Home School or Public School?

We homeschool our 5 kids, and they get PLENTY of socialization. You have to make that an effort, church, volunteerism, homeschool sports associations, martial arts schools, etc.

I grew up in Dallas ISD, that is one reason I homeschool my kids. There are some stereotypical "odd" looking homeschoolers out there, but have you been to a public school or mall lately? Homeschooling isn't for everyone, your house may not always be spotless and it can be expensive, but more and more colleges are giving homeschoolers preferential admissions due to the fact they are usually more developed and self motivated and self sufficient than their public school peers.

I have attended public, private, and home school. I have taught in a private school, private college, an online high school, and tutored at a homeschool co-op. I have homeschooled my children, and other children, and I currently operate Life Classical Christian School in Hamilton, OH. I prefer homeschooling, and today there are so many resources available that makes the choice so easy.

That said, laws are where you will find problems. Pennsylvania is a terrible state to homeschool, but Michigan basically has no law at all. In Ohio, I decided to operate my own school (but only my children attend—if you get my point), in order to make the paperwork easier. As an educated individual, you might want to look into actually doing what I am doing—starting my own private school but only teaching my children as students.

So long as the individual doing the homeschooling has at least a Master's degree in education, is certified by the state, has access to the latest information and references for each subject to be taught, attends at least annual educational workshops and seminars, and is able to ensure the student will have a portion of each day blocked off for socialization with other children, I'm ok with it.

Homeschooling should definitely not be done by just anyone...

If you and your wife chose to homeschool, as we did, be very supportive of her. It is a big/scary thing to do but it is big on rewards. One of the best parts for us was networking with other homeschoolers on base. We learned much more than homeschooling.

My wife and I have homeschooled our kids for about seven years now. If you want great practice in being the S-3, try homeschool.

There are secular and faith-based curricula. Many of the most useful systems have day-by-day lesson plans. I coordinate everything in excel. If we miss a day, or something, I just "insert a column"

We love it. However, it's a year-round commitment for the parents. If you aren't in school, you are prepping for the next year.

In addition to the curriculum, my kids....
learned to cook made-from-scratch meals by the age of seven;
started doing chores at the age of five, and they continue to scale;
are able to make quilted blankets and other things.

These activities are not special or unique, as many homeschool parents use such activities to complement classroom learning.

There are difficult times. I was separated from my family for two straight years. It was very difficult on my wife, my son and my daughter. Skype was only so helpful.

Homeschooling is a major commitment. Most parents quit after a year or two. However, there is nothing greater than raising your own children.

We have only homeschooled our 5 kids, ages 12 (7th grade) down to 3 for over 8 years and have been extremely pleased with their learning (as well as ours!). My wife doesn't work outside the home, so between homeschool and other kids activities, she is the lead on teaching the kids, however, I get involved daily (as long as I am home).
We have leveraged local HS groups for sports, and group classroom activities, but also are heavily involved in local youth sports, our local church including youth activities and children's church, musical classes and performances, and of course our neighborhood kids, a mix of HS and not.
Homeschool is what you make of it. We have made a dedicated effort to give each kid the most personalized, yet challenging curriculum that we find across multiple different programs out there. Of course there are several lessons we do together, with each kid learning and doing at different levels. This leads to our kids being in different grade levels for different subjects even though we are keeping them with their age-peers, for the most part.
We have homeschooled in Louisiana, Kansas, Texas and now South Carolina, so have had to make sure we know each state's requirements as we move along.
Bottom Line, I would highly recommend giving HS your all and continually evaluate how you, as parents, are doing as well as your daughter. I believe everyone can teach their kids in homeschool, don't we teach them so much other things every day anyway, and wouldn't you want to be the one your kids learn from rather than someone else?

SO Here is my question because my wife and i have been discussing this exact subject. We are thinking of starting home school when she starts Kindergarten. It seems everyone i talk to with kids in public school wish they home schooled there kids. Where do you even begin to look stuff up on this because every time i google it sites say the are the #1 site for Home schooling. Thanks.

Thanks everyone for your input. I appreciate all of the advice. The comments have provided me with a lot of avenues to pursue as we look to making the decision.

I see a common thread on this discussion is the typical argument for "socialization." That is one of the most common arguments against homeschooling, but it just doesn't hold water. There are always examples of the "weird" homeschool kids. My wife and I have been homeschooling our children from the beginning. My oldest is a junior in high school this year. We've moved all over the country for school and military service and have been involved in homeschool groups everywhere we've gone. We have met literally hundreds of homeschool families and in all that time have only met one family that would qualify as "weird."

In looking at the socialization issue people often fail to take into account the fact that public schools are a totally artificial environment. Where else, besides school, will a person ever intereact on a daily basis solely with peers from their own age group? That's not the way life happens in the real world.

I remember reading an article a while back on the dangers of socialization within the modern school system. I can't find that particular article right now, but the link below provides a good summary of much of the same information.

http://www.ochomeschooling.com/specialneeds/Socialization%20Myths.htm

LT (Join to see) I was home-schooled by a former public school teacher(My mom). I have a GED and I am completely normal(anyone that makes that statement needs their head examined.)

I will not tell you one is superior to the other given I have not spent a day of my K-12 education in a public school.

I have done very well on every standardized test I have taken(ASVAB, ACT, SAT...ect).

My wife is an attorney(former High school English teacher) and we plan on homeschooling our children. The key to it is a balanced education. My physics is a little lacking because at the time it was 3 hour drive to the closest place that could teach it.

We used a combination of set curriculum's and simple subjects. We traveled a lot when I was kid so we hit every museum we could find. We have to write two reports per museum. One of something we wanted to write about and the other picked by my mom.

Homeschooling gets just as much negative press as the public school system. Homeschooling is all about consistency.