Homeschooling our children

THE WIFE: Wrathex and Noxibox, I appreciate your responses. I just want to make a few things clear about homeschooling, as it feels a bit like some people aren't very clear:

* Home-schooling is not purely sitting at home and learning. In today's age home-schooling, it is VERY organized. For instance, there are co-op groups where the kids get together and do a certain subject together, and often times someone is there to help them who is more specialized. Other than that you have master maths and kumon, and probably other places that helps with math. The kids have field trips, where they learn things hands on. They go out together as a group, and they spend the day together, this is also for all the ages, in the beginning of Feb we are going to Spier for a Eagle Encounters trip. Which kid in school does that? And kids learn much better than sitting in a class looking at a textbook.

*For sports: If you want to do sports, any kind of sports, rugby, swimming, you name it, you either join a club, or you join a school that is open to receiving home-schoolers. In Somerset West for instance it is Beaumont, and also a private school. They join the schooling going kids in their teams.

*2.
Unless your wife is a qualified teacher and has tertiary maths, science, english and any other subjects you want your kid to learn then she is going to be woefully inadequate to teach high school subjects. You may think teachers are rubbish but it is actually quite a specialized skill."
- Well, for the curriculum we chose, you get a full subject manual on how to help the child. And again, you get master maths and these places where kids get the help they need. When I attended highschool, I had a math teacher, who did not know how to present maths to a child. I am sure, with a bit of guidance, that I can do a great job. Cerebus is excellent at math, and excellent at explaining!

*"
The social factor can't be under-estimated. A playgroup twice a week is nothing at all like being surrounded by your peers.
" - This is twice a week, the child is not even 2 years old yet. My older boy who is 3 and a half, has a group once a week, and then he joins "playdates" at least twice a week. I dont know how much a child under 2 should socialize.

For some reason you guys think these kids aren't going to get adequate socialization. My gets are with other kids everyday. Kids of different ages, races, situations etc. Why are they not getting adequate socialization, because I am in the background. I am still not clear why everyone labels home-schooled kids as being inadequately socialized?

Do you really want your kid to be in a situation where they have to smoke, do drugs, wear specific name brand clothing, just so that they can fit in? For what? Does that mean learning to socialize?

Home schooling parents generally say they need much less time, so they get the option of covering more or having more time for other activities. Since the socialising time at school is maybe an hour, and it's typically restricted to a small group of other children of the same age, I think home schooling parents have an easier time exposing their children to social stimulus.

For a grade 8-12 pupil one needs about 3-4 hours a day of schooling and that includes homework. No changing of classes, sitting in boring assemblies etc. You are done. It gives them more time to spend time on their hobbies, visiting friends, reading etc. Sitting in a class from 8-3...eish!

I just wanted to bring out a few of these points. The ONLY place where it really changes, is that me as a parent has a choice in what education my child receives. I can do a excellent curriculum with him, and we can add work from the US, UK etc. In grade 9 they will switch over to the British Distance education curriculum, this is the A-levels, GCSE's which you hear from in the UK. So the sky is the limit for them in the further university education. If they want to go to Oxford, they will easily get in. But I think one needs to think twice if the regular standard matric pupil will get in 15 years down the line.
 
It sounds like you've made your mind up on this. One other thing which I didn't mention is that I'm not sure that it is healthy for a child's life to revolve around a parent like that. Being away from the family during the day is also a valuable part of becoming independant.

Also, I'm not sure where you get the idea that kids have to do drugs,etc. To fit in. It seems like you two had negative experiences at school and would like to protect your kids from that. You need to be careful about projecting yourselves on your kids. Also you can't always protect your kids. What happens if they want to go to varsity and they haven't grown up with the skills to resist negative peer pressure at school?

We need to give our kids the space to grow up and become themselves.
 
This whole drugs and bullying thing is so overstated. Why I left the home schooling community. Whenever the parents got together too many sentences too often started with "Het julle gehoor wat het al weer by Hoërskool X gebeur?". The parents and kids develop an overly negative outlook on life and it becomes "us" vs "them". The kids get to fear the bad bullying drug addicted world out there but one day they will have to stand their ground and be competitive amongst all the public school "bullies and druggies". They will have to work in teams with them. I can see that many home schooled kids will choose careers where they can work alone, run their own show.

I know this isn't happening everywhere amongst home schooling parents. I'm stating my experience.
 
Do kids that are home-schooled usually end up working from home?

Anyone? Anyone?
 
Educating our kids is about preparing them for life ahead. It is not just about optimum academic education. It is about everything the child will face as an adult. The ugly parts of life too. It is about teaching your kids to say no to the temptations and peer pressure. It is about identifying the dangers and knowing how to deal with them. Public schools where good responsible teachers are in charge is the ideal place to expose our kids to the realities of life. The kids learn to say no and the learn to stand strong. They go through the pressures and get out stronger on the other side. We as parents stand by them and guide them. It is a partnership between child, parent and teacher.

Yes, too many schools are disfunctional but the funny thing is that most home schoolers have access to the best schools. The parents in areas with disfunctional schools cannot afford to home school their kids (singe parent or both parents must work). So, those who dont really need it get it and those who need it cannot afford it.
 
Do kids that are home-schooled usually end up working from home?

Anyone? Anyone?

I do not know that many homeschooled adults. I know one who works in the normal job sector as the manager of a company, than I know siblings, the one a lady is a mother and will also homeschool, and the other works in the US. Well balanced individuals.
 
It seems like there is this impression that our primary goal in homeschooling is to somehow shelter our children, put them into a 'bubble' as was said earlier. I can only repeat that it is absolutely not. I gave a list of reasons on the OP, and protection wasn't in there. Primarily it's because we are seeing homeschooling as a viable alternative to public schooling, which a deeply flawed, inefficient and unoptimal system of learning. Parents who choose to send a child to a private school are doing exactly the same thing - the option of private schooling isn't there for us, and even if it was I'm not sure we'd do it for other reasons - but homeschooling IS a valid alternative. The results speak for themselves.

The idea that they'll become reclusive, hyperreligious social paralytics is absurd - if you meet your local homeschooling groups you'd see what patent nonsense it is. They interact equally as much as any other child in schooling - they compete - they can do outings or activities every day of the week if they so choose - they can take up any kind of sport or academic pursuit - they can learn in a way that is absolutely tailored to THEIR needs, to develop their own strengths in a way schooling just doesn't have the capacity for.

Those are our reasons.
 
You reasons are mostly irrelevant. Because, while your reasons are perfectly valid, it's more about the parents doing an effective job than the system is better.

If the parents are doing a better job than the system of schooling, then the system is better.
 
If the parents are doing a better job than the system of schooling, then the system is better.

You what there is something still better. That's if you get private tutors for each subject and professional coaches for sport activities and guided tours to any and all outdoor exhibitions. Practical right? It's practical if you can.

Last thing I have to say about this topic. Do what needs to be done for your child to be a successful adult.
 
In terms of the curriculum, I don't really see that a home schooled child has an advantage over one that went to a public school.

Agree to a point but only if the parent is also involved. As parents we need to do some level of home schooling, I think the real decision is if its during the day or during the evening.
 
Home schooling puts huge pressure and responsibility on the mom/wife. What if that mom/wife is for whatever reason (illness, death, etc) not able to do it anymore? Can the kids be reintegrated into public schools?

My kids are in public schools and I buy Kenweb (http://www.kenweb.info/winkel/home.php) books for them in subjects where they struggle. Nothing stops a public school parent from enriching whatever education and material the schools provide. This is the way to go in my mind as it gives the kids exposure to the good and bad of public schooling (dealing with peer pressure, temptations etc and also participating in things like MTBS etc) and material is ready available to fill up gaps and take them past the shortcomings. Public school kids can also join clubs for sport and other activities not offered by the schools. At the public schools the kids have teachers who specialise in subject matter and if a teacher goes for whatever reason he/she is replaced. They then get exposed to many different cultures/opinions/etc to enrich their lives and thinking.

I genuinely cannot see home schooling being the BEST or optimum when public schooling is done properly by parents and teachers. Home schooling in my mind is a compromise where dysfunctional schools are all that is available. But I know from personal experience that home schooling parents will strongly disagree.
 
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I must say, when I aupaired a 6 and 8 year old 2 years ago, they were in grade 1 and grade 2 respectively, I did about 1-2 hours of homework with each. They hated it, now can you imagine letting your child spend their afternoons to do activities, visit friends and do their own thing, because schooling and homework was done before 12? Mmmm sounds awesome to me:whistle:, I agree Cbrunsdonza, you have to be actively involved in your child's schooling, if they are homeschooled, public schooled or private schooled. . And the older they get the more you must sit with them, either with homework or extra work. My sil sits from 2pm till after 9pm with her kids, she has 2 school going age. They are grade 7 and grade 11. EISH!!!
 
Public school kids can also join clubs for sport and other activities not offered by the schools. At the public schools the kids have teachers who specialise in subject matter and if a teacher goes for whatever reason he/she is replaced. They then get exposed to many different cultures/opinions/etc to enrich their lives and thinking.

Homeschooling kids can do just that! They join clubs, and as I said previously, they can join schools that accept home schooled kids. We have co-op groups where kids can get specialized attention, and there are tutors, and also all the other things we do that public schooled kids do extra when they struggle. (kumon, master maths etc). Our oldest will start with Kumon lessons from next year onwards, when he is 4 and a bit years old.

Our minds are open if things do not work out, to send them to public schools. The curriculum we are going to do, is also such that they can easily go into public schools if they need to/want to. It is widely accepted by schools, and it is endorsed by the Education department. In actual fact we can register with the Education department if we want to.

They then get exposed to many different cultures/opinions/etc to enrich their lives and thinking.

Our kids gets just the same. Our joining groups and clubs will also encourage that very much.
 
Sorry - @Bevonk....if they join schools for doing sports, they will very much be part of the MTBS that you talk about. They will be fully included in all the aspects of sports that kids in the public sector does. It depends on you if you want them to do club sports or school sports.
 
In terms of the curriculum, I don't really see that a home schooled child has an advantage over one that went to a public school.

I disagree, there are some EXCELLENT curriculums out there... both religious and secular.

Check this out.... This is the Classical Curriculum Guide for High School Students... This is what my 13 year old son has just started.
This is just the core of the curriculum, there are lots of other things added by each different group.
http://www.gbt.org/guide.html
 
I disagree, there are some EXCELLENT curriculums out there... both religious and secular.

Check this out.... This is the Classical Curriculum Guide for High School Students... This is what my 13 year old son has just started.
This is just the core of the curriculum, there are lots of other things added by each different group.
http://www.gbt.org/guide.html

That is a hardcore reading regime. I wasn't reading books at that level when I was 13. Your son is very lucky.
 
That is a hardcore reading regime. I wasn't reading books at that level when I was 13. Your son is very lucky.

Me neither. My history and reading breadth only came about in my twenties.

he was already debating historical issues with me before he was Teenager! Urk. :eek:

But the craziest thing is.... two thousand years ago, that was what the teenagers were reading! :erm:
 
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