Person Makes Their Sister Cry By Quizzing Her After She Claimed She Would Homeschool Her Kid
Interview With Author
Every parent decides what’s best for their children, and that includes their choices regarding education. Many rely on a standardized and robust public education system that offers the necessary knowledge for the students. Others, who can afford it, opt for private schools instead, getting more nuanced and varied curriculums. And then there are the most involved parents of the bunch who opt for homeschooling their children.
Homeschooling is not an easy task, though. It’s a serious commitment that has to ensure a child’s educational and professional future. Parents often have to put a lot of effort and time into teaching their children at home if they wish to achieve good results. Many have to severely limit their work hours or even leave their jobs to be able to provide quality education for their children. That is why there’s no surprise some people express concern that not every parent is capable of such a huge endeavor.
Those are the doubts that redditor @Standard_Ad8440 had when they learned that their sister wants to homeschool their child. After they expressed their concern and received an intense reaction, they turned to the AITA subreddit to check if their worries were valid or not.
With more and more parents choosing to educate their children at home, homeschooling has been growing in popularity in recent years
Image credits: Julia M Cameron (not the actual image)
However, not every parent is capable of doing it well. At least, that is the sentiment of the person telling the story below
Image credits: MART PRODUCTION (not the actual image)
Image credits: Standard_Ad8440
Homeschooling is quite an undertaking that requires planning and effort
The concern is, of course, understandable. Especially because the sister seemed so unbothered about how complicated homeschooling can be. It comes off as just a thought she had and settled on without really doing much research or considering what teaching at home would entail.
People need months of preparation before starting to homeschool. One has to decide what type of schooling method they will be using, what kind of curriculum they will follow, and where they would set up a learning space. The parent has to be organized enough to keep track of all of the child’s records and their academic progress. It is also recommended to look into other schooling options, just in case it turns out that teaching at home is not working as planned.
Then there’s also the question of socializing a child, i.e., determining where and how will your child meet their peers to interact and make friends with. This is especially important for more introverted parents. They have to know that if they do opt for homeschooling, they will often have to get out of their comfort zone to accommodate their child’s socializing needs.
This apparent disregard to all the variables is what made a lot of the commentators side with the sibling who was doubting their sister’s capabilities. Many were astonished by her lack of general knowledge, too, even though it doesn’t necessarily determine how successful of a teacher she could be. If parents are innately curious, excited about learning, and willing to take extra steps to educate themselves, they might still succeed in teaching their child and making education fun. However, if they expect YouTube videos to do the job for them, they need to reconsider.
Image credits: Annushka Ahuja (not the actual image)
Homeschooling is not an inherently bad practice, it’s just something one has to dedicate themselves to in order to succeed
While many redditors expressed their distaste for homeschooling and their perception that it only works occasionally, there’s not a lot of scientific evidence suggesting that teaching at home is bad for children. The reason for that could be because the leaders of the movement discourage homeschoolers to participate in any sort of research so it’s a hard topic to study. Still, the opinions that people have are mostly reflections of their anecdotal knowledge of the matter.
Many people associate homeschooling with fringe beliefs. A quick search on TikTok or Instagram can only further this idea as some homeschoolers there openly denounce modern medicine and everything that’s “not natural.” Then there are also parents that pull their children out of schools because of their religious beliefs and only present them a narrow view of the world in their teachings. Other parents take their children out of the public system because of their dissatisfaction but without planning to put any effort in it. Buying a few books for your child does not constitute teaching, and it seems that OP’s sister is doing just that.
However, there are many great examples of parents that excel in homeschooling. They offer their children a variety of experiences and unique ways of learning that makes it fun and interesting. Children that don’t fit in the public system because of their behavior, learning speed, or negative social experiences can really benefit from homeschooling. A parent that puts a lot of love and care into educating their children who want to be homeschooled (that’s also very important!) can have wonderful results. It can allow children to graduate early or find their true passions with more ease.
Unfortunately, the intentions of the OP’s sister don’t seem very rational. Apparently, she “doesn’t trust what teachers teach” so she prefers for her children to “learn through the world.” This, compounded with the fact that the OP’s sister didn’t seem to be ready for her teaching journey is quite worrying. Her emotional reaction to OP’s comment might also mean that she feels unsure about her capabilities, as well.
Maybe this situation will make the mother reconsider her decision. Or it’ll make her more determined to be better prepared for the upcoming school year as well as the negative comments from the family. The OP should most likely brace themselves for the latter.
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual image)
The OP clarified a few things regarding the situation in the comments
Most agreed with the sibling, saying their concern is justified
I don't understand how a government can just allow anyone to homeschool their kids. Surely there should be some type of evaluation done to ensure you have both the knowledge and the patience to teach your kid everything they need to know OR you should be required to bring in a qualified tutor to do the classes. Hell when my 16 year old cousin decided she wanted the homeschooling thing my aunt had to sign her up to an online school where she's required to attend lectures every day and hand in coursework....and she's beyond the age of compulsory education.
As someone who homeshooled I agree wholeheartedly. One of my daughter's friend started homeshooling after.we did. It was just sad. The woman put an emphasis on things she.wanted to do, like pottery, and had no curriculum, just whatever appealed at the time. With us, my mother-in-law handled needlecraft. I handled basics. My father in law physics and higher math She scored "off the charts" on state tests. Homeschooling can be very successful, but the child's needs, then interests must come first. One real advantage, she.knew all about the financial stuff we never learn in high school by tje time she was back in school in 8 th grade, around 14 years old. Sorry for errors on my phoneand too lazy to edit
Load More Replies...
I considered homeschooling my daughter... for a hot minute. Being able to travel and see other cultures while also learning would be great. But I also think she needs the social experience of being around people her own age. It can be hard though because she has to deal with bigotry and racism (welcome to being a poc in the U.S.) while merely getting an education. Most people who want to do homeschooling, in my experience, want to keep their kids in their ideology bubble.
I homeschool my kids and became a stay at home father to do so. Everyone called me crazy until they saw how advanced my kids education is and they pulled their kids out and now I teach/tutor friends and family kids too while giving them plenty of chances to socialize. Plus kids at schools, especially public school can be awful. You don't want them falling in with the wrong kids (who are also victims.) This way I know she's making friends with other good kids and not picking up any bad habits. She's honestly a social butterfly who says hi to everyone she meets. I joke she's gonna get snatched up one day.
Load More Replies...
I was homeschooled through high school. I didn’t like it but did well with it. Algebra 1&2, geometry, trig, analytical geometry, college prep chemistry, physics, editor level English, and two years of Spanish. I scored very high on the ACT and SAT. Other kids I knew who were homeschooled could barely read. It’s no so much about the ability of the parents to teach as it is about what curriculum is utilized. Also, the student needs to be motivated and engaged.
Just some food for thought, from a former high school teacher of 10 years. The whole "they need to go to school for the socialization" makes sense until age 6. About 3-6 is an essential tome for what is called "collaborative learning" and "concrete learning". After that in public schools, kids do A LOT of individual learning and abstract learning (sit at your own desk with worksheets). They get 20 mins on playground and 20 mins for lunch. Then th
...then in middle-high, no more recess, and good lunch having time to sit and chat during lunch. 5 minutes to get to each class, where you sit and take notes. Working collaboratively is considered a "new technique" and I doubt many districts are really pushing that in high school between behavioral issues, overcrowding, state testing requirements. And here's the biggest argument IMO...
Load More Replies...
As someone who was a substitute teacher to a bunch of 8 year olds for a hot minute, I can confidebtly say most adults have absolutely no business homeschooling their kids. There is a reason teachers need degrees!
"HOW HARD CAN IT BE?" And we wonder why teachers are leaving the profession in droves! People have no respect for educators and all we do for our students. It doesn't stop at simply giving the children the material. It's knowing HOW they learn, what strategies to use, and how to circumvent any learning problems they might have. A NASA engineer might be a genius, but can he help a kid learn and retain that information? In the long run, it's all about what's best for the child!
Trying to do what's best for the child is why people are removing their kids from PS. Perhaps if all these educated educators would focus more on teaching kids facts instead of their own personal beliefs, and stop trying to hide things from parents, maybe the parents would leave there kids in public schools.
Load More Replies...
In the U.K. homeschooling is rare, despite what the doom mongers will have you believe our schools and teachers are doing a great job under difficult and testing times. I’m from a family of headteachers, teachers and support staff, I have relatives and friends in pretty much every stage of the education system. I have witnessed children who’ve been removed from the school system and they struggle, their teamwork and social skills lag behind their peers, they have trouble with conflict resolution when presented with group situations and they lack the communication skills to interact with their peers. Unless parents put in the effort (y’know like a professional does every day at school) then their lack of interaction with other children makes their journey to adulthood a difficult one. Academically they may achieve what’s required but there’s a lot more to school and life than ticking boxes regarding exams etc. Children benefit from being around a diverse group of ages and backgrounds.
But they're not usually around diverse ages and backgrounds in most school. At least not in the US. Districts here are drawn based on tax brackets and demographics, often back when redlining was common, so schools are not racially diverse, or economically diverse even. Kids are split into age based grades, and rarely socialize outside their class/grade. So they only learn to socialize with people their age, their race, their economic background, often even similar religions or cultures. Some homeschoolers totally wind up with the same problem, but homeschool provides an opportunity for kids to travel, be part of more diverse groups, socialize outside of *just* their exact peers. Either way, home school or mainstream school, parents have to find ways to foster their kids' social development. Plus US schools teach a lot of false information, much of it dated and a lot of historical propaganda thas super whitewashed and Disneyfied, the rest of the world teaches differently.
Load More Replies...
I find it interesting that it's typically idiots that homeschool their kids. Ive met a lot of home schooled kids and they're struggling. I've met a fair amount of parents that plan on homeschooling and most of them are some of the dumbest people I've met. I was homeschooled for a month (the classroom had mold and my mom refused to let me go and taught me instead until the school fixed the problem). My mom was my teacher, my mom was a former teacher and went back to work after I was in middle school. She even acknowledged she was giving me a sub par education compared to what school could.
Your "sub par education" by your mom was probably due to her doing "public school at home." Homeschool is not public school, nor should it be treated as such. If homeschooling is done right, those being educated are taught by everyday life. For example, if the parent has bills to pay then you show (teach) your child how to read the bill and pay it (every single month.) If you need to write a letter, show (again teach) your child how letters are formatted and have them write one to a grandparent or friend. You can teach fractions by baking, finding "area" by measuring a room you need carpeted (bonus if you teach them to actually lay the carpet too), reading by reading with them and letting them know the sounds of letters, etc. Field trips to the zoo, science museums, history museums, and even the grocery store are used in their learning. Homeschooled kids should not be sitting at a table doing worksheets for 6+ hours a day. They are to explore the world, how it works, and live in it!
Load More Replies...
I strongly feel that public education is important for both words in the term - the education isn't just in reading, writing and arithmetic, but also how to interact with others. I have met many homeschoolled people who have great trouble being in wider society because that just wasn't part of their education. Even the ones who actually got a decent amount of knowledge (probably less than a third of homeschoolers I've met could enter university without remedial courses) just don't get a lot of social cues like "don't stare google-eyed at people of a different race", or "announcing your bodily functions is not necessary".
Here's a bit from my own experience. I've been known to have good social skills even though I was extremely isolated and homeschooled. But something that might be even worse than being awkward is the social anxiety I struggle with and the fact that the anxiety makes it hard for me to keep friends. I'm 29 now. And on the other side, my husband was actually also homeschooled but his parents are lovely and socialized him by having people over, getting him involved in extracurricular activity and involved in their church groups. Some people see him and think homeschooling is great but it's really just his parents who are great. I am severely messed up because of it. We are both the poster children for it and against it. Aka, why it needs to be regulated.
Load More Replies...
Homeschooling is a terrible idea, in general. I say this as a parent with a kid in an online, public school. He has regular classes, with actual teachers, and his school works with us concerning his disabilities. (E.g, his homework is due by the end of the semester so he doesn't have to worry when he has a migraine.) The only time I'm aware homeschool has worked was when it was done through a program, usually in a rural setting.
I think often it's a terrible idea. To successfully homeschool your kids you need to be their teacher in very subject and every grade you want to teach them, their principal, their guidance councillor, and their parent. You are also completely in charge of their social life and mental health. If you fail even at one of these things your child will be set back and if you choose to do this through their entire schooling, any set back can follow them through the rest of their life. This is why I think there needs to be tests for the parent to see what they are qualified to teach, testing for the child to make sure they are learning, and a social worker involved to make sure this kid isn't being stunted socially or mentally and that they are living a full and healthy life. If someone considering homeschooling finds this too much or doubts they can do it, they should not be homeschooling and yes, it would be a terrible idea.
Load More Replies...
This is complete nonsense, coming from a public school teacher who resigned to homeschool my own babies. As long as you have the desire to learn alongside your kids, you can teach them. Better, they'll learn to problem solve, too, because they'll have to take more ownership of learning and not rely on "good job" to know they've gotten the correct answer. Honestly wish I didn't waste my money on a degree I didn't need to do this job.
To the people sharing amazing stories of successful homeschooled people, that's awesome! That makes me truly happy and it sounds like you did everything you should have for them. However, my life was shattered by it. This isn't a black and white situation. My parents failed. I am trying to advocate for the right to educate children but also that the government still needs to be involved to help protect children from parents who should not be homeschooling their kids. There shouldn't be room for an abusive parent, absent parent, neglectful parent, uneducated parent, drug addicted parent, or many other struggles that people have, to be in charge of their child's education and, possibly, social life. There has to be regulation to make sure that doesn't happen and to make sure the child is being educated. Sorry if my many replies to peoples comments are too much. I had a severe ptsd episode last night because of my childhood and I am 29. Homeschooling is a serious decision.
I never heard of a homeschooling case in my country (probably it's not even a thing here) and i only know the basic things about it from books etc. I'm asking this with these barely basic knowledge: can someone explain me why is homeschooling is a thing? Why is it accepted as a type of education? I mean, it doesn't sound or look effective to me.....
Homeschooling is a thing because not all schools can meet the needs of every child at all times. Some kids have IEPs (medical or behavioral), some children are bullied at school, some families do a lot of traveling in the off season, some parents have issues with the schools curriculum and what is or isn't being taught, some students need more time to follow their extracurricular activities (acting, gymnastics, etc.) It is accepted because parents needed another way to give their children an education because public school didn't or doesn't work for their child's (or family) needs. It's effective because parents, unlike what you're reading here, want what's best for their children and public school isn't fulfilling it. Before I began homeschooling, the best advice I got was to have a "mission statement." What is it I want out of my homeschool? Write it down and read it daily. If you're not fulfilling that mission statement everyday then change how you're homeschooling to meet it.
Load More Replies... I wish I could've been a part of the original post. I would have told OP, from experience.... There are so many resources out there to help you successfully homeschool your child that it's almost overwhelming. I know sometimes people have great intentions, but true wisdom requires one to not speak on what they know nothing of. When I pulled my 3 children out of public school in 2014, EVERYone had something negative to say. Today, they are in awe at who & how my children turned out to be. Let me encourage anyone who is sincerely thinking about homeschooling their child/children. I am the epitome of someone who should have ABSOLUTELY not homeschooled. Single mother, NO support, minimum income, HS sophomore drop out w/ a G.E.D, & only some college. It did NOT matter, because the one thing I did have was the desire to see my babies excel past anything I was ever able to accomplish & for them to be independent critical thinkers....
My eldest daughter...started her own sweets business at the age of 15 & by the time she was 18 was shipping all over the country, did work for a major TV show, a major gospel singer, & more. My son, left home at 18 as a six figure young man...He is his own brand & is a celebrity who has not only broken 12 world records in his field, but has created 2 records & broke those. He has been featured on NFL.com, ESPN, & more. He was being paid between $100-300 & hour at the age of 16 just to teach grown men how to do what he does. My baby girl...has multiple choices & is still determining who she was called to be. But in the meantime was dubbed a young phenom in 3 different areas of skill. My kids excelled because I took them out of a system that is only interested in indoctrination & dumbing down society. I placed them in an environment where they were challenged to figure out WHO they were w/o outside influence telling them who they should be, how they should dress, & how to keep up....
Load More Replies... I homeschool my kids. I also have an advanced degree and quit my job to be a strict stay at home father. Homeschooling has many benefits, for instance being able to focus classes when my children are most alert and ready to learn is very helpful. I also enroll them in competitive things like gymnastics and spelling bees to make sure they're up to speed. Homeschooling is a very serious commitment and a lot of people abuse that unfortunately. I had a similar situation though where my child argued the constitution and did some math. A friend got jealous and said, 'well sure but can you do calculus or trig anymore? How are you going to teach that?' I just whipped out my phone and calculated whatever problem he gave me and showed him the Khan academy courses. Plus she's six so I got a long time to worry about that and I have no problem hiring a tutor if she needs one. We buy curriculums online and let her work them at her own speed meaning she's a few grades ahead already.
We also did a ton of research before we decided to homeschool and based on mine and my wife's experience with public schools this was the only way we could come up with that guaranteed our children had a teacher who loved them and took their education seriously instead of over worked, stretched thin underpaid people who have to focus on thirty kids and slow down the learning of the advanced kids to give extra time to the slower. As a result I can shape the curriculum to focus on their weaknesses while skipping through their strengths. It became so effective that friend who questioned me took his kids out of school and I now run a homeschooling class for nine kids of family and friends. Nine is about my limit so I have no idea how anyone could hope to teach 20+.
Load More Replies...
Honestly there are relatively few situations where I think homeschooling is justified, nobody will remember everything a kid needs to learn especially after elementary school. I was homeschooled for a significant fraction of my education, and there were significant gaps in my education that became blatantly obvious when I was switched to public school.
NTA…there’s a reason that teacher is an actual job you have to learn. Here in Germany you need to go to university and actually study the topic AND pedagogy. (By the way: the concept of homeschooling is so strange and off-putting to me, that OP is per default NTA!)
Homeschooled myself out if highschool early here and these are my two cents: don't. Kids need a peer group. It really scréwed me over. Just. Don't. Even if you're smart. Yes, public school is a hot mess, but most of the homeschoolers I've met are somehow even worse. Yes, there are exceptions, but those are rare. Please, encourage your kids to go to school, support their learning, and get them help if they're having trouble.
Homeschooling is mainly for right-wingers who want to keep their kids in their bubble.
Or those who understand that delusions and facts are two different things. Still find it funny that during the pandemic, the left kept saying things like "It's science! What, you don't believe in science?!?" And now they are all like "Facts doesn't matter, feelings are what matters! Delusions should be encouraged, not treated!"How about a little consistency? Btw, Independent, both left and right have lost touch with reality...
Load More Replies...
I think people here are very biased and judgemental. OP included. Was she right to maybe quiz the sister? Honestly as aholey as it is I do agree. The sister needs to realise how much work it involves. I do also think that the Government needs better regulations and more checks for all forms of schooling, home-schooling especially - to ensure kids are getting the support for learning and wellbeing that they need. And to ensure nothing is abusive. But to say Home-schooling as a whole is a c**p idea is to throw out the pan with the bath water (as the saying goes) instead of trying to clean it. I also think OP didn't need to add their views on Home-schooling, it had no relevance to the concern of their sister not being able to teach her kids well, other than bigotry, which honestly she can't and would be better off with tutors. At least the way it was said by OP it didn't have relevance to the initial concern. Just came across as painting all with the same brush. Like many of the-
-comments here are doing. I think some people also forget not everyone lives in the US and some Home-schooling is more regulated in other places and give good educations.
Load More Replies...
This is a thing I have never understood about the US education. Where I live you have to have really good reasons to keep your child out of school. And then you need to use an online school
At least. If you are not in contact with a school who will send you school work in a brief time
Load More Replies...
Quite frankly, I blame the rise and explosion of homeschooling for our current state of educational and cultural decline. As others have pointed out, even those trained in early education know they have limits. But somehow we're fine with ordinary people teaching children on their own, using their own limited knowledge and nonstandardized educational aids, ranging from the Internet- to social media- to religion-provided? Thanks to this, we have ignoramuses teaching ignorance.
Are you fine with ordinary people becoming parents? I only ask because "ordinary parents" teach their children how to walk, talk, eat, and use the toilet. Why does society find it okay for parents to teach their young (with no experience I may add) to around age 6 and then all-of-a-sudden think we are no longer capable of teaching anything beyond?
Load More Replies...
I was homeschooled from 4th grade through my freshman year of HS. My mother & step father are the ones that took me out of school. My father was adamantly against it so he made a deal with my mom. As long as I took the year end tests at a public school to assess my education level every year and I was not falling behind, he would agree to the homeschool arrangement. The minute it looked like my education was in jeopardy, he would make sure I was put back into the public school system. Luckily my mother is a smart cookie. We had some difficulties in the beginning as my homeschool curriculum was WAY more difficult than public school curriculum (also before the days of PCs in every home), I ended up being far more advanced after the 1st year than my public school counterparts. After the 1st full year of homeschooling, which was 5th grade, my tests scores were HS & college level. Where I suffered was social skills. It was my step father's idea to take me out of school, move to an isolated part of Montana, and prevent me from having any friends. He was an abusive man and a religious fanatic, so no surprise he wanted me isolated. So I got brainwashed AND became very book smart. Took years to deprogram but I learned a ton and still use the learning skills I acquired during that time.
The OP had me until the line “I told her the answers.” The answers aren’t relevant to the discussion, just designed to show superiority. And guess what? When teachers go to college, they learn things like classroom management, NOT listing the planets. (Are we listing Pluto again, or what’s going on with that? But I digress.) Some teachers will have to teach math when they haven’t done math in years and hated it then. They get lesson plans and figure it out. I have a doctorate, and there are some things middle school kids are taught that I would possibly need to refresh on. Why? Because we all learn it then and then leave it behind. Teaching is about lesson planning and preparation for those lessons.
NTA it was a reasonable example of why they aren't qualified. Dunning Kruger, the idea that dumb people don't have the requisite intelligence to know just how dumb they are, is on full display and it's why this country is going to s**t
It depends on a few factors. I was horribly bullied and would have loved homeschooling, but was never given the option because it was too expensive. Or something else that was just entirely stupid like I wouldn't have done my work (when I was the only one of my sibling and myself.to.do the homework and such. But if this girl isn't gonna have any issues, why bother? I don't get parents like this.
Most states have specific home schooling curriculum guidelines. If they decide to do that, they would need to pick up those materials. Parents have to cover the same subjects as a regular school does. Sister can't skip out on the time she devotes to this either. Takes more than 45 minutes a day. I don't think home schooling is a good idea. I know a few children who have been home schooled and they end up sadly lacking in social and coping skills. Sister would surely find out that it's beyond her reach to do this. Especially if she has no command of the material herself.
OP is not the AH. She just gave her sister a reality check... and it hurt. Realizing that you don't have "the propper knowledge" to homeschool your child, is probably quite embarrassing and who likes to be embarrassed... by their own sister at that. But it's good that they now (probably) realize they need to let their child go to school...even if they don't like it. In addition, not only academic knowledge is important and parents can certainly teach their child a lot of knowledge that is not taught in school.
Let me give YOU a little reality check. If a woman asks her husband, "Does this make me look fat?", and it does, he would still be the AH for giving her the reality check of "Yes honey, it definitely does." So how exactly is OP not an AH? Also, school is no longer about knowledge, it is about beliefs being pushed on impressionable young minds. That is the reality, whether you choose to believe it or not.
Load More Replies...
So this is an indication of the failures of education: both homeschooling and public. OP said HER SISTER couldn't do those tasks, and OP went to a "S****Y PUBLIC SCHOOL" indicating that her sister with 99% confidence, also attended same "s****y public school". As someone who taught for a year... I'm homeschooling. I had to teach multiplication, division and rounding to sophomores... While I was supposed to be teaching quadratics, so I don't know if they got the advanced topic because I had to teach 1-3rd grade math. Writing was atrocious. So if you haven't fixed your own deficiencies coming from public school, then you need to have someone who has... Whether they are certified or not.. because I'd rather have my brother, who dropped out of high school teach math than a public school teacher based off his knowledge(obviously I would do it considering I have a degree in mathematics,but also Id have no issue w/ my husband teaching considering his dumbass can do cubic(root) equations
Homeschooling does work 90% of the time, but you have to be really invested in it and it takes a lot of work. In my area we have a really good support system of home schoolers and have been lucky enough to have someone who is great in each different subject and we all teach each others kids. We also don't take the same school holidays, so we can travel out of peak times, which is much cheaper. We've also just started GCSE groups with 4 of our kids, so for that we have to follow the regular curriculum, but it's working.
Was OP nice about it? No, they were frankly really mean about the sisters perceived intelligence. However, were they right? Yes. Homeschooling should frankly be banned unless it's for some very specific situations like a kid being severely disabled and not having schools with the right accommodations in the area. In pretty much any other case kids should be going to school.
Asking basic education questions, of a person who wants to teach, is mean? How?
Load More Replies...
People keep talking about the lack of social interaction, but all they're doing is demonstrating their ignorance. I grew up with a number of friends who were homeschooled, and while they were admittedly a bit quiet at times or on the "odd" side, they did socialize frequently. I forget what they called it specifically (I think it was "co-op"?), but basically they would meet up with other homeschooled kids from the area for regular weekly outings and group activities, sometimes for group lessons/field trip type scenarios and other times just for fun. It was organized through a program that operates nationwide, and it gives homeschooled kids an opportunity to develop those necessary social skills. At any rate, all of the homeschooled kids I knew growing up turned out just fine (save for one, but I think it had less to do with the homeschooling and her brother ended up alright). Most graduated early and went on to go to good colleges and now have some pretty successful careers actually.
Hence we have a whole lot of functional illiterates due to delusional parents with 4th to 6th grade educational skills thinking they can “teach”. True “homeschooling “ can only be achieved by utilizing one of many online methods which are closely monitored by educational professionals, not by idiotic parents.
You don't need to be a genius to be able to homeschool. With all of the different programs that are available it is possible to do it, and do it well. I know a lot of people who homeschool and their kids are very smart and well socialized through sports/extracurricular activities. So my advice to the anyone thinking about it would be to ignore all of the ignorant nay sayers. Research everything you can and do what is best for your child. You can't beat one on one learning.
It’s easy to learn alongside your kids. I tell you I learned way more in the process of homeschooling my children than I ever did in the public school system. There are all sorts of different methods and programs and situations that still qualify as homeschool. There are online systems there are co-ops… and tutors if needed. MYOB it’s not your kid to raise.
First things first, I welcome all the downvotes I'm about to receive, bring it on. Second, OP is not just an AH but a See You Next Tuesday. Next, at least here in Northern Virginia, we live in the present, and at least since covid (shortly after is when my friends started homeschooling their kids) the parents aren't teaching anything, homeschooling is essentially the same as all schools were during the pandemic, with the lessons being conducted online. The kids even get to pick subjects of interest to them to add to their curriculum, things that would be unavailable at the in person schools, and the parents know whats being taught to their kids. Basically it's online college, but for kids, and theirs are absolutely excelling. Lastly, and the thing that'll earn me those downvotes, public schools are no longer about education. They are about pushing beliefs, not facts, on to young, impressionable minds. Why anyone with other options would continue sending kids to PS is beyond me...
I home schooled both my boys and it was easy ,the system is still hooked up with the school board and they give you the parent the materials needed and plus there are tests and assignments the child needs to submit to the distance teacher...so quizing someone about what they know was cruel....yes sister was the a h....
It is a controversial question: where do the rights of the parent end and the rights of the child begin? Where ends the responsibility of the government/society to that child, to set them up for success, and when does that responsibility/interest supercede the rights of the parents? (The Atlantic wrote an article about this a few years ago, offhand, it's worth a read). It's in society's interest for kids to become good, productive citizens; it is in society's interest that the child is healthy, stable, capable of happiness, not spreading misery or draining resources. I think the rights of parents as owners should be much less important than the rights of the children as their own being. Honestly I think the interest of society in the child should have greater weight than the interest of the parents, all of society, but especially that child, suffers when the parents do a bad job.
OP is not the AH here. People often underestimate how hard homeschooling can be. My mom tried homeschooling my sister because of her ADHD but just didn't realize how hard it was. I think it lasted a week before she decided to quit. Luckily it was during the summer so my sister was able to get back to school easily enough.
There was probably a more tactful way to get the sister to realize homeschooling is not as easy as she thinks. Having the knowledge is the bare minimum for being able to teach. Teaching is a skill that not everyone has, nor should they be expected to have. Patience and emotional strength are also needed. The sister's reaction to the questions concerns me more so than her inability to answer the questions. Maybe instead of focusing on her lack of teaching ability, it would have been more helpful to get at the root cause for why they want to home school in the first place. There's some fear there leading to that decision. Addressing the fear itself goes a long way to relieving it.
Those "parents" are about to jeopardize their daughter's whole future because they are not smart enough to understand how limited they are. They are 100% the AH, not OP. OP is only trying to protect her niece from gross negligence.
Teachers need to be able to explain the subject material from the books.. Just reading a book is not going to always be helpful. I don't think her sister is capable of doing that. She was right to point this out. Like you should be able to remember how to do division and what a verb is if you're an adult. If you don't, then obviously you're not capable of really understanding those things.
NTA at all. Very few parents are truly up to the task of homeschooling their children. Far too often homeschooling results in children without the skills to move on to college or into the work force and not just on an academic level. These kids also lack the organizational skills, the social skills, the planning/goal setting skills, the work ethic, and the worldly and emotional maturity. It is not wrong to question your sister on such an important life changing decision and the fact that your sister to reacted by running away crying proves that your sister lacks a lot more than just the academic knowledge needed to produce a well rounded child through homeschooling.
The trumper sister is going to homeschool her kids and she doesn't know what 1 plus 1 equals. Typical trumper. 🤑
Nowhere in the post did it say the sister was a "trumper." I homeschool and not a Trump fan.
Load More Replies...
My daughter has serious anxiety issues, especially when it came to tests. She ended up with a 504 program, but not before students started making fun of her. When sent home during covid, her grades went WAAAY up due to lack of stress. I enrolled her into Discovery K12 online for 2 years. I have all of her essays and tests in binders. She is returning to high school in the fall and I have forwarded her grades to the school. They will be evaluating her to see if she needs any additional help in any subject. Discovery K12 allows you to learn at any time during the day which is how you can supervise the learning. If you don't understand something, such as algebra, you can easily search for answers and help
We homeschooled and it is the one thing I've never had any doubts about or regretted doing. I was a substitute teacher when my oldest was about to be of age for kindergarten. The things I was seeing in the school system made me hesitate to enroll her, and I ended up just not doing it. I never said, "I'm going to homeschool my kids." It was more of a situation where I didn't want to put her in school---so, now what? At first I tried to replicate school at home. We were both miserable, and hated it. Then I jumped onto the unschooling philosophy and she thrived. We made sure she was getting the basics, and everything else just followed her interests. Her two brothers were also homeschooled. No rushing around in the mornings, no homework struggles at night, no one telling us where to be and when, or what subject matter was required. We learned math, vocabulary, grammar through games. We read a ton of books out loud together. We did a lot of Mad Libs.
Documentaries, Crash Course subjects (Thanks, Hank & John Green!), CNN student news were all part of our mornings. We went on tons of field trips, sometimes just us, sometimes with local groups. My kids were all in sports, and other extracurricular activities, and have always had friends--so no issue with socialization. We used to do board game club! My one son's best friend lives down the street, he was public schooled. You would not meet my kids and immediately guess they are homeschooled. We enrolled each kid into high school so they'd get an accredited diploma. My oldest graduated top of her class, won three scholarships, and went to Uni for engineering. My second kid started high school at 12, graduating at 16. He also won scholarships, but wasn't interested in college and we're fine with that. My youngest is still in high school and he's having no issues.
Load More Replies... we had to do homeschooling during the pandemic. i ended up on anti depressants and had a full nervous breakdown. three kids in different learning levels all taking online zoom classes at the same time... it as hell on earth
That's not homeschooling. That's doing public school at home.
Load More Replies...
Yes you are this time. I homeschooled one of my children out of necessity for a couple years. It was difficult yes but they do give you books and a helpful counselor (at least they did for me and my child) Big deal you're smarter than her.. so what? I think it was pretty much an a*hole move to humiliate her like that
I was homeschooled for part of my school career, loved it, wish we had done more of it. But. My mother WAS a teacher, and my father was a research mathematician. I had loads of siblings and foster siblings (about 20 all told, though I think 16 is the most we had at once!) so socialization at home wasn't really an issue. I had a neurological disorder, a compromised immune system, and a corneal defect that made me blind. In public schools, teachers and children often failed to understand my medical issues. I was frequently sick. Worse, I was frequently ignored by adults and relentlessly tormented by children. After any number of bruises, a handful of cuts, at least one broken bone, and eventually rape...yeah, sometimes even crappy homeschool is better.
People are mean and judgemental. Imagine having someone looking over your shoulder constantly telling you to stay in your own lane.
My son will be 3 with other kids around you cannot get his attention. Yes its so easy to tell at this age. My son will be homeschool. For people who has an issue because parents will teach their kids the Bible. So what the school system takes God out of it. For your info my daughter spent all day in school, came home and spent the next few hours at my school. Yes we have Bible studies in my house everyday. My daughter took her small Bible to school with her. At lunch she went to a teacher who also is into God and that teacher allow her to use their classroom so she can read her Bible in peace. I refuse to let my son be in a school that tells him God makes a mistake and he can be a girl if he wants. I refuse to let him be in a school if the teacher makes a mistake and he tells them the teacher sends him to the office like they did my daughter. I refuse to have to worry if someone decides to shoot up the school or if the teacher is having a bad day. I refuse to worry if my son is out in
The hallway when the late bell ring that my son will be arrested. I refuse to let my son be in a school where they refuse to teach black history so the government don't have to worry about uproar in the future. Sorry the school system is a joke. I use to teach in it and trust me it sucks. You go ahead and keep trusting them, soon your kids will not have any education really. It will be a zoo a place where killings happens all the time. It will be a war zone where you have no rights of what your child learns. I teaches my kids everything and yes especially about God.
Load More Replies...
My daughter needs to be around people but I kept teaching her. Come to find out my ways of teaching is being thrown out in high-schools, but not in colleges. My daughter got an A on her 1st paper she wrote in college. The rest of the class received D's and E's. When asked what school she went to she told them o no I didn't learn that way in school i learned that way from my mom. Her professor told the class to see her on how to write papers. My daughter is in school for law. She's on the deans list and she does everything the way I taught her not the way the school system did. Her husband went to a public school he hated it and is not social. My daughter gotten her social skills with clubs she was in because the students in her class always felt dumb when she opened her mouth. By the time my daughter was in the 6th grade i had her reading and writing on a college level. The book her taught her to read from was the bible. Wow
I have always taught my daughter. She just did the work in school, but she learned at home. From the time she was 1 I was teaching her she answer all the questions right on the first day of school. School was actually to easy for my child. I had ignorant family members like this woman. When I decided to homeschool my child in the 2nd grade because the principal wouldn't discipline a boy that was putting his hands on my daughter all because he had an IED. My cousin's mom and grandma (my mom's niece and her sister), ran around the family talking c**p about me saying I am not smart enough to homeschool my child. My daughter was doing a research every month on our different ancestors and writing a 5 page essay. She was doing science projects that you see 5th graders doing. In 2nd grade she was doing long divisions. By the end of the year I was having her spell words you don't really learn until middle school. I went to the library and research what I wanted my daughter to learn and what I
Wanted her to get out of her education. My daughter would volunteer at my job reading to the kids. You can do anything to teach your child when you home school them. Reality using verbs and all that other bull you really don't actually need to know those terms. All you need to know is how to write and speak a proper sentence. They label them in school to make it seem like they are really teaching you something. You can take that from an actual teacher. My daughter wanted to go to this private school with my friends daughter. It was an all black school so I let her. Well guess what we was from an all white neighborhood and she got pick on by the black staff for it. Than I transfer her to the school by our house. Well the rest of that year went great. Than when a white student whose mom was not hands on with her child like I was with my child start bullying my daughter and had her friends do it as well guess who the staff supported. The little girl actually told the principal that her mother taught her that blacks don't care for their kids. Lol 😂 this little girl been at my house, stayed a night. My sister got my daughter a limo for her birthday my daughter only chose 2 people to ride with her and that little girl was one of them. We brought her things. I took them shopping at the mall and brought all 3 of them whatever they wanted. Anytime the little girl mom was busy i picked her and her brother up from school and drop them off. We goes pass the bakery in the morning for school they dont and the little girl likes their donuts. So we stops and grab her a donut every morning. So because I do all of this for my child who was my only child my daughter got bully. I pulled her out and homeschool her. When I put her back into school the first time I was asked by the board was I sure. Because you have to turn in your child's work at the end of the year. They tells me my daughter learned way more at home, than she ever would have in the school setting. When I recieve the letter in the mail how great I did in teaching my child and all she learned my family members who spoke against me felt stupid. They actually try to hire me to tutor their grandkids and friends kids.
Load More Replies...
I agree with the idea that homeschooling in general is a bad idea and in this particular case appears to be a really terrible one. However, I do have to ask why do they want to homeschool? Is there some behind the scenes reason like bullying at school, financial difficulty? Or worse they have strict religious/political believes that they don't want their kid to be de-indoctrinated out of.
Can somebody have religious beliefs that aren't "strict?" And is that really worse than being bullied?
Load More Replies... YTA instead of trying to discourage her sister she should have just did some research to help her sister. 1) You all are so dumb to not know you have to register your kids with the school district to homeschool them. They have to give you books for you to get a normal basics on what to teach your child. 2)Your child can work on their level and at their pace when homeschooled. The school district also gives you a list of places that offers social events with other kids. Do she really think putting her sister down is going to change her mind? No it's not, but what it really going to do is push her sister away of not taking any help or support from her or anyone else. I am so over it and if you are so supportive with these schools these days your just lazy. What is your child learning in school? You have the right to go against your parents. The government controls you and you have no voice to stand up against them. I'm sorry but the school system is a joke.
The issue here is its not about peoples opinion, its about facts. The fact is homeschooled children have much better outcomes than public schooled children and even private schooled children. This has been shown in study after study. Another fun fact, the teaching profession has a child SA offender rate of 10%. For reference, the catholic church only has a rate of 1.25%, the general population has a rate of 2.5%, and even high powered jobs where people are more likely to be psychopaths has a rate of 8%. This means 1 in 10 people working in a school are sexually attracted to children. Another fact, homeschooled children are far less likely to have suicidal thoughts. The cdc recently came out with an analysis on young girls and found that over 60% of girls were struggling with mental health issues. The biggest cited reason was bullying from other girls, the second was S harassment from boys. So for those of you who claim children need the socialization, is that what you had in mind?
Parents don't just generally jump into homeschooling. They look deeply at the school system and at the needs of their children. They consider their own personal convictions and strive to do what they think will be best. This is a freedom and right that every family should have. It's fine to have safety measures in place to make sure kids are actually learning but other than that get out of the way. I know a ton ofhomeschooling families and their kids are not only well adjusted but polite, hard working, helpful, and extremely bright. They do things that require real life skills and wisdom. They know things that I never learned in public school, and are constantly impressing me with various accomplishments or projects. I hear the hearts of these Mom's seeking to equip their kids to be able to reason with sound logic, know truth from lies, understand financial responsibility, speak foreign languages play musical instruments, on top of regular gen Ed. They are amazing 👏 don't judge them
Who says public school curriculum is better and they learn what is needed? Many have to take and pay for basic math and basic reading and writing and grammar in college with no credits because they were not taught what they were supossed to be. Then there is the bullying and sexualization of kids in PS . is earning and socialization and education? No it not. Let's be real public school isn't cutting it either. Home school gives the child a indivdualized education that puts them first and their education to. As parents and educators should do. Parents who put the children and education first. This will be better for child. Yes not everyone or parent can do. No parent is pefect. Then one hires one who can. As for socialization do children really need to be part of everything or so many activities just because they are homeschooled. No even public school to much socialization is harmful and not helpful to child. We see this all is not helpful now and effecting kids.
Home school can put the child interest first to and at non home school hours the child can further explore interest especially for career . it really then can be away of socialization but includes socialization and have structure and safety and learn to make healthy decisions on socialization. It all how homeschooling is done putting the parents first.
Load More Replies...
Perhaps her fear of having her child subjected to a school shooting, bullying, or other abuses, that sometimes occur in traditional school settings, has caused her to want to homeschool. It sounds like she needs help with putting her plan into action. Her comment about "how hard can it be?" is naive and disrespectful to trained educators. While I don't believe she is prepared for the task, there is a proper and proficient way to successfully homeschool her child.
This reminds me of how my sister said she wanted to homeschool my nephews because the state she moved into has horrible public schools. Her husband is homeschooled and she would always poke fun at him for it (he learned very in-depth knowledge about certain topics, however he also lacked a lot of basic knowledge that was taught in elementary school and up), but once she had kids and found out the cost of schools, she decided that homeschooling would be best. She can't even list off the 7 continents. She literally said "north pole" for one, "Canada" for another, and "Russia" 💀💀💀 yet she missed Africa 😭 thankfully, now that my eldest nephew is approaching school age, she realized she wasn't cut out for homeschooling and neither is her husband
Not going to lie, as a person who lives in the U.S, homeschooling is probably better for the kid depending on the parents beliefs and the child. I have dyslexia and dysgraphia so school was very hard for me. I also have PTSD from physical abuse. One of my teachers in elementary school hid me behind two bookshelves so she wouldn't have to deal with the "problematic" child and then my classmates pushed me away and bullied me all the way until I left that school. I would would have rather my mom homeschooled me for a few years after that but I understand that some people should not homeschool (Or can't).That being said if they don't like the way the schools are going and have the money too, hire a private tutor, do an online homeschooling program, and reach out to people who might know of kids around the child's age.
I know that she says that the sister was planning on doing it herself but as someone who was homeschooled, there's several ways to do it. There's places where they go to the public school 1 to 3 days a week and take regular classes. There's programs where they go to a classroom the same amount of time where it's all homeschooled kids and there's also homeschooling programs online where they have teachers and a regular curriculum they follow.
I was homeschooled through elementary school. The number one mean thing everyone always says about homeschooling is how "we're all going to end up weird and have no social skills" like school is the only place on the planet you see other kids. People actually would make my mum cry saying cruel stuff to her. I was homeschooled because I had terrible ADHD and would have straight up never survived in a classroom, and needed one on one support. And I've had people tell me that that's "just life"?? If you can't survive normal school, tough luck? When I did go to high school, I ended up skipping a grade in English and generally had higher grades all around. And for the OP. You get the curriculum as a complete package, ie with the lesson plans, and the answer keys for the work, you do not have to know all the stuff you're teaching.
I really don't understand the statement that keeps popping up on here: "you don't have to know all the stuff you're teaching." I could never be effective as a teacher if I didn't understand my subject thoroughly, and be able to make connections between points within my own subject as well as with other subjects. Smh.
Load More Replies...
Homeschooling isn't bad. Yes it requires commitment. I am homeschooling my kids. I use online tools like Time For Learning. We are a part of a homeschool group. We are also looking into a program that allows homeschool kids to join sports teams, choir, dance classes and things like that. I like Time for learning as it helps you plan a proper lesson plan, find homeschool groups for things field trips, and meet State requirements including standardized testing. Yes, you have pay a monthly fee, but for us it's been worth it. It requires Time, commitment, and dedication, but offers individualized learning plans instead of the one size fits all approach used by schools.
Or you could just let people with advanced degrees in each individual subject do it for you.
Load More Replies...
Read your states homeschool laws. Most require a college degree. Yearly standardized test for the child are required. Kids do have friends and interactions outside of school (public, private, home). Granted there are some that take this privilege for granted and make a mess out of their kids and give homeschooling a bad name.
The HSLDA website is a good place to start. It lists all the laws by every state. My state does not require a college degree or yearly standardized tests.
Load More Replies... Is this in USA?. Is it common in other countries?. Genuine doubt, because homeschooling is not a concept in our country.
I think it's possible in most western and central European countries, but I am not entirely sure. It does exist in Austria, but it's very uncommon. The students have to do final exams between terms and at the end if the year. This tests aren't standardized and are done by the local school district and if the students fail the exam, they are no longer allowed to be homeschooled. Many teachers dislike homeschooling so they make the exams quite difficult.
Load More Replies...
How do people not know the answers to these questions??? I knew the answers when I was 6
Covid ruined our public schools in the area. They're still understaffed and the staff they do have are not full teachers or trained. Homeschooling is very hard, but there are a lot of resources and I think for some kids it works. BUT - the parents need to be very invested and have the time. It's like having another full time job. We use tutors for subjects we're weak in. Thankfully our kids have their friends from middle school and there is a local homeschool group for support. They socialize outside of school still and are involved in the community. They probably would be in school still if Covid hadn't happened, though. We do have the freedom to teach extra subjects too, like additional languages (am polyglot), banned books, other sciences (ornithology for one, ichthyology for another). We teach science how it is, not flat earth or creationism. But there's no regulation in our state which is scary. We're trying our best tho.
Ornithology and ichthyology are just part of the biological sciences. How much time do you need to spend on specialized branches because you like birds and fish?
Load More Replies...
I used to BEG to be homeschooled. It's not an option in my country unless you have some extremely serious illness that makes it impossible to attend regular classes. However I really struggled in our antiquated school system. For example in uni I barely understood biochemistry until my teacher handed me an American Biochemistry book. My grades went from a pass to 75%. That was part of the reason why I left to study in the UK. Now as an adult I understand the pitfalls of homeschooling but I know I would be on the case at home because science education is at least 20 years behind in my country.
I homeschooled 4 children the year after covid hit. The were mine, one was my neighbors child. I managed to teach them how to read, write, and do basic math. It was difficult but also amazing to see their progress. My then 4 year old was reading, writing, learning so much. The kids learned all their started and capitals, they learned geography, and so much about basic science. I put them back in school the following year and my son was immediately put in the gifted program. My children gained so much knowledge! I used zero computers for teaching them, everything was books, and paper. I actually learned along with them as I taught them. However, I would never do it again. Ever. It was tiring and it was a huge commitment. I wouldn't recommend it but I certainly would never tell another adult that they are too stupid to do teach their child. I'm sorry but this person is an a*****e.
They are not an AH for caring about their niece/nephews education. Asking basic simple questions that the sister couldn't even answer proves that homeschooling is not easy, and not something you take lightly. Also, your experience is most likely 100% nothing like what ops sister had planned for her kid. She was not putting her kid into any homeschooling programs, just teach the kid herself til age 18. Now seeing how she failed simple math questions, she is unfit to be a teacher. This is why America has the worst education system lol. As someone who was homeschooled, Homeschooling should be illegal , especially if you don't have a degree in teaching and 100% on board with doing what's necessary for your kids learning. It actually is illegal to homeschool in other countries. Doesn't matter if you think op is the ah, they're still right and the sister is still uneducated and unfit to be a teacher. She will set her kid up for failure.
Load More Replies... Idk. Depends on the kid, the parent, and the community. My kid was homeschooled from K-5 and I mostly used unschooling techniques, though that wasn't the plan. I had curriculum planned, a lot of it, which I developed with an 8th grade formal education, and GED, and a handful of education classes I took at the local community college. Didn't use my curriculum at all because my kid was self-motivated to learn and all I had to actually do was just give him resources and let him talk to me about all the cool stuff he learned. In mainstream middle school he tested above his grade level in everything they test for, I'm talking testing at an 11th grade level in reading and math in sixth grade, and I couldn't teach math at all because they do it different now, so I literally just bought him some math and math theory books and let him read those and practice what he learned on his own. If he wanted more, I bought him online curriculums, which were super easy to find. YouTube answered his questions all the time. And people always comment on how impressed they are at his communication skills, how he converses with adults as openly and easily as kids his own age. He has learned to educate himself on his interests. Taught himself programming, (ongoing), developed an interest in cooking. He's twelve and can prepare a multiple course meal with or without the recipe. He made a cheese cake for a potluck from scratch recently. He's outgoing, makes friends easily, is always showing me his group chats, discords, and making in person plans with local friends of his own volition. Homeschooling worked for him and I have less education than the average American. I also had a lot of friends with kids, roommates with kids, and adults who took a genuine interest in getting to know him around, which helped with he social part. I knew my kid, figured out what he, specifically, needed. He's doing really well so far in whatever environment we enter. You don't need to be some sort of highly certified educator to support a self motivated learner. Now a kid who requires external motivation to learn, sure, different story entirely. OP might actually be TA here. Depends on a lot of factors, between the lines here, they admit they hate the idea of homeschooling period. I'd be willing to bet they exaggerated or over focused on sisters shortcomings and don't have full context for why their sibling is making the choices they are making.
Wow! The number of uneducated pupils on homeschooling giving their perceived ideas of who and how one should homeschool baffles me. I've been homeschooling for 11 years, now. When I first began, I had zero idea what I was doing, nor did I have anyone behind my choice to do it. Everyone thought my kids should go to "regular" school because "they need a well-rounded education" and the "need to socialize." It wasn't until I found a homeschool community did I realize how different homeschooling is. Homeschool is NOT doing public school at home. It's about teaching your kids with everyday life; using real-world learning. What's better, you get to learn right along with them! You don't have to know everything. Heck, you don't have to know anything, you just need to pour into your children. I just didn't realize I had to educate family and friends beforehand because having a support team is half the battle. Why do parents think we can teach them from birth to 5 years, but not after?
I'm sorry, but how is this parenting choice ANY of your business? If the kids are in school, do you plan to vet their teachers? Are you consulted on the kids' diets? Do you weigh in on their friends? In the US, parents get to make decisions re' their children and the children's education. It's not your job to "back up" the parents, unless your opinion is asked.
That's not really worth mentioning, considering the us has some of the absolute worst education system in the world. Op was worried about their niece/nephews education and future, and asked the mother simple questions that she failed to correctly answer. She has absolutely no business being a teacher when she failed a basic math question as well as failed to name the planets. You don't go to learn piano from someone who doesn't know basic piano notes and whatnot, do you? One of you needs to be the teacher, both of you cannot be the learning student. It is actually illegal to homeschool in other countries. And if you must, you have to have a degree in teaching. Teaching is not easy, for God's sakes. Don't play with your child's education and future like that because your feelings got hurt.
Load More Replies...
OK, you're a semi-AH. Yes, she needed a reality check on her ability to homeschool her kids effectively. But, you could have been mor polite/subtle about it.
I don't understand how a government can just allow anyone to homeschool their kids. Surely there should be some type of evaluation done to ensure you have both the knowledge and the patience to teach your kid everything they need to know OR you should be required to bring in a qualified tutor to do the classes. Hell when my 16 year old cousin decided she wanted the homeschooling thing my aunt had to sign her up to an online school where she's required to attend lectures every day and hand in coursework....and she's beyond the age of compulsory education.
As someone who homeshooled I agree wholeheartedly. One of my daughter's friend started homeshooling after.we did. It was just sad. The woman put an emphasis on things she.wanted to do, like pottery, and had no curriculum, just whatever appealed at the time. With us, my mother-in-law handled needlecraft. I handled basics. My father in law physics and higher math She scored "off the charts" on state tests. Homeschooling can be very successful, but the child's needs, then interests must come first. One real advantage, she.knew all about the financial stuff we never learn in high school by tje time she was back in school in 8 th grade, around 14 years old. Sorry for errors on my phoneand too lazy to edit
Load More Replies... I considered homeschooling my daughter... for a hot minute. Being able to travel and see other cultures while also learning would be great. But I also think she needs the social experience of being around people her own age. It can be hard though because she has to deal with bigotry and racism (welcome to being a poc in the U.S.) while merely getting an education. Most people who want to do homeschooling, in my experience, want to keep their kids in their ideology bubble.
I homeschool my kids and became a stay at home father to do so. Everyone called me crazy until they saw how advanced my kids education is and they pulled their kids out and now I teach/tutor friends and family kids too while giving them plenty of chances to socialize. Plus kids at schools, especially public school can be awful. You don't want them falling in with the wrong kids (who are also victims.) This way I know she's making friends with other good kids and not picking up any bad habits. She's honestly a social butterfly who says hi to everyone she meets. I joke she's gonna get snatched up one day.
Load More Replies... I was homeschooled through high school. I didn’t like it but did well with it. Algebra 1&2, geometry, trig, analytical geometry, college prep chemistry, physics, editor level English, and two years of Spanish. I scored very high on the ACT and SAT. Other kids I knew who were homeschooled could barely read. It’s no so much about the ability of the parents to teach as it is about what curriculum is utilized. Also, the student needs to be motivated and engaged.
Just some food for thought, from a former high school teacher of 10 years. The whole "they need to go to school for the socialization" makes sense until age 6. About 3-6 is an essential tome for what is called "collaborative learning" and "concrete learning". After that in public schools, kids do A LOT of individual learning and abstract learning (sit at your own desk with worksheets). They get 20 mins on playground and 20 mins for lunch. Then th
...then in middle-high, no more recess, and good lunch having time to sit and chat during lunch. 5 minutes to get to each class, where you sit and take notes. Working collaboratively is considered a "new technique" and I doubt many districts are really pushing that in high school between behavioral issues, overcrowding, state testing requirements. And here's the biggest argument IMO...
Load More Replies... As someone who was a substitute teacher to a bunch of 8 year olds for a hot minute, I can confidebtly say most adults have absolutely no business homeschooling their kids. There is a reason teachers need degrees!
"HOW HARD CAN IT BE?" And we wonder why teachers are leaving the profession in droves! People have no respect for educators and all we do for our students. It doesn't stop at simply giving the children the material. It's knowing HOW they learn, what strategies to use, and how to circumvent any learning problems they might have. A NASA engineer might be a genius, but can he help a kid learn and retain that information? In the long run, it's all about what's best for the child!
Trying to do what's best for the child is why people are removing their kids from PS. Perhaps if all these educated educators would focus more on teaching kids facts instead of their own personal beliefs, and stop trying to hide things from parents, maybe the parents would leave there kids in public schools.
Load More Replies... In the U.K. homeschooling is rare, despite what the doom mongers will have you believe our schools and teachers are doing a great job under difficult and testing times. I’m from a family of headteachers, teachers and support staff, I have relatives and friends in pretty much every stage of the education system. I have witnessed children who’ve been removed from the school system and they struggle, their teamwork and social skills lag behind their peers, they have trouble with conflict resolution when presented with group situations and they lack the communication skills to interact with their peers. Unless parents put in the effort (y’know like a professional does every day at school) then their lack of interaction with other children makes their journey to adulthood a difficult one. Academically they may achieve what’s required but there’s a lot more to school and life than ticking boxes regarding exams etc. Children benefit from being around a diverse group of ages and backgrounds.
But they're not usually around diverse ages and backgrounds in most school. At least not in the US. Districts here are drawn based on tax brackets and demographics, often back when redlining was common, so schools are not racially diverse, or economically diverse even. Kids are split into age based grades, and rarely socialize outside their class/grade. So they only learn to socialize with people their age, their race, their economic background, often even similar religions or cultures. Some homeschoolers totally wind up with the same problem, but homeschool provides an opportunity for kids to travel, be part of more diverse groups, socialize outside of *just* their exact peers. Either way, home school or mainstream school, parents have to find ways to foster their kids' social development. Plus US schools teach a lot of false information, much of it dated and a lot of historical propaganda thas super whitewashed and Disneyfied, the rest of the world teaches differently.
Load More Replies... I find it interesting that it's typically idiots that homeschool their kids. Ive met a lot of home schooled kids and they're struggling. I've met a fair amount of parents that plan on homeschooling and most of them are some of the dumbest people I've met. I was homeschooled for a month (the classroom had mold and my mom refused to let me go and taught me instead until the school fixed the problem). My mom was my teacher, my mom was a former teacher and went back to work after I was in middle school. She even acknowledged she was giving me a sub par education compared to what school could.
Your "sub par education" by your mom was probably due to her doing "public school at home." Homeschool is not public school, nor should it be treated as such. If homeschooling is done right, those being educated are taught by everyday life. For example, if the parent has bills to pay then you show (teach) your child how to read the bill and pay it (every single month.) If you need to write a letter, show (again teach) your child how letters are formatted and have them write one to a grandparent or friend. You can teach fractions by baking, finding "area" by measuring a room you need carpeted (bonus if you teach them to actually lay the carpet too), reading by reading with them and letting them know the sounds of letters, etc. Field trips to the zoo, science museums, history museums, and even the grocery store are used in their learning. Homeschooled kids should not be sitting at a table doing worksheets for 6+ hours a day. They are to explore the world, how it works, and live in it!
Load More Replies... I strongly feel that public education is important for both words in the term - the education isn't just in reading, writing and arithmetic, but also how to interact with others. I have met many homeschoolled people who have great trouble being in wider society because that just wasn't part of their education. Even the ones who actually got a decent amount of knowledge (probably less than a third of homeschoolers I've met could enter university without remedial courses) just don't get a lot of social cues like "don't stare google-eyed at people of a different race", or "announcing your bodily functions is not necessary".
Here's a bit from my own experience. I've been known to have good social skills even though I was extremely isolated and homeschooled. But something that might be even worse than being awkward is the social anxiety I struggle with and the fact that the anxiety makes it hard for me to keep friends. I'm 29 now. And on the other side, my husband was actually also homeschooled but his parents are lovely and socialized him by having people over, getting him involved in extracurricular activity and involved in their church groups. Some people see him and think homeschooling is great but it's really just his parents who are great. I am severely messed up because of it. We are both the poster children for it and against it. Aka, why it needs to be regulated.
Load More Replies... Homeschooling is a terrible idea, in general. I say this as a parent with a kid in an online, public school. He has regular classes, with actual teachers, and his school works with us concerning his disabilities. (E.g, his homework is due by the end of the semester so he doesn't have to worry when he has a migraine.) The only time I'm aware homeschool has worked was when it was done through a program, usually in a rural setting.
I think often it's a terrible idea. To successfully homeschool your kids you need to be their teacher in very subject and every grade you want to teach them, their principal, their guidance councillor, and their parent. You are also completely in charge of their social life and mental health. If you fail even at one of these things your child will be set back and if you choose to do this through their entire schooling, any set back can follow them through the rest of their life. This is why I think there needs to be tests for the parent to see what they are qualified to teach, testing for the child to make sure they are learning, and a social worker involved to make sure this kid isn't being stunted socially or mentally and that they are living a full and healthy life. If someone considering homeschooling finds this too much or doubts they can do it, they should not be homeschooling and yes, it would be a terrible idea.
Load More Replies... This is complete nonsense, coming from a public school teacher who resigned to homeschool my own babies. As long as you have the desire to learn alongside your kids, you can teach them. Better, they'll learn to problem solve, too, because they'll have to take more ownership of learning and not rely on "good job" to know they've gotten the correct answer. Honestly wish I didn't waste my money on a degree I didn't need to do this job.
To the people sharing amazing stories of successful homeschooled people, that's awesome! That makes me truly happy and it sounds like you did everything you should have for them. However, my life was shattered by it. This isn't a black and white situation. My parents failed. I am trying to advocate for the right to educate children but also that the government still needs to be involved to help protect children from parents who should not be homeschooling their kids. There shouldn't be room for an abusive parent, absent parent, neglectful parent, uneducated parent, drug addicted parent, or many other struggles that people have, to be in charge of their child's education and, possibly, social life. There has to be regulation to make sure that doesn't happen and to make sure the child is being educated. Sorry if my many replies to peoples comments are too much. I had a severe ptsd episode last night because of my childhood and I am 29. Homeschooling is a serious decision.
I never heard of a homeschooling case in my country (probably it's not even a thing here) and i only know the basic things about it from books etc. I'm asking this with these barely basic knowledge: can someone explain me why is homeschooling is a thing? Why is it accepted as a type of education? I mean, it doesn't sound or look effective to me.....
Homeschooling is a thing because not all schools can meet the needs of every child at all times. Some kids have IEPs (medical or behavioral), some children are bullied at school, some families do a lot of traveling in the off season, some parents have issues with the schools curriculum and what is or isn't being taught, some students need more time to follow their extracurricular activities (acting, gymnastics, etc.) It is accepted because parents needed another way to give their children an education because public school didn't or doesn't work for their child's (or family) needs. It's effective because parents, unlike what you're reading here, want what's best for their children and public school isn't fulfilling it. Before I began homeschooling, the best advice I got was to have a "mission statement." What is it I want out of my homeschool? Write it down and read it daily. If you're not fulfilling that mission statement everyday then change how you're homeschooling to meet it.
Load More Replies... I wish I could've been a part of the original post. I would have told OP, from experience.... There are so many resources out there to help you successfully homeschool your child that it's almost overwhelming. I know sometimes people have great intentions, but true wisdom requires one to not speak on what they know nothing of. When I pulled my 3 children out of public school in 2014, EVERYone had something negative to say. Today, they are in awe at who & how my children turned out to be. Let me encourage anyone who is sincerely thinking about homeschooling their child/children. I am the epitome of someone who should have ABSOLUTELY not homeschooled. Single mother, NO support, minimum income, HS sophomore drop out w/ a G.E.D, & only some college. It did NOT matter, because the one thing I did have was the desire to see my babies excel past anything I was ever able to accomplish & for them to be independent critical thinkers....
My eldest daughter...started her own sweets business at the age of 15 & by the time she was 18 was shipping all over the country, did work for a major TV show, a major gospel singer, & more. My son, left home at 18 as a six figure young man...He is his own brand & is a celebrity who has not only broken 12 world records in his field, but has created 2 records & broke those. He has been featured on NFL.com, ESPN, & more. He was being paid between $100-300 & hour at the age of 16 just to teach grown men how to do what he does. My baby girl...has multiple choices & is still determining who she was called to be. But in the meantime was dubbed a young phenom in 3 different areas of skill. My kids excelled because I took them out of a system that is only interested in indoctrination & dumbing down society. I placed them in an environment where they were challenged to figure out WHO they were w/o outside influence telling them who they should be, how they should dress, & how to keep up....
Load More Replies... I homeschool my kids. I also have an advanced degree and quit my job to be a strict stay at home father. Homeschooling has many benefits, for instance being able to focus classes when my children are most alert and ready to learn is very helpful. I also enroll them in competitive things like gymnastics and spelling bees to make sure they're up to speed. Homeschooling is a very serious commitment and a lot of people abuse that unfortunately. I had a similar situation though where my child argued the constitution and did some math. A friend got jealous and said, 'well sure but can you do calculus or trig anymore? How are you going to teach that?' I just whipped out my phone and calculated whatever problem he gave me and showed him the Khan academy courses. Plus she's six so I got a long time to worry about that and I have no problem hiring a tutor if she needs one. We buy curriculums online and let her work them at her own speed meaning she's a few grades ahead already.
We also did a ton of research before we decided to homeschool and based on mine and my wife's experience with public schools this was the only way we could come up with that guaranteed our children had a teacher who loved them and took their education seriously instead of over worked, stretched thin underpaid people who have to focus on thirty kids and slow down the learning of the advanced kids to give extra time to the slower. As a result I can shape the curriculum to focus on their weaknesses while skipping through their strengths. It became so effective that friend who questioned me took his kids out of school and I now run a homeschooling class for nine kids of family and friends. Nine is about my limit so I have no idea how anyone could hope to teach 20+.
Load More Replies... Honestly there are relatively few situations where I think homeschooling is justified, nobody will remember everything a kid needs to learn especially after elementary school. I was homeschooled for a significant fraction of my education, and there were significant gaps in my education that became blatantly obvious when I was switched to public school.
NTA…there’s a reason that teacher is an actual job you have to learn. Here in Germany you need to go to university and actually study the topic AND pedagogy. (By the way: the concept of homeschooling is so strange and off-putting to me, that OP is per default NTA!)
Homeschooled myself out if highschool early here and these are my two cents: don't. Kids need a peer group. It really scréwed me over. Just. Don't. Even if you're smart. Yes, public school is a hot mess, but most of the homeschoolers I've met are somehow even worse. Yes, there are exceptions, but those are rare. Please, encourage your kids to go to school, support their learning, and get them help if they're having trouble.
Homeschooling is mainly for right-wingers who want to keep their kids in their bubble.
Or those who understand that delusions and facts are two different things. Still find it funny that during the pandemic, the left kept saying things like "It's science! What, you don't believe in science?!?" And now they are all like "Facts doesn't matter, feelings are what matters! Delusions should be encouraged, not treated!"How about a little consistency? Btw, Independent, both left and right have lost touch with reality...
Load More Replies... I think people here are very biased and judgemental. OP included. Was she right to maybe quiz the sister? Honestly as aholey as it is I do agree. The sister needs to realise how much work it involves. I do also think that the Government needs better regulations and more checks for all forms of schooling, home-schooling especially - to ensure kids are getting the support for learning and wellbeing that they need. And to ensure nothing is abusive. But to say Home-schooling as a whole is a c**p idea is to throw out the pan with the bath water (as the saying goes) instead of trying to clean it. I also think OP didn't need to add their views on Home-schooling, it had no relevance to the concern of their sister not being able to teach her kids well, other than bigotry, which honestly she can't and would be better off with tutors. At least the way it was said by OP it didn't have relevance to the initial concern. Just came across as painting all with the same brush. Like many of the-
-comments here are doing. I think some people also forget not everyone lives in the US and some Home-schooling is more regulated in other places and give good educations.
Load More Replies... This is a thing I have never understood about the US education. Where I live you have to have really good reasons to keep your child out of school. And then you need to use an online school
At least. If you are not in contact with a school who will send you school work in a brief time
Load More Replies... Quite frankly, I blame the rise and explosion of homeschooling for our current state of educational and cultural decline. As others have pointed out, even those trained in early education know they have limits. But somehow we're fine with ordinary people teaching children on their own, using their own limited knowledge and nonstandardized educational aids, ranging from the Internet- to social media- to religion-provided? Thanks to this, we have ignoramuses teaching ignorance.
Are you fine with ordinary people becoming parents? I only ask because "ordinary parents" teach their children how to walk, talk, eat, and use the toilet. Why does society find it okay for parents to teach their young (with no experience I may add) to around age 6 and then all-of-a-sudden think we are no longer capable of teaching anything beyond?
Load More Replies... I was homeschooled from 4th grade through my freshman year of HS. My mother & step father are the ones that took me out of school. My father was adamantly against it so he made a deal with my mom. As long as I took the year end tests at a public school to assess my education level every year and I was not falling behind, he would agree to the homeschool arrangement. The minute it looked like my education was in jeopardy, he would make sure I was put back into the public school system. Luckily my mother is a smart cookie. We had some difficulties in the beginning as my homeschool curriculum was WAY more difficult than public school curriculum (also before the days of PCs in every home), I ended up being far more advanced after the 1st year than my public school counterparts. After the 1st full year of homeschooling, which was 5th grade, my tests scores were HS & college level. Where I suffered was social skills. It was my step father's idea to take me out of school, move to an isolated part of Montana, and prevent me from having any friends. He was an abusive man and a religious fanatic, so no surprise he wanted me isolated. So I got brainwashed AND became very book smart. Took years to deprogram but I learned a ton and still use the learning skills I acquired during that time.
The OP had me until the line “I told her the answers.” The answers aren’t relevant to the discussion, just designed to show superiority. And guess what? When teachers go to college, they learn things like classroom management, NOT listing the planets. (Are we listing Pluto again, or what’s going on with that? But I digress.) Some teachers will have to teach math when they haven’t done math in years and hated it then. They get lesson plans and figure it out. I have a doctorate, and there are some things middle school kids are taught that I would possibly need to refresh on. Why? Because we all learn it then and then leave it behind. Teaching is about lesson planning and preparation for those lessons.
NTA it was a reasonable example of why they aren't qualified. Dunning Kruger, the idea that dumb people don't have the requisite intelligence to know just how dumb they are, is on full display and it's why this country is going to s**t
It depends on a few factors. I was horribly bullied and would have loved homeschooling, but was never given the option because it was too expensive. Or something else that was just entirely stupid like I wouldn't have done my work (when I was the only one of my sibling and myself.to.do the homework and such. But if this girl isn't gonna have any issues, why bother? I don't get parents like this.
Most states have specific home schooling curriculum guidelines. If they decide to do that, they would need to pick up those materials. Parents have to cover the same subjects as a regular school does. Sister can't skip out on the time she devotes to this either. Takes more than 45 minutes a day. I don't think home schooling is a good idea. I know a few children who have been home schooled and they end up sadly lacking in social and coping skills. Sister would surely find out that it's beyond her reach to do this. Especially if she has no command of the material herself.
OP is not the AH. She just gave her sister a reality check... and it hurt. Realizing that you don't have "the propper knowledge" to homeschool your child, is probably quite embarrassing and who likes to be embarrassed... by their own sister at that. But it's good that they now (probably) realize they need to let their child go to school...even if they don't like it. In addition, not only academic knowledge is important and parents can certainly teach their child a lot of knowledge that is not taught in school.
Let me give YOU a little reality check. If a woman asks her husband, "Does this make me look fat?", and it does, he would still be the AH for giving her the reality check of "Yes honey, it definitely does." So how exactly is OP not an AH? Also, school is no longer about knowledge, it is about beliefs being pushed on impressionable young minds. That is the reality, whether you choose to believe it or not.
Load More Replies... So this is an indication of the failures of education: both homeschooling and public. OP said HER SISTER couldn't do those tasks, and OP went to a "S****Y PUBLIC SCHOOL" indicating that her sister with 99% confidence, also attended same "s****y public school". As someone who taught for a year... I'm homeschooling. I had to teach multiplication, division and rounding to sophomores... While I was supposed to be teaching quadratics, so I don't know if they got the advanced topic because I had to teach 1-3rd grade math. Writing was atrocious. So if you haven't fixed your own deficiencies coming from public school, then you need to have someone who has... Whether they are certified or not.. because I'd rather have my brother, who dropped out of high school teach math than a public school teacher based off his knowledge(obviously I would do it considering I have a degree in mathematics,but also Id have no issue w/ my husband teaching considering his dumbass can do cubic(root) equations
Homeschooling does work 90% of the time, but you have to be really invested in it and it takes a lot of work. In my area we have a really good support system of home schoolers and have been lucky enough to have someone who is great in each different subject and we all teach each others kids. We also don't take the same school holidays, so we can travel out of peak times, which is much cheaper. We've also just started GCSE groups with 4 of our kids, so for that we have to follow the regular curriculum, but it's working.
Was OP nice about it? No, they were frankly really mean about the sisters perceived intelligence. However, were they right? Yes. Homeschooling should frankly be banned unless it's for some very specific situations like a kid being severely disabled and not having schools with the right accommodations in the area. In pretty much any other case kids should be going to school.
Asking basic education questions, of a person who wants to teach, is mean? How?
Load More Replies... People keep talking about the lack of social interaction, but all they're doing is demonstrating their ignorance. I grew up with a number of friends who were homeschooled, and while they were admittedly a bit quiet at times or on the "odd" side, they did socialize frequently. I forget what they called it specifically (I think it was "co-op"?), but basically they would meet up with other homeschooled kids from the area for regular weekly outings and group activities, sometimes for group lessons/field trip type scenarios and other times just for fun. It was organized through a program that operates nationwide, and it gives homeschooled kids an opportunity to develop those necessary social skills. At any rate, all of the homeschooled kids I knew growing up turned out just fine (save for one, but I think it had less to do with the homeschooling and her brother ended up alright). Most graduated early and went on to go to good colleges and now have some pretty successful careers actually.
Hence we have a whole lot of functional illiterates due to delusional parents with 4th to 6th grade educational skills thinking they can “teach”. True “homeschooling “ can only be achieved by utilizing one of many online methods which are closely monitored by educational professionals, not by idiotic parents.
You don't need to be a genius to be able to homeschool. With all of the different programs that are available it is possible to do it, and do it well. I know a lot of people who homeschool and their kids are very smart and well socialized through sports/extracurricular activities. So my advice to the anyone thinking about it would be to ignore all of the ignorant nay sayers. Research everything you can and do what is best for your child. You can't beat one on one learning.
It’s easy to learn alongside your kids. I tell you I learned way more in the process of homeschooling my children than I ever did in the public school system. There are all sorts of different methods and programs and situations that still qualify as homeschool. There are online systems there are co-ops… and tutors if needed. MYOB it’s not your kid to raise.
First things first, I welcome all the downvotes I'm about to receive, bring it on. Second, OP is not just an AH but a See You Next Tuesday. Next, at least here in Northern Virginia, we live in the present, and at least since covid (shortly after is when my friends started homeschooling their kids) the parents aren't teaching anything, homeschooling is essentially the same as all schools were during the pandemic, with the lessons being conducted online. The kids even get to pick subjects of interest to them to add to their curriculum, things that would be unavailable at the in person schools, and the parents know whats being taught to their kids. Basically it's online college, but for kids, and theirs are absolutely excelling. Lastly, and the thing that'll earn me those downvotes, public schools are no longer about education. They are about pushing beliefs, not facts, on to young, impressionable minds. Why anyone with other options would continue sending kids to PS is beyond me...
I home schooled both my boys and it was easy ,the system is still hooked up with the school board and they give you the parent the materials needed and plus there are tests and assignments the child needs to submit to the distance teacher...so quizing someone about what they know was cruel....yes sister was the a h....
It is a controversial question: where do the rights of the parent end and the rights of the child begin? Where ends the responsibility of the government/society to that child, to set them up for success, and when does that responsibility/interest supercede the rights of the parents? (The Atlantic wrote an article about this a few years ago, offhand, it's worth a read). It's in society's interest for kids to become good, productive citizens; it is in society's interest that the child is healthy, stable, capable of happiness, not spreading misery or draining resources. I think the rights of parents as owners should be much less important than the rights of the children as their own being. Honestly I think the interest of society in the child should have greater weight than the interest of the parents, all of society, but especially that child, suffers when the parents do a bad job.
OP is not the AH here. People often underestimate how hard homeschooling can be. My mom tried homeschooling my sister because of her ADHD but just didn't realize how hard it was. I think it lasted a week before she decided to quit. Luckily it was during the summer so my sister was able to get back to school easily enough.
There was probably a more tactful way to get the sister to realize homeschooling is not as easy as she thinks. Having the knowledge is the bare minimum for being able to teach. Teaching is a skill that not everyone has, nor should they be expected to have. Patience and emotional strength are also needed. The sister's reaction to the questions concerns me more so than her inability to answer the questions. Maybe instead of focusing on her lack of teaching ability, it would have been more helpful to get at the root cause for why they want to home school in the first place. There's some fear there leading to that decision. Addressing the fear itself goes a long way to relieving it.
Those "parents" are about to jeopardize their daughter's whole future because they are not smart enough to understand how limited they are. They are 100% the AH, not OP. OP is only trying to protect her niece from gross negligence.
Teachers need to be able to explain the subject material from the books.. Just reading a book is not going to always be helpful. I don't think her sister is capable of doing that. She was right to point this out. Like you should be able to remember how to do division and what a verb is if you're an adult. If you don't, then obviously you're not capable of really understanding those things.
NTA at all. Very few parents are truly up to the task of homeschooling their children. Far too often homeschooling results in children without the skills to move on to college or into the work force and not just on an academic level. These kids also lack the organizational skills, the social skills, the planning/goal setting skills, the work ethic, and the worldly and emotional maturity. It is not wrong to question your sister on such an important life changing decision and the fact that your sister to reacted by running away crying proves that your sister lacks a lot more than just the academic knowledge needed to produce a well rounded child through homeschooling.
The trumper sister is going to homeschool her kids and she doesn't know what 1 plus 1 equals. Typical trumper. 🤑
Nowhere in the post did it say the sister was a "trumper." I homeschool and not a Trump fan.
Load More Replies... My daughter has serious anxiety issues, especially when it came to tests. She ended up with a 504 program, but not before students started making fun of her. When sent home during covid, her grades went WAAAY up due to lack of stress. I enrolled her into Discovery K12 online for 2 years. I have all of her essays and tests in binders. She is returning to high school in the fall and I have forwarded her grades to the school. They will be evaluating her to see if she needs any additional help in any subject. Discovery K12 allows you to learn at any time during the day which is how you can supervise the learning. If you don't understand something, such as algebra, you can easily search for answers and help
We homeschooled and it is the one thing I've never had any doubts about or regretted doing. I was a substitute teacher when my oldest was about to be of age for kindergarten. The things I was seeing in the school system made me hesitate to enroll her, and I ended up just not doing it. I never said, "I'm going to homeschool my kids." It was more of a situation where I didn't want to put her in school---so, now what? At first I tried to replicate school at home. We were both miserable, and hated it. Then I jumped onto the unschooling philosophy and she thrived. We made sure she was getting the basics, and everything else just followed her interests. Her two brothers were also homeschooled. No rushing around in the mornings, no homework struggles at night, no one telling us where to be and when, or what subject matter was required. We learned math, vocabulary, grammar through games. We read a ton of books out loud together. We did a lot of Mad Libs.
Documentaries, Crash Course subjects (Thanks, Hank & John Green!), CNN student news were all part of our mornings. We went on tons of field trips, sometimes just us, sometimes with local groups. My kids were all in sports, and other extracurricular activities, and have always had friends--so no issue with socialization. We used to do board game club! My one son's best friend lives down the street, he was public schooled. You would not meet my kids and immediately guess they are homeschooled. We enrolled each kid into high school so they'd get an accredited diploma. My oldest graduated top of her class, won three scholarships, and went to Uni for engineering. My second kid started high school at 12, graduating at 16. He also won scholarships, but wasn't interested in college and we're fine with that. My youngest is still in high school and he's having no issues.
Load More Replies... we had to do homeschooling during the pandemic. i ended up on anti depressants and had a full nervous breakdown. three kids in different learning levels all taking online zoom classes at the same time... it as hell on earth
That's not homeschooling. That's doing public school at home.
Load More Replies... Yes you are this time. I homeschooled one of my children out of necessity for a couple years. It was difficult yes but they do give you books and a helpful counselor (at least they did for me and my child) Big deal you're smarter than her.. so what? I think it was pretty much an a*hole move to humiliate her like that
I was homeschooled for part of my school career, loved it, wish we had done more of it. But. My mother WAS a teacher, and my father was a research mathematician. I had loads of siblings and foster siblings (about 20 all told, though I think 16 is the most we had at once!) so socialization at home wasn't really an issue. I had a neurological disorder, a compromised immune system, and a corneal defect that made me blind. In public schools, teachers and children often failed to understand my medical issues. I was frequently sick. Worse, I was frequently ignored by adults and relentlessly tormented by children. After any number of bruises, a handful of cuts, at least one broken bone, and eventually rape...yeah, sometimes even crappy homeschool is better.
People are mean and judgemental. Imagine having someone looking over your shoulder constantly telling you to stay in your own lane.
My son will be 3 with other kids around you cannot get his attention. Yes its so easy to tell at this age. My son will be homeschool. For people who has an issue because parents will teach their kids the Bible. So what the school system takes God out of it. For your info my daughter spent all day in school, came home and spent the next few hours at my school. Yes we have Bible studies in my house everyday. My daughter took her small Bible to school with her. At lunch she went to a teacher who also is into God and that teacher allow her to use their classroom so she can read her Bible in peace. I refuse to let my son be in a school that tells him God makes a mistake and he can be a girl if he wants. I refuse to let him be in a school if the teacher makes a mistake and he tells them the teacher sends him to the office like they did my daughter. I refuse to have to worry if someone decides to shoot up the school or if the teacher is having a bad day. I refuse to worry if my son is out in
The hallway when the late bell ring that my son will be arrested. I refuse to let my son be in a school where they refuse to teach black history so the government don't have to worry about uproar in the future. Sorry the school system is a joke. I use to teach in it and trust me it sucks. You go ahead and keep trusting them, soon your kids will not have any education really. It will be a zoo a place where killings happens all the time. It will be a war zone where you have no rights of what your child learns. I teaches my kids everything and yes especially about God.
Load More Replies... My daughter needs to be around people but I kept teaching her. Come to find out my ways of teaching is being thrown out in high-schools, but not in colleges. My daughter got an A on her 1st paper she wrote in college. The rest of the class received D's and E's. When asked what school she went to she told them o no I didn't learn that way in school i learned that way from my mom. Her professor told the class to see her on how to write papers. My daughter is in school for law. She's on the deans list and she does everything the way I taught her not the way the school system did. Her husband went to a public school he hated it and is not social. My daughter gotten her social skills with clubs she was in because the students in her class always felt dumb when she opened her mouth. By the time my daughter was in the 6th grade i had her reading and writing on a college level. The book her taught her to read from was the bible. Wow
I have always taught my daughter. She just did the work in school, but she learned at home. From the time she was 1 I was teaching her she answer all the questions right on the first day of school. School was actually to easy for my child. I had ignorant family members like this woman. When I decided to homeschool my child in the 2nd grade because the principal wouldn't discipline a boy that was putting his hands on my daughter all because he had an IED. My cousin's mom and grandma (my mom's niece and her sister), ran around the family talking c**p about me saying I am not smart enough to homeschool my child. My daughter was doing a research every month on our different ancestors and writing a 5 page essay. She was doing science projects that you see 5th graders doing. In 2nd grade she was doing long divisions. By the end of the year I was having her spell words you don't really learn until middle school. I went to the library and research what I wanted my daughter to learn and what I
Wanted her to get out of her education. My daughter would volunteer at my job reading to the kids. You can do anything to teach your child when you home school them. Reality using verbs and all that other bull you really don't actually need to know those terms. All you need to know is how to write and speak a proper sentence. They label them in school to make it seem like they are really teaching you something. You can take that from an actual teacher. My daughter wanted to go to this private school with my friends daughter. It was an all black school so I let her. Well guess what we was from an all white neighborhood and she got pick on by the black staff for it. Than I transfer her to the school by our house. Well the rest of that year went great. Than when a white student whose mom was not hands on with her child like I was with my child start bullying my daughter and had her friends do it as well guess who the staff supported. The little girl actually told the principal that her mother taught her that blacks don't care for their kids. Lol 😂 this little girl been at my house, stayed a night. My sister got my daughter a limo for her birthday my daughter only chose 2 people to ride with her and that little girl was one of them. We brought her things. I took them shopping at the mall and brought all 3 of them whatever they wanted. Anytime the little girl mom was busy i picked her and her brother up from school and drop them off. We goes pass the bakery in the morning for school they dont and the little girl likes their donuts. So we stops and grab her a donut every morning. So because I do all of this for my child who was my only child my daughter got bully. I pulled her out and homeschool her. When I put her back into school the first time I was asked by the board was I sure. Because you have to turn in your child's work at the end of the year. They tells me my daughter learned way more at home, than she ever would have in the school setting. When I recieve the letter in the mail how great I did in teaching my child and all she learned my family members who spoke against me felt stupid. They actually try to hire me to tutor their grandkids and friends kids.
Load More Replies... I agree with the idea that homeschooling in general is a bad idea and in this particular case appears to be a really terrible one. However, I do have to ask why do they want to homeschool? Is there some behind the scenes reason like bullying at school, financial difficulty? Or worse they have strict religious/political believes that they don't want their kid to be de-indoctrinated out of.
Can somebody have religious beliefs that aren't "strict?" And is that really worse than being bullied?
Load More Replies... YTA instead of trying to discourage her sister she should have just did some research to help her sister. 1) You all are so dumb to not know you have to register your kids with the school district to homeschool them. They have to give you books for you to get a normal basics on what to teach your child. 2)Your child can work on their level and at their pace when homeschooled. The school district also gives you a list of places that offers social events with other kids. Do she really think putting her sister down is going to change her mind? No it's not, but what it really going to do is push her sister away of not taking any help or support from her or anyone else. I am so over it and if you are so supportive with these schools these days your just lazy. What is your child learning in school? You have the right to go against your parents. The government controls you and you have no voice to stand up against them. I'm sorry but the school system is a joke.
The issue here is its not about peoples opinion, its about facts. The fact is homeschooled children have much better outcomes than public schooled children and even private schooled children. This has been shown in study after study. Another fun fact, the teaching profession has a child SA offender rate of 10%. For reference, the catholic church only has a rate of 1.25%, the general population has a rate of 2.5%, and even high powered jobs where people are more likely to be psychopaths has a rate of 8%. This means 1 in 10 people working in a school are sexually attracted to children. Another fact, homeschooled children are far less likely to have suicidal thoughts. The cdc recently came out with an analysis on young girls and found that over 60% of girls were struggling with mental health issues. The biggest cited reason was bullying from other girls, the second was S harassment from boys. So for those of you who claim children need the socialization, is that what you had in mind?
Parents don't just generally jump into homeschooling. They look deeply at the school system and at the needs of their children. They consider their own personal convictions and strive to do what they think will be best. This is a freedom and right that every family should have. It's fine to have safety measures in place to make sure kids are actually learning but other than that get out of the way. I know a ton ofhomeschooling families and their kids are not only well adjusted but polite, hard working, helpful, and extremely bright. They do things that require real life skills and wisdom. They know things that I never learned in public school, and are constantly impressing me with various accomplishments or projects. I hear the hearts of these Mom's seeking to equip their kids to be able to reason with sound logic, know truth from lies, understand financial responsibility, speak foreign languages play musical instruments, on top of regular gen Ed. They are amazing 👏 don't judge them
Who says public school curriculum is better and they learn what is needed? Many have to take and pay for basic math and basic reading and writing and grammar in college with no credits because they were not taught what they were supossed to be. Then there is the bullying and sexualization of kids in PS . is earning and socialization and education? No it not. Let's be real public school isn't cutting it either. Home school gives the child a indivdualized education that puts them first and their education to. As parents and educators should do. Parents who put the children and education first. This will be better for child. Yes not everyone or parent can do. No parent is pefect. Then one hires one who can. As for socialization do children really need to be part of everything or so many activities just because they are homeschooled. No even public school to much socialization is harmful and not helpful to child. We see this all is not helpful now and effecting kids.
Home school can put the child interest first to and at non home school hours the child can further explore interest especially for career . it really then can be away of socialization but includes socialization and have structure and safety and learn to make healthy decisions on socialization. It all how homeschooling is done putting the parents first.
Load More Replies... Perhaps her fear of having her child subjected to a school shooting, bullying, or other abuses, that sometimes occur in traditional school settings, has caused her to want to homeschool. It sounds like she needs help with putting her plan into action. Her comment about "how hard can it be?" is naive and disrespectful to trained educators. While I don't believe she is prepared for the task, there is a proper and proficient way to successfully homeschool her child.
This reminds me of how my sister said she wanted to homeschool my nephews because the state she moved into has horrible public schools. Her husband is homeschooled and she would always poke fun at him for it (he learned very in-depth knowledge about certain topics, however he also lacked a lot of basic knowledge that was taught in elementary school and up), but once she had kids and found out the cost of schools, she decided that homeschooling would be best. She can't even list off the 7 continents. She literally said "north pole" for one, "Canada" for another, and "Russia" 💀💀💀 yet she missed Africa 😭 thankfully, now that my eldest nephew is approaching school age, she realized she wasn't cut out for homeschooling and neither is her husband
Not going to lie, as a person who lives in the U.S, homeschooling is probably better for the kid depending on the parents beliefs and the child. I have dyslexia and dysgraphia so school was very hard for me. I also have PTSD from physical abuse. One of my teachers in elementary school hid me behind two bookshelves so she wouldn't have to deal with the "problematic" child and then my classmates pushed me away and bullied me all the way until I left that school. I would would have rather my mom homeschooled me for a few years after that but I understand that some people should not homeschool (Or can't).That being said if they don't like the way the schools are going and have the money too, hire a private tutor, do an online homeschooling program, and reach out to people who might know of kids around the child's age.
I know that she says that the sister was planning on doing it herself but as someone who was homeschooled, there's several ways to do it. There's places where they go to the public school 1 to 3 days a week and take regular classes. There's programs where they go to a classroom the same amount of time where it's all homeschooled kids and there's also homeschooling programs online where they have teachers and a regular curriculum they follow.
I was homeschooled through elementary school. The number one mean thing everyone always says about homeschooling is how "we're all going to end up weird and have no social skills" like school is the only place on the planet you see other kids. People actually would make my mum cry saying cruel stuff to her. I was homeschooled because I had terrible ADHD and would have straight up never survived in a classroom, and needed one on one support. And I've had people tell me that that's "just life"?? If you can't survive normal school, tough luck? When I did go to high school, I ended up skipping a grade in English and generally had higher grades all around. And for the OP. You get the curriculum as a complete package, ie with the lesson plans, and the answer keys for the work, you do not have to know all the stuff you're teaching.
I really don't understand the statement that keeps popping up on here: "you don't have to know all the stuff you're teaching." I could never be effective as a teacher if I didn't understand my subject thoroughly, and be able to make connections between points within my own subject as well as with other subjects. Smh.
Load More Replies... Homeschooling isn't bad. Yes it requires commitment. I am homeschooling my kids. I use online tools like Time For Learning. We are a part of a homeschool group. We are also looking into a program that allows homeschool kids to join sports teams, choir, dance classes and things like that. I like Time for learning as it helps you plan a proper lesson plan, find homeschool groups for things field trips, and meet State requirements including standardized testing. Yes, you have pay a monthly fee, but for us it's been worth it. It requires Time, commitment, and dedication, but offers individualized learning plans instead of the one size fits all approach used by schools.
Or you could just let people with advanced degrees in each individual subject do it for you.
Load More Replies... Read your states homeschool laws. Most require a college degree. Yearly standardized test for the child are required. Kids do have friends and interactions outside of school (public, private, home). Granted there are some that take this privilege for granted and make a mess out of their kids and give homeschooling a bad name.
The HSLDA website is a good place to start. It lists all the laws by every state. My state does not require a college degree or yearly standardized tests.
Load More Replies... Is this in USA?. Is it common in other countries?. Genuine doubt, because homeschooling is not a concept in our country.
I think it's possible in most western and central European countries, but I am not entirely sure. It does exist in Austria, but it's very uncommon. The students have to do final exams between terms and at the end if the year. This tests aren't standardized and are done by the local school district and if the students fail the exam, they are no longer allowed to be homeschooled. Many teachers dislike homeschooling so they make the exams quite difficult.
Load More Replies... How do people not know the answers to these questions??? I knew the answers when I was 6
Covid ruined our public schools in the area. They're still understaffed and the staff they do have are not full teachers or trained. Homeschooling is very hard, but there are a lot of resources and I think for some kids it works. BUT - the parents need to be very invested and have the time. It's like having another full time job. We use tutors for subjects we're weak in. Thankfully our kids have their friends from middle school and there is a local homeschool group for support. They socialize outside of school still and are involved in the community. They probably would be in school still if Covid hadn't happened, though. We do have the freedom to teach extra subjects too, like additional languages (am polyglot), banned books, other sciences (ornithology for one, ichthyology for another). We teach science how it is, not flat earth or creationism. But there's no regulation in our state which is scary. We're trying our best tho.
Ornithology and ichthyology are just part of the biological sciences. How much time do you need to spend on specialized branches because you like birds and fish?
Load More Replies... I used to BEG to be homeschooled. It's not an option in my country unless you have some extremely serious illness that makes it impossible to attend regular classes. However I really struggled in our antiquated school system. For example in uni I barely understood biochemistry until my teacher handed me an American Biochemistry book. My grades went from a pass to 75%. That was part of the reason why I left to study in the UK. Now as an adult I understand the pitfalls of homeschooling but I know I would be on the case at home because science education is at least 20 years behind in my country.
I homeschooled 4 children the year after covid hit. The were mine, one was my neighbors child. I managed to teach them how to read, write, and do basic math. It was difficult but also amazing to see their progress. My then 4 year old was reading, writing, learning so much. The kids learned all their started and capitals, they learned geography, and so much about basic science. I put them back in school the following year and my son was immediately put in the gifted program. My children gained so much knowledge! I used zero computers for teaching them, everything was books, and paper. I actually learned along with them as I taught them. However, I would never do it again. Ever. It was tiring and it was a huge commitment. I wouldn't recommend it but I certainly would never tell another adult that they are too stupid to do teach their child. I'm sorry but this person is an a*****e.
They are not an AH for caring about their niece/nephews education. Asking basic simple questions that the sister couldn't even answer proves that homeschooling is not easy, and not something you take lightly. Also, your experience is most likely 100% nothing like what ops sister had planned for her kid. She was not putting her kid into any homeschooling programs, just teach the kid herself til age 18. Now seeing how she failed simple math questions, she is unfit to be a teacher. This is why America has the worst education system lol. As someone who was homeschooled, Homeschooling should be illegal , especially if you don't have a degree in teaching and 100% on board with doing what's necessary for your kids learning. It actually is illegal to homeschool in other countries. Doesn't matter if you think op is the ah, they're still right and the sister is still uneducated and unfit to be a teacher. She will set her kid up for failure.
Load More Replies... Idk. Depends on the kid, the parent, and the community. My kid was homeschooled from K-5 and I mostly used unschooling techniques, though that wasn't the plan. I had curriculum planned, a lot of it, which I developed with an 8th grade formal education, and GED, and a handful of education classes I took at the local community college. Didn't use my curriculum at all because my kid was self-motivated to learn and all I had to actually do was just give him resources and let him talk to me about all the cool stuff he learned. In mainstream middle school he tested above his grade level in everything they test for, I'm talking testing at an 11th grade level in reading and math in sixth grade, and I couldn't teach math at all because they do it different now, so I literally just bought him some math and math theory books and let him read those and practice what he learned on his own. If he wanted more, I bought him online curriculums, which were super easy to find. YouTube answered his questions all the time. And people always comment on how impressed they are at his communication skills, how he converses with adults as openly and easily as kids his own age. He has learned to educate himself on his interests. Taught himself programming, (ongoing), developed an interest in cooking. He's twelve and can prepare a multiple course meal with or without the recipe. He made a cheese cake for a potluck from scratch recently. He's outgoing, makes friends easily, is always showing me his group chats, discords, and making in person plans with local friends of his own volition. Homeschooling worked for him and I have less education than the average American. I also had a lot of friends with kids, roommates with kids, and adults who took a genuine interest in getting to know him around, which helped with he social part. I knew my kid, figured out what he, specifically, needed. He's doing really well so far in whatever environment we enter. You don't need to be some sort of highly certified educator to support a self motivated learner. Now a kid who requires external motivation to learn, sure, different story entirely. OP might actually be TA here. Depends on a lot of factors, between the lines here, they admit they hate the idea of homeschooling period. I'd be willing to bet they exaggerated or over focused on sisters shortcomings and don't have full context for why their sibling is making the choices they are making.
Wow! The number of uneducated pupils on homeschooling giving their perceived ideas of who and how one should homeschool baffles me. I've been homeschooling for 11 years, now. When I first began, I had zero idea what I was doing, nor did I have anyone behind my choice to do it. Everyone thought my kids should go to "regular" school because "they need a well-rounded education" and the "need to socialize." It wasn't until I found a homeschool community did I realize how different homeschooling is. Homeschool is NOT doing public school at home. It's about teaching your kids with everyday life; using real-world learning. What's better, you get to learn right along with them! You don't have to know everything. Heck, you don't have to know anything, you just need to pour into your children. I just didn't realize I had to educate family and friends beforehand because having a support team is half the battle. Why do parents think we can teach them from birth to 5 years, but not after?
I'm sorry, but how is this parenting choice ANY of your business? If the kids are in school, do you plan to vet their teachers? Are you consulted on the kids' diets? Do you weigh in on their friends? In the US, parents get to make decisions re' their children and the children's education. It's not your job to "back up" the parents, unless your opinion is asked.
That's not really worth mentioning, considering the us has some of the absolute worst education system in the world. Op was worried about their niece/nephews education and future, and asked the mother simple questions that she failed to correctly answer. She has absolutely no business being a teacher when she failed a basic math question as well as failed to name the planets. You don't go to learn piano from someone who doesn't know basic piano notes and whatnot, do you? One of you needs to be the teacher, both of you cannot be the learning student. It is actually illegal to homeschool in other countries. And if you must, you have to have a degree in teaching. Teaching is not easy, for God's sakes. Don't play with your child's education and future like that because your feelings got hurt.
Load More Replies... OK, you're a semi-AH. Yes, she needed a reality check on her ability to homeschool her kids effectively. But, you could have been mor polite/subtle about it.
87
222