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Homeschooling hits record numbers

(reason.com)
193 points bilsbie | 2 comments | 21 Nov 25 00:31 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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jmathai ◴[21 Nov 25 01:56 UTC] No.46000348[source]▶
I do think Covid forced people to ask questions they hadn’t before.

We have sent our kids to private, poor quality and top rated schools.

We saw a stark difference between the poor quality and higher cost options. No surprise.

But the reason we are considering home schooling our younger kids was surprising. It says something about a system dedicated to teaching children when parents think they can do as well or better.

That’s just education. The social situation in schools is ludicrous. Phones, social media, etc. what a terrible environment we adults have created for kids to learn both educationally and socially.

Home schooling has answers for ALL of that.

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aidenn0 ◴[21 Nov 25 02:03 UTC] No.46000393[source]▶
> But the reason we are considering home schooling our younger kids was surprising. It says something about a system dedicated to teaching children when parents think they can do as well or better.

What's the reason?

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jmathai ◴[21 Nov 25 02:07 UTC] No.46000429[source]▶
I think we could teach them as well as the school does. And more importantly, we can provide a better environment for them to mature socially.
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Aboutplants ◴[21 Nov 25 02:15 UTC] No.46000480[source]▶
“And more importantly, we can provide a better environment for them to mature socially.”

Take it from someone who was homeschooled from pre-k through high school, you will absolutely not provide a better social environment. I was so unprepared to handle the social dynamics in casual, educational or professional that it took years and years of active work to put myself in a position where it wasn’t an absolute detriment to my success. I have no doubt you can educate your children well, it’s every other aspect of humanity that is typically missed out on and can lead to unintended consequences.

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jmathai ◴[21 Nov 25 04:34 UTC] No.46001252[source]▶
Sounds like you had a hard time transitioning. Sorry for that.

I don't believe it's a magic pill by any means. But I've known many recently home schooled kids and they seem a lot more mature than their public school peers. So I think we have a decent shot at having similar results.

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Voultapher ◴[21 Nov 25 10:26 UTC] No.46003135[source]▶
Seeming mature to an adult isn't the thing in question though, is it? Not feeling or appearing awkward when interacting on their own in their 20s is what is being criticized. The anecdotal evidence you present doesn't include home schooled children in their 20s as far as I can tell.
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1. QuercusMax ◴[21 Nov 25 19:12 UTC] No.46007797[source]▶
Homeschooled kids have much more flexible schedules which can allow them to do things in the community during the daytime that are not available to kids who have to go to school in-person full time.

This can include volunteer work or part time jobs working with the public and interacting with people of all ages.

Why do you think you being forced into a monoculture of only kids your own age would help your interaction with others when you're in your 20s? 25 year olds don't behave anything like teenagers.

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2. Voultapher ◴[21 Nov 25 21:08 UTC] No.46009010[source]▶
Because I've met several homeschooled adults over the years, and talking to them that's something most of them had in common when explaining the impact it had on their life. Looking for more objective data I found this one source that seems to be written by people not already convinced of the desirability of homescooling [1], forgive me for being skeptical of the objectivity of places called "national home education research institute". Overall it paints a more positive picture than I had expected, but also highlights it's limitations.

[1] http://hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/Taubman/PEPG/conf...