Comment by quadrangle | Hacker News Reader

Comment by quadrangle | Hacker News Reader

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As a teacher who has worked with homeschooled children but not been homeschooled myself or been a homeschooling parent, I can assure you that you are grossly misjudging here with very little perspective.

You don't know what you're talking about, you're just speculating.

The kids I worked with went to specialized classes anywhere from 1 to 4 days a week (where I taught them), had a network of active social relationships, participated in local sports clubs, and were also able to avoid some of the pitfalls of traditional schooling. They learned from some of the best teachers around for the subjects their parents didn't feel comfortable with. They were commonly more well-adjusted people than most. They are people you wouldn't guess were homeschooled and they went off to standard (and sometimes elite) colleges. You may know a lot more homeschooled people than you realize.

I also saw some real problem kids where parents were not doing the necessary things to give the kids space, independence, and proper socialization. In my case, that was the exception but obviously I didn't get to see any of the kids who are so isolated that they wouldn't have come to the out-of-home classes where I was a teacher.

To assume that homeschooling means the kids never get out in the world, don't have friends and social interactions and are just cooped up inside just shows you have no understanding of what homeschooling is like (in that it varies widely). Just like all other forms of schooling, it can be done wonderfully and done terribly.

You have no understanding of what the case is for this particular parent.

What you're describing sounds kind of awesome, but it's not "homeschooling." It needs a different term. And you're right, we don't know which OP is considering. But given that money will be tight...probably not the one that involves paying tutors.

And I can assure you, the bad kind you describe is not the exception. What percent it actually represents no one knows, which is a whole other problem. But it's not just a few people here and there.

There are huge networks of people and conferences full of vendors selling parents do-it-all-yourself curricula. In the 90's and early 2000's Bob Jones University (even most evangelical Christians think they're too extreme) found it profitable to sell pre-recorded math and science lessons for high school level homeschoolers. And while I know what valence electrons are (my public school peers probably forgot), I also thought the Earth was 6000 years old into my mid twenties. And like I said, they didn't make and sell all those videos just for me.

It would be great to have more hard data on the current state of homeschooling/home tutoring though...

> What you're describing sounds kind of awesome, but it's not "homeschooling." It needs a different term.

This describes most of the homeschoolers I have ever known, including myself. It's what I think of when I hear the word. Perhaps I had an atypical experience, having grown up in a Boston suburb.

Once anyone starts homeschooling these days, they use the internet etc. and learn about resources, find out there are others around them… I would guess it's actually the tiny minority of homeschoolers who don't know about and have some involvement in these sorts of co-teaching, co-op, special tutor, etc.

Side-note for the original OP if they're reading this: these types of communities are so supportive of one another, there may even do things like fundraise to help the more needy within their communities or otherwise work with you. There's huge benefits from being part of such communities which are typically far stronger and meaningful than any community of parents around a typical school.

Now, that's not to say everything is fine. Some large portion (majority?) of homeschooled kids including most of the ones who went to these largely excellent co-op elective things where I taught are homeschooled in part so their fundamentalist parents can keep them away from ideas that would challenge their religious dogma. So, the kids learn ballroom dancing, computer programming, public speaking, music, and more while being socialized in a largely healthy, supportive place with close friends… and also learn that the Ice Ages were caused by the floods around Noah's Ark a few thousand years ago… and the sort of parents who are those fundamentalists have inherently some other quirks that lead to some awkwardness. Also, the rest of us don't know that these people exist since they were never our classmates in normal schools.

And there's a portion of homeschool parents who are just great in every regard and homeschool because they can afford it and realize that the combination of what they can do plus all community resources results in a top-notch education. So, those kids took classes with me at the same places and skipped the insane anti-science classes that were also taught there and instead taught their kids real science either on their own or through different outlets.

In short, it's complex. But everyone who experiences these not-all-that-home-schooled contexts realizes that it's pretty good and that leads to more people doing it. So, in the end, I suspect that's the majority of homeschoolers these days. It's probably super rare to be homeschooled and literally just be at home and never connect to these other home-school resources right around you.

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