I'm really of two minds about this. The public school system is rigid, one-size-fits-all, and largely ineffectual.

Although I was no fan of highschool while I was there, I have come to appreciate what I learned not from the teachers, but from the human nature of other students.

I witnessed students do unthinkable things to each other, watched them bully others, abuse authority, act in a self-centered manner, and discriminate against anyone different from themselves.

And then I saw those things in myself.

That realization, and the year of turmoil and change that followed, shaped who I am today. It taught me how to deal with many different types of people and situations, and I would not ...

I'm really of two minds about this. The public school system is rigid, one-size-fits-all, and largely ineffectual.

Although I was no fan of highschool while I was there, I have come to appreciate what I learned not from the teachers, but from the human nature of other students.

I witnessed students do unthinkable things to each other, watched them bully others, abuse authority, act in a self-centered manner, and discriminate against anyone different from themselves.

And then I saw those things in myself.

That realization, and the year of turmoil and change that followed, shaped who I am today. It taught me how to deal with many different types of people and situations, and I would not be half the person I am without that experience.

In college, we had a word that conveyed that someone was socially awkward, generally self-centered and manipulative, and often unable to deal with complex situations tactfully.

Unfortunately, that word was home-schooled.

It's an over-generalization and largely unfair, but the truth is that everyone who heard the phrase knew instantly what it meant.

If you're homeschooling, or considering it, be sure to allow your children the freedom to discover who they are outside of the home as well. Our greatest triumphs and growth often happen in the face of adversity.

Reality is a incredible teacher.

It's actually quite complicated (it's too easy for me to go into diatribe mode), but simply, I decided to home-school because I was getting too many mixed messages from my son's school. Letters warning me of impending doom (bad grades) kept coming home, yet the report card showed excellent grades (B+ or better). One month spent at the kitchen table working on writing helped improve my son's reading skills to the point where he was reading above his grade level (this was first grade, he's 17 now and still a voracious reader). Got a lot of notes about my son disrupting classes due to talking too much. Clarification brought understanding of the fact that he only did such when bored but teac...

It's actually quite complicated (it's too easy for me to go into diatribe mode), but simply, I decided to home-school because I was getting too many mixed messages from my son's school. Letters warning me of impending doom (bad grades) kept coming home, yet the report card showed excellent grades (B+ or better). One month spent at the kitchen table working on writing helped improve my son's reading skills to the point where he was reading above his grade level (this was first grade, he's 17 now and still a voracious reader). Got a lot of notes about my son disrupting classes due to talking too much. Clarification brought understanding of the fact that he only did such when bored but teacher responded that she was too busy to redirect his attention, even while other students were testing and there was nothing else going on in the class. In short, I noticed that my simple tutoring activities were helping him improve in school, the teachers were complaining of being overworked. I had recently become a stay-at-home mom (combo of marriage meets job layoffs), so I figured if that were the best the public school had to offer, I had plenty of time to focus on my own child.

My husband was home-schooled through some of his younger years and he convinced me that it was a good idea. He's pretty smart. So I figured that he was a pretty good example of what can come of become of a home-schooled kid.

I won't even go into how my 3rd grader was almost expelled for being in a "gang" (rolls eyes) in a suburban public school for playing "power rangers" on the playground (I got called out of work and into the principal's office for that--even though nobody got hurt)!

I won't say that the early days of homeschooling were easy (I'm a Type-A personality), but eventually we found our groove (had to with the addition of two more children to the family) and I have never considered looking back (even during the toughest days).

more info: http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/

eric,
I whole-heartedly agree with you.

Most of my son's friends are public-school students. We live on a military post, so he is surrounded by kids from all educational experiences.

He's gotten into playground fights, trying to fit in with the wrong crowd, etc. Thankfully, we are through with that phase now.

It seems these days our house is the "cool house". At any time of the day/evening our home is teeming with the friends of all my children. Plus, my son started a band with several of his high school friends.

Did I mention that he taught himself how to play the guitar (acoustic and electric) and the drums? I taught him to read music and play the keyboard/piano when he was still...

eric,
I whole-heartedly agree with you.

Most of my son's friends are public-school students. We live on a military post, so he is surrounded by kids from all educational experiences.

He's gotten into playground fights, trying to fit in with the wrong crowd, etc. Thankfully, we are through with that phase now.

It seems these days our house is the "cool house". At any time of the day/evening our home is teeming with the friends of all my children. Plus, my son started a band with several of his high school friends.

Did I mention that he taught himself how to play the guitar (acoustic and electric) and the drums? I taught him to read music and play the keyboard/piano when he was still in kindergarten (I'm a singer). He writes his own songs and even is posting his music on MySpace.

My son was picked on and beat up on quite a bit in elementary school. I did not wish to see him suffer thru that in high school (been there, done that, personally). He often tells me that he is glad that he does not have to deal with that part of school any longer (I'm glad, too).

I am proud to put my kids' intellectual, compassion, and socialization skills up against anybody else's public school educated student. In fact, I do so, everyday.

To be fair, all of the home-schooled kids I know today are nothing like the home-educated kids I knew, back in the day. I balked at home-school when my husband first brought it to me for the same reasons that you mention, eric. But, further scrutiny and also meeting other home-schooled families showed me that it's not necessarily how a kid is educated, but who is doing the educating that turns out a selfish dolt or a compassionate young person.

I've seen that in public schools, too.

Home-schooling is NOT for everyone. But it DOES work for our family.

DizzyDezzi, I'm also homeshooling my daughter. We had to bring her home for the same reasons you mentioned. The teachers had no time for her, she was bored, scored 2 years ahead of her class on every subject (except math), was attacked by students and once by a teacher.

She begged me for a year to hs her. I finally decided (in the 7th grade), when we were spending 2-4 hrs every night on homework. I was having to reteach everything to her. The kids picked on her and distracted her to where she couldn't concentrate. It was a nightmare.

As far as "socialization" skills, she has more than most kids her age. She has a part-time job working with the public. She's exposed to experien...

DizzyDezzi, I'm also homeshooling my daughter. We had to bring her home for the same reasons you mentioned. The teachers had no time for her, she was bored, scored 2 years ahead of her class on every subject (except math), was attacked by students and once by a teacher.

She begged me for a year to hs her. I finally decided (in the 7th grade), when we were spending 2-4 hrs every night on homework. I was having to reteach everything to her. The kids picked on her and distracted her to where she couldn't concentrate. It was a nightmare.

As far as "socialization" skills, she has more than most kids her age. She has a part-time job working with the public. She's exposed to experiences with all age groups, not just her own. She's never had patience for the kids her age. She's learning far more than her friends. I could go on and on.

If anyone is interested, I suggest reading, extensively, the homeschooling sites. There are many of them. I use about.com. They are very helpful over there. They want us to succeed. No, it's not for everyone, but it's working for us, too.