It's not really that I'm undecided - I just feel like it is right for some and not others. So I guess that means I'm for? I don't know. I think it is used as too over protective a measure sometimes and in situations where kids should be benefiting from the social skills that can be gained in regular schools.

However, there are situations where kids just can't handle a normal social or school situation. Here it seems fine as long as the parent or tutor is competent and ready to provide the proper education to the student.

Also, if kids are getting a lot of social skills from another venue - such as sports or other community activities, then I don't really see a problem with it.

Like jameswilson, I'm not really 'undecided,' I just think it depends on the situation. I think there's just too many variables for me to be 'all or nothing' with this.

Homeschooling FTW! My parents were and are the awesomest teachers in the world! <3

However, homeschooling is not for everyone. One size does not fit all, and different education is good for different people. Homeschooling was the perfect choice for me, but public high school was the best choice for my brother. So it all depends.

If the child has no mental issues then they should be in school interacting with kids their age,having fun,experiencing the goods & bads of school life that prepare them 4 the future.
but this is my preference. my future kids will never be home schooled

Actually, when you're homeschooled, you get to interact with people of ANY age, and get a lot of rich experiences. At least, this was how it was for me. I would go to clubs, hang out with the neighborhood kids anytime I wanted, plan giant playdates and sleepovers with them, and almost every friend I made was a true one. I wasn't missing out on anything when I was homeschooled. Also, because my parents were my teachers all my life, I developed a strong, loving relationship with them and gained a lot of respect for the adults in my life.

(Why does EVERYONE think that homeschoolers live in a sterile plastic bubble where they can't "socialize" or interact with other kids? Gah, it's so annoying...it's not like my parents locked me up in a closet, you guys...)

There's nothing wrong with homeschooling. I'm not undecided, I think it's a personal choice. Or, what bri-marie and jameswilson said.

It depends on how good your parents, or at home teachers, are at teaching. I had a home schooled friend who didn't get much out of it because he had idiot parents. Some use it as a shortcut just to get through school.
There are some who get a lot out of it because their parents are great teachers.

i wasn't homeschooled so i don't really have enough info and expirence on the subject to form a oppinion. never the less, if i had to lean someway then, it would have to be against. i'm jjust worried that (unlike dearhearts) not ALL parents are good teachers.

I'm not necessarily against it, but I have reasons to not be fully for it. The reasons mainly center on the importance of socialization, and how I believe a child should have as much interaction with other children as possible. Especially when they're younger.

I mean, don't get me wrong. Being a loner isn't at all bad, hell I'm a loner myself.

But, it's best to gain experiences to learn from socialization as a child.

That's mainly my biggest thing, there.

EDIT: "Being longer" to "Being a loner" xD

i don't think that nessicarly means someone will become a recluse simply because they're homeschooled. i mean, they have after school and the weekends...some people even do "group" homeschooling, where 2 or 3 people share a teacher.......then again if you don't get on with the small number of classmates....

@Sapherequeen - a common misconception about homeschoolers is that they don't have an opportunity to socialize with their peers. Dearheart already addressed this.

Yes, I know. I wasn't necessarily trying to say that homeschooled children rarely or never socialize with others.

I just believe that a child should be in some type of environment where he/she is around children for a lengthy period of time. From my own experiences, one of the advantages of school is that you not only socialize with others, but you learno from it as well.

Of course, homeschooled children may visit playgrounds or perhaps attend summer camps for a week or so. But to me, it's not necessarily the same thing.

I'm fine if a parent chooses to homeschool his/her child, I'm not trying to degrade someone's choices in parenting. I just sort of disagree.

I do think there are cases where homeschooling is the best option, but I definitely don't think that's always the case. Two of my cousins are homeschooled, and even though they do soccer and drama and other things that allow them to socialize with other kids their age and my aunt is a great teacher, I don't necessarily think that homeschooling was the best choice for them, and I do think it will be beneficial if they decide to go to public high school. Part of this is because I happen to know that over-protectiveness was a major factor in my aunt's decision to homeschool my cousins. For instance, because my family is very religious, there are certain principles, such as evolution, that my cousins will have little to no exposure to until they get to college. My mother is equally as religious, but I went to public schools and received a secular education. It definitely benifited me to be familiar with the other side of the argument and allowed my beliefs regarding religion and science to be well-informed, and, ultimately, my beliefs and not my mom's. Also, because they live in a secluded area, my aunt is able to closely monitor who my cousins associate with. I stated earlier that my they do get to socialize with people their age, but they also only get to socialize with the kind of people my aunt wants them exposed to. While it's one thing to worry that other kids might be a bad influence on your child, it's another completely to make sure your children never even meet those kinds of people. My concern is that, if they continue to be homeschooled through high school, they're going to be in for a rude awakening when they get to college.

However, I realize that is isn't the case for all parents that choose to homeschool their children, which is why I still make the decision on a case-by-case basis.

"From my own experiences, one of the advantages of school is that you not only socialize with others, but you learno from it as well. "

and then there's the learning from being tormented by someone bigger or older than you...i definatly think homeeschooling is a resolve for that, not nessicarily a good solution for bullying, but a solution, at least.

My parents homeschooled me. I went to public school until some time in the 1st grade. I remember crying all the time. One instance was when a kid told me I wrote an F instead of a 1 (I did the kind with the extra marks). I would make it a personal goal to get through a single day without crying. The teachers didn't know how to handle it, so I was sent to the principal's office all the time. My only 'friend' was the counselor. I remember the time I decided I must be sent to the principal's office all the time because I was horrible and should be punished so I tied my shoelaces to the chair so I wouldn't be able to leave, and the counselor cut the laces off. At one point, I asked my mom if I could stay at home and not have to go to school, and she said yes but I would still have to "learn", so I decided that I would prefer to go to school. One day, though, my mom just announced that I wouldn't go to school anymore. And then I had the happiest days of my life. She taught me things out of a book, but it was at my own pace and it was things that I was actually interested in. And I realized that this is what she meant by "learn", actually acquiring knowledge, not being unpleasantly forced to repeat things until I memorized them, which is what I thought "learn" meant based on what schools do. It took me several years before I figured out with a shock that schools actually think they're performing a valuable service and not just tormenting children because adults hate kids. My reaction was "Are they idiots?"

"It took me several years before I figured out with a shock that schools actually think they're performing a valuable service and not just tormenting children because adults hate kids. My reaction was "Are they idiots?""

Yours is a sad story, but please don't condemn the entire public school system based on your own personal experience. Most schools and teachers strive to make their classrooms safe and nurturing for all students, from all walks of life, and make learning fun.

I really don't understand this "Homeschool versus Public/Private School" mentality. I don't believe that either option is bad, or better than the other, except, perhaps, on a case by case basis. For you, homeschool worked, but please don't condemn the entire institution of public shooling, either.

I don't believe that homeschooled students are "freaks" or "socially inept." Likewise, I don't believe that public-schooled students are all bullies, or that the teachers are just there to get summers off, torture students and reap their hefty paycheck.

Definitely against. For better or for worse, school is an important part of life.

"i definatly think homeeschooling is a resolve for that, not nessicarily a good solution for bullying, but a solution, at least."

I would agree with this in extreme cases of severe bullying, but other than this, you basically stated my thoughts.

Homeschooling is, to me, a poor choice of resolution to deal with bullying. As terrible a problem bullying can become, almost each one of us has experienced it. And eventually, we learned how to deal with ostracizing, judgmental, ignorant, cruel etc. people. And it's best that we learn how to do so. Bullying is one of the biggest life dilemmas that occurs even in late adulthood, only in different ways.

To me, by taking your child out of school due to bullying problems (excluding cases where it's severe), you're teaching him or her to run away. To run away from a problem and let it haunt you, or grow even bigger.

I'm not saying bullying is an easy problem to overcome. You're reading this comment posted by someone who's endured a great deal of it :/

But from my own experiences, I think it's best that a child learns how to overcome this problems with bullying and other socially related conflicts on their own. And to me, having them be at school is one of the best ways for them to learn.

School is just too big of a part of a childs life. they should experience & grow & learn just the same as other kids. School just teach so many life lessons. The hard times & the fun times of school everybody should be able to experience it. School is the best part of a lot of peoples life.

'School is the best part of a lot of peoples life.'

Not everyone's:
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it certainly wasn't for me.

i didnt say everyones...i said a lot of peoples...it wasnt the best part of mine either

I know, just wanted to elaborate on that.

It's a personal choice. When I was a kid, I would've loved it. But now that I have close friends and like (most) of my teachers, I'd rather be there.

I'm for both homeschooling and public/private schooling.

Sure, I was home-schooled for kindergarten.

Dearheart-agreed. Obviously. We kinda, sorta grew up together and are both sane, functioning, highly intelligent people. :-)

I was home-schooled for most of this year,and let me say it was okay,because well,you see the teacher ONCE a week for two hours except science for me which was three hours...it wasn't the best because even though we met once each week,they'd give me SO MUCH homework,it wasn't fair to me,and there's NO contact with other children/adolescents in there,so that limits the socialization with others,because people have to learn to get along with others,if that's taken away (to me),how will the child learn to deal with others,because there are people who will you up and down in life,and home-school doesn't illustrate or help that at all..but everyone has different experience in different things,so I guess it could work for some people,but for people like me it just didn't work,but I'm taking away my biasness in saying no,because it depends on the situation for being home-schooled..

I think that homeschooling is the best option for a childs education, however, I'm not against public schools. I just know that when I have kids, I will homeschool them :)

And I love how some people think that homeschoolers are these hermits living in the mountains, unable to socialize with anybody....if anything I think that it's the exact opposite. As homeschoolers we socialize with a large group of people of varying ages....from babies to seniors so....I promise you, we homeschoolers are very sociable and fans of lively conversation :)

@ Cassie - as one with a Masters Degree in teaching, I share this sentiment.

HOWEVER - A homeschooling parent is not a teacher in the professional sense of the word. A public school teacher has to be thinking of twenty things at once - curriculum, classroom management, time management, objective, assessment, procedure (to name a few). A public school teacher plays coach, therapist, advocate, police officer, nurse, cheerleader, mediator and diplomat all at once to twenty different students at a time.

Teacher training prepares teachers for the atmosphere of teaching in a classroom, as well as giving them strategies to teach equitably to all skill levels and multiple kinds of learners at once. I have several of these skills and strategies in my arsenal that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't pursued my education in teaching and just went out and tried to teach. Teaching is not an easy job, and anyone who believes that it is is completely ignorant about the demands and stress of the profession. Those who know me also know that I don't call people or opinions "ignorant" all the time, but that is an opinion that, I'm sorry to say, is sincerely ignorant of everything that a teacher does.

Homeschool teachers are dealing with one to a couple of students at a time. This gives them much more opportunities to focus on one-on-one instruction and support an individual, as well as tailor instruction specifically to a very small population of learners. While homeschooling does have its stresses and difficulties, it is no where near the stresses and difficulties of a public school teacher. I believe that because a parent is probably the most knowledgeable adult about their child, not to mention the one who decides what skills and values they want to teach their children, they are perfectly qualified to teach their individual child or children.

Lastly - @Shepard14 - I agree that homeschooling can have advantages for children, among them the aforementioned one-on-one instruction time and personalized curriculum. Nonetheless, I would not say that homeschooling is the best option for "every child." Just like homeschooling, public (and private for that matter) schooling also has its advantages, among them coming across new and different perspectives on life and learning that their parents or familial/social circle might have exposed them too, diversity in a work environment and conflict resolution, and preparation for a more public collegiate environment.

I know that homeschoolers socialize and interact with a variety of fellow students and adults, but I also know that homeschooling (and thus a homeschool class or social group) is generally a middle class luxury. A homeschool class or social group also tend to have the same or similar perspectives, values and ideologies. Again, while there are benefits to this - strengthening and encouraging such values and ideologies in a child, for instance - there are also drawbacks. After all, I always try to expose myself to as many people who disagree with me and my world view as possible in order to get a better understanding of the world.

In short - Homeschooling, public schooling, and private schooling all have their advantages and disadvantages but neither home schooling nor the other two options are necessarily better or worse in every instance.

But maybe that's only because I've seen a heap of documentaries, eg. 'Jesus Camp', where homeschooled kids are brainwashed into fundementalist Christian beliefs- One's education should not compose of listening to preaches on how evoloution is stupid, stupid, stupid, how Creationism is the only way, and how the Earth is only 6000 years old, since carbon dating is a conspiracy. My god it was scary. Parents are not teachers of morality, not science, geography, and maths. Kids should be exposed to other world views, not just their parents. These kids- it was scary- were completely brainwashed. School helps you see others' views, not just those of your family- and of course, this is small reason in a tirade of reasons against homeschooling. School is a vital part of life.

Ignorant or not, I still don't see how knowing your children means you're knowledgeable enough to educate.

(I added a new answer so if you didn't choose an answer, you won't have to keep clicking back and forth.)

Sorry, Cassie, I wasn't calling YOUR opinion ignorant at all. I was calling those who believe teaching is easy ignorant, which you never, ever stated. In fact, I don't think anyone here has. It was more of a preemptive strike, as every time teacher quality or education comes up, that "argument" always crops up eventually.

Ohhh, sorry. I skipped a entire chunk of the comment on accident. I get it.


What happened to my first comment? It's gone..

I am home schooled, and I have to say it is one of the best things my parents have done for me. I agree with Dearheart, we are very sociable people. I can sit in a room of seniors, and carry very good conversations with them, and then turn around and care for young children. Right after that, I'll go and hang out with teens my age.
And what ThePrincessTale said about home schooled kids being brainwashed is not true (at least in my family). My parents are Christians, but they taught me both Creation and Evolution because they wanted me to be very well-rounded.
In regular schools, they don't teach Creation at all, and are extremely one-sided when it comes to Evolution. They don't want to hear proof about Creation (yes there is lots of it!) and are horrified when you point flaws out (such as Haekals gill-slit theory). They put down Christians (yes they do!), and criticize them as well, saying "you are the only one like this".
I could go on and on and on, and if you are interested in this at all, please watch Dr. Kent Hovind!
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These are just samples! The third one is my personal favorite. It shows how dinosaurs fit in the Bible and how they are not millions of years old!

I said that the homeschooled kids portrayed in documentaries seem quite brainwashed. They are probably extreme cases, but at the same time I think that kids should be exposed to view's other than their parents. In am open to the idea that in some cases, homescooling may be beneficial- but I worry about the kids whose parents aren't fit for teaching.

Creationism shouldn't be taught in a science classroom- it's not a science. In a science classroom, it should be evolution- factual, solid evidence. By all means, Creationism can be discussed in a philosophy or religious classroom, but forgive me in saying that in a science lesson, how dinosaurs fit into the Bible (and they very may well do- but that is another point) is not a necessary teaching- the Bible shouldn't get involved in science. There are times and places for creationism, but Science isn't one of them.

I think I've decided something.

If you've never been homeschooled, you have no right to trash it.

If you've never been in a public school, you have no right to trash it.

As a public (and now private) school teacher I'm finding all these generalizations a bit irksome. You don't know what they teach in a public science classroom, or in a public philosophy classroom. We had several discussions about Creationism in my school, as well as Intelligent Design and other religious theories, like reincarnation in my World Culture's class, and it taught me heaps.

^Well, I saying they shouldn't teach Creationism in a science classroom . I mean to say, someone can bring it up, they can talk about it, blah blah blah, but it's not to be taught there. It has a place in many others, like I said- RE, philosophy, maybe even English- but you can't say it's a science. It's great to talk about reincarnation, intelligent design, etc. It does teach one heaps- about people's beliefs, about tolerance, etc. It's just not in a teacher's job to preach.

When did people ever generalise?

Sorry, I wasn't talking to you, ThePrincesTale, and people generalized in this all the time. See Dragonclaws' comment, or, the straw that broke the camel's back, PoisonLuck's claim that:

"In regular schools, they don't teach Creation at all, and are extremely one-sided when it comes to Evolution. They don't want to hear proof about Creation (yes there is lots of it!) and are horrified when you point flaws out (such as Haekals gill-slit theory). They put down Christians (yes they do!), and criticize them as well, saying "you are the only one like this"

I go to great effort to make my classroom safe, welcoming, and open to all walks of life. I celebrate religious holidays of the students of my class and use it as an opportunity for cultural exchange. I don't hate anyone in my classroom, Christian or otherwise, and I was just tired of schools being demonized in this conversation.

Depends on how it's done. But sometimes it is the best way for a child with certain needs to learn.