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Homeschooling Opinion


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I don't doubt that you had some control over the situation, but it is also not safe to assume that public school parents have "no control" or an unacceptable level of control.

Why does it have to be this or that is best? Everyone should do what they think is best for their child. Why does everyone else need to validate their choices?

Are you somehow suggesting that the three bulliers you've experienced in homeschooling situations are bulliers or "psychos" because they have at some point attended school? And you know what, when my kids were 15 years old, they were sophomores in high school, which was perfectly appropriate for them. If your kid is doing something different, then great! Why the defensiveness?

I would say that usually these kids are the way they are, regardless of homeschool or public school, but the parents will often sell you a sob story about how Susie was so misunderstood by the teacher, the schools and the county, so she had to be pulled. Meanwhile, misunderstood Susie is around the corner beating the crud out of some kid in her new homeschool group. Homeschooling families see this all the time, I was sympathizing with ClibbyJo because I have seen this too.

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When a new poster(8 posts I believe) comes in here throwing punches that homeschoolers suck I am not going to let that slide. They are only seeing that fail side of homeschooling and I have to let it be shown WE are not like them.

I am feeling a bit Bullied myself right now. :?

And i know families who homeschool, both to the positive and negitive results. To each their own. I was making the point that is it not right for ME and it seems that there are alot of people who suddenly jumped on me for my opinion when i wasnt trying to bash anyone. I wanted to continue a thread of conversation from another one that i was interested in hearing others opinions of.

And just because i only have 8 posts or whatever.. we all start somewhere.

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I was not homeschooled. I know three families that homeschooled. Two of the families were secular homeschoolers and one family was a fundie lite family. The fundie lite family did make daily Bible study apart of their curriculum and they also didn't teach evolution. The fundie lite family focused a lot on developing life and social skills with their sons. They had their sons play in youth sports leagues for several years because they wanted to interact with different kids and they also wanted their boys to know how to take guidance from other adults. One of the boys dealt with bullying when he in was soccer. Bullying happens outside of school in other venues. The boys also took music lessons from a couple of music teachers.

The two secular homeschooling families did some of the same things with their kids. One of the families was a bit wealthy and their daughters attended expensive dance academies and they probably had conflicts in dance classes/groups and they likely learned to deal with them. In all three families, they emphasized job skills and work ethic. The mom in the fundie lite family did accounting work for a few local businesses and she had her sons help her at times and she often got them jobs at the places she did work for. In the other two families, the kids also had jobs as teenagers.

Controlling and sheltered homeschooling families exist. The Duggars, Bateses, and Maxwells fit into this category. These are families that have poor homeschooling curricula/plans and they shelter their children quite a bit. The Duggars control what extra activites their children do. I believe the woman who helped Mullet teach piano or violin to the Duggar kids was a family friend. The Duggars would never allow any of their kids to play in a youth sports league. I hate to sound cruel but the J'Slaves have been way too sheltered and they likely would have social skill problems if they had to take jobs outside the home. Even if Jill goes to nursing school, I can see her having problems working with others during clinicals.

Not all homeschooling families are the same. Some families do ok to extremely good jobs homeschooling their kids and some do poor jobs of homeschooling. Some homeschoolers do have social problems when it comes to working with others. One of my older brothers attended a small college of a 1,800 students. He once had to do tutoring with a young woman who had been homeschooled and she had problems interacting with instructors and other students. She told my brother that she had trouble adjusting to being in classrooms with other students and taking instruction from people other than her parents.

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I don't doubt that you had some control over the situation, but it is also not safe to assume that public school parents have "no control" or an unacceptable level of control.

Why does it have to be this or that is best? Everyone should do what they think is best for their child. Why does everyone else need to validate their choices?

Are you somehow suggesting that the three bulliers you've experienced in homeschooling situations are bulliers or "psychos" because they have at some point attended school? And you know what, when my kids were 15 years old, they were sophomores in high school, which was perfectly appropriate for them. If your kid is doing something different, then great! Why the defensiveness?

You said it better than I could have. I don't understand the defensiveness here. I have a 15yo brother. He's very intelligent and could certainly take some college level courses, but right now he's a sophmore in high school and is doing fine. Most 15yos, mature or not are not ready to handle the college life and that's okay. I also am hard-pressed to believe that: a 70K job at 15? Even if he is really good at computers, I am not buying it-sorry. Clibby, this not the first post I have read from you that comes across as very defensive. I know you love your children and think they are the best and that's wonderful and I'm sure your children are great young people. Most people here are not downing your choices. Yet anytime I have seen homeschooling get mentioned, you seem to go straight into a very defensive mode. You made the choices you felt were right and you shouldn't let others make you feel bad about it if they do.

Jessica: I am also a little shocked that having a min. wage job after high school is seen as something negative or even college. The economy sucks right now and people struggle to find good work in their fields. It's great someone has great talent and can be successful, but that is very rare. Lots of athletics and those with lots of talent and potential are homeschooled to give the child more room for their pursuits. I despite the SOTDRT style homeschooling and that seems to be what the OP is implying-that style of schooling. The children in them are not learning how to be self-sufficent and won't be able to get anything more than a minimum wage job and barely that. The Duggar children, Jeub kids, Bates children, etc. What will those children be able to do in the "real" world in all honesty? They lack many skills and their science, history, facts, etc. knowledge is pitiful. Those children are quite isolated and don't get to interact with many and that is not a good thing. THink Erin Bates and green-haird dudes being evil sheltering. Not good.

The important factor in all types of education is the parents/family/guardians and their involvement. That's what makes the difference in how well a child will do. I had horrible ps experiences, but I am not going to refuse to send any children I may have there because every child will get bullied at some point sadly. They will get teased for something always. It's a fact of life that some people are jerks.

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I didn't read all the replies yet, but perhaps the OP would benefit from separating "what I can do" from "what others can do" in her head. It's okay if you feel like you can't homeschool or that your kids wouldn't benefit. It's also okay that I homeschool and my kids benefit from it. Not everyone need homeschool and in fact most shouldn't attempt it due to logistical issues, inability, apathy, etc.

My kids are doing fine. I don't need someone telling me what I should or shouldn't do based on what they've seen on blogs that have nothing to do with me.

/persecution complex.

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I don't clibbyjo is being overly defensive. Homeschooling gets slammed in public opinion all the time thanks to people like the Duggars. Meanwhile, she has restructured her life completely and busts her ass (probably her budget as well if she is like I was) to give her kids the best education and opportunities possible. Good homeschoolers get a lot of shit from random people because of the crappy high-profile homeschoolers out there, which is very frustrating and unfair.

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]I don't clibbyjo is being overly defensive. Homeschooling gets slammed in public opinion all the time thanks to people like the Duggars. Meanwhile, she has restructured her life completely and busts her ass (probably her budget as well if she is like I was) to give her kids the best education and opportunities possible. Good homeschoolers get a lot of shit from random people because of the crappy high-profile homeschoolers out there, which is very frustrating and unfair.

This. I have seen online forums and had conversations with people in my day to day life, who think that all homeschoolers do the same crappy methods that the Duggars and other fundie families do.

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Good homeschoolers get a lot of shit from random people because of the crappy high-profile homeschoolers out there, which is very frustrating and unfair.

So true. As someone who was homeschooled in the '80s and '90s, I'll add that homeschool-slamming has been going on for a while, since long before the advent of reality TV.

I don't want to be defensive about homeschooling, but I have to admit it's something of a reflex for those of us who spent K-12 and then college having conversations like this:

Other person to me: "Homeschoolers just stay at home all the time and never learn to socialize with anyone outside their family."

Me: "Actually, I do schoolwork at home, but I'm also involved in classes and extracurriculars outside the home."

Other person: "Oh, then you're not really homeschooling."

The whole you're-either-doing-it-wrong-or-not-doing-it-at-all cycle got pretty old.

I do think that familiarity with good homeschooling helps decrease hostility, so I applaud non-homeschoolers who ask honest questions and homeschoolers who answer them, on FJ and elsewhere.

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Personally, I am *hugely* opposed to the fundie style of homeschooling - the isolation, the religious indoctrination, complete lack of friends/other teachers, etc. That's how I was raised/educated (for the most part - I did have a piano teacher), and I don't think it was a good environment at all, even though my parents did the best job they could. I just don't think the mindset of "we homeschool to protect our kids" is a good one to have. I do think fundie style homeschooling should be illegal.

I think that kids need more people in their lives than just their parents/siblings. They need extended family, they need friends, they need other adults who care about them and who can possibly spot things (like depression, learning disabilities, etc) that the parents might not, or who can possibly have a discussion with the parents if something doesn't seem right. I think that some homeschoolers do a fine job of this - with allowing their kids to take classes outside the home, finding them friends, engaging in the community, etc. Sadly, that kind of engagement with the outside world seems rare in the fundie homeschooling community. Even when there are fundie homeschooling groups, normal socialization/development can be stunted by stupid rules about what can be discussed, clothing rules, restrictions around boys and girls talking to each other, etc etc.

Anyway, all that to say, when homeschooling is done as an educational choice (the SCHOOL part) and the parents are 1000% committed to it, I think it can work out. Would it be my first choice for my (hypothetical) child? No, but I will freely admit that's due to my background. When the focus of homeschooling is just on keeping your kids at home at any cost, regardless of your own inclination/ability because you're afraid of the rest of the world, that's a very bad situation that will most likely not benefit the kids in the long run.

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I think what often gets overlooked when discussing homeschooling is the personality and needs of the actual child or children involved.

There is so much discussion of the parents ability/motivation/ the curriculum used, the positive and negative social aspects of homeschooling or public schooling .. but I know in our family at least what mattered the most was what the particular child needed.

All our kids did mostly public school, but we did homeschool several of them for a period of time. It was really tough as we both work full time - but they were older and we juggled everything to get it done.

Some of the kids really excelled in public school and loved the social atmosphere and would have been miserable not having that daily contact. Even with the really cool homeschooling groups and classes they would not have liked not being able to go to big dances, hang out in a huge group at lunch, etc ....

For a couple of them public school was a disaster and they were absolutely miserable in the huge groups and home schooling helped them to actually learn a little bit and not be horribly unhappy.

None of that had anything to do with my qualifications / ability to teach, or the quality of the public school - it was about their own unique personalities.

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I hate to be snarky, but given the fact that the original poster doesn't seem to realize that "a lot" is two words, nor does she understand that the singular personal pronoun "I" must always be capitalized, I have to agree that she is incapable of homeschooling her children.

Snark aside, I too thought I was not capable of homeschooling my children. Specifically, I thought teaching them to read would be beyond my skill set. I was woefully mistaken. My kindergartner is reading at a first grade level because I chose to homeschool him. As such, I was able to pick the exact program which would best help him learn. (I chose "Explode the Code," supplemented with children's literature at his reading level.)

As for my older children, I daresay their social skills have improved greatly since they have left public school. Some children may indeed learn social nuances, etiquette, and diplomacy in public school, but that seems to be the exception, not the rule. It seems to me that "school" is a fabricated social setting, which bears little resemblence to real world. Now, my children are actually out in society on a daily basis, interacting with people of all ages, from all walks of life. (Or, at least as many walks of life as we have in my area.)

I also have a part time job which requires me to work with school aged children (mostly girls) from kindergarten through high school. I daresay the homeschooled girls are far more self assured, hardworking and poised than their public school counterparts. I believe it is because the majority of these older girls are homeschooled that what very well could be a clique-like, competitive atmosphere, is in fact an encouraging and challenging one. My homeschooled girls take and give corrections beautifullly. They also recognize and encourage improvement in their classmates. They seem to know that the true competition lies within competing against their own previous personal best.

Finallly, when I made the decision to homeschool, I found nothing but support from other homeschooling parents, even the fundies. Yet, none of them ever heralded homeschooling as a superior choice to public school. I cannot say the same of public school proponents.

So, Reds, again, while homeschooling may not be the best decision for you, understand that the very reasons you state it may fail for you are in fact the reasons why other choose it. Frankly, your post makes it sound as if you have met any homeschoolers.

p.s. Clibbyjo, sending lots of snowy good thoughts your way. It's very hard when your cub is attacked, isn't it?

***Edited for typos***

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I don't clibbyjo is being overly defensive. Homeschooling gets slammed in public opinion all the time thanks to people like the Duggars. Meanwhile, she has restructured her life completely and busts her ass (probably her budget as well if she is like I was) to give her kids the best education and opportunities possible. Good homeschoolers get a lot of shit from random people because of the crappy high-profile homeschoolers out there, which is very frustrating and unfair.

I see all types of schooling getting bashed. I see public schools get bashed for all sort of things: funding, curriculum, dumbing down students, etc. Public schoolers also get a bad rap of being less intelligent and lacking logic and being evil, sinful heathens (by the fundie hsers only). Homeschoolers especially bash ps and those in them. I have heard that even where I live. Private schools get bashed for their religion, the elitism and the kids gets bashed for being elitist and snobby often by association, even if they aren't. Homeschooling gets bashed for the risk of being socially isolating and concerns over whether parents can teach their children all they need to know. This is mostly because teachers have to go to school for four years and continually take classes until they get a masters. Homeschooled children get bashed for being socially inept mostly. That's the biggest criticism I see-the social aspect. Some people just don't understand it because it's a foreign concept to them. Homeschooling has only been legal for a couple decades and while growing, it's still small in number. It may not seem fair, but many are still very new to the idea and when doing something most don't do, it's the reality that you will have to explain yourself at times. This is done by educating and not going into immediate defense mode. That just turns people off. It does me.

It does come across as defensive and a bit rude to say that your 15yo is going to college and got this great job offer, what are yours doing? It's like listening to people brag. A little is okay. Bragging to show "superior" status is just-yeah. There just isn't a need. I know Clibby just wants to prove homeschooling has good results, but it wasn't done very well by saying that imo. She shouldn't feel they have to be defensive for a choice she should thought was best for her children. Nothing wrong with saying "my kids are homeschooled and doing well. My 15yo is headed to college and got a job offer with computers, but isn't old enough to travel yet so stfu!" Hell, I agree there. Plenty of homeschool kiddos do very well academically. If you know you are making the right choice for your children, then own up to it. Others who disagree can shove it. Homeschooling may get some bad press with people like the Duggars, but it's gotten a lot of good press too. Public schools get both good and bad reps as well. I have yet to met a mother who wasn't downed by someone for her choices in parenting somewhere. No one who does what they can to provide the best education for their child or children no matter the situation they are in is ever a bad parent. I just hate seeing the defensiveness and not just by Clibby. Most of you seem like great mothers. There just isn't a need. Again: Those who disagree with your thoughtful decisions with your child's best interest at heart can just shove it.

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I'm a secondary teacher; I'm not at all opposed to rational homeschooling, particularly in a country like the USA. If I lived in a place that lacked a national (and very often state) curriculum to set appropriate learning objectives and standards I'd seriously consider homeschooling as well - particularly if the local private schools were too expensive or of the Jesus-walked-with-dinosaurs type!

I'm interested in the opinion of homeschoolers on this thread: what in your mind sets rational homeschooling apart from the SOTDRT?

A previous poster mentioned that she would seek outside assistance for subjects that she lacked experience with, particularly higher maths and science. I think that recognising your limitations and seeking to address this in planning your child's education is pretty important.

I also think that a parent can only homeschool successfully when they themselves have passed certain educational milestones. I think that Michelle, with her high school diploma, might be able to take 7 children or so through primary school (K-6) studies. A parent with an undergraduate degree could conduct their child's education by themselves up to the age of 15 or so, people with graduate degrees could probably prepare a child for university studies without much difficulty. The problem with the SOTDRT is that the parents don't know what tertiary education actually looks like - consequently they get swept up in scams like CollegeMinus.

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Homeschooling is great if it's done for the benefit of the child. However, it sucks rocks if it's done primarily in the service of an ideology. On FJ, we see a number of ideologies that present home education not as a benefit primarily to the child, but to protect the child from the influences of the ebil outside world, or where the mother is told that as part of raising children, she must home school them, or God doesn't want your kids in the ebil public schools, etc. etc.

The bottom line, to me, is "is it for the benefit of the child?" If it's in the service of an ideology over what would best benefit a child, then home schooling is a bad thing. I get upset when I hear that kids are using PACES ("School of Tomorrow") or Wisdom Booklets (Goat-herd) because I'm convinced this is not being done for the child's benefit, but for the benefit of some parental ideology.

That said, I frankly hated public school until I went off to university. Public elementary and high school generally sucked. Most of the time I was waiting for my classmates to catch up to where I was at or getting in trouble for being so far ahead of everyone else or I was getting bullied. However, private school was too pricey or too religious. My parents realized when I was in first grade that in some ways I was beyond them and home schooling, even if it was known at the time, was simply not a possibility. (I was the kind of kid who would come home from school and read the newspaper, and then, finishing that, would pick up a volume of the encyclopedia or a science book I'd checked out of the library. It blew my father's mind.) So I got turned over to the professionals and yeah, it sucked.

However, I think the kind of home schooling (examples above) that we criticize here on FJ is very different from what Clibby does, for example, and we've got to be careful about lumping all home schoolers into the same pot. It's not all the SOTDRT.

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Renting with Raggles,

Actually, with a Master's degree, you are in fact, qualified to teach at a college level. In fact, most graduate students, who have yet to earn their Master's, actually teach undergraduate classes! So, with a BA, I could in fact, professionally teach undergrads!

I think several things separate my homeschool from SOTDRT. First, I am highly educated myself. (An aside, I loathed my time in public school. My mother served as my primary educator in elementary school, my father in high school. I went on to earn a BA and complete some graduate work. I found that while students are recognized for academic success in college, what we were recognized for in k - 12 was nonsense.)

Second, I can find and read and judge scholarly research to assist me in my curriculum choices. If I find that a curriculum I have chosen isn't working, I do not keep it merely because it is the suggested protocol. I toss it, and try something else. (Another aside, the Evan Moor grammar workbooks are awful.)

Third, I believe in allowing my children to learn about their world. They read and watch the news, they participate in activities of their choosing, listen to music of their choosing, and read books of their choosing.

I'm not perfect, but I am better for my children than the public schoo.

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I hate to be snarky, but given the fact that the original poster doesn't seem to realize that "a lot" is two words, nor does she understand that the singular personal pronoun "I" must always be capitalized, I have to agree that she is incapable of homeschooling her children.quote]

Thanks for the personal attack and snark. Do we really want to get into my credentials and whether I am "smart enough" to teach my kids? Maybe it could be that I don't give a darn about typing and making sure my capitals are where they are suspose to be.

As for my ability to teach my kids through homeschool. I am maintaining a full-time job as alot of women are these days and I do not feel that I have the time, energy and patience for it. But my child has help with her homework and with anything bad than happened that day at school. If she is teased we talk about it, we don't automatically assume that school is a bad place and she shouldn't go there. Everyone has a bad day and to think that the world outside of school doesn't have it's bullies, abusers and general jackasses is wrong. If you are a bully in school, you may be a bully afterwards too.

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I think homeschooling like any other educational option can be done well or done poorly. It works for some families and does not work for others. I don't think homeschooling should be another tool used in mommy wars or whatever to justify what makes you a good parent.

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I have had kids in public school for 15 years and I have friends that home school and I think that the most important thing in a child's education is parental involvement. Doesn't matter where your child attends school, public, private, or home you just need to be involved. Know your child's teachers, know your child's friends, read the syllabus for a class when the teacher sends it home, communicate with teacher's, volunteer when you can, expect your kids to do their best, know what is required for college entrance exams if you want your child to attend college.

My kids go to public school because we live in a great school district. If we lived 20 miles down the road I would either home school or some how figure out private school. This debate is like stay at home mom vs. work outside the home mom. There is good and bad on both sides.

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I don't want to get involved in a debate over what type of schooling is better or what type gets attacked more. I just want to point out the difference of being bullied in school and the real world.

In the real world, it is my understanding that a person could not throw a combination lock at someone just because said person is fat, without consequences. However in a poor public school with teachers who don't care that is allowed to happen. Especially when the bully is popluar and comes from money. Also, if in the real world, someone is continually harassing or attacking you at work you can go to your boss and have something figured out. In public school, the victim is told that nothing can be done unless there are witnesses and even then nothing is done.

I hated school for many reasons, I frequently skipped to the point of almost not being able to graduate. Often I wished I could have been homeschooled or dead. But somehow I managed to make it through and I've come to learn that my experience was the exception. And I'm going on to become a teacher in hopes of helping solves the problems with education. I just believe that the best way of schooling should be decided on a case-by-case basis. But I do not believe that people should get used to bullying because school bullies might be bullies in the real world. Because in the real world shit like what happened to me in school wouldn't fly.

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I know it's fairly obvious - but I have to point out that the unique personalities and talents of both the children and teacher/parent make a HUGE difference in homeschooling outcomes.

I know of homeschoolers who made it sound ideal: the children were doing brilliantly, writing novels, composing music, etc. Then, I looked at the parents, and realized that they were brilliant writers, etc. If the kids inherit the brilliant genes, and then have brilliant, talented parent teach them, well OF COURSE they are going to do well!

That doesn't mean that homeschooling will work for other parents - like another family I knew who homeschooled for cult-like reasons. Dad was oppressive, mom had married young and never really matured herself, there was tons of marital strife and the kids were a few grade levels behind when they finally entered public school.

Re bullying:

We got some flack over our choice of school from some people we know, but one thing that I love about the school is the anti-bullying policies and programs. I've noticed a steady stream of kids who got bullied at another school down the street coming into our school. IMHO, there is absolutely no excuse for any school NOT to have anti-bullying measures in place - both the formal rules, and the programs that are proactive about solving problems before they start (eg. recess buddies, peacemakers, no-exclusion rules, assemblies, posters, etc.).

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I also think that a parent can only homeschool successfully when they themselves have passed certain educational milestones. I think that Michelle, with her high school diploma, might be able to take 7 children or so through primary school (K-6) studies. A parent with an undergraduate degree could conduct their child's education by themselves up to the age of 15 or so, people with graduate degrees could probably prepare a child for university studies without much difficulty. The problem with the SOTDRT is that the parents don't know what tertiary education actually looks like - consequently they get swept up in scams like CollegeMinus.

I'm curious about this. I was homeschooled by my immigrant mother with a highschool diploma, and my highschool drop out dad. I think I ended up with a very decent education, as did my brothers and sister. Three of us have graduated from college and my little brother is a college freshman. We all had excellent GPAs and are now financially very stable. My parents not only had mediocre educations (to be generous), they also homeschooled primarily for "religious" reasons. From what I can tell, my homeschool experience was definitely SOTDRT-style according to the distinctions a few previous posters have made. Is there something I'm missing?

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There is a charger school in Provo Utah that is basically a home school. The parents meet with the educational advisors a few times a week and follow the curriculum set out by the school. The students get together a few times each term for activities. I saw them out at one of their activities. The children dont know how to sit still and listen to a presentation. I think this is one thing that homeschool parents need to work on with their children.

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Jessica: I am also a little shocked that having a min. wage job after high school is seen as something negative or even college. The economy sucks right now and people struggle to find good work in their fields.

It isn't a bad thing. :oops: Foot. In. MOUTH! That was a stupid thing to say.

Sorry, what I said earlier was mostly about the losers in my graduating class. I like to think about them and laugh whenever I hear (read?) anyone criticizing homeschool. Look at their Facebook pages for 5 minutes. "AHHH it's SO unFAIR! (Latest hit movie) premiers tonight and I have to WORK!" Wow, people, you're in your mid-twenties, have graduated college, and you still can't figure out that to get by you have to work instead of goofing off all the time, and pay your rent on time instead of draining your measly bank account on the latest cool gadgets. So now they're all at home (for failure to pay rent) and working for low-paying jobs, not because of the crappy economy (which took my dad's income from 6 figures down to the poverty level) but because they're stupid and lazy and a 4-hour shift at Starbucks during the least busy time of the day is just too much to ask of them. :roll:

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But I do not believe that people should get used to bullying because school bullies might be bullies in the real world. Because in the real world shit like what happened to me in school wouldn't fly.

I am truly sorry for what happened to you in school. I had some problems too, though not nearly that severe. However, I have to disagree with you on there not being bullying problems like that in the real world. I have been bullied far more since getting out of school than I was while I was in school. Many workplaces are not much better than junior high school. And you can't always go to a superior for help, because sometimes it IS your superior who is doing the bullying.

In my case, at two different jobs I had a female supervisor who constantly bullied and terrorized me. They were basically insecure because I was younger and had more education. I couldn't go over their heads because the big boss was basically a wimp and scared of them. Also, I didn't have a legal standing because it was a white woman bullying another white woman. The bullying wasn't sexual, racial, or anything covered under the law. So she got away with it. I am now finally in a job with a boss that respects me. But it took a very long time.

My daughter, who has loved public school up until recently, has been having some difficulties with her peers. She's not being bullied herself, but she's seen others bullied, and she worries about fitting in, etc. I can't lie to her and tell her it's all going to be better when she gets out of school. It won't. There will always be people like that. All I can do right now is be there for her and show I understand.

Like a few others have said, parents have to do what they feel best. There are good homeschooling families, and bad ones, and there are good public schools (and public school teachers) and bad ones. Pick your poison. And I don't think the OP was attacking anyone in her post. Homeschoolers are not persecuted anymore than public school teachers are. (Have you seen the news lately? They are laying off teachers in droves and people applaud it because those teachers don't do anything and get these awesome salaries, etc.) It's bad either way.

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But I do not believe that people should get used to bullying because school bullies might be bullies in the real world. Because in the real world shit like what happened to me in school wouldn't fly.

I am truly sorry for what happened to you in school. I had some problems too, though not nearly that severe. However, I have to disagree with you on there not being bullying problems like that in the real world. I have been bullied far more since getting out of school than I was while I was in school. Many workplaces are not much better than junior high school. And you can't always go to a superior for help, because sometimes it IS your superior who is doing the bullying.

In my case, at two different jobs I had a female supervisor who constantly bullied and terrorized me. They were basically insecure because I was younger and had more education. I couldn't go over their heads because the big boss was basically a wimp and scared of them. Also, I didn't have a legal standing because it was a white woman bullying another white woman. The bullying wasn't sexual, racial, or anything covered under the law. So she got away with it. I am now finally in a job with a boss that respects me. But it took a very long time.

My daughter, who has loved public school up until recently, has been having some difficulties with her peers. She's not being bullied herself, but she's seen others bullied, and she worries about fitting in, etc. I can't lie to her and tell her it's all going to be better when she gets out of school. It won't. There will always be people like that. All I can do right now is be there for her and show I understand.

Like a few others have said, parents have to do what they feel best. There are good homeschooling families, and bad ones, and there are good public schools (and public school teachers) and bad ones. Pick your poison. And I don't think the OP was attacking anyone in her post. Homeschoolers are not persecuted anymore than public school teachers are. (Have you seen the news lately? They are laying off teachers in droves and people applaud it because those teachers don't do anything and get these awesome salaries, etc.) It's bad either way.

I remember seeing a breakdown of somewhere of a teacher's salary, a "good" salary, and it amounted to sadly less than minimum wage. Because the people who claim its like babysitting, it comes out to like $1.50 per student.

My parents are teachers. They're NOT happy about my choice to homeschool.

I'm not doing it out of a ZOMG i'm so scared my kid will get bullied. I just... I think I can do a good job teaching my kid and I'd love to give it a try. If I find he's falling behind or I'm not being structured enough, I will reexplore my options when the time comes.

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