ugacrew

It started becoming a topic in high school when it was that time to attend classes for your driving permit. Notice I only said 'topic of discussion'. I actually started driving at the age of 17 and got my first car at 21. I drove my parents car in the meantime.

kins

Teachers have to be trained to teach their particular subject, but once they're working for a school they can be asked to teach any other subject - and often are. My stepmother is trained to teach geography but has taught RE, history, PSHE, all sorts of subjects.

I was taught Maths A level by a teacher who had neither taken it herself nor done a maths degree. In the end one of the other kids in my class taught us a lot of the stuff we needed to know.

I read quite a few home-education blogs/diaries and they are fascinating. it really does make you question if school is the right choice for a lot of kids. In one blog the woman's 14 year old is about to take French GCSE a year early at a nearby school, he has also lived abroad for six months, they have had a Japanese student live with them, they are the most socialised kids I've ever heard of between sports, scouts, HE groups and other things they get involved with.

I don't really understand why people always compare badly-done HE to well-done schooling. Shouldn't you at least compare like with like?

paddingtongreen

Good, I was about to do the comparing good apples with bad oranges bit.

chicagojlo

I think it's like people comparing the best schools in the UK with the worst schools here - it's not a valid comparison.
By the way I took GCSE French 2 years early and got a C...at a crappy school and with parents who didn't give a monkey's about what I was doing in school.

MargaretMary

That's why I didn't state that this is the sole reason, I used the more moderate language in the phrase "it tends to be the choice of . . ." Chill!

If your public schools are inadequate don't you have a responsibility to fight for them to be improved rather than bailing? If everyone with the resources to pay for private education or home school abandons public schools who will advocate for those left behind? Everyone's life is impacted negatively by the inadequate education of the majority. They are all our children.

neil

Products of homeschooling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussia..._(American_duo)

If you've ever seen the Louis Theroux documentary on them you'll remember.

another bloody yank

Well, that settles it then. Homeschooling produces evil, singing nazis.

neil

Can't deny the evidence.

hobbes79

I know of one girl home schooled. She went on to get a doctorate - smart girl. But she still had odd pockets of knowledge missing. For example, she didn't know Maine was a state. And her spelling was atrocious.

I was taught maths in school by someone with a doctorate in mathematics. Chemstry by someone who used to work for Johnson & Johnson. History by someone with a bachelors in history. French by a French person. With all the will, effort and intelligence in the world, I don't see how a single parent can compete with that.

My 2.

Tracym

I think many of them do feel different. Parent-supervised after-school activities are not the same as day to day, hour to hour interaction with their classmates.

I know some kids who were home schooled for a few years(now young adults). Their mother had an education degree. They went to activities.

Their grades were ok, but they both said they thought it was very harmful to them. It took them years and years to recover socially, they told me. They very much felt like outsiders with other kids.

I think on some occasions home-schooling might work out. But overall, my personal opinion is it is a very bad idea.

kins

Maybe (if we're going to compare good homeschooling with good schooling) the parent would hire a tutor for each subject at the higher levels. It's not unheard of. Just like your situation is not unheard of but extremely unusual...

nethead

I think homeschooling is a viable option and worth considering as a way to educate your child/ren. There are tons of different curriculum options available as well as cyber charter schools.

As Redlippie said if you are part of a co-op or homeschooling group there are lots of social activities children can take part in as well as doing some classes at local area colleges or schools. It seems lack of social interaction is always brought up as an argument against homeschooling which is a redundant argument in a lot of cases.

I don't homeschool my kids but would definitely consider it if our local schools weren't very good, or one of my children had particular problems in the conventional classroom setting. It is a good way of tailoring your child's education to their specific learning style, which I don't think the 'one size fits all' public schools can do.

I wouldn't homeschool my child though if they didn't want to be, we have looked into the PA cyber charter school which has a great curriculum which is customised for each child. However my 12 year old wanted to stay in the school she's in with her friends, but we might consider it again once my son gets to about 3rd grade.

Mallory

Aside from education, school days are really the best days of your life. I would never deprive my kids of that experience. It is the foundation that your life is built on.

The whole 13 years of school is not only for education purposes, but it helps you build character, mix with other people, find out about bullying, cliques and favouritism. You learn to wait your turn, be told what to do, and when to do it. You make friendships, and enjoy the camaraderie.

Nothing like the school of hard knocks. Better than staying home with mummy.

Tracym

I agree entirely.

Ray

I agree ..I ran the best protection racket in the schools history ...