professional" teachers.

I have seen homeschooling shine, and I've seen it fail miserably, however, whether it was great or terrible for the child, it wasn't the institution of homeschooling that made the difference... it was the parents doing it.

Another one of my comments to this issue is, "If you're homeschooling solely for academic excellence, stop. You need to be committed to the homeschooling philosophy, and that takes more than just a gut reaction to the local school system. The difference between success and failure in ANY academic setting is parental involvement"

(I'm actually working on a book on the subject, and both of the above comments will definitely be a part of it).

I was appalled when I homeschooled my son.  Appalled that they actually learned so little in a day!  By the end of the year we home schooled my son, he was a grade ahead of his School mates!

It is not easy, but if you can do it, the children are much better off for it.

When I see a school system that cares about education instead of perpetuating ignorance, I'll rethink my stance on homeschooling.

How do homeschooling groups control for bad teachers? If the traditional school system has a virtue, it's that particularly bad teachers don't tend to last (at least where I went to school anyway). Do homeschooling groups recommend sending kids to a public or private school if they see that the parents aren't up to the job?

How do homeschooling groups control for bad teachers? If the traditional school system has a virtue, it's that particularly bad teachers don't tend to last (at least where I went to school anyway).

BS. If a teacher is tenured, no amount of incompetence or laziness will get them fired... and the worse part is, all too often the other teachers will lie through their teeth to defend the incompetent tenured teacher.

BS. If a teacher is tenured, no amount of incompetence or laziness will get them fired... and the worse part is, all too often the other teachers will lie through their teeth to defend the incompetent tenured teacher.

Really? Teachers didn't get tenure where I went to school. They either met the targets set or got their walking papers. But at least in a school the teachers change every class, so incompetence across the board is unlikely. How do the orgs manage for this when a single parent teaches everything?

They either met the targets set or got their walking papers. But at least in a school the teachers change every class, so incompetence across the board is unlikely.

Devil's advocate alert. be warned these are not my opinions. I am merely mimicking what I have heard from professional educators...

But what about the pressure? How could teachers be expected to "perform" like trained monkeys in order to reach federally mandated levels of education for each student? Teachers are not trained monkeys! DANCE, MONKEY! DANCE!

Is that not an accurate reflection of the other side of this argument?

Is that not an accurate reflection of the other side of this argument?

Sure. But it's really just an illustration of what the school system has in place to deal with poor teachers. It may not work, but it exists. What I'm interested in knowing is if there's something similar working in homeschooling groups. Do homeschoolers have to sit the same exams as school students to gauge progress? Are good parents who are poor teachers dissuaded from homeschooling?

"BS. If a teacher is tenured, no amount of incompetence or laziness will get them fired... and the worse part is, all too often the other teachers will lie through their teeth to defend the incompetent tenured teacher."

First off, this is wrong.

No school, district, or colleague wants an incompetant person teaching their children. More now than ever, are districts pressured for academic success. Teachers are evaluated Constantly and thoroughly (often by more than one person) throughout the school year. If they arent meeting the districts requirements, they get canned. Sure, some teachers might not want Joe Schmoe to leave, but for the majority...if he is not doing his job, they will want him to be gone. Last thing I want is to be a 4th grade teacher, knowing that a 3rd grade instructor is not successfully doing their job. More and more districts are now requiring you be compliant with NCLB as well before you even get a job there.

As far as schools perpetuating ignorance...lol, wow. We work with what we get. Its utterly amazing how many people who put their students into a public education system actually wash their hands of their childs education, leaving it solely up to the teachers in the classroom; and that when something goes wrong, it is Always the teachers fault.

Cactoblasta has a good question in that....as far as I know, there aren't that many requirements for parents to be homeschoolers. Along with that, I know of no evaluation that evaluates the parents; outside of the very tests that are administered which judge the regular professional educators success.

The students are required to take some mandatory state tests that the regular mainstream students take as well. They might be required to go to the school itself in order to take it.

"The difference between success and failure in ANY academic setting is parental involvement"
Im on the side with homeschooling. I, as a teacher, favor schools (obviously), but this is a very good statement. Parental involvment determines success OR failure at ANY academic setting, school, homeschool...otherwise.

I think one of the reasons homeschooling works is because the parents are personally responsible for the development of their child; meaning, since they are now doing the teaching, they are held at a higher level than before because their own childs success or failure is a direct reflection on themselves. The parents are MUCH more involved in a homeschool setting and that is why I think that for some students, homechooling is a good option.

Ziggy, I have had kids in public schools in 5 states, plus remember public school myself quite well.

I can respect your experience and I'm willing to read anything you have to say on the subject, but don't sit there and tell me that my experiences never happened. I have had teachers in all of those states rave on about other teachers when they themselves knew the teachers were incompetent.

I have met with teachers who resented anything us lowly "parents" had to say... I have been told point blank that since I don't have a degree, I am not qualified to decide what is best for my kids' education.

My son absolutely loves math, his Freshman year he had a math teacher who was supposed to be among the best in the high school. She explained things, and required the kids to show their work in such a convoluted way that by the end of the semester, my son (and most his class) hated even the thought of looking at another math problem. When we brought the problem up to the administration, they treated us like idiots for even thinking that of such a fine teacher.


I have friends who are college math professors who can tell you what local area schools the kids come from, simply by looking at how prepared they are for college level math. When they have gone to the math departments to see what could be done about it, they were regaled with the wonderful awards their math departments receive time and time again... Apparenly awards are more important than preparing students for college level math.

Sorry, Ziggy, but my experience is that the only way a tenured teacher can be fired is for molesting a child.

In my own student years, we had a "teacher" who constantly won awards for his "ability" to teach. This total waste of a taxpayer money walked out of a bookroom he made into an office... gave us all a hand out to work on that period then promptly went back into the "office".

If we had any questions, we had to knock on the door and talk to him through his rolled eyes and "are you done yet" sighs.

On the other hand, we had a non tenured teacher who was such a great teacher I STILL can pass a basic economics test, based on his class alone.

Guess who was fired when cuts came?

You guessed it... the waste of taxpayer money.

I said it before and I'll say it again. There is no profession more worthy of our admiration and respect than a good teacher.... I just wish more in the profession were worthy of that admiration and respect.

Sorry for going off, Gideon, I realize that your intent with this article wasn't to trash the Puplic Schools in our nation.