How many FJ's were home schooled?

[Olivia]

I was homeschooled, 1st through 12th grade. My homeschooling education was not great, but I was able to get a scholarship to a great school and earn my degree in four years summa cum laude, so I can't exactly say that homeschooling was *bad*. If I had it to do over again, though, I'd go to public school, just because my parents didn't really have the resources to homeschool well.

I think homeschooling is really nifty if done well, though -- the opportunity for tailored and creative learning is amazing. However, I don't think it's the best fit for our family, so unless our childrens' needs dictate otherwise, they will be attending either the excellent public schools in our area or, if the public schools are not a good educational fit, they will attend one of the private schools. It's always hard for me to understand a strong ideological bias towards one type of education or another; my primary concern is providing the best education for my children and ensuring a lifelong love of learning, whatever that ends up looking like.

But, I will say I'm really looking forward to enriching our kids' learning outside of school. I want to "homeschool" informally as much as I can without burning them out, on top of their school curriculum. It makes me sad that they'll have so much homework every day in our district, so I don't think we'll do anything that isn't purely "fun" during the school year, but at least we'll still have summers as long as my work is flexible.

[clibbyjo]

I was homeschooled, 1st through 12th grade. My homeschooling education was not great, but I was able to get a scholarship to a great school and earn my degree in four years summa cum laude, so I can't exactly say that homeschooling was *bad*. If I had it to do over again, though, I'd go to public school, just because my parents didn't really have the resources to homeschool well.

I think homeschooling is really nifty if done well, though -- the opportunity for tailored and creative learning is amazing. However, I don't think it's the best fit for our family, so unless our childrens' needs dictate otherwise, they will be attending either the excellent public schools in our area or, if the public schools are not a good educational fit, they will attend one of the private schools. It's always hard for me to understand a strong ideological bias towards one type of education or another; my primary concern is providing the best education for my children and ensuring a lifelong love of learning, whatever that ends up looking like.

But, I will say I'm really looking forward to enriching our kids' learning outside of school. I want to "homeschool" informally as much as I can without burning them out, on top of their school curriculum. It makes me sad that they'll have so much homework every day in our district, so I don't think we'll do anything that isn't purely "fun" during the school year, but at least we'll still have summers as long as my work is flexible.

Several of my friends with kids in school do this. When their kids are out for breaks or the summer, they come to our homeschool co-op stuff and jump in on fieldtrips and everything else we do. I was at the roller derby last night with such a friend and she said she is already signed up for the fieldtrips/classes we have planned for June when her son is out of school for the summer. :)

[holierthanyou]

They sent me a sample question and it was the bloody shapes again. I have no clue why they are even asking me this stuff, is sorting shapes a key component of the job? No. Is it a component of anyone's LIFE, if you aren't three?

*

Thank you for making me laugh out loud in Church of Starbucks this morning!

[Shirley MacLaine]

I was in the gifted program, but I don't remember much about the testing. I do remember there was a rorschach-like component, where we had to look at an image and write down all the different things it could be. I remember doing a practice sample with the other kids, and it was, like, a circle with a squiggly line? As an adult, I would say sperm-like, possibly bomb-like. Anyway, I was like 'that's a circle with a squiggly line' and other kids started calling out things like 'IT'S A LADDER TO HEAVEN' and I was like ohhhhh god I am so boned.

The real one was three circles. I honestly could come up with nothing. You would have thought I was the most unimaginative child in the history of time:(