I have never truly understood the homeschooling mentality and I have several friends who are killing themselves doing it. There are now support groups for the moms who do this.

Kids aren't going to be hurt doing this, they are generally good families that can't afford $15,000 private schools. One of my friends was sending their 4 daughters to a private Catholic school until it closed this year. Now the oldest attends a $15,000 private school and the other 3 are home schooled. The other 3 required close to $3,000 in school materials and they are required to pass the standardized tests that public school kids take.

My opinion is you do both. They kids go to school (public or private) and when they come home you home school them by helping with homework and teaching them in the evening with reading.

There is a strong Libertarian presence in my experience with home school families. The very idea of a government bus coming down the road to take your children is enough to send shivers up their spines.

Home schooling? It worked out pretty well for that Buddha guy!

Most of the people I know that home school are in the military and just don't like jerking their kids in and out of schools all over the world... and because they are in the military when the kids are not being taught at home they are out socializing with the other kids on teh base or the military housing where they live... they seem pretty normal to me.

Exactly how long have we had public schools? A few hundred years ago wasn't home schooling the norm?

No question kids with non-typical needs need their parents to be champions for them w/ the school administration. If more parents did this the world would be a much better place.

Let me say this: I know plenty of kids that were "social retards" and went to public schools their whole lives. Going to public school is no guarantee of social success.

I'm in the "keep your laws off my kids" camp too.

My kids went/go to public schools. It has been successful because, among other things, we carefully selected the area we live in based on the school system. My youngest has two more years to go. He's a great kid, but he has some special needs. I would hate to lose homeschooling as an option for a number of reasons. Here's two -
One - most public schools (and I suspect private) are not well prepared to address special needs. We have had to wage war on our school to get what our son needs - which, imo, has been sub par at best. Wisconsin is one of the better states for special needs children. I can't imagine what parents that live in other states do.
Two - If by socialization you mean constant torment, then I agree, socialization is a benefit that traditional school provides. Sure, for most of us, highschool was a good time - more or less. However, some kids do not, and will not, fit in. How many tragic stories need to be told before people figure that out. We can blame the parents, but the school needs to take some of the blame too. I feel the deepest pity for children that "don't fit in" and I believe homeschool is a nice solution for families that care enough to spend that energy on their child. Again, we have been fortunate. While my boy does not fit in, we are lucky that the kids in our area have been, overall, great. I think that is the exception rather than the rule.

I know a number of home schoolers. The kids have always been exceptional and excel in all areas. Socialization happens in their church. Not my path, but not one I disagree with.

Point well-taken. I dare say in a lot of our public schools, attendance does less to teach one about being socially interactive (unless you count gang membership) and more about learning how to lie low and not get beat up/shot/stabbed. I don't necessarily know if that's the kind of "social education" we want to be teaching kids. Seems to me we'd rather be teaching kids to get along, be risk-takers and stand up for their principles.

Socialization is a bunch of hooey unless y'all think that it is so important for kids to learn pecking order cliques, proms, and the "I've gotta have that, because all the cool kids have it.." routine (thank you for developing the american consumer/waster). Frankly, high school in this country is a complete waste of time. That's why there is no college in other countries. They're learning what is taught in college in the US during their high school years (instead of going to varsity sports/homecomings). A big part of why the US is falling behind in education.

That is the ultimate dark side of so-called socialization.

Personal opinion and this subject seems to be a tough one.

1. If the home teacher is an ex-regular school, education should be OK.
2. If the teacher is someone who never went to college, and it just a spouse with nothing to do, you are short changing the kids.
3. If you do it to avoid the terrible things that a kid might see at a regular school, you will likely end up with a kid that cannot socialize properly.
4. What does it take to be a lic. tutor? Its not like they are asking the person to go back for a college degree.
5. Although a lot of parents that home school their kids have play dates, how can this replace all the normal interactions throughout the entire day that teaches them how to be good citizens.
6. If the child is a special needs kid, let the parents decide what is best. But some type of tutor education seems fair (as long as it is limited)...
7. Some do it for religious reasons. Do not want to expose kids to the evils of the world. I understand, but these are the kids that freak out when another tells them to go F*(k themselves... ;-) Also, good to be in a normal setting to be exposed to all types, religions, color, etc..
8. If you are in a farm community, this might be very different.. I don't know why, but that is what I have heard.

Hope this offers a perspective....



Most home

My father was a public high school teacher for 30 years... i dont think he would do it if he were young today. although it was rewarding to him, when he retired in 89, he was fed up and had enough of it...things are not good in the public schools in our country. if i had children, or when i do i will either get home schooling for them or send them to a special private school. give them the well rounded education but also let the kids get exposure to the arts, finance, medicine and other very specialized career choices that they really are not exposed to in a legitimate sense in the public schools.

Ive known some people who home school their kids and they love it...as long as the kids get involved with other kids for social stuff like sports, cubscouts etc. it is a good thing to keep them focused and schooled outside the public classroom.

Thanks for all the views and experiences. Interesting topic.

Seems to me that California should consider legalizing homeschooling with some measures to assure that the kids are learning reading, writing, math, geography, science, etc at roughly their age-level.

Perhaps once a year, on a weekend, have the neighborhood homeschooled kids come down to the local school and take the same standardized tests that in-school kids get? If the kid scores failing two years running, then s/he has to go into a regular school and stay there [edit: or have some sort of licensed tutoring on a frequent basis] until he scores passing, then he can go back to home-schooling?

If the kids are academically doing fine, isn't that enough? Socialization can go well or badly for kids attending organized school too, I'm not hearing any evidence that homeschooled kids have more socialization issues than other kids.

Homeschoolers are actually saving the state money, aren't they? I read that 166,000 kids are homeschooled in CA. The state spends $6,000/yr per K-12 student. That's $1BN/yr the state is saving. I guess since CA gets some federal money per student, the net savings is less. But still, all things being equal, seems the state has a fiscal interest in a successful home school movement.

Do the homeschoolers here think the above makes sense?

Homeschooled my youngest son when he started hitting the rocks in the regular school system in 9th grade. Set up a desk for him here at my office. First thing I learned was he never read a book for enjoyment. My first goal was to get him to enjoy reading. Started with King Rat, a short action packed war story that builds interest fast. First week he read one page. Then I noticed he was reading a little more each day. Then when he finished it and he asked "has this guy written anything else?" I knew I had him. That year he read Noble House, Tai-Pan, etc, etc.

We weren't sure we were doing the right thing, this isn't covered in the parenting manual we were given. After homeschool, he passed the GED, and went on to do poorly in various community colleges.

Then one day he announced he wanted to be an engineer. My wife and I could hardly keep from laughing. But he went back to community college and got straight A's in all the math/pre-engineering classes he could take. Got accepted to a real engineering college and graduated last December.

Interesting thing is, he has two brothers who went the traditional route and are now attorneys. Of the three, he is the only one who reads every action novel he can get his hands on.

I guess the homeschool worked.

My advice to parents facing similar problems with their children is to do whatever it takes to get them into their 20's alive and as drug free as possible.

Hmmmm, wonder what passes for "normal interactions"... dodging bullet from fellow classmates?

One of my friends puled his daughter from public school because she was propositioned by a fellow school mate... at ten years old.

No one wants to ever say it..but Public School has failed, flunked, not worked, and is too generic for most...breeds ineptness, no challenge, everything is OK, no right, no wring, please be nice, tolerate everything and do not be passionate about anything

I'll toss my $.02 on the pile. My parents were both well educated, and the local schools were awful, so it was an obvious choice for us. The state requirement, iirc, was that the parent have at least Master's level education and that they attend annual teaching conferences. On my dad's meager salary, we scraped together enough money for the textbooks and worked our way through it.

When I made it to my freshman year of high school, we decided it would be best if I earned an HS diploma, because they have more value than a GED for college entry. Having seen both sides of the coin, I don't understand this -- my home education was substantially more challenging, and I practically slept through AP classes in high school. I'm no smarter than the average bear -- I just had a fantastic head start on my peers. I ended up doing very well on the SATs and the ACTs, which helped get me into a good college. I graduated in the top third of my class at the US Naval Academy and earned a 3.0 in Navy Nuclear Power School. Now I have a Master's in Engineering Management. There's no argument that home schooling was a huge aid in helping me academically.

For those who argue that home schooling leaves kids socially inept, this can be true. It's less true now than it used to be -- a lot of home school systems are developing co-ops and communities where parents get together to discuss issues and kids just get together. As for me, I led a very sheltered childhood -- I had a relatively small circle of friends, and none of them knew curse words, sexual innuendo, or possessed any real skill at lying. You might say that it's important to be exposed to all of those things as a child, so that when you meet the "real world," you know what to expect. OTOH, having been exposed to the "real world" for a while now, I'd say I was happier without it all. What's wrong with kids being kids for a while?

If the big argument for public schools is that they teach kids to thrive socially, I'd say we need to fix the system. I'm not sending my kids to school to learn how to tell dirty jokes, I'm sending them to school to learn the "3 R's" -- Readin', Writin', and 'Rithmatic. The fact that home schooling is seeing such a huge surge in our country can't help but show that there is a problem.

Just my $.02.

Dan

I grew up in LA and regular schools would not have been a good thing for me; that is why I went to private school near Hancock Park but was lucky that my parents valued education above all things!

Now in OC, the schools are surprisingly good. I hope for the best but recognize I might need $1M to get them through high school if it does not work out...:D

Amen...we homeschool our kids, that's OUR kids, not the government's kids..STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!!!!

Wayne

:) You said it right...

We have been homeschooling our kids too for 3 years now...
Nowadays there are many get togethers with other home school kids in our area for socialization.
My kids also joined drama classes through our church and Awana club (smilar to girls scout) through our church as well...

I'm not a lawyer, but is it correct that the State appellate court in California can be appealed now? If so, where would it go next?

Seems like the ruling should be overruled at some level up the line, IMHO.

Best,

Kurt

That'd be the California State Supreme Court.

Is that the end of the line? Or is there some basis for the Federal Courts?

If so, would it go Federal Circuit, then Supreme?

Should I have learned this in school? :D

Best,

Kurt