What do you think of homeschooling? What are the advantages and disadvantages to it?

Please be frank.

Who is frank? If I don't know him, how can I be him?


I think homeschooling depends on the circumstances. I have not really researched the matter to be able to give a strong opinion either way.

Homeschooling gives parents more control over the education of their children, including incorporation of religious preferences, discipline, and sources of knowledge. The most ardent criticism is that children miss out on socialization by not attending state-funded schools or parochial schools, but the evidence suggests that most homeschool children grow up to have very healthy social skills. There are so many other ways to gain social skills (church, organized sports, boy and girl scouts, volunteer activities, homeschool co-ops), that this criticism is really quite moot. I think the biggest downside to homeschooling is that some parents may not be very adept at teaching or may not have sufficient time to dedicate to the practice, which will ultimately be detrimental to the intellectual, emotional, and social development of their children.

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When we lived in Monroe county many of the families in the development we lived in home schooled their kids. I thought it was a joke because a lot of these kids did nothing but walk around the development all day or hang around Walmart in the games isle playing the free demo games. How can they get an education when their parents don't even know where their kids are? Up where we live now I don't see any of the neighborhood kids getting home schooling. They all get on on the bus and attend public or private schools. I think the reason there are so many kids so called home schooling in Monroe county is because most of them are from the inner city areas of NY, PA and NJ. Also, most of the home schoolers are from families that rent and don't own their own places. I would bet my last dollar that home schooled kids never finish high school or attend college. JMHO

The original purpose of public education was to build common civic values. That reasoning is still valid.

Uh, actually, a higher percentage of home schooled children than publicly educated children go on to college. Home schoolers have actually won spelling bees, geography bees, and math bees. Oh, and there have been instances where they have even gone on to become the president of the United States.

Good point, but according to that measure, looks like public education has failed us all.

I know a few people that Home School their children and half of them have problems with their kids. One set of parents sent their daughter to a public High School because the Mom had to go to work and the daughter has become a real wild girl. It all depends on the child and the situation they are in. For some it is great and for others it only creates more problems. It also depends on the School system. There is no perfect answer.

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I think home schooling is a great option. I would love to home school my grands. If done by parents with good teaching skills it is like have a private tutor.

Another reason I feel home schooling is not good is because it takes away the socializing skills kids need to develop. It's bad enough that most kids have no social skills because they sit at home after attending school playing those video games. When we were kids we were never in the house. We were always out playing with other kids and our parents usually knew where we were. I think kids need to go back to getting out of the house more often.