RFOTD

torylynn1 · January 2011

In 2007, there were roughly 1.5 million U.S. students classified as homeschooled.

Mrs.BoomBoom · January 2011

And total k-12 enrollment is about 64 million, so, that's about 2.4% of students.

Interesting too, it's been increasing steadily.

Approximately 1.1 million students (1,096,000) were being homeschooled in the United States in the spring of 2003 (2.2%), an increase from the estimated 850,000 students who were being homeschooled in the spring of 1999 (1.7%)

I always wonder how people homeschool and work.

torylynn1 · January 2011

Mrs.BoomBoom:

And total k-12 enrollment is about 64 million, so, that's about 2.4% of students.

Interesting too, it's been increasing steadily.

Approximately 1.1 million students (1,096,000) were being homeschooled in the United States in the spring of 2003 (2.2%), an increase from the estimated 850,000 students who were being homeschooled in the spring of 1999 (1.7%)

I always wonder how people homeschool and work.

I assumed everyone who home schools is a SAHM/SAHD. Maybe not though. The numbers are crazy!

greekwife05 · January 2011

torylynn1:
Mrs.BoomBoom:

And total k-12 enrollment is about 64 million, so, that's about 2.4% of students.
Interesting too, it's been increasing steadily.
Approximately 1.1 million students (1,096,000) were being homeschooled in the United States in the spring of 2003 (2.2%), an increase from the estimated 850,000 students who were being homeschooled in the spring of 1999 (1.7%)
I always wonder how people homeschool and work.
I assumed everyone who home schools is a SAHM/SAHD. Maybe not though. The numbers are crazy!

My brother was home schooled technically through a charter school in our county. My dad and I both worked full time.

CheekyGirl22 · January 2011

I always felt bad for kids that are homeschooled. No offense to anyone that homeschools or was homeschooled, but I always felt like it would be lonely. It just seems like the kids would be missing out on all the social aspects of going to school. I realize that not all social aspects of school are good, but it does just seem like a part of life.

Maybe I would feel differently, if I had more experience with it or if there is a reason for the homeschooling.

Mrs.BoomBoom · January 2011

CheekyGirl22:
I always felt bad for kids that are homeschooled. No offense to anyone that homeschools or was homeschooled, but I always felt like it would be lonely. It just seems like the kids would be missing out on all the social aspects of going to school. I realize that not all social aspects of school are good, but it does just seem like a part of life.

Maybe I would feel differently, if I had more experience with it or if there is a reason for the homeschooling.

I think that you can homeschool fairly easily and give social interaction while the kids are little because there are lots of non-school group activities. Scouts, ball teams, vacation bible school, vacation camps. Also, the content in the lower grades isn't very hard. Once you're in middle school though, the content gets a lot harder (hello, algebra in 8th grade, most of us aren't ready to teach that) and the non-school socialization activities get fewer.

hannikan · January 2011

Mrs.BoomBoom:
CheekyGirl22:
I always felt bad for kids that are homeschooled. No offense to anyone that homeschools or was homeschooled, but I always felt like it would be lonely. It just seems like the kids would be missing out on all the social aspects of going to school. I realize that not all social aspects of school are good, but it does just seem like a part of life.

Maybe I would feel differently, if I had more experience with it or if there is a reason for the homeschooling.
I think that you can homeschool fairly easily and give social interaction while the kids are little because there are lots of non-school group activities. Scouts, ball teams, vacation bible school, vacation camps. Also, the content in the lower grades isn't very hard. Once you're in middle school though, the content gets a lot harder (hello, algebra in 8th grade, most of us aren't ready to teach that) and the non-school socialization activities get fewer.

I agree Cheeky and my opinion is based on only what I've experienced/encountered. The kids I have taught in high school who were homeschooled until then have very noticeable social awkwardness. Even if their parents tried to socialize them it's not the same to be social in small settings like church/temple/synagogue functions or neighborhood groups (which are important, too). Also those are very homogenous settings where you generally aren't exposed to people with different lifestyles, values and ideas. Academically it's also important to encounter a variety of ideas, discussion with people from many walks of life and to objectively study the ideas of a variety of scholars and influential people. I'm not saying we do it perfectly in schools either but can you imagine having one or two teachers for your whole academic career until high school or college? Or to never be a in situation to have a group discussion? It's important to interact with a diversity of people and sometimes that doesn't happen enough in schools either but it's more likely to than in these other settings. The homeschooled kids I've known were not involved in larger community activities because the parents who want to homeschool usually want to protect their children from the larger community. I'm sure there are parents who do a good job of meeting all this criteria but I think it's the exception, not the rule. We probably have some ladies here who were homeschooled themselves or who want to homeschool their children and feel differently about it. I totally respect that and hope their experience with be good but these are my feelings about it.

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