You’ve covered three of the ‘four’ corners of homeschooling I like to share w/ those uncertain about our choice (or downright negative).  The missing one?  The friendships my children have with each other! 

I did not realize this as their normal quarrels always come to mind.  However, it has been pointed out to me, more than once, by friends with children in school.  The inherent class warfare (pun intended) of schools can trickle into family life, perhaps without you even realizing it.  Younger kids are not welcome with older ones and older ones immediately deemed uncool for hanging out or playing with younger ones.  My kids are in it together - wether it is a plot to drive me crazy or the creation of their latest home production.  They are all friends from the 23 yr. old down to the 3 yr. old.

As you mention - no family is perfect - homeschooling or not.  But, for us it has been one of the greatest things I never thought I’d do and I did not want even do it at first.  God has called us to this vocation, just as He calls others to their school choice.  It is unChristian for anyone to dismiss this valid education choice, especially with unfounded criticism or ignorance.

My husband is a ship captain and works offshore more than two thirds of the year, sometimes in up to ten week long absences from the home. The ability to vacation off season gives my family the quality time together that a traditional school schedule will not allow.
Our Catholic home school support group that we have PE with and other field trips and classes has over 100 families from mainly a 25 mile radius. It offers more social opportunities than we can handle.
Ditto Danielle’s points too!
What a blessing this vocation has been for us!

Right on Danielle. I love being with my kids everyday. Even when it is the hardest thing in the world to do! You’ve hit some very important points dead on. Thanks for being a great role model on what can be done.
blessings to you and your crew.

My journey to homeschool began when my son with learning disabilities became completely overwhelmed with school (a class of 14 in a private Catholic school).  I can’t even imagine if he would have been in a traditional parochial school.  His difficulties in this environment caused him emotional and spiritual damage.  All children do not learn the same and it can be extremely damaging to shove those who are different into this mold.  His anxiety and depression have disappeared since we’ve been homeschooling and we’re starting to see self confidence emerging.  He will probably never be the most socially savvy person in the world but he’s not forced to be in a social setting where he’s constantly in a state of stress, failure, and humiliation.  We choose safer avenues for him to socialize, like sports, field trips with other homeschool kids, and other activities. I’ve since pulled the rest of my children out of school and we’re loving the flexibility of our schedule and family unity. It’s not perfect, but I feel extremely blessed that homeschooling is an option that is available to us.

1) My husband and I (both “gifted”) were bored to tears for 90% of our school careers and learned to skate by on as little work as possible.  I don’t want that for my kids.  At home they will get to learn at their pace, not the average kid’s, and they get to study their interests in-depth.

2) My oldest (5.5) has a severe peanut allergy, even to peanuts on other people’s breath. If I educate him at home, I can be reasonably sure he won’t be exposed to peanuts.  If I sent him to school, I would wonder every day when I would get called to meet him at the hospital (or worse!) for an allergic reaction.

3) Laugh at me, but I am not a morning person, and having to get up and get kid(s) ready to catch a school bus, or get myself ready to drive them to school, is something I’m just not interested in! ;)

The reason my wife and I will homeschool (if we can afford to) is that, not to sound arrogant, we know much more about anything they would learn in K-8 than their teachers would and we can put it all into a context that makes sense. We can also teach them other languages (I know Latin and Greek, the Mrs. knows French and Hebrew). Lastly, we can give them a classical education and embrace the many teachable moments throughout the day on a one-to-one basis.

More than any of that, though, I think God gave our children to us so that we could teach them. Outsourcing that job is okay, but I’ve seen far too many parents do it to such an extent that they almost never teach their kids anything (because that’s what they pay, or underpay, the school for). I think it’s more noble to do ourselves what God has made us responsible for.

Thank you for this article Danielle.  It’s funny, I’ve been discerning homeschooling my children for next year and here pop’s your piece!  Perhaps this is the ‘nudge’ God is giving us?

Love it!  I find it highly ironic that the poster said all homeschooled kids are naive, arrogant and ignorant.  Hmmmmm…...

I love homeschooling.  We have five young children (our oldest is only six), including two sons adopted from Ethiopia, who have some learning delays.  AND we’re in the process of bringing home two more children from Ethiopia.  Our new girls were both born with Down syndrome.

Homeschooling affords so many benefits, not the least of which is being able to tailor the curriculum to the individual child.  No one need feel like they’re not keeping up well enough etc.  Every one can learn to read when they’re READY, in a safe, secure environment. 

Part of our impetus for homeschooling truly is the sibling relationships.  I imagine, for example, how much my bigger kids would have missed out on if they’d been in school all day last year, when I gave birth to my youngest—so sad!  My children ALL LOVE playing and being together, every last one of them, even though they are ages 6, 6, 6, 3, and 1. 

I could go on and on (and on) about why I think homeschooling is fabulous, and why I hope I am always able to do it.  Of course I can’t know the future, and we’re certainly not philosophically opposed to publich schooling, but I really do see major benefits to not only our children, but to us as well.

It was so great reading about why you homeschool!  Thanks so much for this post!

I love to read about homeschooling!  I am a nonCatholic Christian with just two children right now—my 2 1/2 year old daughter and 10 1/2 month old son—and am trying to be more disciplined in teaching my daughter.  I can relate to a lot of what is said here: I don’t want to miss out on my kids.  I know everything they need to be taught before high school (and between my husband and I I’m pretty sure we could handle high school).  My husband and I were also part of the group that was not challenged adequately in school, and my work ethic is one of the things I still struggle with.  And over a decade of public school left us both socially awkward, an ailment (or gift, depending on one’s perspective) that runs in both of our families.  I don’t want my kids to be tormented and ostracized in school—or worse, be the ones doing the tormenting and ostracizing.  And oh yes, I live in Massachusetts (though not really a bad part, as I understand it).  I’m willing to revisit it if things don’t work, but at this point I think homeschooling is the best decision.

Thank you so much for your article.  I’ve been persecuted for years because I chose to homeschool.  I’m amazed at how God has worked it out for us to homeschool, even when I wanted to give it up.  My oldest was partly home schooled but her faith was so imbedded by the time she went to high school, she successfully made it through.  However, with my youngest kids, I decided to stick it out and I’m glad I did.  We are able to attend daily Mass and devotions that would not be feasible if they attended school, especially if you throw in extracurricular activities (it was crazy with my oldest).  The stress level in our family went down enormously.  My kids aren’t the greatest social butterflies but they’re basically good kids who know the catechism and bible better than I did at their age.  Just like everyone else, they’ll learn.  Being able to have flexibility is a major plus.  The hardest have been finding groups or others to share it with.  With God and Mary, all things are possible.

We homeschooled for a variety of reasons, many of which were mentioned already. I want to add that I personally believe that God gives parents—any and all—the ability to raise their children, including whatever “education” they require. There is no teacher on earth more vested in the success of your child than you, no matter the class size or curriculum of a school setting. The model for public (and even most private) education in the U.S. is a template for turning out “citizen verkers,” based on German standards from yore. As an aside to those who think they can only homeschool “if they can afford it”: If you weigh the benefits of raising your own children, bringing them up with your own values and with only their best interests at heart, you may discover that your “wants” far outweigh your “needs” and that second income becomes unnecessary.

Call me radical, call me crazy.  I don’t care.

If I read the above comments correctly, then I’m convinced that I home-school as well.  I agree with everything you guys say and do.  But, I just happen to utilize our Catholic School system to supplement and augment what I do at home.  My kids are home-schooled, but utilize the Catholic school system here fulltime.  In-so-doing, not only am I a major paticipant in my own children’s formation, but I help our local Catholic school supplement and augment other families as they strive to raise their children as best they can.  It’s a worthwhile endeavor - just like the Church tells us it is.

My wife and her three sisters were homeschooled through middle school, and everyone thinks they are the nicest, most socially adaptable people they have ever met.  We plan on homeschooling our children.

Two days ago, my boys kicked off their school day by going outside to bounce on the trampoline and soak each other with the hose. While lots of our peers are scrambling out the door into scary Dubai traffic, we get to have a little fun.
Its a small thing, but I do think home-schooling gives you more opportunities for kids to live their imaginations.
We’ve got a small paleolithic village developing on the coffee-table, seelacanth o-lanterns, and a squash game with Dad at 11 every Wednesday.
So far, so good.

We’re a military family and my 7th grader would be in his 5th school now if we enrolled them.  Instead, he has a consistent education with the same curriculum, same teacher, and same classmates (maybe a few more being added along the way).  We took off a month last January to spend time as a family (and to move 600 miles) when my husband returned from deployment.  The local schools here, a military community, permit a student to miss 5 days when their parent returns from a deployment, a grossly insufficient amount of time.

Our texts are interesting, solid, wholesome and often from a Catholic/Christian perspective.  I do not worry about hidden agendas, ignorant or disrespectful teachers, or heretics.  My children are not allowed to “move on” to the next lesson until they master the one they are on, and in working one-on-one, I know very well what they do and do not know.

My Boy Scout can volunteer hours at the local food pantry which is only open on Thursday mornings.

My children can take private art and piano lessons during school hours, leaving more time for the family in the afternoons and evenings.

I subscribe to the “trickle-down” AND “trickle-up” theories of education: everyday, my older students overhear a review of material they already learned, further reinforcing it in their minds.  Everyday, my younger students (and even the preschoolers) overhear material that is being taught to their older siblings.  My 5th grader reads the 7th grader’s history books.  My 4th grader helps the kindergartener with art.  The kindergartener quotes Tennyson and Latin phrases.  The 2nd grader is finally “getting” how to read, but isn’t repeating 1st grade math or other subjects where she didn’t struggle.

Homeschooling is hard, and I would never say it is the best way to educate YOUR children.  But for me, right now, it is the best way to educate MY children.

Danielle,

Thank you for this positive post.  Homeschooling is wonderful and it is also a cross.  I don’ think anyone is saying it is a piece of cake.  It does take sacrifice.  However, there are a myriad of benefits.  Just one that I will mention is that my older children get to teach some of the material to the younger children.  You never learn something better than when you have to teach it to another.  The ethic of helping your brother / sister in their learning endeavor is being taught as well as patience, how to encourage others, respect for other’s abilities and respect for the teaching task.  They also get to see each other’s work, strengths, weaknesses, etc.  The more they know each other the more love there is.  I think God put us in a family so that we could spend lots of time together learning how to love one another.  Homeschooling allows us to do that.

We have two sons, one who went through “traditional” school (bored to tears and underachieving) and one we brought home from a Catholic school one month into first grade.  He was bullied and I was told by the school teacher he would have to “learn to deal with it.”  In a CATHOLIC school! (He is now a well-adjusted 15 year old in the tenth grade.)  I would merely like to add that as a Catholic homeschooler, who taught religion as part of our daily curriculum, I also kept my son in our parish religious education program.  The “Community of Christ” lessons are best taught with our parish family.  However, I will say, he was the one the catechists would call on for the “answers.”  Caution…homeschooling is not for the faint of heart…as it requires giving your time to your children.  If you are not patient, if you don’t have the time, or if you are not willing to give up part of your day…don’t do it.  But…what a gift when you can.

Thank you, Danielle!

I’m 27 years old with three little ones of my own, and we are planning on homeschooling them.  When people question me on that, or raise challenges similar to the ones you have quoted, I ask them a question: Do you think I’m normal and well-adjusted?  Sociable and intelligent?  They always answer yes, so it is with just a smidgeon of smugness that I then let them in on the dirty secret that I was homeschooled for 11 years.

When my home-schooled son is asked what grade he is in, he says, “Well, my Mom says I’m in fifth but I think I’m in fourth.”  We love being home together, he’s our only.  My husband’s schedule doesn’t allow him home on weekends, so our school days are different than M-F.  We take days off if he has friends who have a school day off.  His math lately has been helping his father build a fence.  His reading is novels he likes.  His conversation is interesting and thoughtful.  (That’s what outsiders tell me.)  The thing to remember is that home is not the right place for every child, nor is every parent up to the task.  There should be no guilt from those who do or who don’t.  It is about doing what is best for each child.  God Bless!

I would love to send my kids to an *authentically* Catholic parochial school. Unfortunately, the ones in my area are highly secularized. Over 50% of the students are non-Catholic and of the rest, most are only nominally Catholic. Nearly all of the families who are orthodox/traditional Catholics in my area homeschool their children. The primary driver is the fact that the parochial schools charge $6k-$7+k per year per child for elementary and $12k-$15+k per year per child for high school and that’s simply unaffordable for families who have more than 2 kids (as most serious Catholics do).

I would like to see the diocese schools adopt a formal policy of charging a much reduced tuition for the 3rd child and free tuition for the 4th & up like most of the Protestant Christian schools in the area do. But the cynic in me suspects that the school administrators don’t really want orthodox/traditional Catholics enrolled in their schools.

I joined the school board of the Catholic School where our K and 3rd grade girls were attending and my wife taught 4th - 8th grade language.  Our influence was minimal and our understanding of the larger picture did not make us any happier with what the future was likely to bring.  It’s hard — it takes long hours for my wife and we’re short on money — but we’re now on our 4th year of homeschooling.  The girls are in the 90th and 99th percentiles, getting much more history, reading, chatechism — and social interaction with mature people, rather than hordes of random children — math, and science than they would have.  Best part:  they’re illiterate in terms of modern American “culture,” e.g., they don’t know who Miley Cyrus is. 

Godspeed,

I loved my years of homeschooling our kids, who are now 19, 23, and 25.  We have so many treasured memories. 

There is no one size fits all solution to education.  Homeschooling was the right choice for us.

I currently teach in a small Catholic school where tuition is over $7000 per year.  It’s a great school, but we could not have afforded to send our kids there.

I don’t see anything wrong with homeschooling either.  I am in graduate school now and I’ve been taking online and in classroom classes and I’ve actually learned a lot more from the online classes.  I do have two homeschooled cousins (28 and 30) and they are socially inept and have not been very successful at living on their own, but I think their parents failed them altogether and it is NOT because they were homeschooled.  I don’t have any children, but when I do I probably will do both because I have to work. (I’m praying for the ability to work from home).  My sister does have kids and all the attributes you list for homeschooling are the same my niece and nephew also express.  My 16, 11, 2 and newborn all “play” with each other and get along really well.  They also don’t think my sister and brother-in-law is “not cool” and welcome her opinion and company.  When she needs to pull them out of school she lets the teacher know and their work is sent to her via email.  She does teach them what she knows, but she understands that some of her childrens interest are not teachable by her.  Children should learn from a variety of sources because no one person knows everything.

Katie,
Did your children go off to college?

“But thank you, childless person, for your great trust in my personal indefatigability and wealth.’

Danielle,

This comment was beneath you. I believe that Father Peter Stravinskas made this comment. I don’t believe that this was polite or respectful way to address a priest. Are you saying that because a priest is celibate, unmarried and therefore childless that they do not have any right to address marriagae or family issues? Father Peter was polite in all of his postings and deserves a polite response even if you disagree with him.

I hadn’t gottent to read your post as I have been extremely busy the last few days. My 15 year old just read it to me. He is appalled that you addressed a priest this way. He had read Mark Shea’s article and spotted your swipe at Father Peter right away. He is at this minute typing his comments. He is not impressed with the comments in defense of homeschooling. The arrogance and ignorance of the parents is screaming at him as he reads this stuff.

BTW, he goes to public school. He is in the international baccalaureate program and takes college level classes not just AP. He could not be homeschooled and get the depth and breadth of subject matter that he gets at school. He also could not get the exposure to all people that yes do challenge him on all levels. He is learning to understand his faith inside and out and to engage his peers and teachers on issues like abortion and gay marriage. He is an altar server at the Norvus Ordo Mass but loves the Latin Mass. He is considering a vocation to the priesthood.

Lastly, Greg made a great point:my kids go to school but we homeschool as well. We talk and talk, read and read in this house. We travel together and yes we take off season trips, some school systems actually encourage family trips and support this time off. Since we are their parents we decide when we travel and just ask the school for the makeup work and to excuse the absences. As long as a child keeps their grades up and has good attendance schools will work with you. We have takes long road trips across the country and we have a blast together. We camp as a family. Can you say “bonding”? We go to museums etc. It is possible for siblings who go to school to be friends too. We as their parents help and encourage the relationship between the kids and we are very picky about who they hang out with. So I guess we homeschool too.

Danielle, your response to Father Peter Stravinskas’s comment was out of line. He is a priest of the Church; he deserves respect not only as a person (which many posters on the post failed to give) but especially through his position as a priest. While you may not have to obey him personally as he’s not your parish priest, but he quoted from and referenced documents issued by bishops of the Magesterium, who do deserve our full obediance. Your ship is not just your family. It includes all of the Church, and the Church should be supported in entirety; and as Father Stravinskas pointed out, we should do our part in correcting error.

I apologize if this offends anyone; I’m truely sorry. While they aren’t intended to, many comments by homeschoolers (and this post) against public and private schools come off as extremely arrogant. They often focus on the negativity of public schools. As people have stated, one size doesn’t fit all for education. That’s why I attend public school; my parents are very smart, and my dad has 2 law degrees (JD and LLM). But they don’t have the breadth of knowledge to teach me advanced high school/college-level classes. I will enter the International Baccalaureate program next year (my junior year). This teaches college-level courses that are more difficult and require more higher-level thinking than American AP classes. We take two years of courses in experimental sciences, math, social studies, English, a second language, and a second science or arts class. At the end of the class, students take exams lasting at least an hour and a half (up to three exams for subjects taught at the Higher Level, two for the classes taught at Standard Level) but don’t generally include any multiple choice questions. The exams are essay-based. It also includes a 4,000 word thesis paper, Theory of Knowledge, and time spent on personal development (creativity, action, service).
I can defend my Faith with ease; this is good prep for the world without my parents. I fear that while devout, homeschooled kids won’t be able to defend the Faith when surrounded by people who don’t share the same beliefs and could be hostile. The interaction with atheists, agnostics, existentialists, liberal Protestants, more socialist-bent people, and those who do not share the Christian faith (Muslims, Jews, etc) has strengthened my faith.
My teachers, with one or 2 exceptions, have degrees in their subject areas. My parents don’t! and if I hadn’t gone to public school, Jack Elgin, my freshman year band teacher would never have impacted my life. While not Catholic, he lives a very Christian life and his fish symbol on his car gets him through the day, as he told me one late afternoon. Beyond getting us to make music and not play notes, his goal was to build better people and develop our character. As much as I love my parents and respect them, I am extremely grateful I have had outside influence on my life.

Oh I forgot: even in public schools, I’ve been to more states than most of my friends 32 counting airport connections, and 29 without.

Loved this one!

We’ve homeschooled for 14 years and don’t regret a minute of it.

Dear Ann & Matt,
Thank you for your comments. I think it’s great that public schooling is working out so well for you. I am a product of public schools myself and I greatly appreciate the quality of education I received before heading to college.
I am not sure, however, exactly why you are addressing me with such a defensive tone. This is not an anti-anything-but-homeschooling post. Why can’t someone who homeschools point out the positive reasons why it’s a good choice for her family without it being an attack on anyone who chooses differently? As I wrote in the post: “When it comes to schooling choices, I definitely defend every family’s right to do what works best for them. I have seen enough successful combinations of homeschool, public school, and private school over the years to know that there is no one right way to educate Catholic children.”
As for addressing Fr. Peter’s comments ... I certainly don’t think that a priest’s celibacy means he has no “right to address marriage or family issues” but I do think Fr. Peter’s comments (Honestly, I did not even come close to quoting the most derogatory or inflammatory among them) betray an ignorance of the reality of family life. He places burdens on Catholic families—struggling, faithful Catholic families—that the Church herself does not.
As one of the other commenters on that thread pointed out: Canon 793 states: “Parents and those who take their place are bound by the obligation and possess the right of educating their offspring. Catholic parents also have the duty and right of choosing those means and institutions through which they can provide more suitably for the Catholic education of their children, according to local circumstances.”
Yes, I am a member of a Church and of a parish, and I take the responsibilities associated with that membership seriously. But it is NOT my vocation to reform the Catholic schools. And God is NOT calling me to limit my family size and/or work outside the home so that we might afford Catholic grade school/middle school/high school for all of our children.
Homeschooling is not jumping ship. It is not taking the easy way out. It is taking a hard way that, in an ideal world, we would never have to take. We do it because, year by year, God calls us to it.
I don’t expect every priest or commenter on the internet to understand that, but I do expect them to respect my right to answer God’s call to educate my children at home and to not stereotype my family for making what has been a prayerful and careful decision we, as Catholic parents, have every right to make.
And finally, I do expect to not be told that I am neglecting my duties as a Catholic mother by homeschooling my children when homeschooling is precisely the way—the sacrificial way—that I am doing all that I can to be faithful to those duties.

Danielle,

It was the way you addressed him. “But thank you childless person….” was dismissive and most certainly implies that he doesn’t have the right to address issues dealing with children. If you believe that he does have the right then why point out that he is childless?

Our comments about homeschooling are addressed more to posters than to you. You did make the point that each family has the right to make the educational decisions for their children. However, almost without exception, the posters and you (and every article in defense of homeschooling I have ever read) has followed up with subtle or not so subltel put downs of other choices like “How many 15-year-olds don’t know that they are supposed to think their mother is embarrassing?” I would call this subtle but a put down none the less since you are implying that homeschooling is why this so. I don’t have time to dig out allt the put downs in the com boxes.

” We set our schedule in ways that make sense to us.” I just have to ask: when do homeschool kids learn time management skills? And when do the parents put them into practice? Flexibility is great but the world of college and work don’t work that way. My experience has been that while homeschool families are as sweet as can be they are the most inconsidereat of other people’s time of any group I deal with. It is all about them and their school schedule. When they decide it is a day for school then you cannot ask them for anything and they are late for EVERYTHING whether they were doing school work or not. They have no sense that they should respect the time and schedule of others. Even if you are not inconsiderate of other’s time and arrive on time more often than not, I would sincerely like to hear how you teach your children time management when one of the main benefits to homeshcooling is being able to change the schedule at a moment’s notice. How do the kids learn that at some point in life they will have to get up and get going by a certain tiem whether they want to or not and whether it is convenient or not?

My observation is that homeschoolers are more often than not off schedule with school work and scramble to catch up which is why when they do have a school day, it is a very stressful day.

Danielle,
Father Stravinskas didn’t need to be addressed in that way; that was my biggest problem with the piece.

With the exception of the comments regarding Father Stravinskas, I don’t think you put down people or ideas on purpose; your posts and comments are respectful and insightful, even when I go “hmm, I am not sure I agree with that 100%.” Sometimes words have a tinge to them, even if it’s truely not intended as your words weren’t intended to be hostile, and people get defensive. Others, however, delibarately disparage children who attend regular schools. I was just trying to point that out, and point out positive reasons for my and my parents’ choice to send me to public school. Those people irk me. So as my mum said, we were addressing posters more so than you.

I am curious to know how rigorous your curriculum is, especially for your high-school age children. I know that homeschoolers can register for AP exams. Do you do this or plan to do this? Also, how do you test the kids at the end of a course? The pressure of a final exam testing all the material that will help determine your final grade for the year (or semester) and will take nearly 2 hours to complete isn’t something easily replicated in a homeschool environment.

A positive (though it’s quite a roller coaster) factor of public school is the interaction with those whose views contradict Catholic teaching. I have a gay teacher who has a partner, and while it’s odd and incredibly frustrating,I’ll know how to handle those people when I get to a university in a few years, even in a hostile, anti-Church teachings environment. How will your kids, especially the older ones, learn to cope with those situations that require lots of interaction with those who don’t hold any views that the Catholic Church teaches?

I agree with what my mum said in her last paragraph in her second comment. No need to repeat all that

Your kids are obviously doing pretty well. :)
but other homeschooled kids don’t do as well. I also can’t find any studies done about performance levels of high schoolers compared to homeschoolers that aren’t biased to either side; I’m a numbers person, and they don’t lie. If studies consistently show, with the same criteria and methodology, homeschooling is better, then I would consider it when I have kids. Right now, there aren’t any. Studies would also defuse the hostility I’ve seen, because subjective opinions are so, well, subjective, meaning people will form their own ideas about schooling and the groups they are looking at are so small in comparision to the school-age pop.

@Ann and Matt

Some rebuttals, though maybe not so good nor well thought out. I do not mean these in a malicious way but in all Charity. Please if you feel they are outside of charity call me out and I will apologize if necessary or perhaps they just need more explanation.

“I just have to ask: when do homeschool kids learn time management skills?”
—This is interesting. Do you ask the same question of all the public and parochial schooled children who are late or are they just never late to things? Growing up we as a family were late to just about everything. My parents were both public schooled so surely you are not implying that they were somehow home schooled. Also, my wife’s family is very clockwork and early to everything, this is just how they are, this has helped us out a lot as my tendencies to procrastinate and my wife’s to be overly early result in an almost always a little early to everything. My older brother is very late to about everything and he was public and Catholic schooled and is an Engineer with a degree! I would like to think that this is a generalization based on a few experiences you have had as I find it hard to believe that only home schoolers and all home schoolers you have done anything with are always late. If this is so perhaps you have not interacted with many home schoolers and then may have a somewhat myopic view with which to make such a broad statement.

“The pressure of a final exam testing all the material that will help determine your final grade for the year (or semester) and will take nearly 2 hours to complete isn’t something easily replicated in a homeschool environment.”
—This is quite an assumption. Have you home schooled then? It does not sound like this is so based on your previous comments. This is actually reproducible…but is it necessary? Perhaps in the high school level it is.hmmm

“That’s why I attend public school; my parents are very smart, and my dad has 2 law degrees (JD and LLM). But they don’t have the breadth of knowledge to teach me advanced high school/college-level classes.”
—I agree and disagree about this statement. If read one way t could be considered offensive as you just articulated how very educated your parents are and then imply that even they cannot provide the proper education for you, so what does that mean for us who do not have those credentials? On the other hand I agree that in high school some advanced studies may require specialists and you know what, there is nothing wrong with that. Home schoolers can and do employ tutors.

I think that we all tend to get a bit defensive of our education and educational choices. No one wants to be thought of or regarded as ignorant. In fact, it seems to me that either everyone at this public school you attend is super intelligent or you are one of those gifted and highly intelligent persons, I mean this as a great compliment. I would also like to propose that homeschooling does not change these gifts and aspects of a person. Perhaps the particular public school you attend is not as morally corrupt and hostile towards people of faith as what most of them around here are. My wife went to one like that of which I am eternally grateful for. The fact that your parents have been able to work with you and you have been able to thrive in a possibly hostile or even challenging environment is fantastic and I for one applaud you, many wither and crumble in those environments. I for one was one of those. My faith formation really happened in high school when I was home schooled. It was here that I learned apologetics and how to argue the faith. I had a job and was able to be exposed to these same kinds folks that you mention and was challenged and it was good. This would not have happened had we stayed in either of the Public or Catholic Schools as my faith would have been malformed and lacking. Again, this was my experience and obviously yours is different.

Personally, I have the benefit of being Public, Catholic and Home Schooled and so have a particular viewpoint on this subject. I have experienced them all. I think there are pros and cons to each. I have a sister with a Masters degree who was home schooled from the 1st grade on. My younger brother was also home schooled and is now a Journeyman Electrician. Homeschooling does not mean that your children will go to college more often or that they will even be smarter than any others but it does not meant that they will not either.

I am not trying to express the shortfalls of public school but rather the acceptability of Home schooling. There is an almost automatic defensive stance home schoolers take to education because they have been considered less than apt educators by the world at large and often ridiculed. Perhaps this is why many take a somewhat aggressive stance but when you always have to defend your decisions because they are considered abnormal or bad for your child this should be expected, as is yours in defense of your educational choice.

There are many points you both make that I agree with in your posts and they are so very well articulated that I enjoy reading them personally.

Please excuse any ambiguous ramblings or incomplete thoughts and feel free to counterpoint or call me out on them. :-)

In Christ,

Dave

Dave,

Thanks for your comments. I don’t oppose homeschooling, I oppose those who paint with a broad brush the kids who go to school and their parents. If you read through this article and posts and Mark Shea’s on homeschooling it is pretty appalling the uncharitbale comments and characterizations made by homeschoolers. I feel I have no choice but to speak up. I think there are pitfalls or potholes on any road you choose. It is really how you negotiate the road that makes the difference. We really never know what would happen if we took another route. Maybe good, maybe bad, maybe just different. I do think the biggest factor is the family you come from, how involved are the parents. If the family is intact and parents positively involved in schooling then most of the time (maybe all, there is no way to quatify it) then the schooling choice will be successful. Private or public schools fail children for many reasons a lot of them having to do with the child and the parents.

Sorry about how the time management question came across. No I don’t ask it of others who are late because they don’t use the flexibility of their schedule as a factor in their schooling. My observation is that I see homeschoolers doing a lot of things except school and hear that they are behind, etc. 

Believe me I think most of us could use our time better. And every school morning I wish we didn’t have to get up. I get up very early to get everyone including hubby out the door.

“If read one way it could be considered offensive as you just articulated how very educated your parents are and then imply that even they cannot provide the proper education for you, so what does that mean for us who do not have those credentials?” It means, can the homeschool parent/teacher actually teach the material at the level appropriate for the child? I think the question of the competence of the teacher which in this case is the parent is a fair one. Unless I am mistaken homeschoolers are saying that the parent is just as qualified as a teacher in a school or even more so. For Matt, that answer is probably no his parents are not qualified to teach him at his level. And yes he is very gifted and super intelligent. He was born that way and we just watered and fed the gift. Same with his siblings. My Mom will say “I wonder where he gets it.” Uh, thanks Mom. :) Matt is off the charts.

O.k. that’s it for now. Thanks for the discussion.

Late to the dance, but I am pro-homeschool, have even done that with my children. They have experienced (and I have witnessed), however, the arrogance of the homeschooling community on more than one occasion. I have felt that, due to criticisms by those who oppose homeschooling, homeschoolers have often felt the need to defend and even champion their choices to their own children, as well as others. In doing so, a sense of superiority can emerge in homeschoolers that is very similar to the same superiority that they have experienced from private and/or public school proponents. Just something that everyone, and I do mean everyone, needs to recognize.

I want to thank you all because we have 3 kids in Catholic school.  I cannot afford it any longer, not sure how I did up to now, and find it is not as Catholic as I would like.  We are just researching homeschooling and were a bit fearful of the unknown.  Through prayer and signs from God, I feel this is the way to go.  Your article and posts make me feel very confident and exited.  I am a teacher and it is nt the teaching part that I was fearful of, but I really feel this is the best option right now.  The negative effects of school bother me, especially the effects it has on the relationships my three have with each other.  Thank you again for making me feel confident!

Great article!  I will add something that my son once said to me when he witnessed a teacher with her class for the 1st time: “That mommy has alot of kids!”  I replied, “Oh, that isn’t the mommy,she is their teacher.” I then proceeded to explain to him that not everyone homeschools, in a way he could understand. His response,“Oh, those poor kids! You mean they don’t get to be with their Mommy all day?!”  Out of the mouths of babes! :)