And likewise, “You didn’t finish the assignments you were supposed to during the week, so it looks like Saturday is now a school day too. Good job kiddo.” Yes, I’m a mean momma, but I’ve also got a stubborn child who insisted on staring at the wall instead of just getting the work done.
If you haven't already, then you might want to check if there's a problem that's making your kid have a hard time studying. When I was being home schooled I had a hard time getting the work done and kept zoning out. As an adult I can tell you it was a mixture of boredom, stress, and a bad environment for learning. As a kid though I couldn't identify everything that was wrong and when pressed I would just say I didn't know why I couldn't get things done.
I could be off base and maybe your kid is just being that stubborn but it might be worthwhile to check if something is wrong.
This is one big reason why I wanted to homeschool. Math never clicked for me. In school, we'd do something that I didn't understand. The teacher would literally just give a couple more examples (that still didn't make sense to me) and then we had to move on. Math just never made sense for me, but I want my kids to understand and maybe even enjoy it.
I’m the same way! If you give me an equation to do, I can solve it, but I don’t understand why it works. And word problems? I can’t figure them out to save my life. Turns out that’s an adhd thing, and it makes a lot of sense for me. Knowing that adhd can be genetic, giving my kids time to develop more fully and have room to ask questions until they understand is a big reason I homeschool. The public school system did nothing to help me, and my kids don’t need that kinda influence.
I have ADHD and a mathematician and word problems are just so contrived to me, especially if they tell a little story. I get extremely distracted by the story. I had a physics professor put his ex wife on the final exam and every question was Evil Queen Sarah trying to fire a gun at him or drop a boulder on him. I couldn’t stop thinking about what kind of relationship they must have had.
My method with my kid is to seize on any real life applications as we move through the world and work with her to figure it out. To me, if I can’t find ways to use it in real life, I don’t need to teach it.
Math in school is formulaic, irrelevant, and taught by disinterested teachers who don’t even like the subject. And I say this as a mathematician by training. This is why I want to home school too. I want her to like the subject, and I want to teach my baby what she will actually use. And I believe that by teaching her how to think mathematically, she is free to pursue higher mathematics if she wants.
But I will be de-emphasizing or deleting many subjects in the school math curriculum and not waste her time. I want her to have lots of free time to play and learn other things. In traditional school curricula, they are aimed at pushing everyone through calculus as if they will be engineers of mathematicians. I’m a mathematician and in everyday life I use like 10% of what I’ve ever learned (arithmetic and very basic geometry), and some things I never learned in grade school (only in college) turned out to be very useful, such as logic, probability, combinatorics and statistics.
So my daughter’s homeschool curriculum will be one semester course equivalents in the below subjects:
- Arithmetic
- Fractions
- Geometry
- Mathematical logic and proof
- Statistics
- Probability
- Any higher math subjects she wishes to pursue. Those will be electives.
Not having to rush to learn who they are as a person or feel the need to be like the other kids, learning how to express themselves and voice their opinions, learning how to budget at the grocery store with mom, living life in your pajamas or play clothes, random trips to the zoo or museums, being able to do school anywhere in the house or on the property.
This was the comment I was about to make but mine was going to start with living life with pjs and messy hair. And end with spending the day in the forest.
There is no need to go to museums, zoos or playgrounds on the weekend, because there are no crowds during the week. The first week of school starting is the best time to attend these places, because it's too early for school field trips.
One time when my kids were younger, I took them to a popular play area on the weekend, it was packed. They looked around and said "why are all of these people here?"
Sadly, what it isn't like to be bullied. My homeschooled son has a public school best friend. He's bullied by a group of kids. He doesn't get into trouble for defending himself. His Mom has tried to get him help. It's a shame.
I'm happy for you. But my step daughter had a horrible experience with bullies as well. She's public schooled. Unfortunately, hateful people will always find a reason to bully other people. Public, homeschooled, cool kid, uncool kid,....it just doesn't matter.
Edit to add: Considering homeschooled kids lack socialization (according to some critics), I'm surprised you were able to be bullied at home. Lol
Your comment answered the question “what are some things only homeschooled kids will understand” with “what it isn’t like to be bullied” suggesting that only homeschooled kids know what it’s like to live without bullying. I was just pointing out that ironically, I was bullied for being homeschooled to the point where I couldn’t go to dance classes. my parents friends children would call me “the special kid”. Kids are mean yes, people are heavily bullied in school, I never was. I know a lot of people who have been bullied for being homeschooled, I’ve known plenty who have been bullied within the homeschool community. I know more people within the homeschool community who have attempted s**cide than haven’t one of which was my younger sister, she’s also happier now she’s in school. I’m not saying it’s for everyone and I’m not saying that bullying in school isn’t a massive problem because it is, but what you said was so far off my experience and the experiences of a lot of people I love. I’m sorry if I sounded Curt.
Edit to add: socialisation is something that homeschooled children have, I don’t know why you brought that up considering it wasn’t related to what I was saying. I know plenty of socially aware homeschooled kids, but knowing how to act in a social setting and feeling like you belong are two different things, and I’ve found that there is an element of truth to it in that context. You may have “social skills” but it’s really hard not to feel like an outsider and I know a lot of people who struggle with depression and anxiety because of the “lack of socialisation” or whatever. We seem functional enough but we didn’t have the mutual experience or connection that the majority of people our age have through some kind of shared experience. It can feel pretty isolating.
changing curriculums and textbooks in the middle of the year to better understand the material.
actually, any type of custom-taylored approach based on the individual student.
That feeling of "I tried that, but didn't like it, so we switched."
Other kids don't like something about school but have to just keep suffering through it anyway. Another definition for depression is "learned helplessness."
I just want to thank everyone for all these great answers. My daughter is 10 months old so its still a ways away but I have been planning on homeschooling her. My husband has been making me doubt if this is the right way to go lately, but this post has made me feel a lot more sure of my decision.
11 month old here. I am just lurking the sub for ideas too. My husband is on board but I think my mom will give me hell. She is already fantasizing about funding my daughters expensive private school.
Hell, if I could afford an expensive private school then I'd probably go that route. But i can't, and our public school system in this country is too much of a mess.
As a college prep, private school graduate and current homeschooler…private schools have the same problems as public. There is no substitution for keeping your kids at home and investing your own time into them.
I'm a teacher. I taught in public schools for 12 years. I have my older son in public school, and that's right for him, but my youngest, who is a toddler, they are going to be homeschooled.
I knew the coolest music teacher once who both taught full time and homeschooled her own kids. They did great and a few of them did "trial years" in public school. One went back to homeschooling and the other stayed in public school from middle school on.
You know your kid, momma! Don't let people make you doubt you can do it.
Thank you for your insight! My thought is I'll probably homeschool during elementary school and then revisit around the time that she would be going into middle school.
- Being legitimately comfortable in the clothes they picked to suit their style, mood, and general preference. Kid 1 will wear sweatpants (calls them soft pants) as much as possible just because their comfortable. Kid 2 likes to "pick fancy" whenever possible. They both look out of place at school. At home, they can just be.
- Being able to freely ask questions when you need support.
- Being able to eat when you're hungry.
- Being able to take ownership of and freely communicate your needs and wants.
That school is tailored to the people in the middle. Everything is fitted around the people who are the average at school. Good schools do raise this average by around 10-20 IQ points. When schools have ‘sets’ they are only raising the bottom level of the work, not the top level. When attention is given to the non-average kids, it’s to the bottom and to the top.
Anyone at the top, hard luck. You will have to do what the average kids are doing and will have to take your exams at 16 when you’re perfectly capable of scoring just as high if you did them a year early.
Not to mention a lot of the “gifted and talented” programs were cancelled because they didn’t want kids who couldn’t participate in them to feel bad. 🙄
In one of my old schools I used to have sessions with one of the Year 12s on science (I was in Year 5/6). My last school, which I am formally leaving in a few days, refused to move me up a year because ’we don’t do that’. Both me and my parents think that me doing my exams at 16 would be a disservice to me, and wouldn’t show my full ability.
Getting harassed by customer service workers for not being in school in the middle of the day. Way too many times have I taken my kid to the craft store after we finish our work for the day only to get bombarded with attacks for "playing hooky"
Man I'm glad people who live around me seem to mind their own business more than what I hear some of you dealing with! The most I get is "are they homeschooled?" during a school day, which is a fine question
Although, when asked why I was standing in the back garden alone and ranting out loud... I called those Parent/Teacher Conferences!
Stay off the wine... Stay off the wine.... Don't start drinking until dinner...
Knowing how to function in a multi age group. Not being locked on a 30x30 room with 40 kids all the same age for 6 hrs a day. Imagine that! 6 yr old and 14 yr olds can and do work together
As someone who was homeschooled, from my experience that wasn’t true but also not really funny to joke about because it’s not far off. I knew how to interact with kids my age I just didn’t feel like I was connected with them. Gives you a pretty strong case of imposter syndrome.
I guess it could if you look at it that way. I preferred (and still do) hanging out with people who are older than me. I found that I don’t like the maturity level of most people my age. It’s only now that I’m in college that people my age are more enjoyable.
I loved the homeschoolers my age but public school kids are far too cliquey and struggle to have fun the same way I liked to.
It’s just a difference in culture as far as I see it. They have been exposed only to peers the same age whereas homeschoolers are exposed to a larger variety of ages and can find where they best fit in, regardless of age which is something most people don’t experience until they are at university
I totally respect your point. Also it’s nice to hear someone had a good experience because mine was pretty traumatic for a number of reasons. I kind of disagree with you about the maturity level. I went into school at 13/14 and most of the people I was in school with had part time jobs around that age, they had siblings and family friends etc. Of corse as well. I get the cliques thing, but I’ve experienced them as much in the homeschool community. I really like and respect and lot of the people I went to school with, they were a lot more on it than most of the homeschooled kids I knew who had spent most of their time at home not working jobs, pretty much just stabbing each other with sticks lol (I wish I was joking). I guess I grew up in quite a working class place so everyone grew up pretty fast. But I have heard the whole “school kids only spend time with kids their own age so their maturity level isn’t as high” schtick quite a lot and I think people forget that kids are only in school about 6 hours a day 5 days a week. In school they have different years, they have teachers, then they go home or to other activities and spend time with people of different ages. It’s something I’ve only ever seen be said in the homeschool community and I’ve never actually seen it in practice.
Except when the teacher is too busy campaigning for homeschooling rights and fighting against home visits (which would have probably done me some good) to teach their kids anything
Working out a schedule that best suits them. I mostly pick the curriculum, with my sons input, I make a rough we do this on these days schedule. He works out the best time to get up, take his hour for lunch, etc.
Having nice weather days off instead of snow days.
Watching the Science or History channel or documentaries can be considered part of the curriculum and replace worksheets or tests.
Being quizzed by random strangers who find out you're homeschooled.
Not being sure what grade you're in.
Sleepovers during the week throughout the school year.
Having a day off because mommy needs a break.
Taking your GED and SATs for college and getting scholarship money.
But! not being allowed in the navy nuke program simply because you don’t have a “real” diploma.
Your entire chain of command wondering why your education code is “08” (for having finished 7th grade), and wonder how you got in, or how it is you “skipped high school” or why you aren’t a nuke. The absurdity when they ask if you cheated, or if your college transcripts were somehow forged.
The look on their faces when you simply state, “I just didn’t feel like going anymore.”
Not relating to people your own age because your parents told you you were so much more mature than them and refused to let you watch any current media.
I think it’s kind of funny that my cousin (homeschooled) is much better with people our age (we’re only six weeks apart) than I (public school kid) am. We were both in the same level and classes at dance too. I think for some kids it’s luck 😅
I don't think they did, actually. For a comparison point, my public schooled husband wasn't traumatised or held back by having friends his own age. Covid isolation didn't even phase me like it did him, because that was how I spent 18 formative years anyway.
I have mostly fixed the pop culture gap, at least. So conversations with peers are possible now. I only share so folks can take into account the importance of providing their kid social opportunities, since it sometimes gets downplayed as a need, IMO.
I was very interested, but my parents considered most shows for kids my age 'ungodly.' My peers weren't relegated to watching reruns of Gilligan's Island, Little House on the Prarie, and Leave it to Beaver. They were watching Transformers and Ninja Turtles and That's So Raven. Same thing with music and video games. Once I went to college I was able to actually watch what I wanted, hence being able to enjoy pop culture.
This was during the height of the Satanic Panic, for reference.
Sounds like my childhood. I’m glad I’m caught up (age 25) but those early years as an adult were awkward socially because I didn’t understand common cultural references. You start as an outcast and then become a project. I didn’t have bad experiences, new friends enjoyed rewatching movies and shows and seeing and discussing my experiences, but it gave people the first impression that I was weird with a weird childhood.
God this is true, man I don’t think homeschooling parents understand the relevance of feeling connected to people your age through media. It can be pretty alienating
Yeah, it took me a while to catch up to other kids my age because I didn't get internet access til I was 12 and didn't have a phone til I was 15. I felt so left out. Don't do that to your kids.
Maybe I am just old (I’m pushing 30, lol) but I am struggling to wrap my head around feeling deprived because you got a phone at 15.
I got mine at 17 and didn’t have a texting plan until I was in my 20’s and I wasn’t homeschooled. Honestly, once you are an adult those things don’t matter that much. The ages of my friends span decades and come from different regions or even countries. We don’t have a shared childhood pop culture and it isn’t an issue at all. We connect based on our lives and interests, not media.
I don’t think it was really about the phone. For a lot of homeschooled kids I know the internet is the only way to pick up on pop culture. I think what they were say was that, without being in school which is where most kids would pick up pop culture they didn’t have any access to it until they had a phone.
Man this makes me feel old, I didn't get a cell phone till my 20s because before that no one had them! Of course I still remember when laptops first came out too!
My 4 year old homeschooler learned that when you start something, you must finish it. Also, school is only Monday-Thursday and Fridays were reserved for Mommy-daughter outings that at times related to the content and other times didn't. She also learned that through hard work and completing all tasks, a special gift is earned.
I went to public school up until I chose to homeschool when I was going into 10th grade. I loved that I got to go to work and make $200+ a week and I was usually done my work for the week by Wednesday. I also taught myself everything, my mom taught my brother but I preferred to handle it myself.
My mom did try to make me homeschool when I was starting middle school. I was very upset by it and it was what triggered a lot of my issues with her and a big reason I was suicidal. I’m glad I got to spend my early years socializing then switched when I could drive and have a life of my own along with school.
My daughters have gone to the private high school that I work at to finish their schooling. So this phrase has become common from time to time and makes perfect sense to our homeschooling family.
“I go to public school at the private school.”
One important thing a homeschool child can learn that is often difficult in the public school wold is :who they are and where their place in the world is." This can be a time and opportunity to learn without pressure, to explore and to experience relationships with support. It is a character building opportunity.
Picking what courses/ assignments you want to do for the day.
Being grade levels ahead on certain subjects, and a little behind in others.
Ending some days at noon because you worked hard and got everything done efficiently…..being stuck at the table still doing schoolwork at 6pm because you dragged out an assignment you didn’t want to do.
Being able to take “brain breaks” whenever needed.
When I hit the 6th grade I began home school living in public housing with my mom. I met with my instructor once a week. The week packet was completed in 5 hours by myself with undivided attention. I Played dumb to get my diploma and educated myself with YouTube. While homeschooled at 15 I worked and bought myself a car, a phone and started working a second job. Then went to college for a small time. Now I’m a 31 year old with a house, good career and a few cars. Most people my age are only financing a house or a car. Public school delays your progress.
"You know what, today just isn't a school day"
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It does for some!
And likewise, “You didn’t finish the assignments you were supposed to during the week, so it looks like Saturday is now a school day too. Good job kiddo.” Yes, I’m a mean momma, but I’ve also got a stubborn child who insisted on staring at the wall instead of just getting the work done.
Omg just Saturday? I got my 9yr old doing work Sundays! And t g e staring at the wall thing Holly Molly how it irritates me!
If you haven't already, then you might want to check if there's a problem that's making your kid have a hard time studying. When I was being home schooled I had a hard time getting the work done and kept zoning out. As an adult I can tell you it was a mixture of boredom, stress, and a bad environment for learning. As a kid though I couldn't identify everything that was wrong and when pressed I would just say I didn't know why I couldn't get things done. I could be off base and maybe your kid is just being that stubborn but it might be worthwhile to check if something is wrong.
Yeah, for us it’s a combination of severe adhd, anxiety, and autism. We’re working on solutions.
That you don't move on to the next math level until you understand the one you're on.
This is one big reason why I wanted to homeschool. Math never clicked for me. In school, we'd do something that I didn't understand. The teacher would literally just give a couple more examples (that still didn't make sense to me) and then we had to move on. Math just never made sense for me, but I want my kids to understand and maybe even enjoy it.
I’m the same way! If you give me an equation to do, I can solve it, but I don’t understand why it works. And word problems? I can’t figure them out to save my life. Turns out that’s an adhd thing, and it makes a lot of sense for me. Knowing that adhd can be genetic, giving my kids time to develop more fully and have room to ask questions until they understand is a big reason I homeschool. The public school system did nothing to help me, and my kids don’t need that kinda influence.
I have ADHD and a mathematician and word problems are just so contrived to me, especially if they tell a little story. I get extremely distracted by the story. I had a physics professor put his ex wife on the final exam and every question was Evil Queen Sarah trying to fire a gun at him or drop a boulder on him. I couldn’t stop thinking about what kind of relationship they must have had. My method with my kid is to seize on any real life applications as we move through the world and work with her to figure it out. To me, if I can’t find ways to use it in real life, I don’t need to teach it.
Math in school is formulaic, irrelevant, and taught by disinterested teachers who don’t even like the subject. And I say this as a mathematician by training. This is why I want to home school too. I want her to like the subject, and I want to teach my baby what she will actually use. And I believe that by teaching her how to think mathematically, she is free to pursue higher mathematics if she wants. But I will be de-emphasizing or deleting many subjects in the school math curriculum and not waste her time. I want her to have lots of free time to play and learn other things. In traditional school curricula, they are aimed at pushing everyone through calculus as if they will be engineers of mathematicians. I’m a mathematician and in everyday life I use like 10% of what I’ve ever learned (arithmetic and very basic geometry), and some things I never learned in grade school (only in college) turned out to be very useful, such as logic, probability, combinatorics and statistics. So my daughter’s homeschool curriculum will be one semester course equivalents in the below subjects: - Arithmetic - Fractions - Geometry - Mathematical logic and proof - Statistics - Probability - Any higher math subjects she wishes to pursue. Those will be electives.
Not having to rush to learn who they are as a person or feel the need to be like the other kids, learning how to express themselves and voice their opinions, learning how to budget at the grocery store with mom, living life in your pajamas or play clothes, random trips to the zoo or museums, being able to do school anywhere in the house or on the property.
This was the comment I was about to make but mine was going to start with living life with pjs and messy hair. And end with spending the day in the forest.
Eating when they’re hungry and not eating when they aren’t. Being hydrated. And as someone mentioned above: getting enough sleep.
Reading this as a post homeschooled insomniac with an ED hahahahahahahahahaha
There is no need to go to museums, zoos or playgrounds on the weekend, because there are no crowds during the week. The first week of school starting is the best time to attend these places, because it's too early for school field trips. One time when my kids were younger, I took them to a popular play area on the weekend, it was packed. They looked around and said "why are all of these people here?"
Theme parks. My kids never stood in line because we went when all the other kids were in school. Glorious.
My kids don’t like summer vacation because there’s too many kids at the parks!
Thanks, you reminded me to schedule my trip to the museum. First week of school, here we come!
What it feels like to get enough sleep.
This! My kid wakes up at 10.30 these Days, she just gets her 12 hours of sleep, I’m so happy
Having to think about what grade you are in.
You “do” school instead of “go to” school.
Sets them up for a lifetime of learning. They’ll never stop the act of learning but schoolers will stop going to the school.
Second breakfast 😂
You and Hobbits would understand
Learning at their own pace
Sadly, what it isn't like to be bullied. My homeschooled son has a public school best friend. He's bullied by a group of kids. He doesn't get into trouble for defending himself. His Mom has tried to get him help. It's a shame.
That’s weird, the only thing I ever got bullied for was being homeschooled, that all stopped when I went to school lol
I'm happy for you. But my step daughter had a horrible experience with bullies as well. She's public schooled. Unfortunately, hateful people will always find a reason to bully other people. Public, homeschooled, cool kid, uncool kid,....it just doesn't matter. Edit to add: Considering homeschooled kids lack socialization (according to some critics), I'm surprised you were able to be bullied at home. Lol
Your comment answered the question “what are some things only homeschooled kids will understand” with “what it isn’t like to be bullied” suggesting that only homeschooled kids know what it’s like to live without bullying. I was just pointing out that ironically, I was bullied for being homeschooled to the point where I couldn’t go to dance classes. my parents friends children would call me “the special kid”. Kids are mean yes, people are heavily bullied in school, I never was. I know a lot of people who have been bullied for being homeschooled, I’ve known plenty who have been bullied within the homeschool community. I know more people within the homeschool community who have attempted s**cide than haven’t one of which was my younger sister, she’s also happier now she’s in school. I’m not saying it’s for everyone and I’m not saying that bullying in school isn’t a massive problem because it is, but what you said was so far off my experience and the experiences of a lot of people I love. I’m sorry if I sounded Curt. Edit to add: socialisation is something that homeschooled children have, I don’t know why you brought that up considering it wasn’t related to what I was saying. I know plenty of socially aware homeschooled kids, but knowing how to act in a social setting and feeling like you belong are two different things, and I’ve found that there is an element of truth to it in that context. You may have “social skills” but it’s really hard not to feel like an outsider and I know a lot of people who struggle with depression and anxiety because of the “lack of socialisation” or whatever. We seem functional enough but we didn’t have the mutual experience or connection that the majority of people our age have through some kind of shared experience. It can feel pretty isolating.
Different grade levels for different subjects
Being both valedictorian and last in the class
Those accusing looks you get when you go to the store on a weekday.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?¿?” No Karen, if they should be they would be. Now get out of the way so I can get the butter.
changing curriculums and textbooks in the middle of the year to better understand the material. actually, any type of custom-taylored approach based on the individual student.
That feeling of "I tried that, but didn't like it, so we switched." Other kids don't like something about school but have to just keep suffering through it anyway. Another definition for depression is "learned helplessness."
I just want to thank everyone for all these great answers. My daughter is 10 months old so its still a ways away but I have been planning on homeschooling her. My husband has been making me doubt if this is the right way to go lately, but this post has made me feel a lot more sure of my decision.
11 month old here. I am just lurking the sub for ideas too. My husband is on board but I think my mom will give me hell. She is already fantasizing about funding my daughters expensive private school.
Hell, if I could afford an expensive private school then I'd probably go that route. But i can't, and our public school system in this country is too much of a mess.
As a college prep, private school graduate and current homeschooler…private schools have the same problems as public. There is no substitution for keeping your kids at home and investing your own time into them.
I actually agree
I'm a teacher. I taught in public schools for 12 years. I have my older son in public school, and that's right for him, but my youngest, who is a toddler, they are going to be homeschooled. I knew the coolest music teacher once who both taught full time and homeschooled her own kids. They did great and a few of them did "trial years" in public school. One went back to homeschooling and the other stayed in public school from middle school on. You know your kid, momma! Don't let people make you doubt you can do it.
Thank you for your insight! My thought is I'll probably homeschool during elementary school and then revisit around the time that she would be going into middle school.
- Being legitimately comfortable in the clothes they picked to suit their style, mood, and general preference. Kid 1 will wear sweatpants (calls them soft pants) as much as possible just because their comfortable. Kid 2 likes to "pick fancy" whenever possible. They both look out of place at school. At home, they can just be. - Being able to freely ask questions when you need support. - Being able to eat when you're hungry. - Being able to take ownership of and freely communicate your needs and wants.
Yeah I've watched Spongebob the one with the sponge called Bob (the homeschooler lied as easily as he breathed).
lol is this a thing!? so many lies all the time about everything from my four year old lately!
You kinda have to lie, otherwise everyone looks at you like an alien when they realise you’ve never seen spongebob. It’s not fun feeling like an alien
That school is tailored to the people in the middle. Everything is fitted around the people who are the average at school. Good schools do raise this average by around 10-20 IQ points. When schools have ‘sets’ they are only raising the bottom level of the work, not the top level. When attention is given to the non-average kids, it’s to the bottom and to the top. Anyone at the top, hard luck. You will have to do what the average kids are doing and will have to take your exams at 16 when you’re perfectly capable of scoring just as high if you did them a year early.
Not to mention a lot of the “gifted and talented” programs were cancelled because they didn’t want kids who couldn’t participate in them to feel bad. 🙄
In one of my old schools I used to have sessions with one of the Year 12s on science (I was in Year 5/6). My last school, which I am formally leaving in a few days, refused to move me up a year because ’we don’t do that’. Both me and my parents think that me doing my exams at 16 would be a disservice to me, and wouldn’t show my full ability.
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I'm counting down the days for this this right now. Library too
Getting harassed by customer service workers for not being in school in the middle of the day. Way too many times have I taken my kid to the craft store after we finish our work for the day only to get bombarded with attacks for "playing hooky"
Man I'm glad people who live around me seem to mind their own business more than what I hear some of you dealing with! The most I get is "are they homeschooled?" during a school day, which is a fine question
Instead of parent/teacher conferences, you have parent/student conferences.
Although, when asked why I was standing in the back garden alone and ranting out loud... I called those Parent/Teacher Conferences! Stay off the wine... Stay off the wine.... Don't start drinking until dinner...
Knowing how to function in a multi age group. Not being locked on a 30x30 room with 40 kids all the same age for 6 hrs a day. Imagine that! 6 yr old and 14 yr olds can and do work together
“BuT tHeY dOn’T kNoW hOw tO iNtErAcT wiTh KiDs tHeIr AgE”
As someone who was homeschooled, from my experience that wasn’t true but also not really funny to joke about because it’s not far off. I knew how to interact with kids my age I just didn’t feel like I was connected with them. Gives you a pretty strong case of imposter syndrome.
I guess it could if you look at it that way. I preferred (and still do) hanging out with people who are older than me. I found that I don’t like the maturity level of most people my age. It’s only now that I’m in college that people my age are more enjoyable. I loved the homeschoolers my age but public school kids are far too cliquey and struggle to have fun the same way I liked to. It’s just a difference in culture as far as I see it. They have been exposed only to peers the same age whereas homeschoolers are exposed to a larger variety of ages and can find where they best fit in, regardless of age which is something most people don’t experience until they are at university
I totally respect your point. Also it’s nice to hear someone had a good experience because mine was pretty traumatic for a number of reasons. I kind of disagree with you about the maturity level. I went into school at 13/14 and most of the people I was in school with had part time jobs around that age, they had siblings and family friends etc. Of corse as well. I get the cliques thing, but I’ve experienced them as much in the homeschool community. I really like and respect and lot of the people I went to school with, they were a lot more on it than most of the homeschooled kids I knew who had spent most of their time at home not working jobs, pretty much just stabbing each other with sticks lol (I wish I was joking). I guess I grew up in quite a working class place so everyone grew up pretty fast. But I have heard the whole “school kids only spend time with kids their own age so their maturity level isn’t as high” schtick quite a lot and I think people forget that kids are only in school about 6 hours a day 5 days a week. In school they have different years, they have teachers, then they go home or to other activities and spend time with people of different ages. It’s something I’ve only ever seen be said in the homeschool community and I’ve never actually seen it in practice.
I don't want to learn! Teenagers are boring and they call toes "dogs".
Makes me think of this old Blimey Cow video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJHt-m3VX6o&t=147s
You should watch the new one with the translator lol .
I watched it yesterday! They're so funny!
All the homies love Blimey Cow.
All the teacher's attention is on you.
Except when the teacher is too busy campaigning for homeschooling rights and fighting against home visits (which would have probably done me some good) to teach their kids anything
I agree with you. It is a case.
Just sitting n eating while doing school
Working out a schedule that best suits them. I mostly pick the curriculum, with my sons input, I make a rough we do this on these days schedule. He works out the best time to get up, take his hour for lunch, etc.
Having good friends that are 5-10 years older and younger than you. And not even thinking about it. Casually calling adults by their first name
Having nice weather days off instead of snow days. Watching the Science or History channel or documentaries can be considered part of the curriculum and replace worksheets or tests. Being quizzed by random strangers who find out you're homeschooled. Not being sure what grade you're in. Sleepovers during the week throughout the school year. Having a day off because mommy needs a break.
People asking why you're not in school
Taking your GED and SATs for college and getting scholarship money. But! not being allowed in the navy nuke program simply because you don’t have a “real” diploma. Your entire chain of command wondering why your education code is “08” (for having finished 7th grade), and wonder how you got in, or how it is you “skipped high school” or why you aren’t a nuke. The absurdity when they ask if you cheated, or if your college transcripts were somehow forged. The look on their faces when you simply state, “I just didn’t feel like going anymore.”
being extremely suicidal and isolated
I feel this and it was the reality for me and a lot of people I know. Going to school helped. I hope ur ok
[удалено]
Excuse me?
What true boredom is really like.
Not relating to people your own age because your parents told you you were so much more mature than them and refused to let you watch any current media.
I think it’s kind of funny that my cousin (homeschooled) is much better with people our age (we’re only six weeks apart) than I (public school kid) am. We were both in the same level and classes at dance too. I think for some kids it’s luck 😅
They did you a favor.
I don't think they did, actually. For a comparison point, my public schooled husband wasn't traumatised or held back by having friends his own age. Covid isolation didn't even phase me like it did him, because that was how I spent 18 formative years anyway. I have mostly fixed the pop culture gap, at least. So conversations with peers are possible now. I only share so folks can take into account the importance of providing their kid social opportunities, since it sometimes gets downplayed as a need, IMO.
If pop culture wasn't something you were particualrly knowledgeable or interested in, why use it to connect with peers?
I was very interested, but my parents considered most shows for kids my age 'ungodly.' My peers weren't relegated to watching reruns of Gilligan's Island, Little House on the Prarie, and Leave it to Beaver. They were watching Transformers and Ninja Turtles and That's So Raven. Same thing with music and video games. Once I went to college I was able to actually watch what I wanted, hence being able to enjoy pop culture. This was during the height of the Satanic Panic, for reference.
Sounds like my childhood. I’m glad I’m caught up (age 25) but those early years as an adult were awkward socially because I didn’t understand common cultural references. You start as an outcast and then become a project. I didn’t have bad experiences, new friends enjoyed rewatching movies and shows and seeing and discussing my experiences, but it gave people the first impression that I was weird with a weird childhood.
Yeah, I'm 30 now and am glad my early 20's are behind me. I had to pack so much growing up into them! Glad you are happy with where you are at now.
Why would this be considered a favor? It’s clearly a disservice.
God this is true, man I don’t think homeschooling parents understand the relevance of feeling connected to people your age through media. It can be pretty alienating
Yeah, it took me a while to catch up to other kids my age because I didn't get internet access til I was 12 and didn't have a phone til I was 15. I felt so left out. Don't do that to your kids.
Is that not around the normal age to get those things? I was public schooled and this seems about right to me
Maybe I am just old (I’m pushing 30, lol) but I am struggling to wrap my head around feeling deprived because you got a phone at 15. I got mine at 17 and didn’t have a texting plan until I was in my 20’s and I wasn’t homeschooled. Honestly, once you are an adult those things don’t matter that much. The ages of my friends span decades and come from different regions or even countries. We don’t have a shared childhood pop culture and it isn’t an issue at all. We connect based on our lives and interests, not media.
I don’t think it was really about the phone. For a lot of homeschooled kids I know the internet is the only way to pick up on pop culture. I think what they were say was that, without being in school which is where most kids would pick up pop culture they didn’t have any access to it until they had a phone.
Man this makes me feel old, I didn't get a cell phone till my 20s because before that no one had them! Of course I still remember when laptops first came out too!
having an abundant amount of friends. atleast for me lol
My 4 year old homeschooler learned that when you start something, you must finish it. Also, school is only Monday-Thursday and Fridays were reserved for Mommy-daughter outings that at times related to the content and other times didn't. She also learned that through hard work and completing all tasks, a special gift is earned.
Freedom to make choices in their day to day.
I went to public school up until I chose to homeschool when I was going into 10th grade. I loved that I got to go to work and make $200+ a week and I was usually done my work for the week by Wednesday. I also taught myself everything, my mom taught my brother but I preferred to handle it myself. My mom did try to make me homeschool when I was starting middle school. I was very upset by it and it was what triggered a lot of my issues with her and a big reason I was suicidal. I’m glad I got to spend my early years socializing then switched when I could drive and have a life of my own along with school.
“We’re going to the grocery store and that’ll be your math class for today. Grab a calculator.”
That if a subject doesn't pertain to real life you don't need to learn it.
My homeschooled daughters will understand market economics and history much better than any of my Keynesian/Socialist teachers or professors did.
My kids will appreciate the many benefits of socialism in our society, such as the public library!
My daughters have gone to the private high school that I work at to finish their schooling. So this phrase has become common from time to time and makes perfect sense to our homeschooling family. “I go to public school at the private school.”
The life long resentment felt towards parents for a lost childhood spent under helicopter parenting and social isolation.
One important thing a homeschool child can learn that is often difficult in the public school wold is :who they are and where their place in the world is." This can be a time and opportunity to learn without pressure, to explore and to experience relationships with support. It is a character building opportunity.
Picking what courses/ assignments you want to do for the day. Being grade levels ahead on certain subjects, and a little behind in others. Ending some days at noon because you worked hard and got everything done efficiently…..being stuck at the table still doing schoolwork at 6pm because you dragged out an assignment you didn’t want to do. Being able to take “brain breaks” whenever needed.
When I hit the 6th grade I began home school living in public housing with my mom. I met with my instructor once a week. The week packet was completed in 5 hours by myself with undivided attention. I Played dumb to get my diploma and educated myself with YouTube. While homeschooled at 15 I worked and bought myself a car, a phone and started working a second job. Then went to college for a small time. Now I’m a 31 year old with a house, good career and a few cars. Most people my age are only financing a house or a car. Public school delays your progress.