It's good that you have thought through all the reasons for the kind of schooling that you've chosen for your child. Far too many homeschooling families choose to keep their kids at home out of fear of "government schools" and "godless education." My husband and I homeschooled, but we re-evaluated every year to make sure it was working for us. And the kids turned out pretty well. Our oldest only went to one or two classes at the public school a year, and our youngest did the same thing until his junior year of high school when he went full-time until graduation. And that worked well for our family. Public school is great for most families. Private school works for some. And, homeschool works for some. Unfortunately, there are some homeschooling families who are oversheltering their kids, others who are abusive, and others who engage in educational neglect. I've seen all of those, both when I was working as a physician and when I was going to homeschool meetings. But, not all public school parents are angels - my husband is a math teacher and he sees kids with neglectful parents, kids with abusive parents, kids with helicopter parent. The issue is not so much schooling choice, but parenting choices. So, we do our best. And it sounds like you are making well thought-out choices for your kid. Bravo!
But I think it’s notable that despite all the material, credential and data advantages of public schools, they still can’t actually definitively prove they’re better at the job than some Christian housewife.
I guess it depends on how we’re defining “definitively prove” and “better at the job”? It’s hard to prove anything when there’s no decent data on homeschooling for comparison.
I mean maybe the studies I’ve seen where homeschooling does better have data problems.
But I view this as the public school’s burden to prove, since they’re petitioning for govt funded, no refunds monopoly. It shouldn’t be that hard to just make homeschoolers take the ACT or SAT until you have a few years of data from the whole population
That would be fantastic if we could get that kind of data. But since many states don’t require homeschoolers to do standardized testing—let alone prove they’re doing ANY kind of instruction—I’d say the burden is on the homeschooling community to push their students to take standardized tests.
I’d also love to see longitudinal studies now that we’re into the second generation of homeschooling. We could actually assess success factors for homeschool alumni who are now in their 40s.
It's good that you have thought through all the reasons for the kind of schooling that you've chosen for your child. Far too many homeschooling families choose to keep their kids at home out of fear of "government schools" and "godless education." My husband and I homeschooled, but we re-evaluated every year to make sure it was working for us. And the kids turned out pretty well. Our oldest only went to one or two classes at the public school a year, and our youngest did the same thing until his junior year of high school when he went full-time until graduation. And that worked well for our family. Public school is great for most families. Private school works for some. And, homeschool works for some. Unfortunately, there are some homeschooling families who are oversheltering their kids, others who are abusive, and others who engage in educational neglect. I've seen all of those, both when I was working as a physician and when I was going to homeschool meetings. But, not all public school parents are angels - my husband is a math teacher and he sees kids with neglectful parents, kids with abusive parents, kids with helicopter parent. The issue is not so much schooling choice, but parenting choices. So, we do our best. And it sounds like you are making well thought-out choices for your kid. Bravo!
I like that! "The issue is not so much schooling choice, but parent choices."
I mean it’s your own life and your own family.
But I think it’s notable that despite all the material, credential and data advantages of public schools, they still can’t actually definitively prove they’re better at the job than some Christian housewife.
You’d think they’d be more embarrassed about that
I guess it depends on how we’re defining “definitively prove” and “better at the job”? It’s hard to prove anything when there’s no decent data on homeschooling for comparison.
I mean maybe the studies I’ve seen where homeschooling does better have data problems.
But I view this as the public school’s burden to prove, since they’re petitioning for govt funded, no refunds monopoly. It shouldn’t be that hard to just make homeschoolers take the ACT or SAT until you have a few years of data from the whole population
That would be fantastic if we could get that kind of data. But since many states don’t require homeschoolers to do standardized testing—let alone prove they’re doing ANY kind of instruction—I’d say the burden is on the homeschooling community to push their students to take standardized tests.
I’d also love to see longitudinal studies now that we’re into the second generation of homeschooling. We could actually assess success factors for homeschool alumni who are now in their 40s.
Yes! Understanding that adults have different perspectives (and why!) is such an important part of learning to think critically.